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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.
該講座系列將探討著名的唐代高僧玄奘（600/602–664）一些鮮爲人知的遺產。我們首先討論這一歷史人物，重點關注他非凡的中亞和印度旅行經歷，以及他返回長安後從事的譯經工作。然後，我們將考慮玄奘遺物在20世紀40年代的發現以及它們在20世紀下半葉在亞洲的傳播。
其餘的講座集中在圍繞玄奘及其朝聖之旅在他去世數世紀後發展起來的一些奇幻傳奇。我們首先研究有關玄奘神化的最早資料，以及圍繞他的生活和旅行而形成的神話敘述的出現。接下來，我們探討幾種基於玄奘神話化朝聖故事的驅魔（儺）傳統。然後，我們會審視與《西遊記》故事中玄奘的同伴——豬八戒——相關的宗教傳統在當代臺灣。最後的講座將探討基督教傳教士和中國知識分子在20世紀早期對《西遊記》故事有如何理解並回應。
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
