Category: Publications

GCBS researchers Dr. Anna Sokolova and Dr. Mariia Lepneva contributed numerous entries to the Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture, project led by the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona.

Hangzhou, the Chinese capital during the Song dynasty (960-1278), has been a cultural and economic hub for centuries and played a crucial role in the spread of Buddhism throughout East Asia, particularly in the case of Chan (J. Zen; K. Sŏn) Buddhism. The Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture is the first dedicated reference source for Hangzhou’s Buddhist heritage and its associated cultural legacies. Hangzhou’s cultural prominence expands beyond the monasteries and subsumes fine arts, material culture, and intellectual history. This Encyclopedia includes people, places, texts, industries, arts, concepts, and schools from pre-Tang China all the way through the Republican Period.

Wu, Jiang, eds. Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2025.

 

Anna Sokolova contributed the following entries:

• Dongyu Dehai 東嶼德海 (1256–1327).
• Hengchuan Rugong 横川如珙 (1222–1289)
• Huiji Yuanxi 晦機元熙 (1238–1319)
• Jingsou Rujue 荆叟如珏 (ca. eighth century)
• Zhu Pengnian 朱彭年 (1837–1896) (together with Pua Shiau Chen)

 

Mariia Lepneva contributed the following entries:

• Baiting Xufa 伯亭續法 (1641–1728)
• Baojing 寳靜 (1899–1940)
• Changxing 常惺 (1896–1939)
• Chen Zujing 陳祖經 (1892–1972)
• Chisong 持松 (1894–1972)
• Cizhou 慈舟 (1877–1958)
• Daxing 大醒 (1899–1952)
• Dayong 大勇 (1893–1929)
• Du Shenfu 堵申甫 (1884–1961)
• Fakai 法開 (d.u.)
• Falin 法林 (1284–1355)
• Fashen 法詵 (718–778)
• Gaoshu Mingchuang 杲樹明幢 (ca. eighteenth century)
• Guxin Ruxin 古心如馨 (1541–1616)
• Hongsan 弘傘 (1889–1971)
• Huang Hanzhi 黃涵之 (1875–1961)
• Huiji 慧基 (412–496)
• Huiji. 慧集 (456–515)
• Huileng 慧稜 (854–932)
• Jiang Yiyuan 江易園 (1876–1942)
• Jieliu Xingce 截流行策 (1628–1682)
• Jing Hengyi 經亨頤 (1877–1938) (together with William Chin-fung Ng)
• Jingquan 靜權 (1881–1960)
• Jingzhong Puzhuang 敬中普莊 (1347–1403)
• Juezong Shanji 絕宗善繼 (1286–1357)
• Juzan 巨贊 (1904–1984)
• Lanwu 懶悟 (1900–1969)
• Li Hongliang 李鴻梁 (1895–1972)
• Liu Jingchen 劉景晨 (1880–1960)
• Liu Zhiping 劉質平 (1894–1978)
• Ma Jiangshi 馬絳士 (1873–1937)
• Mao Zijian 毛子堅 (1882–1954)
• Nie Yuntai 聶雲台 (1880–1953)
• Qingtian 清天 (d.u.)
• Qingyuan Huaiwei 清遠懷渭 (1318–1375) (together with Guangzuo Jia)
• Shaojue Guangcheng 紹覺廣承 (1560–1609). (together with Jiang Wu)
• Shuyu 書玉 (1645–1721)
• Song Pingzi 宋平子 (1862–1910)
• Su Manshu 蘇曼殊 (1884–1918)
• Sun Xuanqing 孫選青 (1887–1971)
• Tongru 通如 (d.u.)
• Wu Bihua 吳璧華 (1877–1926) (together with Guangzuo Jia)
• Wu Mengfei 吳夢飛 (1892–1962)
• Wushan Chinese Buddhist Vinaya Institute (Wushan Zhongguo Fojiao Lüxueyuan 吳山中國佛教律學院)
• Xingyuan 性願 (1889–1962)
• Yang Baimin 楊白民 (1874–1924)
• Ye Weiming 葉為銘 (1866–1948)
• Yekai 冶開 (1852–1922)
• Yingci 應慈 (1873–1965)
• You Mojun 尤墨君 (1888–1971)
• Youzhang 幼璋 (841–927)
• Yuexi 月溪 (1879–1965).
• Yunqi Jiaoxi 雲棲交熙 (1823–1883)
• Zhifeng 芝峰 (1901–1967)
• Zhou Mengyou 周孟由 (1877–1958)

