Buddhist culture in N China attracts more experts and scholars

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By CGTN's Hu Chao

The 3rd international Buddhist conference is being held at north China’s Mount Wutai in the city of Xinzhou. The Mount Wutai is the most famous Buddhist destination in the country and one of the five most sacred Buddhist destinations in the world.

The event began on July 12th and will end on July 21st. Over a hundred experts and scholars from about ten countries and regions have gathered in Shanxi Province for the event. Many of them said they’ve seen more foreigners becoming interested in Chinese Buddhist culture.

The conference attracts many overseas experts and scholars. /CGTN Photo‍

Professor Leonard Van Der Kuijp has been studying the Buddhist culture in China for over 40 years. Now he teaches in the Department of Chinese Studies at Harvard University. He said many foreign experts and students from different cultures visit Mount Wutai to learn about Buddhism, which shows their increasing interest in the Buddhist culture of China.

Professor Leonard Van Der Kuijp has done many researches on Buddhist culture. /CGTN Photo

Catherine Hartmann, a student in the Department of Religion at Harvard said, "People in the United States are encountering other cultures more frequently and very interested in Buddhism. People think it is something sort of cool. Hopefully that actually leads to meeting people and learning about the history and learning about the practices."

Catherine Hartmann feels happy to be in the Mount Wutai. /CGTN Photo

Professor Leonard Van Der Kuijp is among many experts at the conference who have studied Chinese Buddhist culture for decades. They believe that the economic growth of China has made its Buddhist culture more popular throughout the world.

The conference sees many young students who have been studying Chinese Buddhist culture. /CGTN Photo

Professor Van Der Kuijp said, "The main reason why so much Chinese Buddhist culture now is also taking shape outside China is because of the economic development has taken place in China itself." He said there’s a large layer of population that has grown into the middle class who has achieved well financial being. Many of them have become Buddhists or were Buddhists before. They’ve been helping to patronize Buddhist institutions not only here in China but also outside China.

Many young people have become interested in Buddhist culture in China. /CFP Photo

Miao Jiang, the only Abbot at Mount Wutai, sees that many foreign experts know quite a lot about Chinese culture and history. He hopes that this conference can provide a platform for more cultural exchanges, helping more people benefit from the Buddhist culture in China.

Abbot Miao Jiang hopes that more people can benefit from the Buddhist culture in China. /CGTN Photo

The Mount Wutai Authority said with the popularity of this conference they'll do better promoting more cultural exchanges in Buddhism between different countries and regions in the future.