The third lecture in the Gandhāra Corpora Project Lecture Series was delivered by Dr. Stefan Baums from the University of Munich on June 18, 2025, and focused on the formation, structure, and analysis of a comprehensive corpus of Gāndhārī manuscripts and inscriptions within the database gandhari.org. Covering a time span of over 500 years—from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century CE—the corpus includes inscriptions, manuscripts, documents, and coins, all written in the Kharoṣṭhī script, which serves as the main defining criterion for inclusion in the corpus. These materials trace the spread of Gāndhārī writing culture from Gandhāra across Central and South Asia, including as far east as Luoyang and Chang’an in China, where Indian expatriate Buddhist communities left their marks. Dr. Baums discussed methodological innovations such as high-resolution 3D visualization of relic inscriptions, and introduced digital tools like the READ software (Research Environment for Ansient Documents, available on GitHub) for analyzing ancient documents.
Gandhāra is known not only for its unique material culture, representing a confluence of Hellenistic and South Asian elements, but also for the wealth of ancient inscriptions and manuscripts in the local Gāndhārī language and Kharoṣṭhī script that it produced and preserved for us. Many of the inscriptions are from Buddhist contexts, including a large number of donative records, and some contain valuable historical information about the population and rulers of Gandhāra through history. Most ancient manuscripts from Gandhāra have come to light only in the last thirty years, and are the subject of intense ongoing research. They are the oldest Buddhist and the oldest South Asian manuscripts preserved, and very close to the beginning of written literature in South Asia. Beyond Gandhāra itself, Gāndharī manuscripts and inscriptions were produced far into the Indian subcontinent, up to Bamiyan in the west, in the kingdoms of Khotan, Krorayina, and Kucha along the Silk Roads, and among expatriate Buddhist communities in China. The Gāndhārī documentary corpus thus tells the story of the export of a writing culture, of its texts, and of the ideas that they conveyed across large parts of Asia, and is of unique interest for the historiography of Buddhism and Asian civilization. It is also a very diverse corpus, produced over more than five hundred years, comprising many different document types, and written in a broad range of scribal hands, orthographies, and dialects ranging from Middle Indian to Sanskrit. Beginning in 2002, Andrew Glass and the present speaker have been compiling a text-image corpus of all Gāndhārī documents on the website Gandhari.org, currently numbering 2,858 items and continually updated. In addition to presenting the documents in both their material and textual aspects, they catalog and analyze them in various ways, including the a dictionary of the Gāndhārī language, currently numbering 10,125 articles and firmly establishing Gāndhārī as one of the major languages of Buddhism and modern Buddhist scholarship. This lecture will introduce the corpus of Gāndhārī documents from Gandhāra and beyond, discuss the particular challenges that their study individually and as a whole presents, the solutions that have been adopted, and some discoveries made along the way.
Bio:
Stefan Baums teaches at the Institute for Indology and Tibetology of the University of Munich and serves as lead researcher of the Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra project at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Before joining the University of Munich, he held positions at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Washington, the University of California, Berkeley, and Leiden University. His research interests include Buddhist philology and epigraphy, classical Sanskrit court literature, the development of Buddhist hermeneutics, and the description of Gāndhārī language and literature. His current work focuses on the decipherment and edition of four Gāndhārī manuscripts containing commentaries on early Buddhist verses and the Saṃgītisūtra and a study of the historical connections and exegetical principles of this group of texts. He is editor of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī, co-editor of the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts series, academic lead of the Research Environment for Ancient Documents (READ) software development project, and epigraphist for the Italian Archeological Mission in Pakistan.
Thursday, June 5, 2025, saw the presentation of an insightful talk, “Visualising Rituals in Gandhara” by Dr. Ashwini Lakshminarayanan, which inaugurated The Gandhāra Corpora Project Lecture Series organized by GCBS’s Prof. Charles DiSimone.