GCBS’s former member Dr. Yi Ding published his new book “Observances, Feasts, and Scripts: The Varieties of Zhai in Chinese Buddhism from the Second to the Tenth Century” as part of the Kuroda Studies in East Asian Buddhism.

This book is the first monograph written in English to offer a comprehensive analysis of the varieties of zhai, a multifaceted term with deep historical and religious significance in Chinese Buddhism. Drawing on a wide array of sources—including canonical texts, apocryphal writings, hagiographies, and ritual documents—this book unveils zhai as a ritual complex encompassing temporary observances, communal feasts, and modes of interaction between the seen and unseen realms. These practices, rooted in both lay and monastic traditions, illustrate the intricate interplay between food, community, and ritual in Indian and Chinese Buddhism.

Part I traces how Indian Buddhist temporary observances were adapted, debated, and reimagined in the Chinese context. Part II explains the sponsored feast as a mechanism for lay-monastic interaction and merit-making. It also examines how Buddhists engaged with deities and spirit saints through remote invitations and ritual offerings. Part III focuses on “scripts” used for receiving the Eightfold Observance and conducting sponsored feasts, thus revealing their evolution from simple master-disciple interactions to complex communal events.

Observances, Feasts, and Scripts is an essential resource for scholars interested in food-related religious practices and the history of Buddhism. Through its meticulous examination of Chinese, Pāli, Sanskrit, and Tibetan materials, the book offers a fresh perspective on Chinese Buddhism as an intercultural endeavor. It sheds light on relevant scholastic debates, the creation of apocrypha, translation strategies, and ritual innovations in medieval China. By moving beyond teleological frameworks such as Sinicization, it emphasizes the agency of cultural, doctrinal, and social factors in shaping these practices. Additionally, it engages with the cognitive dimensions of ritual and highlights ritual logic as a cross-cultural analytical lens.

Citation: Ding, Yi. Observances, Feasts, and Scripts: The Varieties of Zhai in Chinese Buddhism from the Second to the Tenth Century. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2026.

At the end of 2025, three early-career scholars affiliated with the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies — Dr. Laurent Van Cutsem, Dr. Mariia Lepneva, and Massimiliano Portoghese — published new research articles in leading international peer-reviewed journals. Their work reflects the methodological diversity and scholarly depth of current research at the GCBS and contributes to ongoing debates in Buddhist and Chinese studies. Below, we briefly present each publication in turn.

Revisiting Huairang: The Fragments of the Baolin zhuan Preserved in the Keitoku dentō shōroku and Their Implications for Tang-Song Chan Historiography

Author: Laurent Van Cutsem

T’oung Pao

Volume 111: Issue 5-6

Online Publication Date: 16 Dec 2025

Publisher: Brill

Pages: 584–662

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685322-11105003

The Baolin zhuan 寶林傳 is a cornerstone in the formation of Chan historiography, yet it survives today only in two incomplete historical textual witnesses. Its tenth and final fascicle, likely covering the lives and teachings of Huineng 慧能 (638–713) and his first- and second-generation successors, is lost. Building on earlier Japanese scholarship, Shiina Kōyū 椎名宏雄 further identified and explored fragments of this missing fascicle preserved in five later works. This article examines the fragments concerning Huairang 懷讓 (d. 744) preserved in the Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄 and investigates the influence of the Baolin zhuan’s account on Chan historiography in the Five Dynasties and early Song periods.

