Cluster Leader: Kai Sheng, Tsinghua University
This research is primarily concerned with several extant caves from the Northern Dynasties period in Hebei and Henan provinces where sūtras were carved and images with inscriptions remain. For the purpose of propagation or preservation of Buddhist texts, at least in the mid-sixth century, Chinese Buddhist monks and laypeople started to carve texts (usually accompanied by Buddhist images) on the stone in grottoes and monasteries. These stone carving materials not only provide the earliest version of many sutras but also allow scholars to study the history of the practice and transmission of the Buddhist schools in Medieval China. Material evidence from these sites can be connected to many documents in the Dunhuang manuscript cache. We pay particular attention to the unique relationship between documents, epigraphy, and images with regard to the development and spread of ‘Ten Stages’ (Daśabhūmi or Dilun) teachings within historical, philosophical, devotional, ritual, institutional, social, and political contexts with the goal of creatively reconstructing a fuller understanding of pre-Tang dynasty Buddhism on the ground in China.
From 2017 July to 2019 July, Cluster 3.2 has visited the Buddhist historical sites that preserve both stone inscriptions and images belonging to the Northern Dynasties (386–589 CE) and Sui-Tang (581–907 CE) in Northern China, including Longmen Grottoes 龍門石窟 , Xiaonanhai Grottoes 小南海石窟, Lingquansi Grottoes 靈泉寺石窟 and Shaolin Monastery 少林寺 in Henan Province; Xiangtang Caves 響堂山石窟 in Hebei Province; Fayuan Monastery 法源寺, Yunju Monastery 雲居寺and Shijing Mountain 石經山 in Beijing.
Two principle purposes have been involved in all field visits: collecting of the data both of inscriptions and images from these sites, and training scholars and graduate students in how to acquire the primary resources from the field visits. Therefore, all the participants have joined in all phases of the visits, either through the participation in collecting the metadata, or sharing expertise to help interpret historical materials on site.
The outcomes of the three field trips include about 800 photos of inscriptions and images, four symposiums, one workshop and four lectures. Participants have published their papers in symposiums and workshop based on the studies of these sites.
Field Visit Report
Data Collection
View 2017 digital data collection
View 2018 digital data collection
View 2019 digital data collection
Cluster Publications
View 2019 Cluster symposium proceeding’s table of contents
2018 field visit team
Cluster Participants
| Affiliated Researchers | Associated Researchers |
| Baycroft, Anne (University of Saskatchewan) – 2017 | Buckelew, Kevin (Northwestern University) – 2019 |
| Bumkeun, Park (Tsinghua University) – 2018 | Chen, Tuo (Fudan University) – 2017 |
| Cheng, Wanhsin (Tsinghua University) – 2018 | Chen, Zhiyuan (Institute of Chinese History, CASS) – 2018 |
| Dong, Lixia (University of Arizona) – 2017 | Gundersen, Guttorm Norberg (University of Oslo) – 2017 |
| Leong, Chonmeng (Tsinghua University) – 2018 | Le Roux-Kemp, Andra (City University of Hong Kong) – 2017 |
| Li, Lan (McMaster University) – 2019 | Li, Lan (Longman Grottoes Academy) – 2018 |
| Mitchell, Maggie (University of British Columbia) – 2017 | Liu, Yi (University of Wisconsin-Madison) |
| Mu, Yezi (Ghent University) – 2017 | Mohr, Michel (University of Hawaii) – 2017 |
| Norton, Michael (Tsinghua University) – 2018 | Paletskiy, Denis (Chinese Academy of Social Science) – 2017 |
| Sheng, Kai (Tsinghua University) – 2017, 2018, 2019 | Ren, Neng (Institute of Buddhist Culture of China) – 2018 |
| Sokolova, Anna (Ghent University) – 2017 | Sooter, Joshua (New York University) – 2017 |
| Balkwill, Stephanie (University of Winnipeg) – 2018, 2019 | Tou, Minhui (College of Art) – 2017 |
| Crosby, Anne (Harvard Divinity School) – 2018 | Wang, Yue (University of Alberta) – 2018 |
| Ren, Jing (Peking University) – 2018 | Wu, Meilian (University of Pennsylvania) – 2019 |
| Teiser, Stephen (Princeton University) – 2018 | Xu, Chunyu (Beijing Buddhist Cultural Institute) – 2018 |
| Wang, Mengxiao (University of Southern Carolina) – 2017 | Zong, Xuan (Beijing Buddhist Cultural Institute) – 2018 |
| Wang, Quntao (Peking University) – 2017 | |
| Wu, Jinhui (University of Arizona) – 2017 | |
| Wu, Luchun (Zhejiang University) – 2017 | |
| Yang, Jianxiao (Tsinghua University) – 2018, 2019 | |
| Zhang, Dewei (Sun Yat-sen University) – 2019 | |
| Zhang, Yi (Peking University) – 2018 | |
| Zhao, Jinchao (University of Virginia) – 2018 |
Field Visit Sites
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