In her lecture, Dr. Lakshminarayanan presented her ongoing research on Gandharan Buddhist imagery, highlighting a shift in scholarly focus from purely art historical approaches—such as examining Greco-Roman influences—to exploring the social context of these artifacts. Central to her work is the GRAVE (Gandharan Relic rituals And Veneration Explored) database, which she built using the software Tropy, which allows her to tag images and conduct statistical analysis. Her current research centers on the pedestals of statues, particularly those depicting donors. By examining kinship ties and the monastic or lay status of these figures, she revealed patterns in donor representation. Noting generic stylistic features and occasional discrepancies between inscriptions and images, she proposed that the images were likely produced in advance, with inscriptions added later by those wishing to dedicate them. The lecture concluded with a lively discussion on topics such as the relationship between pedestals and the main image, the depiction of fire offering rituals, and the broader ritual functions of pedestal scenes.
We are very happy to announce the publication of a new issue of the “Newsletter of the Database of Medieval Chinese texts (DMCT)” (ISSN: 2952-8534), a collaborative project of the Department of Languages and Cultures / GCBS, Ghent University, and the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA)! The newsletter can be downloaded from the frontpage of the DMCT. or by the link Newsletter of the Database of Medieval Chinese texts_2025.05 .
The current issue includes research papers and reports. Here is an overview of the contents:
1: Message from the editor-in-chief (p. 1-4)
2: Featured research paper “The Interpretation and Lexicographical Compilation of Idioms in Chán Buddhist Literature”, by Zeng Chen (p. 4-10)
3: Report by project Co-director Lin Ching-hui 林靜慧 (DILA) (p. 11)
4: Introduction to DMCT in Chinese by 林靜慧 and 洪振洲 (DILA) (p. 11-23)
5: Introduction to newly marked-up manuscript texts 寫卷說明2022&2023 by 林靜慧 (p. 23-31)
6: News from our members: contributions by Laurent Van Cutsem and Liang Litian (p. 32-34)
7: Poster session (p. 34-37)
8: Newly funded projects (p. 38-40)
9: Internship report by Wu Taoyu 吴韬玉, featuring an edition of the earliest dated Dunhuang manuscript, a rendering of the Ten Recitations Prātimokṣa sūtra based on Ms. Or.8210/S.797r (p. 39-52)
10: News from our partners, with contributions by Manuel Sassmann concerning our new collaboration with Buddhist Stone Sutras in China project (Heidelberg Academy of Science), a paper by Marcus Bingenheimer on encoding Buddhist texts using DNA, and a thorough introduction to the Thesaurus Linguae Sericae (TLS) database by Christian Wittern (p. 52-59)
11: MA thesis reports, introducing a selection of recent MA theses, “Words with Alternative Pronunciations in Modern Chinese and the Reading Traditions of Pre-modern Chinese Poetry” by Wu Taoyu, “A Study of Popular Character Forms (súzì 俗字) in the Dūnhuáng Manuscripts of Sōushén jì 搜神记” by Yang Yuting, and “A Study of Proper Names in the Chinese translations of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Saṃghabheda-vastu” by Zhang Longyu (p. 59-65)
12: Publications and lectures (selection) (p. 66-67)
WE WISH YOU ALL A PLEASANT READING EXPERIENCE!
We are delighted to share that two researchers will be joining the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies in the fall having both been awarded prestigious FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellowships in the 2025 competition under the supervision of Professor Charles DiSimone. Congratulations to Dr. Xiaoming Hou and Dr. Kikee Bhutia! We are excited to welcome them into our research group in the Fall.
Dr. Hou joins us from UC Berkeley with the project: Visualizing Doctrine: A Study of Exegetical Diagrams in Medieval Chinese Buddhism (8th–10th Centuries)
Abstract:
This research project investigates the technical and pedagogical practices of medieval Chinese Buddhism by focusing on exegetical diagrams preserved in Dunhuang from the 8th to 10th centuries. Known both as fenmen tu 分門圖 (“diagram of gate-division”) and kewen 科文 (“text of analytical division”), these diagrams exemplify the liminal nature of this unique genre, which bridges the boundaries between image and text. Flourishing in medieval China and persisting into modern Buddhist practice, these diagrams provide critical insights into the epistemological foundations of Chinese Buddhist scholasticism. The study addresses three key questions: (1) What are the defining features and functions of these diagrams, and how do they facilitate knowledge organization? (2) How were they produced, transmitted, and utilized in their manuscript contexts, and what do these practices reveal about their pedagogical roles? (3) What do these diagrams disclose about the social and institutional networks of their producers and users? The project also situates Buddhist exegetical diagrams within the broader Chinese tu 圖 tradition, comparing them with diagrams from non-Buddhist traditions to analyze their divergences as scholastic tools. By exploring these diagrams as technical devices for knowledge transmission, this research shifts scholarly focus from doctrinal content to the technical savoir-faire underpinning intellectual traditions.
