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| 1 |
Katherine Alexander, University of Colorado in Boulder Late Qing circulation and sponsorship networks of Quanjie lu (Record of exhortations and admonitions) |
Quanjie lu 勸戒錄 (Record of exhortations and admonitions) is a biji collection that was originally produced during the crisis decades of the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The collection then experienced a resurgence in interest during the chaotic decades of the early twentieth century. This paper is concerned with the first period of its florescence. Liang Gongchen 梁恭辰 (1814-1887) compiled and distributed the first installment in 1843, featuring a glowing preface by his father, the eminent statesman and prolific biji writer Liang Zhangju 梁章鉅 (1775-1849). By the time its tenth installment was posthumously published in 1888, Liang had collected over 1300 anecdotes and tales with the stated aim of moralizing society. Thanks to Liang’s enthusiastic supporters, long before the tenth collection was published, republication efforts involving both single installments and combined editions were underway. In this paper, I will present the results of analyzing twenty Qing prefaces and postfaces to Quanjie lu, as well as a detailed donor list from an 1888 edition, in order to track how this morality text was transmitted and how its sponsors framed their involvement in furthering its spread. These prefaces also reveal both how Liang justified his work and how his early supporters responded to his moralizing intentions. |
| 2 |
Marcus Bingenheimer, University of Temple “Progressives” vs. “Conservatives” and their Intermediaries in the Epistolary Network of Republican-era Chinese Buddhism |
Epistolary writing has long been part of Buddhist communication networks both in India and in China, but with a few important exceptions, no sizeable corpus of pre-20th century letters has survived. The study of Republican-era Buddhism (1911-1949) is privileged in that researchers can draw on a large amount of information in form of Buddhist periodicals published between c.1905 and 1950. These periodicals have been collected and reprinted under the leadership of Huang Xianian 黃夏年 in three multi-volume sets:
In 2007-2009, we organized the metadata for the ca. 140,000 articles contained in the first two collections (MFQ and MFQB), in an open-access database. Value was added by grouping articles in categories and sub-categories, allowing to narrow searches to news, biographies, or even advertisement. Crucially, several categories allow researchers to identify epistolary material. The periodicals include some 8000 epistolary texts, including monastics answering letters from lay-persons, letters to the editor, public debates in letter form etc. From these we were able to extract epistolary network data for the period from 1911 to c. 1940, comprising c.1100 actors and c. 3000 links. The letter network allows to ask questions such as: Who were the most prolific senders in that period? Who were the most popular addressees? What is the ratio of lay-followers and monastics among sender and the addressee? This correspondence network yields new insights into early 20th century Buddhism as well as into letter writing as a genre of Buddhist discourse. Significantly, the network displays a clear differentiation between a “progressive” (focused on Taixu) and a “conservative” cluster (focused on Yinguang). Only twenty actors (out of c.1100) wrote letters to both Taixu and Yinguang, indicating a high level of separation between the two groups. The presentation will focus on these and other intermediaries in order to gain a better understanding of the information flow in Republican-era Chinese Buddhism. |
| 3 |
Daniela Campo, Université de Strasbourg Instructions for meditation as mediums for autobiographical expression in the Chan Buddhist tradition |
This presentation will highlight the special connection existing between autobiographical writing and the Chan school of Buddhism, and more specifically between autobiographical expression and Chan instructions for meditation, from the Song dynasty up to present times. I will introduce long-established formats and new genres of Chan autobiographical sermons, including, in the twentieth century, religious instructions styled kaishi 開示. I will also formulate hypothesis to explain the close relationship between Chan and autobiography in Chinese Buddhism. |
| 4 |
Cao Xinyu, Renmin University of China The Writing of a Seventeenth-century Prophecy Book of Descending Stars: Revelation from outside China 十七世紀明朝境外的星宿下凡預言書 |
Among the popular religious scriptures recently uncovered both in antiquity book shops and in field studies, a pamphlet called Puming yiliu kaojia wenbu 普明遺留考甲文簿, or, the book of veritable calendar passed down from [Patriarch] Pu-ming, is an awesome text of scholarly significance. Still circulating in the popular religious network in rural North China, a seemingly Yellow Heaven Way scripture, this pamphlet actually belongs to the seditious sectarian tradition collectively known as the White Lotus movement. By examining existing manuscripts of the pamphlet, this paper discusses the writing and the circulation of the scripture, the author, the scribes, concealed terminology, and, particularly, the Chinese transcription of Mongolian words in the text. This paper suggests that this pamphlet was originally produced in early seventeenth century by White Lotus sectarians in the multi-ethic Mongolian vassal state under the heirs of the Altan-qaghan, well-known in history for his patronizing Han-Chinese agricultural settlers.
