During and post-Mao
Under Mao, all religions, including Buddhism, were regarded as “feudal superstitions.”
After Mao died, Deng Xiaoping allowed the restoration of religious sites destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
The 1980s were regarded as the revival of Buddhism in China. Funds poured in from overseas Chinese and Japanese Buddhists.
Many Japanese pilgrims visited China during the Tang and Song dynasties to study. They regarded these Chinese temples as their ancestral temples, their alma maters.
Monks like Taixu and Tanxu reformed Chinese Buddhism. See Heart of Buddha, Heart of China. The Life of Tanxu by James Carter, 2011.
Ultimately, the Buddhist revival succeeded because it met the Chinese people’s spiritual needs. When one is rich, one seeks spiritual contentment. When one is poor, one seeks spiritual inspiration.
(See Chinese Buddhism: A Thematic History by Yu Chin Fang, 2020, published on page 245.)