Xintian Ma (2024)
- Research Title: Constructing a Nation on the Sacred Mountain: The Politics of Religion, Ethnicity an
- Supervisor: Professor Uradyn E Bulag
Contact
About
I was born and raised in Guizhou Province, southwestern China. I obtained a joint undergraduate degree in International Relations and Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, in 2022. My undergraduate thesis explored the politics of history and heritage-making through fieldwork in Zhenyuan County, a ‘National Historic and Cultural City’ (Guojia Lishi Wenhua Mingcheng) in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Region, located in my home province of Guizhou. I subsequently gained extensive experience in museum research, completing the MPhil in Social Anthropological Research at the University of Cambridge in 2023 with a dissertation on the social biography of Tibetan Buddhist statues cared for at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA). I also interned at the Palace Museum in Beijing before returning to Cambridge for Phd studies.
Research
My research examines the Chinese state-driven nation-building and its power relations with the Buddhist communities at Mount Wutai, one of the most revered Buddhist sacred sites. Regarded as the earthly abode of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Mount Wutai has been a centre of Chinese Buddhist worship since at least the 5th century. In the 13th century, the Mongol rulers introduced Tibetan Buddhism to the site, which later flourished under Manchu-led Qing imperial sponsorships from the 17th to the 19th centuries. During these periods, Mount Wutai emerged as a major pilgrimage destination for Mongol-Tibetan Buddhists outside Tibet. Today, Mount Wutai continues to attract millions of worshippers each year and remains significant to both the Han Chinese and the Mongol-Tibetan Buddhist communities.
Given the complex history and multifaceted religious traditions, Mount Wutai has become central to the contemporary state objectives of ‘Religious Sinicisation’ (Zongjiao Zhongguohua), an official strategy aimed at aligning Buddhism with the modern state-driven efforts of making a ‘Chinese Nation’ (Zhonghua Minzu) identity. In my research, I examine how Buddhist communities at Mount Wutai interact with the modern state's objectives through the political dimensions of religion, ethnicity, and heritage. Specifically, I ask how the state incorporates Mount Wutai into its discourse of the ‘Chinese Nation’, how its nation-building efforts engage with its Buddhist communities, and how Buddhist communities navigate and respond to the state power.
Research interests
Nation and State, Religion, Ethnicity, Museum and Heritage