Xi Duan Successfully Defends PhD Dissertation (9/6/2026) - On 3 September 2026, GCBS PhD researcher Xi DUAN successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, “Materialising Frontier Authority: Institutions, Commemoration and Spatial Order in Late Imperial Menghua.” The public defence took place at 14:00 in the Aud. Vandenhove, Pavilion Charles Vandenhove (Campus… Read more
Long-term visiting scholar (August 17 – November 12, 2026): Assistant Professor Dai Yumin 代玉民 (Nanjing University) (8/31/2026) - Dr. Dai Yumin received his PhD in Philosophy from Nanjing University in 2018. From August 2017 to August 2018, he was a visiting PhD student in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. He is currently… Read more
Lectures “The Xuanlan and Xuan-Style Clothing” and “The Mourning Garments of the Xixia Envoys Bearers of Condolences” by Ren Huaisheng, September 15, 2026 (8/27/2026) - We are pleased to announce two lectures by Prof. Ren Huaisheng 任怀晟 (Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology 北京服装学院): "The Xuanlan and Xuan-Style Clothing" and "The Mourning Garments of the Xixia Envoys Bearers of Condolences." The lectures will be in Chinese… Read more
GCBS welcomes student group from Nanjing University (8/20/2026) - On 19 August, the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS) was pleased to welcome a student group from Nanjing University, led by Professor Shao Jiade (邵佳德), Deputy Dean of the School of Philosophy at Nanjing University. Professor Ann Heirman, Head… Read more
Long-term research stay of GCBS researcher Laurent Van Cutsem in Japan, April – September 2025 (7/29/2026) - GCBS postdoctoral fellow Dr. Laurent Van Cutsem shares a report on his recent research stay in Japan: From April to September 2025, I had the privilege of spending six months as a Visiting Researcher at the 東京大学東洋文化研究所 Institute for Advanced… Read more
GCBS scholars at the Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS) (7/22/2026) - The Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies is proud to be strongly represented at the 26th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS), taking place 21–25 July 2026 at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. The conference brings together… Read more
Publication highlights (Q2 2026): Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture (7/13/2026) - 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… Read more
Workshop “New Perspectives on Chinese History, Buddhism, and Cultural Heritage,” July 10, 2026 (7/6/2026) - We are very happy to announce a workshop “New Perspectives on Chinese History, Buddhism, and Cultural Heritage: Taiwanese Scholars and Ghent University Researchers in Dialogue," which will take place at the Department of Languages and Cultures of Ghent University on… Read more
PhD defense of Massimiliano Portoghese, June 5, 2026 (6/8/2026) - On Friday, June 5, the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies celebrated the successful PhD defense of Massimiliano Portoghese, whose dissertation, The Advent of Buddhist Monastic Bodies in China: Symbolic Appearance, Identity Markers and Social Perceptions, offers a significant contribution to… Read more
Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies Welcomed Delegation from Thailand, May 18, 2026 (5/19/2026) - The Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS) was honored to welcome a distinguished delegation from Thailand, led by H.E. Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, Ambassador of Thailand to Belgium, and including three senior Buddhist monks together with accompanying members of the Thai… Read more
Workshop “Aspects of Digital Humanities in Asian Studies”, May 22, 2026 (5/15/2026) - We are very happy to announce a mini-workshop on Digital Humanities, with a focus on the use of digital tools and AI in the editing of Buddhist texts and manuscripts. Time: MAY 22nd, 2026 Location: Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, Room… Read more
Lecture “Poet’s Myths: Asuras in Aśvaghoṣa’s Epics” by Alex Meng, May 7, 2026 (5/3/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, the last for the semester. Title: “Poet's Myths: Asuras in Aśvaghoṣa's Epics” Speaker: Xiaoqiang "Alex" Meng, Universiteit Leiden Timing: Thursday, May 07 @ 17.00 CET Location:… Read more
Lecture “New archaeological data on the extension of the Kushan empire and post-Kushan groups in the Himalayan range” by Samara Broglia de Moura, April 30, 2026 (4/27/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, which will also be a talk in the Spring 2026 Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Title: “New archaeological data… Read more
Lecture “The Contours of Paradise: Pleasure Gardens and Figurations of the Self in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three” by Prof. Daniel Stuart, April 22, 2026 (4/20/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, which will also be a talk in the Spring 2026 Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Title: "The Contours of… Read more
Lecture “Revisiting the Bodhisattva Maitreya in Gandhāran Art” by Christian Luczanits, April 2, 2026 (3/30/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, which will also be a talk in the Spring 2026 Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Title: "Revisiting the Bodhisattva… Read more
