Doctoral school “Buddhist Material Culture”, June 26 – July 1, 2025 (3/8/2025) - Abstract: This five-day, on-campus course explores how Buddhism has influenced the creation of new objects, ideas about objects, and behaviors related to objects. Focusing on China, the course requires no prior knowledge of Chinese, as all readings and instruction will be… Read more
2025 PTBS Lecture Series (2/24/2025) - Buddhism is a driving force in many regions of the world. Yet many aspects of it remain unknown. This is especially true when it comes to everyday praxis, to people now and in the past who incorporate Buddhism into their… Read more
Workshop “Studying Food and Japan: A Roundtable on New Research and Approaches”, March 7, 2025 (2/24/2025) - Organized by the Japanese studies sector of the Department of Languages and Cultures and BOCULT - Centre for Research on Body Cultures in Motion, the workshop “Studying Food and Japan: A Roundtable on New Research and Approaches” at Ghent University… Read more
New member: Mengqiu Tian (2/8/2025) - 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.… Read more
Guest lecture “Japanese diplomacy in the fifteenth century: Buddhist exchange and Chinese tributary ritual” by Polina Barducci, April 29, 2025 (2/1/2025) - On April 29, 2025, Dr. Polina Barducci (Rikkyo University) will deliver a guest lecture titled “Japanese diplomacy in the fifteenth century: Buddhist exchange and Chinese tributary ritual” within the framework of the master-level course "Culture in Perspective: South and East… Read more
PhD defense “The Poet–Monk Taixu and His Imagery World” by Xiaoxiao Xu, January 27, 2025 (1/28/2025) - 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… Read more
Publication highlights (Q1 20254): Two papers by GCBS members in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (1/7/2025) - Articles from two GCBS researchers have just been published in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Volume 46 (2023). One is by Prof. Dr. Charles DiSimone, and the other by FWO postdoctoral fellow Dr. Anna Sokolova. "Manuscript Discoveries… Read more
Two GCBS researchers have been granted prestigious FWO Senior Research projects (12/18/2024) - Two GCBS researchers have been granted two prestigious 4-year FWO Senior Research projects! (1) "Visual and Textual Narratives of Buddhist Initiation Rituals in Medieval China" Applicants: Prof. Ann Heirman & Christoph Anderl / Researcher: Dr. Anna Sokolova (2) "Tracing Macro-cyclical… Read more
Publication highlights (Q4 2024): “Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana”, edited by Charles DiSimone and Nicholas Witkowski. (11/26/2024) - New Book Announcement: Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana: A Festschrift for Paul Harrison, edited by GCBS professor Charles DiSimone and Nicholas Witkowski. From the publisher: Buddhakṣetrapariśodhana is a volume in honor of the Buddhologist and Philologist, Paul M. Harrison, George Edwin Burnell Professor of… Read more
Fieldwork of GCBS researcher Ven. Hui Wen (11/17/2024) - Venerable Hui Wen, a Phd student at GCBS, has just completed a field trip to the Mogao 莫高 caves in Dunhuang 敦煌, Gansu Province, in the framework of her research on the iconography and symbolic representations found at the center… Read more
Reading group meeting, presentation by Longyu Zhang, November 8, 2024 (11/8/2024) - 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… Read more
New member: August Sundin (10/25/2024) - 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… Read more
Indian ambassadors’s visit, October 10, 2024 (10/14/2024) - 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… Read more
A splendid opening ceremony launches the exhibition “Sensing the Buddha” (9/27/2024) - The exhibition “Sensing the Buddha” opened in the Domaine & Musée royal de Mariemont on Friday, September 21, 2024. Madam Minister of Culture, Elisabeth Degryse, Her Excellency Madam Kanchana Patarachoke, Ambassador of Thailand in Belgium, Madam Deputy Culture.be - Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Mr.… Read more
Guest lecture “Monastic Monsters: Historicizing Outcaste Characters in the Grotesquerie of Indian Buddhist Literature” by Nicholas Witkowski, October 3, 2024 (9/24/2024) - The Gandhāra Corpora Project, South Asia Network Ghent, and Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies present a lecture by Professor Nicholas Witkowski from the University of San Diego. Title: Monastic Monsters: Historicizing Outcaste Characters in the Grotesquerie of Indian Buddhist Literature Speaker: … Read more
Publication highlights (Q3 2024): Two papers by GCBS members in the Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies (9/22/2024) - Articles from two GCBS researchers have just been published in the Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Volume 37, Special issue "Chinese Buddhist Monastic Institutional Life and Buddhist Women’s Experience and Practice" (August 2024). One is by the Head of the… Read more