Dr. Bhutia joins us from the University of Tartu with the project: Local Deities, Natural Disaster, and Ritual Waste in Vernacular Buddhist Practices in the Himalayas
Abstract:
This project examines the intersection of local religious practices, environmental policies, and waste management in Sikkim, with a particular emphasis on the influence of Buddhist rituals and beliefs on the community’s approach to sustainability. Despite its relatively small geographic size, Sikkim has emerged as a leader in environmental initiatives, including the prohibition of plastic and the promotion of eco-friendly practices. However, traditional rituals, such as the tying of prayer flags and the use of synthetic materials in religious offerings, pose significant challenges to environmental conservation. This research investigates the roles of local deities, vernacular Buddhist practices, and monastic institutions in waste management, analyzing how religious concepts are integrated into environmental policies. Utilizing ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and archival research, this study will explore how communities navigate the complexities of modernization and tradition, thereby contributing to academic discussions on waste, religion, and sustainability in the Himalayas. The project aims to produce scholarly articles, presentations, and public outreach materials, thereby fostering both academic and social engagement.
We warmly welcome Lin Wushi, an exchange PhD student from the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts! His research interests include the history of Buddhist thought, with particular emphasis on Chinese Buddhism and Chan Buddhism. His doctoral thesis, titled “Comprehending Everything as Oneself: The No-Self Doctrine of Zibo Zhenke in Ming Dynasty Buddhism,” investigates the significance, characteristics, evolution, and hermeneutics of the “no-self” doctrine in late Ming Dynasty Buddhism, focusing on the influential monk Zibo Zhenke (紫柏真可, 1543-1604).
Given most of researches on the “no-self” (Skt. anātman; Ch. wuwo 無我) doctrine in Buddhism have predominantly focused on the Indian context, often overlooking its significant and intriguing variations within Chinese Buddhist history, I will demonstrate that the Chinese interpretation of “no-self” departs significantly from the primarily ontological emphasis of Indian Buddhism, exhibiting instead an epistemological orientation. For instance, Zibo presents “no-self” as a cognitive model of non-duality between subject and object, contrasting with the standard Indian Buddhist definition as the denial of an unchanging, eternal self. I will also further discuss how Zibo’s interpretation of “no-self” serves as a deliberate response to intellectual issues of the late Ming Dynasty, such as Yangmingism (陽明學) and the relationships among the three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism).
Academic Education
2025-Present, PhD candidate, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University (Gent, Belgium)
2018-present, PhD candidate, Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (New Taipei City, Taiwan)
2012-2018, M.A., Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (New Taipei City, Taiwan.)
M.A. Thesis: “The Development and Performativity of Doctrine of the Insentient Beings according to the Chan School: From the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkāvatāra to the Blue-Cliff Records”
2008-2012, B.A., Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Buddhist College (New Taipei City, Taiwan.)
Recent Publications
2022 “Drinking Water from Waves: Essentialism in Zibo Zhenke’s Perspective on the Relationship between Chan and Doctrine,” Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, no. 31, THCI Core.
2021 “Flowers as Spring or Gold Dust as Film in the Eyes? – Zibo Zhenke’s View on the Relationship between Chan and Doctrine and Its Problems on Anti-intellectualism,” Taiwan Journal of Buddhist Studies, no. 42, THCI Core.
2020 “Who does Preach the Dharma Preached by Insentient Beings? The Roles of Author, Narrator, Reader and Understanding Mechanism in the Texts about the Doctrine of Insentient Beings according to Chan School,” Chinese studies, no.38(3), THCI Core.
On May 15, 2025, the King of the Belgians received a special royal gift from the King of Thailand: a beautifully bound edition of the Pali Tipitaka, the foundational scripture of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. The gift symbolizes the long-standing friendship and cultural ties between Thailand and Belgium, and highlights the importance of interreligious dialogue and mutual respect. This meaningful gesture reflects the shared value both countries place on preserving and honoring religious heritage. Head of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies Prof. Dr. Ann Heirman attended the ceremony.
