Taoist Temple Forcibly Demolished, Henan Province, China

[Stigweard]

 

On January 9th, 2012 the 5 Daoist priests of Henan's White Crane Temple (嵩山白鹤观) watched as their ancient home was forcibly torn down. The land, highly prized for its excellent feng shui, was sold by the Bureau of Cultural Relics to a developer for 3,000,000 Yuan. Videos and news of the demolition is being deleted from the Chinese internet.

 

So much for the PRC's recent support of Taoism as a cultural identity of China.

 

Please consider helping with the following actions:

 

1. Call the Chiense embassies and consulates in the U.S and voice your concern (http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/)

 

2. Call the Chinese Daoist Association in Beijing 010-63394329 (please note the 12 hour time difference) and ask about the situation.

 

3. Spread the news.

 

Read more here on Taoist Temple Forcibly Demolished, Henan Province, China

[joeblast]

well, when "the government owns everything"...I'm sure they will be very concerned with the complaints

[Rainy_Day]

So sad...

 

And for a measly 3,000,000 yuan...

Edited January 16, 2012 by Rainy_Day

[baiqi]

F*** that.

 

You make my day start in a bad mood.

 

I am not such a fan of "building temples everywhere". I'm saying that because I have met many taoist priests who gave me the feeling that they cared more about building temples than about internal alchemy.

 

However, I understand their point, given such events...

 

Of course they should keep their temples, and not just the temples anyway: old buildings in general, or even (and probably more important) the farmer's lands!

 

I have kinda given hope about China for that.

[baiqi]

By the way, this is Song Shan, the same mountain as the Shaolin Temple, right?

[Chang]

It is a complicated situation in China with Triad involvement in all area's of business as well as the Communist Party. Corruption is rife and I doubt that there is very much outsiders can do to change things.

Sometimes things just are as they are.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Chang

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Something about destroying a sacred, ancient, Taoist temple seems like a pretty bad feng shui move.

[Chang]

Unfortunately those responsible have greater faith in the power of the dollar than the power of the Tao.

[Aaron]

The same thing can happen in the states. If the government decides that a project (whether private or public) helps to develop the area, they can require you to sell your property. At least in certain states. Now they don't enforce it anymore, because there was a big row awhile back when they did try to, but to the best of my knowledge, the laws have never been changed or removed, simply not mentioned or enforced, as many laws are.

[Chang]

The same thing can happen in the states. If the government decides that a project (whether private or public) helps to develop the area, they can require you to sell your property. At least in certain states. Now they don't enforce it anymore, because there was a big row awhile back when they did try to, but to the best of my knowledge, the laws have never been changed or removed, simply not mentioned or enforced, as many laws are.

 

This is certainly still the case in the UK where the Powers That Be obtain what is called a Compulsory Purchase Order to make way for what is described as development for the public good.

 

It is about to be vigorously applied to make way for new high speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

[baiqi]

As far as I know, this could not happen in some European countries, such as France: any building that is a bit old is protected.

 

Needless to say, China has a completely different policy on the matter.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

It is a complicated situation in China with Triad involvement in all area's of business as well as the Communist Party. Corruption is rife and I doubt that there is very much outsiders can do to change things.

Sometimes things just are as they are.

 

 

Such as practice, cultivation, Taijiquan, Qi Gong, and the spirit. We dont need to spend too much time worrying about what has happened, but what we will continue doing in the face of a tragic event.

 

 

This shouldnt be a give up moment, but a pay-off in disguise.

[dawei]

As far as I know, this could not happen in some European countries, such as France: any building that is a bit old is protected.

 

Needless to say, China has a completely different policy on the matter.

Ok... so where do we pronounce and decide what one of the longest civilizations should do?

 

If we are just after contradiction... we can find that every minute of the day... in any culture... if we want to be honest about the place and role of civilizations... would someone out there (external to us) please tell the US (yes, a cheeky way of "us") we are completely going wrong... and exactly who has got it right?

[KarthusMeanor]

Maybe the product of bad karma?

 

Wu Wei

[gendao]

This is certainly still the case in the UK where the Powers That Be obtain what is called a Compulsory Purchase Order to make way for what is described as development for the public good.

 

It is about to be vigorously applied to make way for new high speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

Eminent domain (United States), compulsory purchase (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Ireland), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia), or expropriation (South Africa and Canada) is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent. The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to public or civic use or, in some cases, economic development.

This policy is practiced in many developed Western countries too. Not to mention when the US invades foreign countries and just bombs them to smithereens into Superfund sites with DU toxic waste. I'm not sure what policy this is called that gives them that so-called "right?"

 

Anyhow, the really sucky thing in this case is how they apparently came in and just razed it without warning. This gave these monks no time to protest or salvage anything they could. Which is basically complete authoritarianism. Boo.

Edited January 20, 2012 by vortex

[Dreamingawake]

The same thing can happen in the states. If the government decides that a project (whether private or public) helps to develop the area, they can require you to sell your property. At least in certain states. Now they don't enforce it anymore, because there was a big row awhile back when they did try to, but to the best of my knowledge, the laws have never been changed or removed, simply not mentioned or enforced, as many laws are.

 

This actually does still happen here in the states. To my understanding it usually follows a certain format.

 

Company A wants the land your house/farm/whatever is on so they come to you and offer to buy it (often for far less than it's actual value.) --> when you refuse they get the government to seize your property for which you are paid a nominal fee of pennies on the dollar. --> the government then hands the land over to the private company.

 

At least in china they don't beat around the bush to try to make it appear fair