明中葉以降，土默特一代漢人聚居的板升當中，一直以白蓮教活動所著稱。但近三十年學界對於白蓮教的經卷調查，並未發現相關線索；亦有學者因之懷疑，白蓮教是否真實存在于明朝境外的漢人移民聚落。然而，梳理黃天道經卷《普明遺留考甲文簿》等新發現十七世紀預言書，筆者注意到，這些經卷涉及一系列使用蒙古名字的漢人活動，顯示出白蓮教徒在俺答汗及其後人控制的土默特地區的真實存在，並可能預示明代白蓮教經卷另一個值得重視的來源。 |
| 5 |
Philip Clart, Leipzig University “Spirit-Mediums and Digital Media: Field Notes among Taiwanese Phoenix Halls” |
Text production in Taiwanese spirit-writing cults (luantang 鸞堂, “phoenix halls”) is strongly linked to their religious self-understanding as having received a mission from Heaven (“to proclaim moral transformation on behalf of Heaven,” daitian xuanhua 代天宣化), as a key tool for the creation of salvific merit (gongde 功德), and at the same time is the economic mainstay of the temple organizations in the form of the merit money donated by the faithful for the printing and distribution of morality books. What then happens when the technology of text production switches to a digital format, in which it is no longer possible to quantify the merit earned by numbers of print copies? As the sacred texts lose their physicality and countability, what happens to the quantitative dimension of the merit economy? And how do any major shifts in this regard affect the religious identity of the text-producing cult communities? Do we see changes in the identity constructions of spirit-written texts that indicate significant changes in the underlying belief system? While many morality books and magazines are now freely available in digital editions, these questions can ultimately only be answered with ethnographic data derived from observation and interviews at a representative selection of Taiwanese spirit-writing cults. The present paper presents preliminary results from field research conducted by the author from April to June of 2024. |
| 6 |
Yingjin Chen, Beijing Language and Culture University 羯磨文本在中國早期的翻譯與製作 |
“羯磨”（kammavācā）是佛教儀軌，用來規範、約束比丘、比丘尼的行為。從種類上來說有儀式性的羯磨與懲罰羯磨兩種。戒律傳入中國之初就伴隨有單獨“羯磨本”的流傳，可以說沒有“羯磨”，比丘如何受戒、說戒的宗教活動，分配衣物、臥坐具的日常活動，以及如何在觸犯戒條時接受懲罰等維持集體生活的規範，便無法實施。目前大正藏T.1432《曇無德律部雜羯磨》、T.1433《羯磨》、T.1434《四分比丘尼羯磨法》經日本學者平川彰、土橋秀高等人論證為抄出本；同時在敦煌、吐魯番寫經中還有一系列被認定為屬於南北朝時期的“雜羯磨”抄本，這些道宣以前的羯磨抄本，從內容上來說融合了多部廣律，且比丘、比丘尼、在家居士儀式活動適用規則混雜。那麼最早傳來的羯磨本情況如何？是否還有現存的羯磨譯本未被我們發現？本文擬從這些問題出發，探究中國最早羯磨抄本的基本形態，以及佛教傳入中國後羯磨的實施情況。因此考察這些羯磨抄本的意義，一方面在於可以闡明中國佛教早期羯磨本形成的特點，另一方面對解明中國佛教僧團早期的生活也大有裨益。 Karmavācā (Jiemo) are Buddhist liturgical formulas designed to regulate and constrain the behavior of monks and nuns. Broadly speaking, there are two types of karmavācā: ritualistic and disciplinary. From the earliest transmission of the Vinaya to China, independent texts of karmavācā circulated alongside it. Without karmavācā, essential aspects of monastic life—such as ordination ceremonies, the recitation of precepts, the distribution of robes and bedding, and the imposition of disciplinary measures for violations of monastic rules—would not have been practicable. In Taishō, texts such as T.1432 Miscellaneous Karmavācā of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Tanwude Lvbu ZaJiemo), T.1433 Karmavācā（Jiemo）, and T.1434 The Karma Procedure for Bhikṣuṇīs According to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya（Sifen Biqiuni Zajiemofa）have been identified by Japanese scholars such as Hirakawa Akira and Tsuchihashi Hidekō as transcription-based editions. Additionally, a series of manuscripts identified as Miscellaneous Karmavācā from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period have been discovered among the manuscripts from Dunhuang and Turfan. These pre-Dao Xuan karmavācā texts often incorporate material from multiple expanded Vinayas and intermingle rules for monks, nuns, and lay practitioners in ritual activities.This raises several questions: What were the characteristics of the earliest karmavācā texts introduced to China? Could there be extant translated karmavācā texts that have yet to be discovered? This study aims to explore the fundamental features of the earliest karmavācā manuscripts in China and the implementation of karmavācā after Buddhism was introduced. Examining these karmavācā texts is significant for two reasons: first, to clarify the formation and characteristics of early karmavācā texts in Chinese Buddhism; and second, to shed light on the early practices and collective life of Buddhist monastic communities in China. |
| 7 |
Deng Shengtao, Tsinghua University 夢授經與中古中國宗教經典的形成——以觀世音經、咒的產生與傳播為中心 |
本文主要關注中古中國宗教傳統中一種經典文本的產生方式，即通過夢中授予某種文本而成為宗教經典。本文主要考察源自於中國唐以前觀音夢授經典——《十句觀世音經》、《高王觀世音經》、《白衣觀音大士靈感神咒》。作為非譯自印度，而是漢地自生的文本，本文力求探討其經典性與神聖性的來源。通過對此系列經進行分析，本文希望探尋其文本的形成過程中與天臺法華、淨土、密宗思想的關聯。同時，通過還原此系列文本產生的具體的生活場景、歷史背景，揭示出觀世音經、咒成為經典過程中的信仰、政治與社會等因素的互動。隨後，本文也關注此系列經在北朝、隋唐、宋、元、明、清與日本的書寫、印刷及傳播過程。通過對其不同版本的梳理與分析，釐清此系列經的傳播與時間、地域之間的關係。本文也試圖探尋改系列經在明清時代，如何從佛教中觀音系統的經典而逐漸走向民間社會，成為中國乃至東亞民間普遍信仰的宗教經典。最後，結合該系列經在中國近代以及現當代傳播過程中的所遭受的懷疑、挑戰及所獲得的機遇，反思生產與傳播神聖性經典文本對於當今地球文明的存續的特殊意義。 |
| 8 |
Ryan Dunch, University of Alberta The Production, Circulation, and Impact of Protestant Print Culture in Qing China: Questions and some answers |
Much of the scholarship in China and abroad related to Christian publishing in Chinese has come under the rubric of its place in Chinese/western cultural contact and global history of ideas – 西學東漸 as a dominant framework (including work on science and medicine, and on key moments such as the 1898 reform movement). Mission publishing as a vector of technological innovation in movable type printing has been another focus. These approaches are valid and important. The Chinese/western cultural contact paradigm is particularly significant within China, where is provides are latively “acceptable” framing for scholarly work on Chinese Christianity during a challenging period for the academic study of religion. However, the religious content and imagery of Christian publications also demands attention, and this conference will provide a great opportunity to think together across disciplinary/religious boundaries. In particular, I would like to pose questions and learn from colleagues about illustrations in printed religious works, pricing and funding, language choice in relation to particular religious communities and subsets of readers (e.g. “dialect” works, publications in romanized or other scripts, works for female readers, etc.), orality in print materials (liturgical books, hymnbooks), and the role of print culture in stimulating and spreading readership as a shared social experience. |
