Research Projects

1. Postdoctoral/Monograph Project: “Carving the Patriarchs: Chan Historiography in Tang-Song Transition China.”

This project investigates the formation of Chinese Chan/Zen 禪 Buddhist historiography during the Tang-Song transition (ca. 750–1000). It focuses on how Chan historians shaped and refined bio-hagiographies for the Chan patriarchs and early masters in the earliest extant anthologies from this period: the Baolin zhuan 寶林傳 (Chronicle of the Baolin [Monastery], ca. 801), the Shengzhou ji 聖冑集 (Collection of the Sagely Descendant, ca. 899), the Zutang ji 祖堂集 (Collection of the Patriarchal Hall, ca. 952) and the Jingde chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 (Jingde-Era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, ca. 1004).

First, this study offers a critical history of these Chan historiographical works, addressing issues of compilation background, authorship, textual history, genealogical framework, content, and circulation. Second, it investigates practices of textual reuse and source criticism within these texts, shedding light on evolving trends in the perspectives and craft of Chan historians. Third, through a thematic approach, it explores the distinctive characteristics of Chan Buddhist historical writing, focusing on the role of Indian patriarchs, the idealised portrayal of Chinese Chan patriarchs and masters, as well as the use of genealogies and prophecies as historiographical tools.

In addition, the project also examines related texts such as the Keitoku dentō roku shōchō 景德傳燈錄抄註 (Annotated Record of Excerpts from the Jingde chuandeng lu, compiled after 1316), a fourteenth-century Japanese commentary on the Jingde chuandeng lu that preserves fragments from the lost tenth juan 卷 (fascicle) of the Baolin zhuan, and the Quanzhou Qianfo xinzhu zhuzushi song 泉州千佛新著諸祖師頌 (Eulogies for the Patriarchs Newly Composed by Qianfo [Deng] of Quanzhou). This latter work is a collection of thirty-eight tetrasyllabic, eight-line encomia for the Chan patriarchs and early masters composed by the Quanzhou 泉州 monk Wendeng 文僜 (892?–972), author of the Zutang ji's original preface, who based much of his work on the Baolin zhuan.

More broadly, this research underscores the significance of historical thought in the intellectual history of Chan Buddhism and contributes to the growing scholarship on the features of premodern Chinese historiography.

2. Research Articles

• Nanyue Huairang 南嶽懷讓 (d. 744) and Chan Hagiography: On the Textual Fragments of the Baolin zhuan 寶林傳 Quoted in the Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄 and Their Relationship to Post-Tang Chan Anthologies.

  • Accepted for Publication.

• Chan/Zen and the Art of Quoting: A Study of the Fragments of the Baolin zhuan 寶林傳 Contained in the Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄.

  • Paper presented at the International Conference “Cross-Regional and Cross-Cultural Interaction and Integration between Buddhism and Other Asian Religions 佛教與亞洲宗教跨地域與跨文化的互鑒與共融,” organized by the Center for Buddhist Culture Studies 佛教文化研究中心 at Zhejiang University 浙江大學, in collaboration with the Glorisun Global Network of Buddhist Studies, with administration support from the FROGBEAR project at the University of British Columbia. Zhejiang University, August 16–19, 2024; and at the Symposium “International Travels of Chinese Text: Global Perspectives and New Approaches to Chinese Textual Culture 漢籍文本之國際漫遊：對漢籍文本文化之當代態度與寰宇視角,” National Library of Latvia, in collaboration with the National Central Library 國家圖書館, Nov. 10–11, 2023.

• Chan Historiography in Fragments: The Shengzhou ji 聖冑集 and the Dunhuang Manuscript Or.8210/S.4478.

  • “Chan Historiography in Fragments: The Shengzhou ji 聖冑集 and the Dunhuang Manuscript Or.8210/S.4478,” Paper presented at the International Workshop “Buddhist Civilization and Manuscript Culture along the Silk Road 絲綢之路上的佛教文明與寫本文化國際工作坊,” School of History 歷史學院, Zhejiang Univ. 浙江大學, Nov. 15–18, 2024.

