Prof. Yang Gang 杨刚 received a joint PhD from Sichuan University and Ghent University and was a visiting scholar at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. He is now an associate professor at the Institute of Dunhuang Studies of Lanzhou University (兰州大学敦煌学研究所). His main areas of research are the primary sources of Chinese Buddhism and the secularization of Buddhism. During the previous five years, he has published academic papers in such journals as Studies in World Religions (世界宗教研究, CSSCI), Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (西南民大学报, CSSCI), Journal of Dunhuang Studies (