| 9 |
Noga Ganany, University of Cambridge Buddhist Hagiographies in Ming Print Culture |
During the first two centuries of the Ming dynasty, Buddhist historiography and hagiography found new expressions in printed publications targeting a wide audience. Produced by both clerical and lay authors-editors, these new printed projects sought to present Buddhist ideas, figures, and rituals in formats that would be appealing and accessible to diverse readerships. In this talk, I explore the drive to reimagine the Buddhist tradition in Ming print culture by focusing on two case studies, namely, the fifteenth-century illustrated compilation Origins of Buddhism (lit. “Origins of the Śākyas,” Shishi yuanliu 釋氏源流), and the sixteenth-century compilation Twenty-Four Arhats Attaining the Way (Ershisi zun dedao luohan zhuan 二十四尊得道羅漢傳). The former, Origins of Buddhism, couples the Life of the Buddha with a pseudo-historical survey of Chinese Buddhism from antiquity to the Yuan dynasty. Spanning four-hundred episodes in the “picture-above-text” format, Origins of Buddhism presents a grand vision of the Buddhist tradition that draws on the realms of genealogy, hagiography, and historiography to appeal to the cultural and religious interests of Ming audiences. The latter, Twenty-Four Arhats Attaining the Way, likewise assuming the “picture-above-text” printing format, is a compilation of short hagiographies of twenty-four revered Buddhist figures. In its alternative lineup of Arhats and entertaining “vernacular” accounts, this collection highlights the conflation between “popular literature” and religious practice in Ming print culture. The vision of Chinese Buddhism presented in both works should be understood, I argue, vis-à-vis the growing interest in accounts of “origins” (yuanliu 源流 and chushen 出身), as well as part of a broader attempt to communicate religious knowledge to a wide audience. |
| 10 |
Vincent Goossaert, École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Quantitative analyses of the religious book market in Qing China based on CRTA data |
The CRTA database has, per early February 2025, descriptions of nearly 5,000 editions of religious texts, mostly for the 1550-1940 period and this corpus, which will keep expanding continuously, already allows for pilot surveys of quantitative approach to this literature. This paper will introduce some of the ways mapping this corpus can give us new insights about late imperial religious print culture. It will look, among other things, as genres, types of publishing institutions, geographical and temporal distribution, genres, and authorship. |
| 11 |
Lan Yangyang, École pratique des hautes études [EPHE] The Taishang Ganyingpian: A Short Publishing History |
The Taishang ganyingpian 太上感應篇 (The Supreme Lord’s tract on action and retribution, hereafter Ganyingpian) has been the most revered morality book in the Chinese world for many centuries, and it continues to be printed, posted online, commented, learnt by rote, and ritually performed in countless contexts. This essay proposes to sketch the first comprehensive overview of nearly one thousand years of disseminating the Ganyingpian, primarily by printing it in a large variety of formats. It follows in the footsteps of “book histories” published in recent years about various major texts in the Chinese religious traditions which have greatly contributed to our understanding of Chinese religious print culture. It aims to complement and enrich the fruitful work done on late imperial religious presses, by looking at one text and its many avatars at the hands of all sorts of institutions and individuals.
This essay is also one result of a collaborative project on late imperial and modern Chinese religious print culture, funded by the German and French research agencies. It is based on the online open-access database CRTA (Chinese Religious Text Authority, https://crta.info/wiki/Main_Page), where all editions of the Ganyingpian discussed here have their own page describing them in some detail. We have assembled a corpus of 107 editions of the Ganyingpian, that forms the core of the source base for the present essay. This essay begins by sketching in broad stokes the history of the Ganyingpian from its appearance in the early twelfth century to the present before looking at the different formats in which it was diffused in late imperial times, especially in print form, either on its own, with commentaries, or within books including other unrelated texts. We then focus on our corpus of commented editions, which we describe chronologically, and then move on to the question of illustrations. The conclusion will attempt a preliminary analysis of the most popular, i.e. widely reprinted, versions of the Ganyingpian and the possible reasons for this popularity. 《太上感應篇》(以下簡稱《感應篇》) 幾個世紀以來一直是華人世界中最受尊崇的道德書籍，它持續地被印刷、被放在網絡傳播、被評論、被誦讀，並在無數的儀式場合中被拿來使用。本論文擬對近千年來《感應篇》的傳播（主要是以各種形式印刷）進行首次全面概述。繼近年來出版的關於中國宗教傳統中各種主要典籍的 ”圖書史“ 之後，這篇文章有助於我們進一步了解中國宗教印刷文化。本書的目的在於通過檢視一個文本的出版衍變，補充與豐富帝國晚期宗教出版的豐碩成果。 這篇文章也是德國與法國研究機構所資助的中國晚清與近代宗教印刷文化合作計畫的成果之一。本論文基於線上開放存取資料庫 CRTA (Chinese Religious Text Authority, https://crta.info/wiki/Main_Page). 其中包含的所有《感應篇》版本都有自己的頁面詳細介紹。我們匯集了 107 個版本的《感應篇》，構成本文的核心資料庫。 這篇文章首先概括地勾勒出《感應篇》從十二世紀初出現至今的歷史，然後再檢視其在帝國時代晚期傳播的不同形式，尤其是以印刷品的形式。有些是單篇出版，有些附有注釋，有些和其他文本合訂出版。之後文章將重點放在注釋版本上，依年代順序對其進行描述。同時文章還將探討圖解版感應篇。文章結論部分嘗試初步分析最受歡迎 (即被廣汎地翻印) 的《感應篇》版本，以及其受歡迎的可能原因。 |
| 12 |
Can Li, Beijing Foreign Studies University 《無熱惱龍王所問經》失傳漢譯本殘片及其歸於鳩摩羅什的可能性 |
