The black and white picture shows a small formation of troops in uniform, standing at attention. They are arranged in front of a white flag emblazoned with a single character: fo, or Buddha.
It’s a moment in distant Chinese history, but one the country’s Communist Party is eager to once again bring to life.
In 1936, Buddhist monks took up arms against Japanese forces. In Shanghai, 120 monks fought “against the god of death and Japanese invaders,” according to an interpretive panel displayed by the image in the Ya’an Religious Sinicization Exhibition Hall. The monks fought, the exhibit says, under the credo: “If I do not descend into hell, who will?”
Go incognito.