In February 2025, our postdoctoral researcher Dr. Laurent Van Cutsem returned from an enriching six-month stay as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Research on Ancient Books 古籍研究所 at Zhejiang University 浙江大學 in Hangzhou 杭州. His host was Prof. Feng Guodong 馮國棟, a leading expert on the Jingde chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄, a landmark Chan historiographical text originally compiled in 1004 by the monk Daoyuan 道源 (d.u.).
During his time in China, Dr. Van Cutsem presented papers at three international conferences. The first was International Conference “Canonical, Non-Canonical and Extra-Canonical: Interdisciplinary and Multi-media Studies of the Formation, Translation and Transmission of Buddhist Texts 佛教典籍的成立與傳譯視閾下的佛教中國化,” co-organized by The Wutai Shan Institute of Buddhism and Eastern Asian Culture 五臺山東方佛教文化研究院, the FROGBEAR project at the Univ. of British Columbia, and the Institute for Ethics and Religions Studies 道德與宗教研究院 at Tsinghua Univ. 清華大學 and held at Great Bamboo Grove Monastery 大聖竹林 on Mt. Wutai 五臺山 (August 11–15, 2024). Dr. Van Cutsem’s paper focused on focused on the role of Ānanda in Tang-Song Chan hagiography.
The second was International Conference “Cross-Regional and Cross-Cultural Interaction and Integration between Buddhism and Other Asian Religions 佛教與亞洲宗教跨地域與跨文化的互鑒與共融” (August 16–19, 2024), organized by the Center for Buddhist Culture Studies 佛教文化研究中心 at Zhejiang University 浙江大學, in collaboration with the Glorisun Global Network of Buddhist Studies, with administration support from the FROGBEAR project at the Univ. of British Columbia. Dr. Van Cutsem’s paper explored quotations from the influential Baolin zhuan 寶林傳 preserved in the little-studied 14th-century Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄.
At the third conference—“Buddhist Civilization and Manuscript Culture along the Silk Road” 絲綢之路上的佛教文明與寫本文化 (Zhejiang University, November 15–18, 2024), organized by Prof. Hou Haoran 侯浩然—he presented research on the Shengzhou ji 聖冑集 and the Dunhuang manuscript Or.8210/S.4478. In addition to his presentation, he also served as a discussant for Prof. Kirill Solonin’s paper on Tangut-language Chan texts from the Western Xia 西夏 empire.
While at Zhejiang University, Dr. Van Cutsem attended select classes by Imre Galambos and Zhang Yongquan 張湧泉, both renowned specialists in Dunhuang studies and manuscript culture. He also did archival research and exchanged ideas about his ongoing projects with several professors, including Feng Guodong, Imre Galambos, Dou Huaiyong 竇懷永, and Chen Ruifeng 陳瑞峰.
He returned to Ghent with a rich collection of photographs documenting sites associated with the Zutang ji 祖堂集, another key Chan historiographical text compiled in Quanzhou 泉州 in the mid-10th century and the central focus of his Ph.D. dissertation, and from his visits of several museums and special exhibitions in Hangzhou.
Research Institute for Ancient Books 古籍研究所, Zhejiang UniversityBuilding of the School of Literature 文學院, School of History 歷史學院, and School of Philosophy 哲學學院, Zhejiang UniversityLibrary of the Research Institute for Ancient Books 古籍研究所圖書館, Zhejiang UniversityPart of the Zijingang 紫金港 campus, Zhejiang University. View on the main libraryInternational Conference “Canonical, Non-Canonical and Extra-Canonical: Interdisciplinary and Multi-media Studies of the Formation, Translation and Transmission of Buddhist Texts,” Mount Wutai 五臺山, August 11–15, 2024.International Conference “Cross-Regional and Cross-Cultural Interaction and Integration between Buddhism and Other Asian Religions ,” Zhejiang University, August 16–19, 2024International Workshop “Buddhist Civilization and Manuscript Culture along the Silk Road,” Zhejiang University, Nov. 15–18, 2024
Dr. Mariia Lepneva conducted fieldwork in China from March 16 to April 5, 2025, as part of her FWO-funded postdoctoral project, “Vinaya Revival on Baohua Mountain in Ming–Qing China.” The primary objectives of this research trip were threefold: to strengthen academic ties with colleagues in Chinese institutions, to visit monasteries associated with the Vinaya (monastic discipline and rituals) tradition during the seventeenth century, and to collect both primary and secondary sources for ongoing research. Further details can be found in Dr. Lepneva’s report below.
