Buddhism, an Urban Village and Cultural Soft Power: An Ethnography of Buddhist Practitioners in Wutong

The article presents an ethnography of Buddhist practice groups in Wutong village, urban village the Shenzhen metropolis area, relating to village's predicament through 1990s and until 2019. It discusses relationship between two intertwined forms soft power employed by Chinese regime: 1) push for cultural consumption within framework re-development villages. 2) PRC’s re-definition Buddhism as a culture instead religion. author examines different lay actors which operate current restrictive government policy towards religious groups. shows non-dichotomic dynamic suppression support articulated state Buddhism's consumption. focuses on control people's agency over their spiritual realities, especially fringes. suggests that art can be understood sphere where Buddhists subvert regulation creating alternative spaces practice, form commodities. However, addresses liminality such spaces, which, aside from opportunities entrepreneurship, also creates precariousness inhabitants, including practitioners.