History of Buddhism being influential and temples being rebuilt with government aid. An example of a recent modern form of Korean Buddhism is Won Buddhism. Tibet remained a traditional theocratic state (the Ganden Phodrang) with the Dalai Lamas at the head, until the Chinese communist invasion in 1950. The 14th Dalai Lama fled the country in 1959. A Tibetan exile community was established in India, with its center at Dharamsala, which today contains many Buddhist monasteries. The 14th Dalai Lama has become one of the most popular Buddhist leaders in the world today. During the Red Guard period (1966-7), Chinese communists destroyed around
Buddhism in France to the Buddhist Union of France. Philosopher Luc Ferry, appointed Minister of Youth and Education in 2002, published an article in Le Point magazine in which he asked, "Why this Buddhist wave? And why particularly in France, a very Catholic country in the past? ... In this time of de-Christianization, Buddhism has furnished to the West a rich and interesting alternative." Buddhism in France Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in France, after Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. France has over two hundred Buddhist meditation centers, including about twenty sizable retreat centers in rural areas. The Buddhist population mainly consists of