本文深入探討了中村不折收藏中出土於吐魯番的兩件殘片。這些是可追溯至六朝時期的佛教寫本，未被收錄於任何中國佛教經典之中，長期以來身份不明。在最初公佈時，這兩件殘片分別被命名為《華嚴經》和未命名。隨後，一些學者通過書法分析，將它們歸類為北涼時期的佛教經卷寫本。本研究發現，這兩件殘片原本屬於同一卷，抄自一部現已失傳的古代漢語譯本《阿那婆達多龍王請問經》。這是一部早期大乘佛教經典，在印度和藏地後來的中觀論著中經常被引用。該經現存藏文譯本、竺法護翻譯的漢文譯本《弘道廣顯三昧經》（T635），以及一些梵文引文。與竺法護的譯本相比，這兩件寫本的措辭與藏文譯本更為契合。在中國，儘管這部經並不廣為人知，但它在鳩摩羅什的人生中卻具有關鍵意義。正是在鳩摩羅什聆聽須利耶蘇摩講解此經之後，他從部派佛教（小乘佛教）轉向了大乘佛教，尤其是中觀派。而據年代以及措辭等方面的證據，我們懷疑這可能是一部鳩摩羅什的失佚譯本。此外，這部經在佛教經典翻譯史上也是一個頗具爭議的問題。這部經究竟是被翻譯過一次還是兩次，一直未有定論。同時，它也是智昇批判彥琮《仁壽錄》和道宣《大唐內典錄》的主要證據之一。這件寫本殘片的發現，為解決這一長期存在的難題提供了新的視角。 This paper delves into two fragments within the Nakamura Fusetsu collection, unearthed in Turpan. These are Buddhist manuscripts dating back to the Six Dynasties, which are absent from all Chinese canons and have long remained of indeterminate identity. Upon their initial publication, the two fragments were respectively named “Avataṃsaka – Sutra” and left unidentified. Subsequently, certain scholars, through calligraphy analysis, classified them as Buddhist scripture manuscripts from the Northern Liang Dynasty. This study reveals that the two fragments originally constituted a single scroll, copied from an ancient, now – lost Chinese translation of the Anavatapta – nāgarāja – paripṛcchā – sūtra. This is an early Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture frequently cited in later Madhyamaka treatises in both India and Tibet. The sutra exists in a Tibetan translation, a Chinese translation by Dharmarakṣa titled Hongdao Guangxian Sanmei Jing (T635), and some Sanskrit quotations. When compared with Dharmarakṣa’s translation, the phrasing of these two manuscripts shows a closer alignment with the Tibetan translation. In the context of China, although this scripture is not widely renowned, it represents a pivotal moment in Kumārajīva’s life. It was after Kumārajīva listened to Śūryasoma expounding this scripture that he converted from Hinayāna to Mahāyāna, particularly to Madhyamaka Buddhism. Based on evidence such as the dating and the diction, we suspect that this might be a lost translation by Kumārajīva. Furthermore, this sutra presents a complex and debated issue in the annals of Buddhist scripture translation. The question of whether this sutra was translated once or twice has persisted in ambiguity. Additionally, it serves as one of the primary pieces of evidence in Zhi Sheng’s critique of Yan Cong’s Record of Ren Shou Era and Dao Xuan’s Record of Buddhist Scriptures. The discovery of this manuscript scroll offers a novel perspective for resolving this long – standing conundrum. |
| 13 |
Wei Li, Suzhou University 敦煌文獻中的律抄與律學的發展 |
隨著佛教的本土化進程加深，律學研究逐漸從對印度原典的直接依賴轉向對戒律實踐的具體指導，律抄應運而生。敦煌文獻中的律抄相關文獻包括雜抄、略抄、小抄等，作為中國佛教律學的重要文獻形式，其產生和發展與僧團的戒律實踐密切相關。本文整理敦煌文獻中律抄的文本情況，在此基礎上梳理律抄文本的發展脈絡，最後通過對比《行事鈔》等律宗文獻，探討律抄在中國佛教律學體系中的地位與意義。
With the deepening of the localization process of Buddhism, the focus of Vinaya studies gradually shifted from direct reliance on Indian canonical texts to the practical guidance of monastic discipline. In this context, lǜchāo (Vinaya excerpts) emerged. The Dunhuang manuscripts contain various types of lǜchāo-related texts, including zá chāo (miscellaneous excerpts), lüè chāo (abridged excerpts), and xiǎo chāo (short excerpts). As an important textual form in the study of Chinese Buddhist Vinaya, the emergence and development of lǜ chāo were closely linked to the practical observance of monastic precepts within the sangha. This paper organizes and examines the textual characteristics of lǜ chāo in the Dunhuang manuscripts, traces the developmental trajectory of these texts, and, through a comparative analysis with Vinaya school texts such as the Xíngshì chāo (Essentials for Practice), explores the position and significance of lǜ chāo within the framework of Chinese Buddhist Vinaya studies. |
| 14 |
Yang Luo, Arizona State University Printing for Remembrance, Self-Preservation, and Authoritativeness: The Collaborative Printing of Daoist Texts by Prince Hongzhou and Lou Jinyuan |
This paper examines the intersection of imperial patronage, religious practice, and print culture in 18th-century China through a study of Daoist priest Lou Jinyuan and his relationship with the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, and Prince Hongzhou. It analyzes Lou’s efforts to standardize Daoist ritual texts by publishing key works, using innovative color-coded printing. This study argues that these techniques, especially in the four-color printing of The Esoteric Rituals of Reporting to the Great Brahma of Primordial Heaven, reflect a deliberate attempt to establish authoritative versions of these texts. Furthermore, it explores Hongzhou’s crucial role in supporting Lou’s endeavors, revealing how his patronage served as a means to commemorate his deceased father and navigate the politically charged atmosphere of the early Qianlong reign. Ultimately, this paper illuminates how the production and standardization of Daoist ritual texts became entangled with expressions of filial piety and political strategy within the Qing court, offering new insights into the complex relationship between religion, power, and print in 18th-century China. 本文通過研究道士娄近垣與雍正帝、乾隆帝及皇子弘晝的關係，探討了18世紀中國帝國贊助、宗教實踐和印刷文化的交匯。論文分析了娄近垣如何通過出版重要著作、採用創新的四色印刷技術，努力推動道教儀式文本的標準化。研究指出，這些技術——特別是在《大梵先天奏告元科》中的四色印刷——反映出一種有意建立權威文本的嘗試。此外，論文還探討了弘晝在支持娄近垣道教文本出版中的關鍵作用，揭示了其贊助不僅是對父親的追憶，更是應對乾隆朝初期政治氛圍的策略性舉措。最終，本文揭示了道教儀式文本的生產與標準化如何與清朝宮廷中的孝道表達和政治策略緊密交織，並為理解18世紀中國宗教、權力與印刷文化的複雜關係提供了新的視角。 |
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Ching Hsuan Mei, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts The Transmission of Lamps: A Preliminary Study on the Publications of Chan Literature in Nineteenth-Century Vietnam |
This study investigates the dissemination and circulation of Chan texts in Vietnam from the 18th to the early 20th century, drawing on insights from the prefaces and publication contexts of these works. It aims to elucidate the distinctive characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhist culture while shedding light on broader patterns of cultural and religious exchange between China and Vietnam. Two particularly significant collections are Khóa hư lục and Đại Nam thiền uyển truyền đăng tập lục. The former, specifically the Khóa hư lục edition published by Hoa An Temple, is commonly attributed to Hu Hiền in the mid-18th century, while the latter was edited and published by Venerable Phúc Điền in 1850s.
