Overview

Drawing on Dunhuang manuscripts and the latest scholarship in Dunhuang and Buddhist Studies, this translation analyzes Buddhist monasticism via such topics as the organizational forms of Dunhuang Buddhist monasteries, the construction and operation of ordination platforms, ordination certificates and government ordination licenses, and meditation retreats, etc. Assuming a pan-Asian perspective, the monograph also made trailblazing contributions to the study of Buddhist Sinicization and Sino-Indian cultural exchanges and is bound to exert long-lasting influences on the worldwide academic study of Buddhism.

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Prof. Zhan Ru's book Disciplinary Rituals in Dunhuang Buddhism is a major contribution to Buddhist studies and, more specifically, the history of Buddhism in Dunhuang. It is based on a careful analysis of first-hand resources and is bound to have a lasting impact on scholarship. It traces the links between Indian Buddhist institutions and their later forms in Dunhuang and China proper. The approach of looking at institutions and phenomena in a transnational manner works especially well for Dunhuang, which stood at the intersection of Chinese, Central Asian and Indic cultures. It is becoming increasingly obvious that one cannot study Dunhuang in isolation but has to consider its interactions with other regions, cultures and languages. Prof. Zhan Ru does a remarkable job in integrating often disconnected topics (e.g. Indian Buddhism, Dunhuang popular literature, lay associations, political history) into a coherent narrative. We are extremely grateful to Brill and the team of expert translators for making this book available for an international readership. -- Imre Galambos (University of Cambridge)

Author Information

Zhan Ru is a Professor in Peking University’s School of Foreign Languages and vice president of the Peking University Orientalism Research Institute. His areas of research include Buddhist and Buddhist literature, the Indian Ministry of Buddhism, Dunhuang Buddhism, and the Buddhist system.

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