Tianning Nunnery in Beijing
The first stop on my journey was Beijing, where I stayed from March 16 to 23. During this time, I was able to visit all six monasteries that conducted monastic ordinations during the late Ming and early Qing periods: Fayuan 法源寺, Guangji 广济寺, Guanghua 广化寺, Tanzhe 潭柘寺, Jietai 戒台寺, and Tianning 天宁寺. Fayuan and Guangji Monasteries experienced a relatively swift revival following the implementation of the Reform and Opening-Up policy in the late 1970s. These sites played important roles in fostering unofficial ties with Buddhist countries across Asia, as the People’s Republic of China sought broader international recognition. As a result, both monasteries became repositories of cultural artifacts. Guanghua Monastery is usually closed to the public; however, I had the rare opportunity to enter during a religious festival celebrating the birthday of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. As for Tianning Monastery, only the pagoda courtyard remains, now reduced to about one-tenth of its original size. Interestingly, the site once functioned as a factory for producing gramophone records, but it has since been repurposed as a nunnery.
Ordination platform in Tanzhe Monastery
Located in the Western Hills, about an hour’s drive from central Beijing, Tanzhe and Jietai Monasteries have become popular weekend destinations for residents of the capital. Although managed by tourism companies, both monasteries are still home to active monastic communities. Each site preserves a historical ordination platform, though these are no longer in use. Currently, monastic ordinations in the capital region are only permitted at Baipu Monastery 白瀑寺, located in the Mentougou district, with the next ordination scheduled for June 2025.
Delivering a talk at Peking University
During my stay in Beijing, I engaged in a number of fruitful scholarly exchanges. Most notably, I delivered a lecture at Peking University, hosted by Professor Wang Song 王颂. In my presentation, I discussed the institutional transformation of Guangji Monastery during the early Qing dynasty, highlighting the emergence of a new power structure that elevated the role of Vinaya monks.
In addition, I had the opportunity to meet with several renowned scholars, such as Professor Sheng Kai 圣凯 of Qinghua University and Professor Xuan Fang 宣方 of Renmin University, as well as Professor Ju Xi 鞠熙 of Beijing Normal University, who is co-leading a project on publishing all stele inscriptions within the inner city walls of Beijing.
Professor Hu Yonghui hosts my talk at Nanjing University
The second stop on my journey was Nanjing, where I stayed from March 23 to 30, including a one-day visit to Shanghai on March 26. Both Nanjing and Shanghai Universities maintain joint teaching programs with our Department of Languages and Cultures, so I was especially pleased to take this opportunity to strengthen ties with our academic partners in both cities.
At Nanjing University, I delivered a lecture on the conceptualization of the Vinaya tradition of Baohua Mountain by its seventeenth-century abbot. The event was hosted by Professor Hu Yonghui 胡永辉, the coordinator of the university’s cooperation with Ghent. It was also a great pleasure to reconnect with several PhD students from Nanjing University whom I had previously met in Ghent during their exchange year.
In addition to my academic activities at Nanjing University, I also visited Professor Wang Jianguang 王建光 at Nanjing Agricultural University. A leading expert on the history of the Vinaya tradition in China, Professor Wang provided valuable insights relevant to my research and also shared that his new book, Continuation of the General History of Vinaya School in China 中国律宗通史续篇, will soon be published as part of Jiechuang Buddhist Studies Series 戒幢佛学论丛. During my visit to Shanghai, I met with Professor Cheng Qing 成庆 of Shanghai University, who is currently serving as co-promoter of a project focused on publishing rare Buddhist sources from the early seventeenth century.
Entrace of Longchang Monastery on Baohua Mountain
With the kind help of my new and old friends in Nanjing, I was able to visit the major site I am investigating within the framework of my current research project: Baohua Mountain. Longchang Monastery 隆昌寺 it houses is still a well-know Vinaya centre, which hold regular monastic ordinations and supplies staff for similar ceremonies elsewhere in China. I was pleased to learn that the resident monastic community is actively engaged in collecting, preserving, and publishing materials related to the monastery’s history, Vinaya studies, and ordination practices.