These Chan texts, refined and transmitted through generations of monastic scholars, represent collective intellectual and spiritual endeavors. In his Essays on the History of Vietnamese Buddhism, Nguyễn Lang offered a preliminary analysis of these texts, identifying certain inaccuracies. However, it remains an open question whether these errors are merely instances of misattribution or indicative of more complex underlying considerations. Under the significant influence of Chinese Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist traditions, how did Vietnamese monks construct their historical narratives of Buddhism? In what ways did they articulate the unique features of Vietnamese Buddhist thought and practice? Which distinctive elements of Buddhist praxis were emphasized, and how were these connected to the broader political and social milieu of the time? This paper draws upon Chan texts written in classical Chinese, housed in repositories such as the National Library of Vietnam and the Vietnam Han-Nôm Han-Nom Manuscripts Database. By analyzing these materials, this study seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the development and historical discourse of Vietnamese Buddhism during this period, laying a foundation for further specialized research in this field. |
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Mori Yuria, Waseda University The Production of Spirit-Writing Texts and the Identity of the Daoist Lineage among Literati in the Qing Dynasty |
I plan to examine three Neidan (Internal Alchemy) practitioners active during the Qing Dynasty: Pan Yi’an 潘易庵 (active in the late 17th century), Jiang Yupu 蒋予蒲 (1755–1819), and Min Yide (1748 or 1758–1836). Despite holding positions as literati within secular society, these individuals were also closely connected to Daoist lineages and engaged in the authorship and editing of texts produced through spirit-writing. This discussion aims to explore the diversity and commonalities in their identities across the realms of literati, Daoist, and spirit-writing altars (jitan). Additionally, it seeks to provide a perspective on the relationship between their genealogical consciousness and their act of authorship. |
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Gregory Scott, University of Manchester The Production and Distribution of Chinese Buddhist Periodicals, 1912-1967 |
Between 1912 and 1967 over 220 Buddhist periodicals circulated in China, examples of a new textual genre that offered exciting new possibilities for Chinese Buddhists during a modern age of rapid development and change. These publications sought to bring Buddhist news, images, essays, poems, advertisements, and more to a mass reading public spread out across China and in Chinese communities abroad. Each involved a number of publishers, editors, authors, distributors, and, we assume, readers. Most were distributed to at least a few major cities, and either given away for free or sold by local temples, lay associations, bookstores, and other Buddhist institutions. This presentation will outline some initial investigations into how persons, content, and places were interlinked in networks of collaboration, content sharing, and distribution for these periodicals. It will examine a few examples of profilic publishers and editors, whose influence shaped many different periodical titles. It will also explore how content was shared between different titles and reprinted at different times. Finally, it will survey how major periodicals were able to reach readers across vast distances through local distributors. In doing so, I aim to reveal how periodicals functioned as a key medium of communication and influence for a mass Buddhist readership, shaping their understanding of Buddhist thought and practice. |
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Shiga Ichiko, Ibaraki Christian University The Production and Distribution of Spirit-written Texts by Goddesses and Female Immortals from the Late Qing to the Republican Period: A Focus on the Guangdong Area |
The religious culture of spirit-writing (fuji) in China, which serves as a medium between male and female as well as between written and oral traditions, is a crucial topic for studying Chinese religion from a gender perspective. However, previous research on spirit-writing has primarily focused on Daoist scriptures, ritual manuals, and morality books produced by religions specialists and literati, resulting in an inevitable male- and text-centric bias. Consequently, other important aspects of spirit-writing—particularly those related to women and oral traditions—have not received sufficient attention.
