The gradual turning away from Buddhism was not wholly the result of the intellectual and spiritual competition offered by neo-Confucianism and of the social incentives provided by the examination system [by which individuals were recruited into the imperial bureaucracy]. It should be emphasized that the dynasties that ruled China from the [Song] until 1912 [the end of imperial rule] developed a far more elaborate and effective apparatus for imposing an official orthodoxy than earlier regimes. In addition to the highly organized examination system there was increasing official control over all school curricula, government censorship and suppression of deviationist or subversive writings, a network of controls that reached more aspects of private life and thought than government had ever before attempted to influence. (pp. 95-96)
Reading this passage, it is difficult not to see a parallel between Song China and today's China. Communism may have replaced neo-Confucianism as the official orthodoxy, but means by which the new official orthodoxy has been enforced have been quite similar. In modern-day China, the Communist Party ultimately dictates the contents of "all school curricula," and "censorship and suppression of deviationist or subversive writings," especially those that question Communist dogma or threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the Communist regime, is still a frequent occurrence--even if those "writings" are as likely to appear on the Internet as in a book. Moreover, the "network of controls" maintained by the Party has a major impact on "private life and thought" by restricting the freedom of individual Chinese to live and believe as they wish. For example, consider the efforts of the Communist Party to coerce members of the Uighur ethnic minority to essentially abandon their own language and their traditional faith--Islam. Or consider the current "sinification" campaign being conducted among Chinese Christians, whereby the government is attempting to force the incorporation of Communism ideology into the teachings of the Church.
In short, it seems that in some ways China--or at least its leaders--has not changed that much in the past millennium. However, just as the efforts by the Song and later dynasties to enforce the neo-Confucian orthodoxy were ultimately unsuccessful (otherwise, Communism would never had replaced it!), it seems more than likely that in the end the current campaign to impose Communist orthodoxy on the Chinese people will also fail.
Image of Song Dynasty Emperor Shenzong from Wikipedia.org