Keywords: Nanyue Huairang; Chan/Zen Buddhism; Buddhist historiography; Baolin zhuan; Zutang ji; Jingde chuandeng lu; Tiansheng guangdeng lu; Keitoku dentō shōroku

 

The Dynamics of Chinese Buddhism in the Ming and Qing: Social Network Analysis Based on a Combined Dataset

Author: Mariia Lepneva

Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies

Volume 6, Issue 2

Online Publication Date: 29 December 2025

pp. 77–99

https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2025.6.2.lepneva

The revival of Buddhism during the late Ming and early Qing has long captivated scholarly interest. Recently, a significant methodological advancement has emerged through the application of social network analysis, leverag-ing the extensive “Historical Social Network of Chinese Buddhism” dataset. This paper seeks to further refine scholarly understanding of this revitalisation by incorporating monks of the Vinaya tradition, largely absent from the original dataset. To achieve this, it proposes an innovative approach that integrates period-specific data from the original dataset with newly collected data. The analysis corroborates scholarly emphasis on the centrality of Chan master Miyun Yuanwu 密雲圓悟 (1567–1642) in the late Ming, employing both degree and betweenness centrality. However, the integration of the Vinaya segment reconfigures the arrangement of Chan lineages vis-à-vis the High Qing imperial cluster, providing new perspectives on the early Qing and eighteenth century, particularly emphasising the role of Vinaya monks who served as Mount Baohua (Baohua shan 寶華山) abbots. These findings underscore the significance of the Vinaya tradition through quantitative metrics, enhancing scholarly understanding of the history of the Buddhist community during this period.

 

Exploring the Cultural Perceptions and Symbolism of Tonsure in Early Buddhist China

Author: Massimiliano Portoghese

Journal of Chinese Religions

Volume 53, Number 2

Online Date: December 2025

pp. 185-212

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jcr.2025.a975819

The practice of tonsure, an essential component of Buddhist ordination rituals, faced significant disapproval from Chinese society from the very advent of Buddhism in China. Beginning in the Han dynasty, shaving one’s head emerged as a powerful marker of identity that challenged established etiquette norms and directly opposed the state’s control over ceremonial practices. This article aims to explain why, among the various Indian customs that entered China, the act of shaving the head became such a contentious issue. To achieve this, it will first analyze the arguments both for and against monastic tonsure that are found in Buddhist apologetic sources. Additionally, the article will attempt to place this specific body modification in the broader cultural context of hair in pre-Buddhist China in order to explore several perspectives beyond the well-known charge of monastics lacking the virtue of filial piety.

GCBS’s former member Ouyang Nan will publish her first book, Constructing the Divine Abode of Dizang Bodhisattva: Mount Jiuhua in Late Imperial China (14th to 20th century), as volume 174 of Sinica Leidensia series with Brill. The e-book has come out this August and the hardback will be available soon. The foundational research for this monograph was carried out during her doctoral studies at the University of Arizona, while the draft was completed as part of her FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellowship project, “The ‘revolution’ of Chinese buddhism of the Mao era. A study of the monastic life on Mt. Jiuhua (1949–1978)”, hosted at the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies in 2021-2024.

This book explores how Mount Jiuhua became the seat of Dizang Bodhisattva and evolved into a renowned Buddhist mountain during the late imperial period. The uncoordinated yet collective efforts of various interested parties shaped the dynamic interplay between tangible elements (mummies, masters, pilgrimage practices) and intangible factors (myths, popular literature), redefining and reinforcing the mountain’s divine status. By incorporating previously overlooked sources, such as inscriptions, amulets, drama scripts, and “underworld passes,” this study highlights the critical role of rank-and-file religious practitioners in the sacred place-making process.

Currently, Nan is an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University. Her research interests include Buddhism in late imperial China, the modernization of Chinese religions, sacred space, pilgrimage studies, and digital humanities. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Chinese Religions, Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, and Modern China.