Exhibition “Sensing the Buddha,” 21 September 2024 to 20 April 2025, Royal Museum of Mariemont (Belgium) (9/7/2024) - In partnership with the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies, the Domaine & Musée royal de Mariemont has produced the exhibition "Sensing the Buddha," an unprecedented immersion in the world of Buddhism. The exhibition features innovative scenography that reveals the many… Read more
International conference “Diverse Lives: Narratives of Śākyamuni Buddha in text and image”, 17-19 October 2024, Royal Museum of Mariemont (Belgium) (9/3/2024) - Śākyamuni Buddha, the founding figure of Buddhism, has played a profoundly significant role across South and East Asian – and more recently also Western – cultures and societies. Despite his central role, no single biographical account of his life is… Read more
GCBS members participate in the 25th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS) (9/2/2024) - Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies had a notable presence at the 25th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS) held at Tallinn University, Estonia on 27-30 August, 2024. Our professors, postdocs and PhD students made nine presentations… Read more
Visit of the Ambassadors of Thailand and Sri Lanka to the GCBS (7/15/2024) - On July 15, 2024, the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies welcomed H.E. Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, Ambassador of Thailand, and H.E. Mr. Chandana Weerasena, Ambassador of Sri Lanka, along with Mr. Nithi Patarachoke, the spouse of Mrs. Patarachoke, and Mr. Pathompong… Read more
GCBS Research Forum meeting, June 10, 2024, presentation by Mariia Lepneva (6/12/2024) - The last meeting of GCBS's Research Forum for this academic year took place on June 10, at 4 pm. FWO postdoc Mariia Lepneva presented the paper that she will further discuss at the European Association of Chinese Studies conference in… Read more
2024 Lecture Series “Asian Buddhism: Text, Art, and Practice” (6/5/2024) - GCBS's own professors and several invited guests will deliver talks in the framework of the lecture series "Asian Buddhism: Text, Art, and Practice" (June 22-23, 2024) aimed at the GENERAL PUBLIC. Participation can be both in-person and ONLINE. For details,… Read more
Lecture “Bringing Buddha Down to Earth: Celebrating Śākyamuni’s Life in Mogao Cave 61 in Dunhuang”, by Christoph Anderl at Foguang Univesity, May 30, 2024 (5/31/2024) - Centre for Buddhist Studies of Fo Guang University welcomes a guest lecturer from Ghent University in Belgium, who gives a talk about his research on Śākyamuni’s Life in Mogao Cave 61 in Dunhuang. Professor Christoph Anderl is a linguist specializing… Read more
GCBS Research Forum meeting, May 27, 2024, presentations by Jiahang Yu and Massimiliano Portoghese (5/28/2024) - On March 27, 2024, two talks for the Research Forum were given by Ph.D. students Yu Jiahang于佳航 and Massimiliano Portoghese who presented parts of their ongoing research projects at the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies. Please find the relevant details below:… Read more
Publication highlights (Q2 2024): “Perfect Awakening: An Edition and Translation of the Prāsādika and Prasādanīya Sūtras”, by Charles DiSimone (5/24/2024) - The Long Discourses, or Dīrghāgama, is a collection of the Buddha’s most well-known sermons that has circulated widely in the Buddhist world. Parallel collections in Pali and Chinese have long been known to scholars and practitioners, but it was not… Read more
Guest lecture “Dreaming of Buddhahood—Measuring Bodhisattva Progress in Early Mahāyāna” by Yixiu Jiang, May 16, 2024 (5/6/2024) - A guest lecture by Yixiu JIANG of Leiden University will take place on May 16 at 14:30 in Meeting Room Camelot (3.30), Campus Boekentoren, Blandij. The lecture is ogranized by GCBS's Professor Charles DiSimone. Title: Dreaming of Buddhahood—Measuring Bodhisattva Progress… Read more
GCBS Research Forum meeting, April 29, 2024, presentation by Nguyễn Khuông Hồng Ngọc (4/30/2024) - The meeting of the GCBS's Research Forum took place on April 29, 2024. Our Ph.D. student Nguyễn Khuông Hồng Ngọc (a.k.a. Ruby) presented a draft paper of a research project submitted for consideration to the European Association for Chinese Studies… Read more
PhD opportunity at the Ghent Centre for Buddist Studies (4/29/2024) - We are hiring! A four year doctoral fellowship is available in the European Research Council funded Gandhāra Corpora project led by Professor Charles DiSimone. Please consider applying or sharing this with any recent MA graduates who are looking to continue… Read more
Fieldwork of GCBS researcher Wen Xueyu (4/2/2024) - GCBS researcher Wen Xueyu just returned from China where she surveyed the Yungang and Longmen grottoes in the framework of her project on the development of apsara (feitian 飛天) iconography. During the fieldwork she collected a large number of photographs,… Read more
Fieldwork concluding session (Cluster 3.4 of the FROGBEAR project), April 20, 2024 (3/13/2024) - In April, final meetings of the various Research Clusters of the FROGBEAR project hosts the final meetings of its various Research Clusters under the general title "From the Ground to the Cloud: Insights from Seven Years of Fieldwork, Training, and… Read more