• Did the Indian Patriarchs Matter? A Diachronic Study of Chan Hagiographies for Ānanda from the Late Tang to the Early Northern Song.

  • Paper presented at the International Conference “Canonical, Non-Canonical and Extra-Canonical: Interdisciplinary and Multi-media Studies of the Formation, Translation and Transmission of Buddhist Texts 佛教典籍的成立與傳譯視閾下的佛教中國化,” co-organized by The Wutai Shan Institute of Buddhism and Eastern Asian Culture 五臺山東方佛教文化研究院, the FROGBEAR project based at the University of British Columbia, and the Institute for Ethics and Religions Studies 道德與宗教研究院 at Tsinghua University 清華大學. Great Bamboo Grove Monastery 大聖竹林, Mount Wutai 五臺山, August 11–15, 2024.

• Revisiting the Textual History of the Zutang ji 祖堂集.

  • Draft paper based on Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and the Appendix to Chapter 2 in my Ph.D. dissertation.

• A Palaeographic Study of the Silla 新羅 Monks’ Hagiographies in the Zutang ji 祖堂集.

3. Other Research Projects

• Dunhuang Chan or Chan in Dunhuang? Codicological and Palaeographic Perspectives on Chan Manuscripts in the Stein Collection of the British Library

This research project investigates the corpus of Chinese Chan/Zen Buddhist manuscripts from the Silk Road oasis of Dunhuang housed in the Stein collection of the British Library. Focusing on codicology, palaeography, and textual transmission, it aims to deepen our understanding of the production contexts of these manuscripts and their role in the intellectual and religious life of Dunhuang during the ninth and tenth centuries. Additionally, through an analysis of variant, rebus, and erroneous characters, this study explores how Chan manuscripts provide crucial insights into scribal and copyist practices in Dunhuang and medieval China. Integrating material analysis, philological research, and digital humanities methodologies, the project will contribute to ongoing efforts in textual encoding of extracanonical sources by producing TEI (Text Encoding Initiative)-compliant critical editions of Chan manuscripts, thereby providing essential tools for future research and translation projects in Chan and Buddhist studies.

The study will be guided by the following key questions:

1. What do the codicological and palaeographic features of Dunhuang Chan manuscripts reveal about their production and use?

2. What insights do these Chan manuscripts provide into scribal and copyist practices in Dunhuang and medieval China?

3. How do textual variants in these manuscripts inform our understanding of the transmission practices and reception of Chan literature in Dunhuang?

• Xuefeng Yicun's 雪峰義存 (822–908) Legacy: Chan Circles in the Min 閩 (909–945) and Southern Tang 南唐 (937–976) Kingdoms.

4. Digital Humanities Projects

• Short-Term Projects:

  • TEI-compliant edition of the Dunhuang 敦煌 manuscript Or.8210/S.4478, a fragment of the Shengzhou ji.

  • TEI edition of the Niutou School 牛頭宗 section of the 1245 Goryeo woodblock edition of the Zutang ji (K.1503).

  • GIS-based study of the Zutang ji 祖堂集 related to the text’s geographical coverage from the early Tang 唐 (618-907) to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十國 (907-960/979) period.

• Long-Term Projects:

  • TEI edition, with parallel translation, of the Dunhuang version of the Liuzu tanjing 六祖壇經 (Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch), taking Or.8210/S.5475 as the base text.

  • TEI edition of the extant booklets of the Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄.

• Side Projects:

  • TEI editions of selected manuscripts of the 80-juan 卷 version of the Dafangguang fo huayan jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 preserved in the Stein collection of the British Library (e.g., Or.8210/S.348). Project leader: Wu Luchun 吳廬春 (Zhejiang Provincial Museum 浙江省博物館; J. S. Lee Memorial Fellow at the British Library).

  • TEI edition of the Dunhuang manuscript Pelliot chinois 3079, a copy of the Weimojie jing jiangjingwen 維摩詰經講經文.