Critical overview of the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts (3/31/2023) - Discover the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts (DMCT) with Laurent Van Cutsem's critical overview on the Digital Orientalist! The DMCT is a collaborative project of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS) at Ghent University and the Chung-Hwa Institute of… Read more
Doctoral School “Buddhism and Law in China”, June 19–23, 2023 (3/6/2023) - Abstract: This (on campus) course will focus on how Buddhists in China engage(d) with various aspects of the Buddhist monastic law (Vinaya). It will cover discussions on clerical immunity for ordained Buddhists in Buddhist legal texts; Chinese transformation of jurisdictional… Read more
GCBS Reading Group meeting: PhD researcher Massimiliano Porthoghese, March 3, 2023 (3/4/2023) - Late Friday afternoon meeting of the Reading Group of GCBS. This time, PhD researcher Massimiliano Porthoghese presents materials concerning his translation of a letter by Zhang Daozi, "Letter Presented to the Mediation Master Discussing Sitting in an Informal Position While… Read more
2023 PTBS Lecture Series (1/15/2023) - Abstract: Our Spring 2023 Lecture Series highlights a diverse spectrum of topics related to Buddhism. The lectures take place on Tuesday evenings from 7–9PM CET, and will be hybrid (delivered in person while streamed simultaneously). The physical location is at… Read more
Workshop “Religion, medicine, and women’s health in premodern East Asia”, September 29, 2022 (10/1/2022) - This week, Prof. Anna Andreeva from the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies organised an inspiring workshop "Religion, medicine, and women’s health in premodern East Asia", including an international symposium: 9.00 - 9.30 Jessey Choo (Rutgers University): There is a Talisman… Read more
International workshop and fieldwork “Image – Text – Reality in Buddhism: Interrelation & Internegation”, May 23–25, 2022 (6/15/2022) - “Image – Text – Reality in Buddhism: Interrelation & Internegation” International Workshop, May, 23-25 (online via Zoom) (3am-9am PDT | 6am-12pm EDT | 12-18 pm CET | 6pm-9pm CST) Organized by Prof. Dr. Christoph Anderl (Ghent) and Dr. Polina Lukicheva… Read more
Lecture “Buddhism in Greater Gandhāra As Witnessed by Manuscript Evidence”, University of the West, April 29, 2022, by Charles DiSimoni (4/28/2022) - GCBS scholar, Charles DiSimoni, will give a talk this Friday at the University of the West on Buddhism in Greater Gandhāra. Read more
Doctoral School “Demystifying Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism”, July 4-8, 2022 (3/15/2022) - Abstract: This (on campus) course is aimed at PhD students and will focus on the rise and success of Chan Buddhism (known in Japan as Zen) in medieval China. It will cover (1) Indian and Chinese doctrinal antecedents; (2) the… Read more
Lecture “Buddhism in Late Tang: Centre-Periphery Relations”, University of Naples L’Orientale, March 8, 2022, by Anna Sokolova (2/28/2022) - Next week our own Anna Sokolova will give a talk at Naples. Read more
Ghent-Harvard-Munich workshop “Connecting Asian Buddhism(s) Past, Present, and Future”, Ghent University, May 4–6, 2022 (2/3/2022) - Venue: Het Pand, room August Vermeylen, Onderbergen 1, 9000 Gent The workshop is sponsored by the Strategic Institutional Partnership (SIP) scheme, the Tianzhu Foundation, and Ghent University, Harvard University, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS),… Read more
2022 PTBS Lecture Series (1/5/2022) - Our Spring 2022 Lecture Series highlighted a diverse spectrum of topics related to Buddhism. March 10: Nan Ouyang (UGent) “Constructing the Divine Abode of Dizang Bodhisattva: Mt. Jiuhua in Late Imperial China" This talk focuses on the historical transformation… Read more
Publication highlights (2021): Precious treasures from the diamond throne: finds from the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment (7/16/2021) - Sam van Schaik, Daniela De Simone (UGent) , Gergely Hidas and Michael Willis, eds. Precious treasures from the diamond throne: finds from the site of the Buddha's enlightenment. In British Museum Research Publications 228. British Museum, 2021. The Mahābodhi temple… Read more
Doctoral School “Buddhism and Medicine in East Asia”, June 28-July 2, 2021 (2/15/2021) - Abstract: This specialist course will focus on an interdisciplinary approach to the intersection of religion and medicine in medieval and late imperial East Asia, with a particular focus on Buddhism. As a religious and cultural tradition with transnational scope, Buddhism… Read more
2021 PTBS Lecture Series (1/8/2021) - March 9: Anna Andreeva (Uni Heidelberg & Ghent University) “Buddhism and Women's Health in Medieval Japan” March 16: Matthew Orsborn (Oxford University) “Monastic Training and Education in Contemporary Taiwanese Buddhism" Since the middle of the 20th century, Buddhism in the… Read more
Publication highlights (2020): Chán Buddhism in Dūnhuáng and beyond: a study of manuscripts, texts, and contexts in memory of John R. McRae (11/16/2020) - This volume is dedicated to the memory of the eminent Chán scholar John McRae and investigates the spread of early Chán in a historical, multi-lingual, and interreligious context. Combining the expertise of scholars of Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, and Tangut Buddhism, the… Read more
Short-term visiting scholar 2019–2020: Prof. Dr. James A. Benn (McMaster University, Canada) (11/5/2020) - Professor James A. BENN was trained primarily as a scholar of medieval Chinese religions (Buddhism and Taoism). His research is aimed at understanding the practices and world views of medieval men and women, both religious and lay, through the close reading of… Read more