 

Title: Constructing the Divine Abode of Dizang Bodhisattva: Mount Jiuhua in Late Imperial China (14th–20th Century)
Series: Sinica Leidensia, Volume: 174
Author: Nan Ouyang

Copyright Year: 2025

ISBN (e-book): 978-90-04-74198-0

ISBN (hardback): 978-90-04-72716-8

 

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgements ix

List of Figures and Tables xii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Dizang as a Deity of Death 2

1.2 Mount Jiuhua in Chinese Sacred Geography 6

1.3 Theories and Methodology 14

1.3.1 Sacred Geography 14

1.3.2 Materiality 18

1.3.3 Fluidity 19

1.4 Chapter Outlines 21

2 The Evolution of the Local Legends of Jin Dizang 24

2.1 The Standardized Story 26

2.1.1 Main Storyline 26

2.1.2 Secondary Storyline 30

2.2 The Popular Pictorial Album 37

2.3 Conclusion 44

3 Inventing the Cult of Mummified Bodies 47

3.1 The Development of Mummification in Chinese Buddhism 48

3.1.1 Mummification in the Medieval Period 49

3.1.2 Mummification from the Song to the Ming Periods 51

3.1.3 Mummification from the Late Qing to the Republican Era 53

3.1.4 Mummification in the Modern Era: Focused on Mount Jiuhua 55

3.2 The Rise of Mount Jiuhua as a Center of Mummification 58

3.2.1 Mummification in the Tang: the Emergence of a Tradition 59

3.2.2 Mummification in the Ming–Qing Period: a Formative Era 60

3.2.2.1 The Growth and Glory of the Huacheng Monastery in the Ming 60

3.2.2.2 The Appearance of New Mummies and the Cult of Mummification 63

3.2.2.3 Perceptions of Mummies on Mount Jiuhua in the Ming–Qing Literature 67

3.2.3 Mummification in Modern China: Revival 69

3.3 Conclusion 71

4 Practicing a Bodhisattva Cult in the Home of Dizang 73

4.1 Rationale for a Stay on Mount Jiuhua 76

4.2 The Performance of Buddhist Rituals 78

4.2.1 Offering Incense before the Dizang Pagoda 79

4.2.2 Commemorating a Parent 81

4.2.3 Chanting Dhāraṇī 84

4.2.4 A Ritual Manual Oriented to Dizang Bodhisattva 86

4.3 Active Engagement with the Jiuhua Clergy 88

4.3.1 Asking for Donations of Lamp Oil 89

4.3.2 Fundraising for Building a Pagoda 90

4.3.3 Solving Internal Conflicts 91

4.4 The Other Side of the Mountain-Dwelling Life in Poems 92

4.5 Conclusion 95

5 Emplacing Dizang at Its Abode with Local Dramas 98

5.1 Four One-Act Plays 102

5.1.1 The Diagram of Nine Generations 102

5.1.2 The Digest of the Diagram of Nine Generations 106

5.1.3 The Main Deliverance of Warding Off the Fox 108

5.1.4 The Lesser Deliverance of the Dragon Princess 110

5.2 Conclusion 112

6 Making Pilgrimages to the Seat of Dizang 115

6.1 The Timing of Mount Jiuhua’s Journey to Fame 117

6.2 Key Sites for Pilgrimages 118

6.2.1 The Huacheng Monastery 119

6.2.2 The Dizang Pagoda 120

6.3 Pilgrimage Practices 122

6.3.1 Particular Pilgrimage Practices on the Road 122

6.3.2 Particular Pilgrimage Practices at the Destination: for the Living 124

6.3.3 Particular Pilgrimage Practices at the Destination: for the Dead 131

6.3.3.1 A Woodblock for Printing Underworld Passes in the Qing Dynasty 132

6.3.3.2 A Printed Underworld Pass in the Republican Era (1911–1949) 135

6.4 Social and Economic Issues of the Pilgrimage 138

6.4.1 Class Issues 138

6.4.2 Gender Issues 140

6.5 Conclusion 141

7 Conclusion 143

7.1 Making a Space Sacred 144

7.2 The Localization of Buddhism 146

7.3 The “Four Great Famous (Buddhist) Mountains” 147

7.4 Mount Jiuhua in the Twenty-First Century 150

Appendix 1 153

Appendix 2 156

Appendix 3 158

Appendix 4 162

Appendix 5 165

Appendix 6 167

Appendix 7 169

Appendix 8 171

Appendix 9 172

Bibliography 178

Index 196

New open-access book Literary transcreation as a Jain practice, edited by Eva De Clercq (Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies), Heleen De Jonckheere, and Simon Winant, has been published as Volume 13 in the series Beiträge zur kulturwissenschaftlichen Süd- und Ostasienforschung.

