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Jing Liu is a visting PhD student within the Department of Languages and Cultures at Ghent University. She holds a Master’s degree from Shanghai University and is currently pursuing a PhD there. Her current research project “Bide 比德: A Study on the Premodern Chinese Approach to the Integration of Morality and Aesthetics–An Examination of the Interaction between Confucian and Buddhist Aesthetics“, supervised by Prof. Dr. Christoph Anderl, explores the Confucian tradition of bide and its theoretical manifestations in literature and art, with a particular focus on the interaction between Confucian and Buddhist aesthetics as a key case study. In the history of ancient Chinese thought, bide 比德 initially existed as a universal mode of thinking with anthropological significance, referring to the association of certain human behaviors or concepts with the characteristics of natural entities. In ancient times, bide was closely associated with Confucian moral thought. However, the literary and artistic concepts that emerged from it gradually exhibited characteristics that diverged from morality and could be identified as aesthetic phenomena. Accordingly, the project will explore how bide evolved into a tradition that integrates morality and aesthetics.

As part of the Permanent Training in Buddhist Studies lecture series, on March 11th, Lyce Jankowski and Lara Bauden from the Royal Museum of Mariemont took us through their fascinating research on the museum’s Buddhist art collection. This collection, founded by Raoul Warocqué in the early 20th century, includes treasures from regions like Gandhara, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Nepal. Despite its richness, many of these pieces had been poorly documented—until now!

Through meticulous provenance research, they’ve uncovered surprising findings, shedding new light on the identification and dating of these artworks. Don’t miss the ongoing exhibition Sensing the Buddha, where you can experience a selection from this remarkable collection. While displayed in a secular space, the exhibition deeply respects the sacred nature of these objects.

Mengqiu Tian is PhD candidate in Buddhist Studies within the Department of Languages and Cultures at Ghent University. Her research project “Vignettes of the Life of the Buddha at Dunhuang during the Tang and Five Dynasties“, supervised by Prof. Dr. Daniela De Simone and Prof. Dr. Christoph Anderl, explores the portrayal of episodes of the Buddha’s life in the Dunhuang grottoes.

Mengqiu Tian has completed her Master study of Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens and Sinologie at Heidelberg Universität. He conducted fieldwork at Dunhuang grottoes (09, 2021) and the musée Guimet (01, 2022) funded by Heinz-Götze travel grant and was a one-year visitor of SOAS, University of London. Visited the Stein’s collection at the British Museum.

On January 27, 2025, GCBS researcher Xiaoxiao Xu defended his PhD dissertation titled “The Poet–Monk Taixu and His Imagery World,” written within the framework of the joint PhD program between Ghent University (supervisor Prof. Dr. Ann Heirman) and the University of Perugia (supervisor Prof. Dr. Ester Bianchi).  The examination committee consisted of Prof. Dr. Ji Zhe (INALCO), Prof. Dr. Heng (Michael) Chen (UGent), and Dr. Mariia Lepneva (UGent).

Taixu 太虛 (1890–1947) is well-known to scholarship as an advocate of radical reforms of the Buddhist community and the author of the concept of “Buddhism of the human realm.” Xiaoxiao Xu’s dissertation revealed that, beyond these achievements, Taixu possessed yet another identity—a poet-monk. Through literature studies methodology, the author established that Taixu’s poetical creativity often went beyond presenting his religious views. Instead, the great Buddhist leader was inclined to use his verses for expressing his personal thoughts and emotions. This makes his poetry a valuable entry point for understanding his personality.

(2) “Tracing Macro-cyclical Change Through Micro-cycles in Historical Chinese”

GCBS reading group activities began on November 8 this year. PhD student Longyu Zhang presented her preliminary reading of narrative passages from Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, with a focus on the use of modal markers in these texts. Longyu began by introducing the terminological apparatus she uses for analysing necessity, possibility, and volition. During the rest of the session, we immersed ourselves in the analysis of specific examples, narrowing down our interpretations as we got acquainted with the unfolding of the story.

August Sundin is PhD candidate in Buddhist Studies within the Department of Languages and Cultures at Ghent University. He is a member of the project “Corpora in Greater Gandhāra. Tracing the development of Buddhist Textuality and Gilgit/Bamiyan manuscript networks in the first millennium of the common era” led by Professor Charles DiSimone.

August received his Bachelors in Buddhist Studies and Masters in Tibetan Translation from Kathmandu University in Nepal. His past research has focused on the role of cultural interpretation in Indo-Tibetan historiographical works as well as the issues of reading Indic materials in their Tibetan translations. August’s current research focuses on the application of philology and textual comparison to Buddhist manuscripts and the history of Buddhist textual networks centred in Gandhāra between the fourth and ninth centuries c.e.

On 10th October, Mr Saurabh Kumar, Ambassador of India to Belgium and Luxembourg, and to the European Union, accompanied by Mr Venkateswaran Narayanan, First Secretary Press, Information and Culture visited Universiteit Gent to meet the Rector, Prof Rik Van de Walle, and the members of our research group and learn more about our work, and current and future activities. GCBS’s Professors Ann Heirman, Charles DiSimone, and Daniela De Simone  attended the meeting.