Doctoral School “Sino-Tibetan Languages: Research Methodologies and Approaches to Linguistic Field Studies and Language Documentation among Tibeto-Burman Speaking Minorities in China”, October 26–30, 2020 (8/16/2020) - Abstract: This specialist course will focus on an interdisciplinary approach to the Sino-Tibetan (ST) language family, with an emphasis on languages of the Tibeto-Burman (TB) branch spoken by ethnic minorities in China. In the course there will be an emphasis… Read more
Long-term visiting scholar 2019–2020: Prof. Dr. Xuan Fang (Renmin University, China) (4/5/2020) - Professor XUAN Fang 宣方 is a research fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Religion, Renmin University of China, as well as the executive member of Journal of Religion. His main academic interests focuse on Chinese Buddhist meditative tradition and Modern Chinese… Read more
Lectures & Workshops Series by Dr. Lia Wei 魏離雅, February and March 2020 (12/10/2019) - Dr. Lia Wei (Lecturer in Archaeology & Museum Studies, School of History, Renmin University, China) will give a series of lectures and workshops supported by the Tianzhu Foundation and Ghent University. The program includes the following topics: landscape painting, ink art,… Read more
Doctoral School “Chinese Buddhist Historical Records in the Context of Digital Humanities”, October 21–25, 2019 (8/25/2019) - Abstract: The Doctoral School’s specialist course will focus on historical literature, including local gazetteers and Transmission of the Lamp texts, of the Chinese Buddhist schools. While adopting a diachronic perspective, covering texts between the 10th and the 17th century, the… Read more
Long-term visiting scholar 2019–2020: Dr. Lia Wei (Renmin University, China) (8/5/2019) - Dr. Lia WEI is currently based at the Department of Archaeology and Museum Studies in Renmin University of China, conducting research and teaching on the archaeology of culture contact and the intersection between intangible and material cultural heritage, as well… Read more
Special Guest Lecture “The Uneven Terrain of Gender and Diversity: The View from the Humanities” by Natasha Heller (4/8/2019) - A Hot Topic Lecture part of the Doctoral School "Women and Nuns in Chinese Buddhism" By Natasha Heller, Associate Professor of Chinese Religions, University of Virginia June 6, 2019; 19:00-21:00 Ghent university, Auditorium P (Zaal Jozef Plateau), Campus Boekentoren. Map Abstract… Read more
Short-term visiting scholar (2019, 1-10 June): Prof. Dr. Li Yu-chen 李玉珍 (National Cheng Chi University, Taiwan) (4/4/2019) - Dr. Yu-chen Li received her Ph.D. degree in 2000 from Cornell University. She is currently the chair of the Graduate Institute of Religious Studies at National Cheng Chi University. Yu-chen Li focuses on gender issues in Buddhism, such as the… Read more
Doctoral School “Women and Nuns in Chinese Buddhism”, Ghent University, June 3–7, 2019 (2/18/2019) - Abstract: The Doctoral School specialist course will focus on “Women and Nuns in Chinese Buddhism”. While adopting a diachronic perspective, it will give ample space to the twentieth and early twenty-first century. This will offer students insight into the status… Read more
Short-term visiting scholar (March 3-17, 2019): Prof. Dr. Albert Welter (University of Arizona) (2/2/2019) - Lectures “Integrating Buddhism into Chinese Culture or How Did Buddhism Become Chinese? Buddhist Junzi (法門君子) & The Administration of Buddhism." Within the framework of a lecture series integrated in the MA course ‘Culture in Perspective: South and East Asia lecture‘… Read more
Long-term visiting scholar (March 15 – June 12, 2019): Prof. Dr. Lin Ching-hui 林靜慧 (Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, Taiwan) (1/10/2019) - Lin Ching-hui received her PhD from the Chinese Culture University (Taipei). Her dissertation is titled A study of political views in Laozi, Zhuangzi and The Yellow Emperor's Four Classics. She is project assistant at the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts. Currently she works as an editor… Read more
2019 PTBS Lecture Series (1/7/2019) - 06.03 Albert Welter (University of Arizona, US) "A New Look at Old Traditions: Reimagining East Asian Buddhism through Hangzhou" The history of Buddhism incorporates East Asia in meaningful ways, but still tends toward Indo-centrism in its overall conception. This makes… Read more
Tianzhu Fieldwork Fellowship 2018-2019: Jasper Roctus (8/27/2018) - Tianzhu Foundation provides funding for one Ghent University graduate student to travel to East Asia to do Buddhism-related fieldwork. We are happy to announce that for the academic year 2018-2019, this award has been given to Jasper Roctus (MA student Chinese… Read more
Visiting scholar 2018-2019: Prof. Dr. Lei Hanqing (Sichuan University, PRC) (8/25/2018) - Hanqing, Lei graduated from Fudan University at the School of Chinese Language and Literature. He was a visiting scholar at UC Irvine in 2011, and at the Research Institute of Zen at Hanazono University in Japan. Currently, he is a… Read more
Doctoral School “Chinese Writing and Lexicography in Medieval China”, October 8-12, 2018 (8/23/2018) - Abstract This Doctoral School will address key questions concerning medieval Chinese writing practices and manuscript culture, in addition to providing an introduction to important historical lexicographical material. As such, the course will address essential issues concerning the research of and… Read more