Abstract
As more and more students in China turn to religion, it follows that an increasing number of students in Chinese universities self-identify as Buddhist. Chinese academia has a tendency to treat this as problematic, offering reasons for this trend as well as solutions but neglecting to examine the nature of student belief and identity. By utilising two case studies, this paper seeks to demonstrate how the Buddhist identity and practice of self-proclaimed Buddhist students in Beijing can manifest in two very different ways: overtly or covertly. More specifically, each case study provides an example of students in Beijing who very much break with the commonly held perception that students in China who self-identify as religious have a fundamentally flawed and limited understanding of their religion and rarely actually practice it.
Highlights
Student religiosity in China is a somewhat obscure field
It is certainly true that there are multiple recent studies that focus upon the religious beliefs of university students in China
China Academic Journals1 about the rise of religious belief among Chinese university students (Zhongguo zhi wang shuju 2019)
Summary
Student religiosity in China is a somewhat obscure field. One might think that it is a field that has, of late, received much academic attention. It is certainly true that there are multiple recent studies that focus upon the religious beliefs of university students in China. 2008–2010 witnessed particular interest in the field with nearly 200 papers being published in the. China Academic Journals (zhōngguó zhıwǎng shùjùkù中国知网数据库) about the rise of religious belief among Chinese university students (Zhongguo zhi wang shuju 2019). Wang 2012; Riyila 2015) address student religiosity as a problem to be solved.
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