This study explores the production and distribution of spirit-written texts by goddesses and female immortals (xiangu), with a particular focus on popular female deity cults in Guangdong from the late Qing to the Republican period. Spirit-writing and related shamanic practices were widespread in local societies across Guangdong, where numerous female deities frequently manifested during séances. These manifestations often took verbal forms, some of which resembled the practices of spirit mediums (jitong). In the late Qing, as spirit-writing altars (jitans) became increasingly prevalent, local deities more frequently appeared at these altars. The deities manifested through spirit-writing were not exclusively male; female immortals also often descended on jitans, imparting their knowledge to followers—primarily women—through spirit-written texts. The process of textualizing these revelations significantly shaped the representation and worship of female deities. This study examines records of female deities’ revelations found in local gazetteers, folk literature, spirit-written texts, and inscriptions from late imperial Guangdong. I will analyze the circumstances under which these divine revelations occurred, their modes of presence (spoken or written), what they said, and how they were recorded and transmitted in textualized form. Special attention will be given to the case of the Holy Mother of Green Peak Rock (Cuifengyan Shengmu Niangniang) in Chaoyang, Guangdong. In 1884, the Holy Mother manifested through spirit-writing, coinciding with an unusual rise of water in the spring near her temple—an event documented and inscribed by local elites. From that point on, she regularly appeared at spirit-writing altars, and her revelations gradually became textualized. During the Republican period, the Holy Mother frequently manifested at spirit-writing altars associated with the Xiantiandao, a sectarian group that spread throughout Guangdong from the late Qing to the Republican period. The Xiantiandao played a significant role in the publication of morality books both within and beyond Guangdong, and attracted a large number of female followers. This study also considers the influence of sectarian groups such as Xiantiandao on the dissemination of the image of female deities shaped by Confucian moral value. |
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Chuah Meng (Esmond) Soh, University of Cambridge So Important, It’s Peripheral: The Paradox of a Canon in the Religion of Compassion in Southeast Asia |
The Religion of Compassion (Cijiao 慈教), also known as the Ritual Teachings of Huanglao Xianshi 黃老仙師法門, is a Chinese sectarian movement established among the overseas Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). Unlike many Chinese sectarian religions reliant on a corpus of accepted texts, the Cijiao remains rooted in spirit-medium practices and ritual performance. Following elaborate initiation ceremonies, disciples of Huanglao Xianshi were empowered to author talismans, perform martial arts, and conduct exorcisms for the benefit of their communities. A select few became spirit-mediums for the movement’s three main deities—Huanglao Xianshi, Taishang Laojun 太上老君, and Dasheng Fozu 大聖佛祖 (alias Sun Wukong)—who collectively symbolised the Three Teachings 三教 of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
This study examines the Cijiao’s canonical text, the Huanglao Xianshi’s Book of Ethical Values 黃老仙師道理書, exploring its origins, social history, contents, circulation, and role within the movement. A paradox emerges:while the text provides a foundation for ethical reform that initiates are expected to master, its influence on ritual practices and spiritual efficacy is negligible. Instead, the movement’s vitality lies in spirit-medium practices and ritual performance, largely independent of the book’s teachings. This tension is illustrated by a controversy in which Huanglao Xianshi—through the movement’s founder—“sealed” a powerful path of ritual initiation, citing its misuse by morally questionable practitioners. Despite its limited role in the movement’s practical operations and appeal, the reprinting and circulation of The Book of Ethical Values in Cijiao temples serve several critical functions. First, even amid the fissiparous nature of the Cijiao’s temples—driven in part by the diverse oral revelations of its spirit-mediums—the consistent production and dissemination of the text underscore its dual role as a unifying and legitimising feature. Second, its physical presence in Cijiao temples distinguishes the movement from other spirit-medium cults that rely solely on orality for religious instruction, while signalling a commitment to ethical transformation. Although its doctrinal contents are often detached from its adherents’ lived experiences, the text’s very physical presence remains critical to anchoring the movement’s identity, fostering cohesion across its temples, and adapting to evolving contexts. |
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Jie Wang, University of Cambridge Texts by Road and Rail: Arabic-Language Schools and Post-1978 Faith Cultivation of Hui Communities |
Responding to the two-decades-long break from Islamic learning and transmission – from the 1950s to mid-1970s – as well as to the external environment of economic reform and cultural decentralisation unleashed across mainland China from 1978, Arabic-language schools (or, Islamic faith schools) founded and operated by Hui Muslims assumed responsibility to produce and disseminate Islamic knowledge within Hui communities, locally, from afar, and beyond the mainland. This was achieved through their own Islamic periodicals operated under the aegis of Muslim charity. No longer constrained behind the physical walls of a school, religious texts aimed to reach a wider Hui readership.
This presentation values Arabic-language schools as an institutional archetype as the producer and disseminator of Islamic knowledge, and a type of a discrete sociocultural unit that constitutes one of the most foundational components of, and features in, the landscape of Sino-Islamic faith education since 1978. Specifically, discussion here presents a story of how the Hui Muslims attached to these schools employed printing press technology and the postal service infrastructure, on their own terms, to cultivate the Hui population’s faith. Their activities of various kinds constituted an experience and process of Hui self-education and the self-making of Muslims, as well as of their remote socialization and networking with Hui readers. |
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Lina Wang, National Library of China 平館學人與近代中國佛道教文獻出版研究 |
有“中華文化之寶庫，中外學術之重鎮”之盛譽的國立北平圖書館及其學人群體，在中國近代學術文化史上具有獨特的歷史地位，對這一時期中國佛道教文獻的編撰、出版做出了重要貢獻。其體現在如下一些方面：其一，平館學人為佛學文獻編撰、出版提供文獻資源。如，丁文江為鋼和泰的《大寶積經迦葉品梵藏漢六種合刊》的出版，其不遺餘力地幫助鋼和泰就校對、排版、印刷、出版等問題與商務印書館進行溝通，並實際上作為鋼和泰與商務印書館和梁啟超之間溝通的橋樑，在此書的出版過程中發揮了至關重要的作用。其二，平館學人推動佛道教文獻出版和館藏佛學文獻的編印工作，如在平館館員徐森玉的多番斡旋下白雲觀藏《道藏》得以在商務印書館影印出版。王重民在平館工作期間編撰了佛教變文重要著述《敦煌變文集》。其三，平館為學者提供研究場所進行專著撰寫，如湯用彤在1931-1932年多次利用平館進行佛學專著的撰寫等。
The National Beiping Library is the repository of Chinese culture and the center of Chinese and foreign academics. The Library and its scholars have a unique position in the history of modern Chinese academia, and have made important contributions to the compilation and publication of Chinese Buddhist and Taoist literature during this period. This is reflected in the following aspects: firstly, the Beiping librarians provided documentary resources for the compilation and publication of Buddhist literature. For example, for the publication of The Kācyapaparivarta: A Mahāyānasūtra of the Ratnakūta Class, Ding Wenjiang devoted himself to assisting Alexander von Stael-Holstein in communicating with the Commercial Press regarding the proofreading, typesetting, printing, and publication of the book, as well as facilitating the communication between Alexander von Stael-Holstein and Liang Qichao, playing a crucial role in the publication of this book. Secondly, the scholars of Beiping Library promoted the publication of Buddhist and Taoist literature as well as the compilation and printing of Buddhist literature in their collection. For example, under the efforts of Xu Senyu, a librarian at the Beiping Library, the Daozang collected in the White Cloud Taoist Temple was photocopied and published by the Commercial Press. Wang Chongmin compiled an important work on Buddhist variant texts, Dunhuang Variant Texts, during his work at Beiping Library. Thirdly, Beiping Library supported scholars in writing monographs by providing them with research places, for instance, during the period 1931-1932, Tang Yutong had worked on Buddhist monographs in Beiping Library several times. |
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Peng Wang, École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) The Textual Pantheon in Daozang Jiyao: With a Focus on Immortal Tan and His Book of Transformations |
As Stephen Bokenkamp observed in Early Chinese Religion, the concept of the pantheon was once central to the study of religion but has received less attention in recent years. Lennert Gesterkamp’s analysis of Daoist deities from an iconographic perspective could also be interpreted as an exploration of the Daoist pantheon. However, significant gaps remain in this area. My research addresses an overlooked aspect: the textual pantheon of Daoism, constructed and presented through texts rather than visual or architectural forms. This study focuses on the Daozang Jiyao (Essentials of the Daoist Canon), the last authoritative Daoist collection of late imperial China.
