Sichuan, China. Jacquemay Dominique, Unsplash.
Call for Proposals
International Conference
Monks & Literati: Cultural Ideas and Lifestyle of Chinese Buddhism
August 12–13, 2023
Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery 蓮山雙林禪寺, Singapore
This conference is hosted by Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery 蓮山雙林禪寺, Singapore, and co-hosted by Department of Chinese Studies of National University of Singapore, Institute for Ethics and Religious Studies (IERS) of Tsinghua University, China, and From the Ground Up: Buddhism and East Asian Religions project at the University of British Columbia (www.frogbear.org). The conference will take place from August 12 to 13, 2023 at Shuang Lin Monastery.
During the course of cross-cultural exchange between Indian Buddhism and Chinese culture, Buddhist monks played an important role in the development, propagation, and prosperity of Chinese culture in Asia. Buddhist monks not only creatively interpreted a system of beliefs and practices for Chinese Buddhism, but also actively transformed and innovated new social customs, reconciled relationship between Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, and made remarkable historical contributions to the formation of Chinese Buddhist culture. Therefore, discussing “Monks and Literati: Cultural Ideas and Lifestyle of Chinese Buddhism” from the perspective of world history and Buddhist history is beneficial not only for unravelling the widespread dissemination of Sinicised Buddhism in Asia, but also for understanding the relationship between Chinese Buddhism and Han cultural circle, which has rich cultural meanings and contemporary values.
The subjects of investigation in this conference will include, but not limited to, the following:
- Internal and external learning: the cultural cultivation of Chinese Buddhist monks 內學與外學：漢傳佛教僧眾的文化修養；
- Classical ideas and textual traditions of Chinese Buddhism 漢傳佛教的經典觀念與文本傳統;
- Historical ideas and historical traditions of Chinese Buddhism 漢傳佛教的歷史觀念與史學傳統;
- Artistic ideas and life of Chinese Buddhism 漢傳佛教的藝術觀念與生活;
- The relationship between Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism in an Asian perspective 亞洲視野下的佛、儒、道三教關係；
- Chinese Buddhism and the formation of the Chinese cultural circle in Asia 漢傳佛教與亞洲漢文化圈的形成.
The committee welcomes any papers related to the conference theme. All associated costs, including room and board during the conference, will be covered by the host institutions. Depending on necessity and the availability of funding, some travel cost may also be covered. Please email proposals and CVs to frogbear.project@ubc.ca and guojing20@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn by April 14. Scholars confident of completing the draft papers by July 15 and finalising their papers by late November 2023 are welcome to apply.
