International
Conference on “Esoteric Buddhism and East Asian Society”
(Aug 2 to
Aug 4, 2019, Xi’an 西安 and Zhen’an 鎮安, Shaanxi province)
The
organizing committee for the international conference on “Esoteric Buddhism and
East Asian Society” cordially invites the submission of related papers. The
conference is hosted by the Association for the Promotion of
Xuanzang-associated Culture 玄奘文化促進會 in Xi’an 西安, Shaanxi province, co-organized by the From the Ground Up Project based
at the University of British Columbia (www.frogbear.org), Guiyuan Monastery 歸元寺 in Xi’an,
Shaanxi, Xinglong Monastery 興隆寺 in Zhen’an 鎮安, Shaanxi, and the Jintai Academy 金臺書院, Shaanxi.
The conference will be held between August 2 and August 4, 2019 in Xi’an and the
Jintai Academy in Zhen’an.
It has been
thirty-two years since the discovery of the underground chamber at Famen
Monastery 法門寺, west of Xi’an. The discovery of this chamber fascinated the world not only with its
rare treasures, but also the esoteric implements and offerings that had been
preserved there more than a millennium ago. This discovery allows us to glimpse
the design and the high artistic achievements represented by Tang religious
artifacts and reveals the significant role that Esoteric Buddhism assumed
during the Tang dynasty. For instance, similar to Esoteric Buddhism in medieval
Japan where influences can be seen across all levels of society, Esoteric Buddhism
under the Tang was unique: not only in that it achieved a recognizable
sectarian identity, but also because elements of esoteric teachings were
absorbed by other religious schools, influencing their philosophical tenets and
everyday practices. Some scholars have recently shed new light on the important
role that the esoteric tradition played in the formation of Chan teachings and
its central narrative of transmission from master to disciple.
The
influence of the Esoteric Buddhism during the Tang was not confined to the
religious sphere: we see new developments of this tradition in many examples of
material culture. No matter how one looks at a maṇḍala—an integral feature of
esoteric practice—or the uncannily expressive statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas
or Yidam that come in all shapes and sizes, or the murals that depict the
variegated, mysterious themes of the esoteric tradition, which once inspired
the enigmatic poetic style of Han Yu 韓愈 (766-824), one can always recognise
the profound connection between art and the Esoteric Buddhist tradition.
Influences from Esoteric Buddhism also abound in Tang literature across
different genres, displaying its unique characters both in poetry and prose.
Likewise, in architecture, one can readily make out the enigmatic, colorful and
distinctive elements characteristic of the esoteric tradition.
Recently,
scholars have been paying more and more attention to the significance of Tang
Esoteric Buddhism in relation to material culture and the dissemination of
Esoteric Buddhist technologies in South, Central, and East Asia. Monks
initiated into the esoteric lineages not only brought Buddhist classics and
practices to China, but also advanced knowledge in astronomy, calendarial
calculations and mathematical theories. And their medicinal and surgical
aptitude directly benefited the elite of the Tang empire, leaving a permanent
mark on the medieval history of Chinese medicine. Meanwhile, there are
important connections to be drawn between Tang Esoteric Buddhism and commerce, military,
diplomacy and even the invention of printing; these are the kinds of connection
scholars too often overlook.
Tang
Buddhism, anchored in Chang’an, extended its influence beyond China to other
regions within the Sinosphere, including Korea, Japan, Vietnam and countries
further afield in Southeast, South and Central Asia. After Indian Buddhism
arrived in the metropolitan city of Chang’an, advocates shared doctrinal
teaching, cosmological schemes, and ritual procedures with Daoists, Confucians,
and members of other faiths—including Christianity and Manichaeism—to produce a
religious culture during the Sui-Tang period that drew pilgrims from across the
known world. Thanks to the assiduous translations and preaching of Śubhakarasiṃha
(637-735), Vajrabodhi (671-741), and Amoghavajra (705-774), revered as the
“Three Mahāsattavs during the Kaiyuan Era (713-741)”, Tang Esoteric Buddhism
became mainstream Buddhism in the city and at court, consequently affecting all
other Buddhist traditions. This heterogenous nature of Esoteric Buddhism
profoundly influenced all aspects of Buddhism in medieval Japan.
In order to
retrace the historical development of East Asian Esoteric Buddhism that spread
from Chang’an across East Asia, this conference proposes the following themes
that are not exclusive:
- Translation, collection, compilation and propagation of East Asian Esoteric Buddhist texts;
- Practices and transmission of East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and the development and changes in other East Asian societies;
- East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and painting, sculpture and art;
- East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and literature;
- East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and medieval astronomy, calendrical calculation and mathematics;
- East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and the spread and development of technological inventions and transformations in medieval Asia (print, gunpowder, manufacturing, and smelting);
- Esoteric Buddhism and the military and diplomacy in East Asia.
The
organizing committee welcomes all paper proposals related to Esoteric Buddhism
and East Asian societies. All conference-related costs, including local
transportation, meals and accommodation during the conference period, will be
covered by the conference organizers, who—depending on availability of
funding—may also provide a travel subsidy to selected panelists who are in need
of funding. Please email proposals and CVs to
frogbear.project@ubc.ca by March 31, 2019.
A
conference volume will collect all the papers in English, plus English
translations of several papers written in languages other than English; a
volume in Chinese, to be published in Taiwan or mainland China, will include
Chinese versions for all papers not written in Chinese in addition to those
papers contributed by our colleagues based in China. Only scholars who are confident
in finishing their draft papers by July 15th and publishable papers by the end
of 2019 are encouraged to apply.
This
conference is planned as part of our annual Intensive Program of Lectures
Series, Conference/Forum, and Fieldwork on Buddhism and East Asian Cultures
(this year to be held at the Jintai Academy in Zhen’an, Shaanxi), sponsored by
the Promotion Committee of the Xuanzang Culture and administered by UBC’s
FROGBEAR project. Interested graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are
welcomed to apply for the whole program (details to be announced separately).
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