Lecture “Exegetical Diagrams as Scholastic Tools: Text-Image Dynamics, Production, Use, and Networks in Dunhuang” by Xiaoming Hou, March 26, 2026 (3/26/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, which will also be a talk in the Spring 2026 Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Title: "Exegetical Diagrams as… Read more
Workshop “Japanese and Belgian Research on Japan: Perspectives from Tohoku University and Ghent University,” March 19-20, 2026 (3/20/2026) - GCBS members Andreas Niehaus, Paride Stortini, Anna Andreeva, and Christian Uhl participated in the workshop "Japanese and Belgian Research on Japan: Perspectives from Tohoku University and Ghent University," organized by the Center for Integrated Japanese Studies (CIJS), Tohoku University and… Read more
Guest lecture “DharmaNexus as a Multilingual Graph of Buddhist Intertextuality: Design Choices, Research Uses, and Future Applications” by Sebastian Nehrdich, March 17, 2026 (3/12/2026) - We are pleased to announce the next talk in the Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series, which will also be the first talk in the Spring 2026 Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Title: "DharmaNexus as a Multilingual… Read more
Publication highlights (Q1 2026): Observances, Feasts, and Scripts (3/6/2026) - 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… Read more
2026 PTBS Lecture Series & Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series (3/5/2026) - This year's spring lecture series of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies feature a combination of Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies (PTBS) lecture series and Gandhāra Corpora Lecture Series. The lectures take place onsite in Campus Boekentoren of Ghent University… Read more
GCBS professors contribute to Japan Lecture Café Series 2026 (3/2/2026) - On 3 March 2026, members of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies, Prof. Anna Andreeva and Prof. Andreas Niehaus, will deliver two lectures—“Japanese–Belgian/Ghent Relations” and “Japanese Art Objects in Belgium”—as part of the Japan Lecture Café Series 2026. The lecture… Read more
Guest lecture “Unmarried Women in Early Indian Texts: From the Ṛgveda to Buddhist Literature” by Mau Das Gupta, March 2, 2026 (2/27/2026) - The Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies is pleased to announce an upcoming guest lecture titled “Unmarried Women in Early Indian Texts: From the Ṛgveda to Buddhist Literature” by Prof. Dr. Mau Das Gupta (University of Calcutta), a distinguished scholar of… Read more
GCBS Research Forum: Meeting with Professor Aike Rots, February 18, 2026 (2/23/2026) - On February 18, 2026, early career researchers of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies participated in a meeting with Aike Rots, Professor of East Asian Religions at the University of Oslo. The discussion was moderated by GCBS member Dr. Paride… Read more
Reading group meeting, presentation by Yuchen Liou, February 13, 2026 (2/18/2026) - The first meeting of the Chinese Reading Group of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies this year featured a presentation by Yuchen Liou, a joint PhD candidate at National Chengchi University and Ghent University. Her research focuses on Chinese Buddhism,… Read more
Doctoral school “Anyue Buddhist Sites: Iconography, Inscriptions, and Fieldwork Methodologies”, April 20-24, 2026 (2/16/2026) - Abstract: This course explores Buddhist sites in the Anyue area of Sichuan, including the analysis of their iconographic features, and the identification of Esoteric and “hybrid” elements, in addition to discussing fieldwork methodologies. The course assumes a background in Buddhist… Read more
New PhD students join ERC project “Corpora in Greater Gandhāra” (2/9/2026) - We are pleased to welcome Arghyadip Mondal and Zhengyan Fan as new PhD researchers at the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS). They join Prof. Charles DiSimone’s ERC Starting Grant project, “Corpora in Greater Gandhāra: Tracing the development of Buddhist… Read more
New member: Chentong Liu (2/3/2026) - We are pleased to welcome Chentong Liu as a new doctoral member of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS). Chentong joined Ghent University in 2025 as a PhD student after an interdisciplinary academic trajectory that combines engineering, art theory,… Read more
Publication highlights (Q4 2025): Papers by GCBS members in T’oung Pao, JEACS, and Journal of Chinese Religions (1/5/2026) - 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… Read more
Fieldwork of GCBS researcher Mengqiu Tian in Dunhuang, Septemeber-October, 2025 (12/17/2025) - FWO PhD student Mengqiu Tian spent two months conducting fieldwork in Dunhuang, one of the key Buddhist sites in northwestern China. Below, she reports on her research experience: Dunhuang is one of the most important sites for the study of… Read more
New member: Xiaoming Hou (12/17/2025) - We are welcoming a new member of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies: FWO junior postdoctoral fellow Dr. Xiaoming Hou. Her research focuses on scholastic practices in medieval Chinese Buddhism and the cross-cultural transmission of Buddhism, with particular interest in… Read more