Ancient Temples Turned into Calligraphy and Cultural Centers – Bitter Winter

Buddhist and Taoist places of worship are continuously taken over by the government. Believers are dispersed, religion replaced with “red” cultural activities.

by Zhang Feng

A thousand-year-old temple becomes an exhibition hall

Dayun Temple, also known as Tiefo Temple (literally “Iron Buddha Temple”), is located in Yaodu

Posters promoting the Party’s policies were displayed inside the main hall of Dayun Temple.

According to a local Buddhist, officials from Yaodu district’s Religious Affairs Bureau took over the temple last year and converted it into a “cultural relic management office,” proclaiming that this was no longer a temple, and no one is allowed to hold Buddhist ceremonies or worship. Ceremonial Buddhist attire was also banned, and all the monks have been driven away. The Bureau of Cultural Relics now controls the temple, the officials said.

The main hall of Dayun Temple has been converted into a calligraphy exhibition hall.

Immediately after the statues of deities were removed from the temple’s main Mahavira Hall, local officials organized a calligraphy exhibition, dedicated to the special battle “to clean up gang crime and eliminate evil” – a nationwide campaign to fight organized crime, though often used by the authorities a pretext to crack down on religion.

A calligraphy exhibition was organized immediately after the temple was taken over.

In late April this year, a graduation exhibition for an adult calligraphy class was held in the former temple. Numbered signs were hung outside the main hall and two other rooms, indicating the locations of the show. The incense cauldron has disappeared from the temple’s courtyard, and a row of conspicuous banners promoting the calligraphy class were displayed instead.

At the entrance to Dayun Temple, a signboard was displayed, indicating that it’s a cultural relic management office.

In June, a security gate with an electronic counter was installed at the main entrance to the temple to control the number of visiting people. A registration form was displayed on the table next to the gate,  requiring all visitors to write down their full name, ID number, phone number, workplace, and other personal information, as well as specify the reason for their visit.

“The current situation is worse than that during the

Taoist statues were removed from Qingxu Temple.

Qingxu Temple, a Taoist temple located in Zhen’an district of Dandong city in the northeast province of Liaoning, was built in 1906, during the reign of Guangxu Emperor (1871-1908). Partially destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, the temple was renovated in 2013 with investments from several individuals and became very popular among the local people.

Qingxu Temple was left empty after all religious items were removed.

In late May, the city’s Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs sealed off the temple, claiming that it was unlicensed. Everything was ordered to be removed from the temple – statues, incense burners, and other items. Everything containing religious wording inside and outside the temple was smeared over, and two Taoist priests were ordered to leave the temple.

All entrances to Qingxu Temple were sealed off.

A month later, the

The signboard reading “Qingxu Temple” was replaced with the one reading “Antique Books and Cultural Services.”

Temples elsewhere in China are continuously being repurposed on a variety of pretexts, officials prohibiting any religious activities there.  In late April, Tianhou Temple – a historical and cultural site protected by the city – in Huanren Manchu Autonomous

Notice for the “rectification” of Tianhou Temple in Huanren Manchu Autonomous County.

Around the same time, the

Police conduct surveillance at the temple’s entrance and prohibit believers from bringing incense.