Delegates: Tibetan Buddhism thrives
Tibetan Buddhism has never been better than it is today, said a Tibetologist in Tokyo.
Zhou Wei, director of the China Tibetology Research Center’s Religion Research Institute, told Japanese lawmakers and reporters that Tibet has more than 1,700 temples with about 46,000 monks. Among them are nearly 400 living Buddhas.
The Tibetan Culture delegation was organized by the State Council Information Office of China.
Zhou, who led the delegation of a traditional Tibetan medicine specialist, three Tibetan officials and a living Tibetan Buddha on a visit to Japan from Sunday to Wednesday, said that, thanks to the central government’s support, Tibetan Buddhism has developed normally and infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity and communications for the temples have been built. All monks in Tibet are now covered by its social welfare system.
Also, the government has established Tibetan Buddhism educational institutions to train young monks and has taken good care of preserving and expanding Tibetan Buddhism culture.
During their visit to Japan, members of the delegation did their best to convey to Japanese people the real situation of the Tibet autonomous region, marked by an improving lifestyle, rapid economic growth and efforts to protect the ecology. Tibet, as a part of the Belt and Road Initiative, will serve as an important bridge linking China with South Asia. Three new railroads linking Tibet with Yunnan, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces are under construction.
The initiative can help Japanese companies find a niche in Tibet’s market, Zhou said.
On Tuesday, the delegation visited Japan’s sole Tibetan Buddhist temple, Chambalin Temple, in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture. They spoke highly of the temple’s effort to spread Tibetan Buddhism in Japan and invited its monks to visit Tibet.
Japan was the last stop of the group’s overseas trip, which also took them to Mongolia and Russia.
Xinhua contributed to this story.