Tibet’s ‘Living Buddhas’ taken on patriotic education tour to Mao’s hometown, other historic party sites

Beijing has sent Tibetan “living Buddhas” to historic sites of the Communist Party, including the hometown of late leader Mao ­Zedong, for patriotic education sessions, according to Chinese media reports.

Some 20 living Buddhas took part in the sessions, in which they vowed allegiance to the central government, according to Tibet.cn, the region’s major news portal, on Saturday.

“I feel that our country is wealthy and powerful. It’s a socialist new China built by numerous martyrs,” said living Buddha Jedrung from Chamdo of the one-week session.

“We should make contributions to guide our religion to fit the socialist society.”

The session, which ended on October 28, took the Tibetan holy men to Jinggangshan in Jiangxi province, where the Communist Party once set up its own military base, and Shaoshan county, Mao’s hometown. The living Buddhas were also shown around a defence technology academy, to see “the latest development of the country in defence, industry and economy”, the report said.

There are more than 1,000 living Tibetan Buddhas on the mainland, according to Beijing’s official database, which was launched in January.