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Seminar 1: CHEN Jinhua 陳金華 (University of British Columbia 英屬哥倫比亞大學): The Marginal vs the Mainstream, the Irregular vs Regular: Big Impact of “Bit Parts” in East Asian Buddhism | 邊中轉換、奇正相倚：東亞佛教中“小角色”的大戲碼
forthcoming
Seminar 2: Benjamin BROSE 本博澤 (University of Michigan 密西根大學): History, Fiction, and Ritual: Xuanzang’s Infinite Incarnations | 歷史、小說與儀式：玄奘的無量化身
This lecture series will explore some of the lesser-known legacies of the eminent Tang-dynasty monk Xuanzang (600/602–664). We begin with a discussion of the historical figure focusing on his extraordinary travels through Central Asia and India and his translation work after he returned to the capital of Chang’an. We will then consider the discovery of Xuanzang’s relics in the 1940s and their subsequent circulation throughout Asia in the second half of the twentieth century.
The remaining lectures center on some of the fantastical legends that developed around Xuanzang and his pilgrimage in the centuries after his death. We first examine the earliest sources for Xuanzang’s deification and the emergence of mythic narratives centered on his life and travels. We then explore several exorcistic traditions that are based on mythologized versions of Xuanzang’s pilgrimage. Next, we consider the religious traditions associated with Xuanzang’s companion from the Journey to the West story—Zhu Bajie—as practiced in contemporary Taiwan. The final lecture will explore how Christian missionaries and Chinese intellectuals understood and reacted to Journey to the West narratives during the early decades of the twentieth century.
该讲座系列将探讨著名的唐代高僧玄奘（600/602–664）一些鲜为人知的遗产。我们首先讨论这一历史人物，重点关注他非凡的中亚和印度旅行经历，以及他返回长安后从事的译经工作。然后，我们将考虑玄奘遗物在20世纪40年代的发现以及它们在20世纪下半叶在亚洲的传播。
其余的讲座集中在围绕玄奘及其朝圣之旅在他去世数世纪后发展起来的一些奇幻传奇。我们首先研究有关玄奘神化的最早资料，以及围绕他的生活和旅行而形成的神话叙述的出现。接下来，我们探讨几种基于玄奘神话化朝圣故事的驱魔（傩）传统。然后，我们会审视与《西游记》故事中玄奘的同伴——猪八戒——相关的宗教传统在当代台湾。最后的讲座将探讨基督教传教士和中国知识分子在20世纪早期对《西游记》故事有如何理解并回应。
Seminar 3: SHENG Kai 聖凱 (Tsinghua University 清華大學): 從淨土教到淨土宗：五臺山信仰與唐宋佛教轉型作為背景 | From the Teachings of Pure Land to the School of Pure Land: Against the Backdrops of the Wutai Faith and Buddhism’s Tang-Song Transition
forthcoming
Lecture 1: ZHANG Huiming 張惠明 (Chinese National Academy of Paintings 中國國家畫院): 從那竭到于闐的早期大乘佛教護法鬼神圖像資料——哈達與和田出土的兩件龍王塑像札記 | Iconographic Materials of the “Defenders of the Law” (Dharmapāla) of Early Mahayana Buddhism from Nagarahāra to Khotan: Notes about Two Statues of Dragon King Excavated in Hadda and Hetian (lecture)
forthcoming
Lecture 2: Lucia DOLCE 鐸鷺霞 (SOAS, University of London 英國倫敦大學亞非學院): Visualizing Śākyamuni’s Pure Land: Images from the Lotus tradition | 關照釋迦牟尼之淨土：源自法華傳統的圖像
This presentation explores the visual construction of the space in which Śākyamuni expounded the Lotus Sutra—a realm understood within Sino-Japanese Buddhist traditions as Śākyamuni’s Pure Land. The analysis focuses specifically on iconographic developments in Japan, spanning from the medieval through the modern period.
The lecture begins by identifying key tropes in the Lotus Sutra’s narrative structure, which evolved into prominent motifs in its visual interpretations. This part demonstrates the profound influence that Tiantai/Tendai doctrinal interpretations have exerted on Lotus Sutra pictorial narratives.
The discussion then broadens to analyse imagery produced within the wider context of “Lotus ritual culture,” encompassing works influenced by Tantric Buddhist manuals and Nichiren’s devotional practices. This exploration interrogates the shifting ritual framework that generated distinctive visual conceptualizations of the fields of merit emanating from Śākyamuni, and draws attention to the practices developed to activate such meritorious potential.
Reading 1 (accessible to intensive program participants)
Reading 2 (accessible to intensive program participants)
Lecture 3: Mark BLUM 貝萬合 (University of California, Berkeley 美國加州大學柏克萊分校): A Brief History of Nianfo, From Mindfulness Practice to an Object of Faith | 念佛簡史：從正念實踐到信仰對象
forthcoming
