On July 10, a domestic newspaper reported that unknown assailants demolished the last remains of a centuries-old Buddhist nunnery, the Hansheng nunnery, on July 6. During the early morning hours of July 15 it was eventually bulldozed to the ground. Government-hired workers demolished the nunnery in order to make room for a new housing development.

 

The nunnery had long been a target of developers due to its prime location in Xiangfan, a city of central China's Hubei Province. As China enjoys a booming housing expansion, many historic sites sitting on lucrative locations in cities are facing threats of being swept away by property developers.

 

The Southern Metropolis Daily, a domestic newspaper based in south China's Guangzhou City, reported the news on July 18. It is also the first newspaper that revealed the nunnery's demise on July 6.

 

According to an earlier report on July 17 from a local newspaper, the Hubei Daily, the Xiangfan municipal government pledged that police would investigate the case and that the nunnery would be restored. The Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage also condemned the demolishment as a severe violation of the Heritage Protection Law.

 

After the sudden destruction on July 6, many volunteer nuns hovered around, guarding the site. They rejected several local government officials' proposal to move the nunnery remains to another place. Sadly, at dawn on July 15 more ruin would take place.

 

At 4 AM that morning, nearly one hundred men appeared, many in uniforms, including policemen, according to Li Baojin, a volunteer nun on guard at the site. She herself was brought to a police station and detained until the noon of July 17, for accusation of violating the heritage protection laws.

 

The remaining nunnery was razed and cleared. Next, a wall has been erected around the site in order to isolate the acreage. The property developer is currently preparing to build new houses there.

 

An official surnamed Liu from the Xiangfan Government Information Office has confirmed that the local government organized this action, asserting that the Hansheng nunnery would be rebuilt in another area. When asked why the move was carried out at such an early hour, the official stated that it was a convenient time to hire workers.

 

Liu announced that one of the participants in the nunnery's obliteration on July 6 has turned himself in to the police. Liu confirmed the identity of the person as "a beneficiary of the demolishment."

 

Earlier local residents had protested against the creeping encroachment upon the site. The front hall of the nunnery fell in 1985 and then the main hall was destroyed in 1998.

 

In 2002, local government officials sold land rights where the historic nunnery was located to a housing development company that had made a bid to construct a kindergarten.

 

The provincial administration of cultural heritage last June proclaimed that they had issued a document declaring the nunnery could not be demolished before a definitive appraisal was made. This notice carried no clout against the profit-oriented property developer.

 

The nunnery was built during the Ming Dynasty to memorize the famous Chinese military general Guan Yu, who was once the governor of the city. Traditionally regarded as the epitome of loyalty and righteousness, Guan Yu is still worshiped by Chinese people.

 

Guan Yu was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty (581-618). A popular god for many Chinese people, he is still worshiped in many forms: as an indigenous Chinese deity, as a bodhisattva in Buddhism and as a Taoist guardian deity.

 

(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, July 23, 2007)