This volume developed out of a conference, “Literary Transcreation as a Jain Practice,” originally scheduled for May 2020, but due to the global COVID pandemic, it was postponed to September 2022. The idea for the conference arose from the shared research interests of the conference organisers and this volume’s editors whose work on Jain narrative literature prompted them to ask what conclusions may be drawn from the many creative engagements by Jains with existing literary objects, and how these may contribute to the field of South Asian Studies.

A vast corpus of Jain texts lies unexamined in manuscript libraries, several of them new versions of earlier works. Though the prevalence of literary transcreation in Jain communities is striking, it is by no means a practice exclusive to them. The field of South Asian Studies has increasingly dealt with the creative engagement of authors with an authoritative literary object. Although these studies have brought to the fore important conclusions, the Jains as a literary community have remained absent from these discussions. This volume addresses this gap, highlighting the influential role of Jain authors in the multilingual literary world of South Asia.

Citation

De Clercq, Eva, Heleen De Jonckheere, and Simon Winant, eds. 2025. “Literary Transcreation as a Jain Practice.” Baden-Baden: Ergon. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783987401602.

Table of Content

Heleen De Jonckheere

Introduction: Jain Transcreations and the Creativity of Similarity …………… 9

Mary and John Brockington

All Things to all Men — and Women: Rāma transcreated …………… 25

Eva De Clercq

“Life of Padma” Times Three: Telling the same Story in Prakrit, Sanskrit, and Apabhramsha …………… 51

Gregory M. Clines

Heroism or Detachment: Reading Hastimalla’s Añjanāpavanañjaya …………… 77

Basile Leclère

Kumārapāla’s Wedding with Fair-Compassion: An Allegorical Story retold from Drama to Narratives …………… 95

Simon Winant

The Auspicious Dreams of Kuntī and Mādrī in Devaprabhasūri’s Pāṇḍavacarita: Turning the Pāṇḍavas into Quasi-Mahāpuruṣas? …………… 119

Neha Tiwari

A City of Two Tales: Structure of Causality in Jain and Hindu Accounts of the Destruction of Dvārakā and the Death of Kṛṣṇa …………… 143

Shubha Shanthamurthy

A Case Study in Jaina Transcreation: Jalakrīḍā in the Nēmi Narratives …………… 175

Anna Aurelia Esposito

The Story of King Yaśōdhara – Processes of Transformation …………… 209

Anil Mundra

Repudiation, Reinvention, and Reconciliation: Ātmārām and Haribhadrasūri’s other Readers on other Gods …………… 227

John E. Cort

Translation as Commentary and Commentary as Translation in Jain Literary Practice …………… 245

Cover Image References …………… 277

Articles from two GCBS researchers have just been published in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Volume 46 (2023). One is by Prof. Dr. Charles DiSimone, and the other by FWO postdoctoral fellow Dr. Anna Sokolova.

• “Manuscript Discoveries at Mes Aynak,” by Charles DiSimone

Abstract: In the past few years important manuscript discoveries have been uncovered in the course of the excavation of the archeological site at the ancient city of Mes Aynak in Afghanistan. This article, the first of a series, examines this new manuscript evidence providing an analysis of seven groups of manuscript fragments found at Mes Aynak consisting of only a part of the total material uncovered at the site. The fragments under the scope of this article are all copied on birch bark folios in the Gilgit/Bamiyan Type I script and date from the 6th-7th centuries of the Common Era. Works identified include witnesses of the Maitreyavyākaraṇa, Bahubuddhāvadāna verses, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, and the Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā. Several unidentified fragments are also analyzed. Transliterations are given for all fragments and reconstructions or parallels and translations are supplied for all identified works. It is hypothesized that the bundle containing the Maitreyavyākaraṇa and Bahubuddhāvadāna verses represents the first witness discovered of the heretofore lost Mūlasarvāstivāda Kṣudrakapiṭaka. The Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā fragments discussed are also of great interest, representing the first example of that work discovered within the area of Greater Gandhāra from this period, placing it among the earlier witnesses of this work discovered to date. It also appears to mark an earlier transmission of the work that differs from later, known transmissions.