Pagoda of Guxin Ruxin at the centre of the pagoda yard of Tianlong Monastery
On the same day, I explored the pagoda yard of Tianlong Monastery 天隆寺, where one can see the pagoda of the famous reviver of monastic ordinations in the early seventeenth century, Guxin Ruxin 古心如馨 (1541-1616) (the structure likely dates to a renovation carried out in the early twentieth century). I also visited Jiming Monastery 鸡鸣寺 and Qixia Monastery 栖霞寺, which currently host female and male Buddhist seminaries, respectively. The library of Jiming Monastery is managed by Nanjing Normal University and has a catalogue available online.
Lineage genealogy on Dinghu Mountain (with final entries added in 2008)
The final stop of my fieldwork trip was Guangzhou, where I met with two scholars whose work has been particularly relevant to my research. The first was Dr. Li Fubiao 李福标 of the library of Sun Yat-sen University, whose pioneering studies on monastic ordinations in seventeenth-century Guangzhou—and the broader Lingnan (southern China) region—have been invaluable. The second was Professor Zhang Dewei 张德伟, author of the influential monograph Thriving in Crisis: Buddhism and Political Disruption in China, 1522–1620, which has long served as a major source of inspiration for my own work.
Professor Zhang hosted my talk at Jinan University, where I presented an analysis of late Ming and Qing monastic networks. With the generous support of both colleagues, I visited Dinghu Mountain 鼎湖山, a key center of Vinaya studies in southern China during the seventeenth century. I also had the opportunity to visit several historic monasteries within the city of Guangzhou, including Guangxiao Monastery 光孝寺, Wuzhuo Temple 无着庵, and Haichuang Monastery 海幢寺.
The wealth of texts from the famous “Library Cave” or Cave 17 from Mogao near Dunhuang, which was closed around the turn of the eleventh century, offers scholars a time-capsule from the social and cultural world of first-millennium CE Dunhuang, a melting pot with connections to China and places farther west along the so-called Silk Road. It can also be used, with caution, to compare religious practice there with what we know of Buddhism at the court of the Tibetan emperors in the eighth and ninth centuries especially. One aspect of this is what Arthur Waley termed “Dhāraṇī Buddhism” in his 1931 work, A Catalogue of Paintings Recovered from Tun-Huang by Sir Aurel Stein. This presentation will bring recent advances in the study of the importance and changing nature of prayer in Indic- and Chinese-language sources to bear on Pelliot tibétain 45, a stitched concertina Tibetan-language manuscript from Dunhuang that consists of a corpus of rituals dating to between the imperial and early post-imperial period. In this presentation, I will identify some of the dhāraṇīs and prayer texts found in this manuscript, with correlates provided (in somewhat different forms) in the later Tibetan canons, discuss the ritual uses of these texts evidenced in the manuscript’s marginalia, and connect the literary and artistic additions in it to central Tibet, Gilgit and South Asia during the first millennium.
Bio:
Lewis Doney is Professor of Tibetan Studies at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. He received his PhD (Study of Religions) from SOAS, University of London, in 2011 and was then engaged in postdoctoral research on early Tibetan life writing, empire and religion, Tibetan relations with South Asia and their impact on social and labour dependencies within Sino-Tibetan communities around Dunhuang, and later southern Tibetan Buddhist historiography and ritual and their relations to cultural identities and ecologies in the Himalayas. His publications include a solo-authored monograph titled The Zangs gling ma: The First Padmasambhava Biography (International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2014), an edited volume, Bringing Buddhism to Tibet: History and Narrative in the dBa’ bzhed Manuscript (De Gruyter, 2021) and a monograph co-authored with Brandon Dotson: Producing Buddhist Sutras in Ninth-Century Tibet: The Sutra of Limitless Life and its Dunhuang Copies Kept at the British Library (De Gruyter, 2025).
Dr. Hou joins us from UC Berkeley with the project: Visualizing Doctrine: A Study of Exegetical Diagrams in Medieval Chinese Buddhism (8th–10th Centuries)
Dr. Bhutia joins us from the University of Tartu with the project: Local Deities, Natural Disaster, and Ritual Waste in Vernacular Buddhist Practices in the Himalayas
We warmly welcome Lin Wushi, an exchange PhD student from the 
