China launches crackdown on building of large religious statues

The effort is purportedly aimed at preventing the ‘further commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism’

The Leshan Giant Buddha was built between 713 and 803, dreamed up by a monk who hoped that the Buddha would help to calm the turbulent waters where the Min and Dadu rivers meet. If the 71-meter-tall project was commissioned nowadays, it’s not clear if it would meet with government approval.

The United Front Work Department, a powerful party organ which had primarily been known for its work in influencing public opinion and policy abroad but recently also took control of ethnic and religious affairs, has issued a directive ordering local governments to crack down on the building of giant statues of a religious nature.

“The meeting required all localities to take up the regulation of large outdoor religious statues as their top priority in preventing the further commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism,” the directive said, according to the Associated Press.

After shrines were destroyed and followers were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, China has been experiencing a religious revival of late which the government has responded to by campaigns and crackdowns. While most of these hardline efforts have been focused on Islam, Christianity, or any of a number of so-called “cults” that have sprouted up around China, Buddhism and Taoism has also, occasionally, found itself at odds with the party.

As part of China’s religious revival, temples have been restored and often made a bit more flashy with the addition of things like colossal statues meant to draw in more believers as well as tourists — a tactic which appeared beneficial to temple and local tourism bureau alike.

However, China has recently become more concerned about promoting loyalty to the party above us else and has further tightened government control of religious affairs and institutions, ordering that religion must always follow the party’s lead.

Of course, religious sites are hardly the only ones caught up in China’s craze for building really big statues. Recently, a number of local governments have unveiled oversized statues to their own particular icons: cabbage, crabs, or crayfish.

And who could forget the giant “Mega Mao” statue that popped up in the middle of nowhere, Henan province back in 2016, only to be unceremoniously torn down after only a few days?

Later that year, a colossal statue of Guan Yu, a Chinese general-turned-god, was unveiled in the Hubei city of Jingzhou.

Alas, will we look back on that colossus as marking the end of an era in China?