佛教名山上市潮引發網民熱議

China's four sacred Buddhist mountains have become hot topics in social media this week, but not because of religion.

中國四大佛教名山上週成爲社交媒體熱議的話題，不過這一次和宗教無關。

Or rather, it was because of religion and business.

或者更確切地說，這是因爲宗教和商業綁到了一塊兒。

Mount Putuo Tourism Development Co., founded by three local tourism companies based in Zhoushan of southern China, said on Saturday that it plans to go public in two years, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The company, which operates the tourism facilities around the mountain, aims to raise at least 7.5 billion yuan, or about $1.18 billion, Xinhua said.

據新華社報道，由浙江舟山三家當地旅遊公司共同出資組建的普陀山旅遊發展股份有限公司6月30日表示，該公司爭取在兩年內上市。新華社說，該公司運營着普陀山周圍的旅遊設施，它計劃通過上市至少籌資人民幣75億元。

"The Buddhist associations and all the temples in this area will not be included into the listing project," Mao Jiantao, the company's general manager, told Xinhua. "Their operations will not be affected."

普陀山旅遊發展股份有限公司總經理毛劍濤對新華社說，佛教協會、各大寺院仍然屬於佛協系統，與上市主體是兩條線，佛協原來怎麼運作將來還怎麼運作

"We think the tourism industry of Mount Putuo needs better marketing, and going public can help to boost its publicity," said Mr. Mao.

毛劍濤說，普陀山的旅遊業也需要營銷，上市可以擴大知名度。

Mount Putuo officials didn't respond to a request for comment.

普陀山負責人沒有回覆記者的置評請求。

Mount Putuo, which is about 20 miles from the coastline and is sometimes called "Buddhist heaven above sea," is considered one of China's four Buddhist mountains - the jingtu, or "pure lands," for Buddhists. It has several well-known Buddhist temples and is also among top-tier national scenic areas in China. Xinhua said it had five million visitors last year.

普陀山距大陸海岸線約有20英里（約合32公里），有時也被稱作“海天佛國”，是中國四大佛教名山之一。佛教名山可謂是佛教淨土。普陀山有多座知名的佛教寺廟，同時也是國家5A級旅遊風景區。新華社說，去年其客流量超過500萬人次。

It wouldn't be the first of the four mountains to be listed. Mount E'mei Tourism Development Co., based in western China's Sichuan province, went public in October 1997.

普陀山並非四大佛教名山中第一個考慮上市的。早在1997年10月，位於中國西部四川省的峨眉山旅遊股份有限公司就已經成功上市。

The other two have ambitions to list as well. Officials in the news office of Mountain Wutai, another prominent Buddhist mountain in China's western Shanxi province, told Xinhua that their company had been preparing to go public since 2010 and would be listed before the end of this year. They plan to form a company called Mount Wutai Investment Co.

另外兩座佛教名山也有上市的雄心。佛教名山五臺山位於中國西部的山西省，五臺山新聞辦主任告訴新華社，2010年五臺山開始籌備上市，預計2012年底前完成五臺山上市前期準備工作。他們計劃成立一家名叫五臺山投資股份有限公司的企業。

Mount Jiuhua Tourism Development Co., which oversees Mount Jiuhua, in China's Anhui province, didn't succeed in its efforts of going public in 2004 and 2009. But it is trying for a third time, and its IPO application is now under consideration of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

而管理九華山景區的安徽九華山旅遊發展股份有限公司更是2004年以及2009年兩次都未通過中國證券監督管理委員會發行審覈委員會的上市審覈。該公司目前正在進行第三次嘗試。中國證監會目前正在考慮其首次公開募股(IPO)申請。

It's unclear how far these plans will go. Liu Wei, deputy director of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, said in a press conference last month that the agency would object to local tourism development firms that try to exploit religious resources. "Temples are non-profit organizations," he said in comment on the administration's website."Developing a market economy should have its boundaries and not go below the social bottom line."

上述上市方案能走多遠目前尚不清楚。中國國家宗教事務局副司長劉威上個月在一次新聞發佈會上說，如果當地旅遊開發公司試圖利用宗教資源，該局將持反對意見。他在宗教事務局官方網站上刊登的一篇文章中說，宗教活動場所是民間非營利組織，市場經濟是有邊界的，要符合社會底線。

Public reaction has been largely negative. "Without its religion reputation, how can Mountain Putuo attract visitors at all?" said the director of the recruitment office of a Buddhism college in Hangzhou, who goes by the Buddhist monastic name of Master Xinwu, on his verified Weibo account. Citing the Buddha associated with compassion, "I cannot imagine paying tribute to Kwan-yin in a listed company," he said.

中國公衆大多對佛教名山上市持負面看法。杭州佛學院招生辦的負責人心悟法師在他的新浪微博認證賬戶說，沒有佛教內涵的名山，普陀山拿什麼來吸引遊客？在提到觀音菩薩的時候，他的語氣充滿了感情。他說：沒有想到，拜觀音還要拜到股份公司去。

"China's Buddhist mountains have been involved in this commercialization wave one by one. We can expect to see the Taoism mountains be dragged into this wave soon," Yan Can, vice chairman of Buddhism Association of Henan Province in north China, said on his Weibo account. "It will be a moral tragedy for everyone."

中國河北省佛教協會副會長延參法師在新浪微博上說：佛教名山捲入這個經營大潮，可以想的到，不遠的後來，道教的名山將無一倖免。他還指出，對每個人來說這都將是道德的悲哀。

"Religious places should never go public," says Xue Manzi, a prominent Chinese investor in his Weibo account. "Capital markets have developed for hundreds of years in western countries, but has anyone ever heard of a church going public?"

中國知名天使投資人薛蠻子說，宗教場所不應上市，西方資本市場發展了幾百年，誰聽說把教堂上市的事兒？