Authoritative religious collections are vital not only for preserving texts that might otherwise have been lost but also for reflecting the compilers’ and publishers’ religious intentions and inclinations. These collections provide invaluable insights into the broader religious context and the practices of their creators. Following the Ming dynasty’s Daoist Canonand its Supplement, no further state-sanctioned Daoist collections were produced. The Daozang Jiyao, which has recently garnered scholarly attention, was compiled and printed by the Jueyuan Altar, a prominent Daoist spirit-writing group. This group, centering its faith on Lü Dongbin as patriarch, prioritized internal alchemy as its core practice. After publishing a comprehensive collection of texts related to Lü Dongbin, the group compiled the Daozang Jiyao. While scholars such as Monica Esposito and Lai Chi Tim have emphasized the centrality of Lü Dongbin and related texts within this collection, the structure and implications of the parts of the collection remain underexplored. Divided into 28 sections corresponding to the traditional Chinese system of the 28 lunar mansions, each section contains multiple texts. Lai Chi Tim and others have identified Lü Dongbin-related texts as occupying the central 13th and 14th sections. However, the significance of the surrounding texts has yet to be thoroughly analyzed. My research argues that the arrangement of texts surrounding the 13th and 14th sections was deliberate, reflecting the historical development and transmission of internal alchemy. This structure underscores the roles of specific deities, immortals, and patriarchs, along with their representative texts, in the history of internal alchemy. Additionally, the arrangement aligns with the symbolic meaning of the 28 lunar mansions. Using the Book of Transformations (Huashu), a key text from the 12th section, as a case study, I will demonstrate how specific figures and their texts constitute this unique textual pantheon. Unlike Gesterkamp’s focus on iconopraxis, my study highlights the role of textual practice in shaping religious belief and constructing a pantheon through textual means. |
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Jiuhong Yang, Nankai University 民國時期佛教願文的時代價值與宗教表達：以上海佛學書局《佛教文類·願文》為例 |
《佛教文類》是民國時期上海佛學書局出版的一套重要佛教文獻類書，其第一緝便是《佛教願文》。佛教願文廣泛應用於佛教儀式中，儀式性是願文的核心特性。然而《佛教文類·願文》對願文的分類主要依據發願的內容，而忽略其儀式應用，這一分類方式引發了筆者的關注。因此筆者將從成書背景、存錄內容、編輯理念等方面對該書進行深入分析，探討民國時期上海佛學書局對佛教文化的理解與傳播策略，並且結合時代背景與出版實際，進一步分析上海佛學書局在民國佛教復興中的作用，尤其是在面對現代化挑戰時對佛教調適轉型的推動。 Buddhist Literature is an important collection of Buddhist literature published by the Shanghai Buddhist Publishing House during the Period of Republic in China, whose first volume was Buddhist Vow Texts. Buddhist vow texts are widely used in Buddhist rituals, and ritualistic nature is their core characteristic. However, the classification of vow texts in Buddhist Literature: Vow Texts is primarily based on the content of the vows, neglecting their ritual application, which has drawn our attention. Therefore, we will conduct an in-depth analysis of Buddhist Literature: Vow Texts from the perspectives of its background, recorded contents, and editorial philosophy, exploring the Shanghai Buddhist Publishing House’s understanding of and strategy for the dissemination of Buddhist culture during the Period of Republic in China. Furthermore, we will analyze the role of the Shanghai Buddhist Publishing House in the revival of Buddhism in the Republican period, particularly focusing on its role in promoting the adjustment and transformation of Buddhism in the face of modern challenges. |
| 24 |
Valentina (Lingyan) Yang, Catholic University of Leuven Intercultural Morality Books: Exploring Chinese-Christian Interactions in the Religious Publishing World of 17th Century China |
This research examines the production and uses of religious texts, specifically morality books shanshu 善書, in the context of Chinese-Christian cultural interaction in 17th-century China. Morality books have greatly attracted scholarly attention for their value in studying various aspects of Chinese society and history, offering insights into the deep entanglements of the diverse religious institutions and traditions within the vibrant religious and moral publishing landscape of early modern China. However, it is much less common to discuss morality books in relation to Christianity and Chinese Christian communities that emerged in this period. Did Chinese Christian literati participate in this cultural practice, widely embraced by the contemporary literate population? Indeed, they did. Unlike the moral publications by later missionary presses, these early Chinese Christian morality books were actively written and circulated by Christian converts as part of their own self-cultivation and religious pursuits. This research will explore how morality books were produced and used within such exchanges. First, by intermingling textual material and concepts of morality and religiosity from both Christian and Chinese traditions, these morality books represent a truly “intercultural” form of textual production. Examining this genre through the lens of cultural interaction will show its pivotal role as a meeting ground where external and Buddhist and other local religious traditions, engaged in dialogue through book production. It also highlights the genre’s versatility in addressing the diverse moral, religious, publishing, and social needs of the newly formed Christian groups. Second, the resulting molarity books became part of an intercultural book circuit spanning Europe and China, in which they acquired new modalities of use and practice derived from different cultural spaces. Within these texts, European Christian writings and theological concepts came to operate within broader early modern Chinese religious frameworks, such as the quest for sagehood, karmic retribution, or merit accumulation. Additionally, the existing repertory of Chinese morality books and the practice of ledgers of merit and demerit gongguoge 功過格 were integrated in these texts as means for cultivating Christian piety. The result was the emergence of a new, in-between form of morality books, neither entirely local nor entirely Christian, that reshaped how Chinese Christian produced and engaged with this genre itself. 這項研究以17世紀中國基督教與文化互動為背景，探討了善書的生產與使用。善書因其在研究中國社會與歷史中的獨特價值而備受學術界關注，尤其是它們為理解明代中國宗教實踐與出版領域提供了重要視角。然而，關於善書與基督教及這一時期興起的中國基督教社群之間的聯繫，卻鮮有深入探討。本研究將深入分析善書在跨文化交流中的創作與使用方式。這些善書融合了基督教與中國傳統中的文本材料與道德宗教觀念，形成了一種真正的“跨文化”文本創作形式。通過文化互動的視角審視這一體裁，我們可以發現它不僅是基督教與本土宗教（如佛教）對話的重要交匯點，同時也展現了其在滿足新興基督教群體多樣化道德、宗教、出版和社會需求方面的獨特靈活性。此外，這些跨文化善書還成為連接歐洲與中國書籍流通的重要紐帶，並在不同文化空間中衍生出新的使用方式與實踐。例如，歐洲基督教的著作與神學概念被融入明末中國的道德宗教實踐框架，用於因果報應、功德積累等。最終，這些善書形成了一種“之間”的新形式，既不完全本土化，也不完全基督教化，而是開創了一種獨特的文本體裁，重塑了中國基督教群體創作與參與這一文化實踐的方式。 |
