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60 EASTERN HORIZON | BOOK IN BRIEF

encounters between Tibetan Buddhist scholars (including
the much maligned Dalai Lama) and neuro scientists and
psychologists have given it much credibility as a very modern
religion.

This study by Joshua Elser is therefore timely as he analyses
the growing appeal of Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese in
contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Joshua examines
the Tibetan tradition’s historical context and its social, cultural,
and political adaptation to Chinese society, as well as the effects
on Han practitioners. The author’s analysis is based on fieldwork
in all three locations and includes a broad range of interlocutors,
such as Tibetan religious teachers, Han practitioners, and lay
Tibetans.

The book is divided into six chapters:
(a) The State, Popular imagination, and Traditional
Chinese Cosmology
(b) Subscribing New Meaning on Guan Gong, the Chinese
‘God of War’.
(c) The Confucian Revival and Tibetan Buddhism
(d) Pragmatism, Protestantism, and Tibetan Buddhism in
Hong Kong
(e) Tibetan Deities and Spirits in Multi-layered Tibetan
landscape
(f) Chinese Ghosts and Tibetan Buddhism.

The conclusion of the book features the author’s research into
how Tibetan Buddhism is engaging the modern day Chinese in
China.

This book is highly recommended for those interested to know
the increasing interest in Tibetan Buddhism in modern day
China, including from the younger generation. EH