• “Regional Buddhism and Restoration Policy in Tang-Dynasty China: Wei Gao (745-805) and his Buddhist Activities in Xichuan,” by Anna Sokolova

Abstract :This article investigates the Buddhist projects that Wei Gao (745-805), Military Governor of Xichuan Circuit (central part of present-day Sichuan Province), undertook in the region’s capital, Chengdu, with a primary focus on three major enterprises that he launched in the final four years of his life: the renovation of a Buddhist statue; the dissemination of a vinaya commentary; and the establishment of a Buddhist monastery. These projects are explored in the local religious context of mid- to late Tang Xichuan as well as the broader political context of the imperial regime. In particular, the paper explores Wei Gao’s Buddhist enterprises against the political background of Emperor Dezong’s (r. 779-805) efforts to reassert imperial authority and strengthen court-region relations following the collapse of Tang power in the mid-eighth century.

 

 

New Book Announcement: Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana: A Festschrift for Paul Harrison, edited by GCBS professor Charles DiSimone and Nicholas Witkowski.

From the publisher:

Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana is a volume in honor of the Buddhologist and Philologist, Paul M. Harrison, George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. The contributions of twenty-nine of his colleagues, students, and friends from across the globe are dedicated to his academic interests and represent a cross-section of the disciplines that have been so heavily influenced by Paul Harrison’s scholarship in the past decades: Buddhist Studies, Indology, Sinology, Tibetology, and Art History.

Prof. DiSimone’s contribution “An Illuminated Palm-leaf Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Manuscript Folio Circa 1130–60 CE” is available online.

Articles from two GCBS researchers have just been published in the Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Volume 37,  Special issue “Chinese Buddhist Monastic Institutional Life and Buddhist Women’s Experience and Practice” (August 2024). One is by the Head of the GCBS, Prof. Dr. Ann Heriman, and the other by FWO postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mariia Lepneva. For details, see below.

• “Buddhist Monasteries and (Their) Oxen: Daoxuan’s Vinaya Commentaries” by Ann Heirman

Abstract. Buddhist texts generally prohibit the killing and harming of all sentient beings. This is certainly the case in vinaya (disciplinary) texts, which contain strict guidelines on the preservation of all human and animal life. When these texts were translated into Chinese, they formed the core of Buddhist behavioral codes, influencing both monastic and lay followers. Chinese masters, such as the highly influential Daoxuan 道宣 (596–667), wrote extensive commentaries on and accounts of the vinayas to ease the introduction of Buddhist concepts into the Chinese environment. These texts comprise rich sources of information on material culture in Buddhist monasteries and beyond.

The subject of this paper is oxen and their complex relations with human beings, as discussed in the disciplinary texts. Oxen were commonplace in both India and imperial China, where they were bred and reared for agricultural purposes, and as draft animals. Depending on the context, they could be perceived as annoying, filthy, or useful. They were associated with improper behavior, seen as helpful or even indispensable, or viewed as the innocent victims of human misbehavior.

Yet, all these considerations were overshadowed by the Buddhist proscription against harming or killing any sentient being. Hence, the focus of this paper is Daoxuan’s interpretation of this principle in relation to the treatment of oxen, informed by his reading of Indian normative texts and his own Chinese context. As we will see, his guidance was complex, but he always attempted to remain true to what was—and remains—a central tenet of Buddhism.

