Jin Li

This project will explore the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in post-Communist China. Through analyses of how Nyingma Tibetans have invoked their treasure tradition to convert ordinary Chinese people, this project seeks to understand how particular forms of Buddhist subjectivities are brought into being through people’s encounters with discourses and material objects. A second, closely related goal will be to give an account of how these religious subjects in turn infuse the landscape between Tibet and China with the magical quality of treasure. This project will investigate how an understanding of subject formation is important for understanding Buddhist revival in Tibet and China.