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Zhongya Yi, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 民國時期佛教學術媒介與知識生產——出版文化視域下的《微妙聲》研究 |
近年來書籍史和出版文化研究的興起，為近現代佛教研究提供了一種新的視角和研究路徑，即從對佛教現代轉型原因的追問，轉向對傳播現代觀念、結構的媒介和機制的探究。本文試圖以民國時期北方唯一的純學術佛教刊物《微妙聲》為中心，以《微妙聲》的出版生命週期為線索，探究北京地區佛教知識群體的聚散和新型佛教知識共同體的形成、佛教知識的新舊轉化及其對佛教形象的建構、佛教傳播網絡對資源的整合和社會空間的拓展等問題，旨在揭示近代佛教知識的社會化過程，以及佛教學術媒介在中國佛教現代化進程中所扮演的文化角色和命運。 The rise of book history and publishing culture studies in recent years has provided a new perspective of and approach to the modern Buddhist studies, i.e., from the inquiry into the causes of the modern transformation of Buddhism to the exploration of the media and mechanisms of disseminating modern concepts and structures. This paper attempts to focus on Weimiaosheng 《微妙聲》, the only pure academic Buddhist journal in the north during the Republic of China, and take the publishing cycle of Weimiaosheng as a clue to explore the following questions: the gathering and dispersion of Buddhist intellectual groups and the formation of a new type of Buddhist intellectual community in Beijing, the transformation of the old Buddhist knowledge into the new and its contribution to the construction of the image of Buddhism, and the integration of resources and the expansion of the social space by the Buddhist dissemination network. These explorations aim to shed light on the process of socialization of Buddhist knowledge in modern times and the cultural role and fate of Buddhist academic media in the modernization of Buddhism in China. |
| 26 |
Qijun Zheng, École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Towels, Texts, and Temples: Three Friends Industrial Company (三友實業社) in the Nexus of Commerce and Religious Publishing in 1930s Shanghai |
This paper examines the often-overlooked yet important role of non-traditional presses in shaping modern religious print culture in Republican China. Focusing on Three Friends Industrial Company (三友實業社, hereafter SYS)—a Shanghai-based towel manufacturer—this study demonstrates how a seemingly secular factory produced andcirculated a variety of religious and morality texts during the 1930s. Whereas existing scholarship on Chinese religiouspublishing has largely centered on presses affiliated with religious institutions or missionary bodies, SYS, a secular industrial enterprise, broadens the scope of inquiry by illustrating how merchants and industrialists alsoparticipated in and influenced Republican-era religious discourse. Its founder, Chen Wanyun 陳萬運 (1885–1950), mobilized both industrial and personal networks to support philanthropic ventures and print religious materials. This analysis draws on three main categories of sources. First, SYS’s 1930s publications, ranging from illustrated morality tracts of filial piety, vernacular commentaries of Confucian classics, chronicles of the reconstruction of aDaoist temple, to translated Western medical treatises (with appended “divine prescriptions”), reveal the breadth of the company’s publishing endeavors. Second, this study situates Chen’s merchant ethics within a longstandingtradition of merchant ethics2 by engaging the extensive corpus of morality books (shanshu 善書), which served as central vehicles of moral discourse in both premodern and modern China. These texts’ detailed explorations of traditional merchant values illustrate how moral ideals transcended narrowly defined Confucian elites since Imperial Chinaand continued to shape Republican-era merchant values. Third, archival materials, such as advertisements, posters,marketing brochures, internal correspondence, corporate ledgers, and court records preserved in the Shanghai Municipal Archive—provide insights into how Chen’s philanthropic ambitions intersected with the logistics and economics of industrial publishing. This research advances the study of Chinese religious print culture in Republican China in three ways. First, it expands the scope of religious publishing to encompass industrial presses unaffiliated with religious institutions. Second, it illustrates how patriotic and philanthropic imperatives enabled religious texts to reach broader, non-sectarian audiences in urban centers such as Shanghai. Finally, by positioning figures like Chen Wanyun within broader debates on modern Chinese religiosity, the paper advocates for a more inclusive conception of religious publishing that integrates commerce with ethical imperatives. By highlighting the fluid, interconnected nature of commerce, religiosity, and print culture, this work contributes to ongoing discussions of religious publishing in modern China and how merchant classes sustained, reshaped, and embodied religious and ethical visions in 1930s Shanghai. |
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Peter Zieme, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities Uyghur Blockprinted Books |
In the Yuan time, official and private prints were produced in great numbers in a variety of languages. Beside Chinese, in several printing houses blockprinted books were edited in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Tangut, Mongol and Uyghur. In the presentation some questions of the production of Uyghur illustrated prints will be discussed. The well-known Tārā-Ekaviṃśatistotra prints of Yuan and Ming periods deserve special attention, but also several Uyghur fragments of printed Jātaka collections with illustrations. |