• “Institutional Adaptation of Chinese Buddhism to the Ming-Qing Transition: Two-Lineage Model of Guangji Monastery in Beijing” by Mariia Lepneva

Abstract. The late Ming and early Qing periods witnessed a massive revitalization of Chinese Buddhism, particularly the booming rise of Chan lineages in the southern Jiangnan region throughout the seventeenth century. To date, scholarship has emphasized the continuity of this trend, largely uninterrupted by the dynasty transition. This paper supplements this picture by shifting the focus towards Beijing in the north and inquiring into the unusual two-lineage model that emerged at Guangji Monastery, which is nowadays well-known as the seat of the Buddhist Association of China, shortly after the establishment of Manchu rule. Quite different from the main institutional innovation of the late Ming—the dharma transmission monastery with a single Chan lineage at the head—this temple developed a power structure with the division of labor between an indigenous tonsure lineage and an invited ordination lineage. Based on a close reading of the gazetteer of Guangji Monastery, supplemented by other relevant sources, this paper traces the origins and evolution of this diarchic system. The findings show the members of the two lineages assumed three key roles in the monastery leadership. The tonsure lineage controlled the position of the prior, who was responsible for the general operation of the monastery. Moreover, it supplied informal leaders, who did not assume any administrative positions but became influential due to their asceticism, Chan lineage affiliation, and literary talent. This allowed them to significantly improve the wellbeing of the monastery through their ability to attract the patronage of scholar-officials. The ordination lineage controlled the abbotship, represented the monastery in the face of the emperors, carried out ordination ceremonies, and provided Vinaya instruction to monks. The continuous existence of this “two lineages with three roles” system despite suffering several major breaks testifies to its effectiveness and offers an example of an institutional model that allowed a Buddhist monastery to simultaneously house several prominent leaders with diverse expertise.

The Long Discourses, or Dīrghāgama, is a collection of the Buddha’s most well-known sermons that has circulated widely in the Buddhist world. Parallel collections in Pali and Chinese have long been known to scholars and practitioners, but it was not until the 1990s that a Mūlasarvāstivāda manuscript transmitted in Sanskrit was discovered, a major find with the potential to reshape our understanding of Buddhism in India and Central Asia. The present volume is the first in a three-volume series to present this rare manuscript, with a study, translation, and critical edition of two of the sūtras in the collection.

Around thirty years ago, a rare bookseller in London parceled out birchbark leaves of a manuscript bundle representing an ancient scripture that had likely been unearthed in the Gilgit region of Pakistan. Even as the fragile folios entered collections in Japan, Norway, and the United States, they were identified by a scholar as belonging to the previously lost Sanskrit Dīrghāgama, the Collection of Long Discourses of the Buddha, of the Mūlasarvāstivādins. Although the forty-seven separate sūtras in this āgama have parallel transmissions extant in the Pali Digha-nikāya and the Chinese Chang ahan jing, this Sanskrit witness, copied in the eighth century, was previously known only from partial quotations and from translations in Tibetan and Chinese. The discovery was thus one of major significance in the study of Buddhist literature.

Charles DiSimone‘s book, one of the first presentations of this manuscript in English, provides a translation, critical reconstruction, and study of two of the sūtras in the Dīrghāgama: the Prāsādika-sūtra and the Prasādanīya-sūtra. Both sūtras offer what appears to have been late teachings of the Buddha on the nature of faith and the preeminence of the Buddha over all other teachers. The Buddhist community was evidently concerned about the coming passing of the Buddha and, in these scriptures, laid the foundation for the tradition to continue with the Buddha at the center. The Prasādanīya-sūtra, in particular, is the locus classicus for the doctrine that only one Buddha and his teachings can exist in a world system at a time, ensuring that the Buddhist community would not be tempted to follow any other teacher who had not realized perfect awakening but would hold true to the Dharma of the Buddha.

These sūtras from the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition are made available to the public for the first time in over a thousand years with philological reconstructions and translations. They are accompanied by synoptic parallels from the corresponding Pali Long Discourses of the Theravāda tradition and the Chinese Long Discourses of the Dharmaguptaka tradition along with citations and related passages from elsewhere in Buddhist literature. In addition, the work contains a full transliteration of the birchbark folios, an introduction to the two sūtras with a study providing paleographic and textual analysis of the manuscript, and notes providing insight and explanation throughout.

Book information

• Hardcover
• 504 pages, 6 x 9 inches
• ISBN 9781614296539
• This book will be available in August 2024 from Wisdom Publications