Interdisciplinary Workshop: “Biographies of Chinese Buddhists in Past and Present”

12 March 2025

Photo: Carsten Krause

With the support of the German Research Foundation and the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg, Leo Maximilian Koenig and Carsten Krause organized an interdisciplinary, international workshop on February 14 and 15, 2025, at the University of Hamburg, focusing on the theme “Biographies of Chinese Buddhists in Past and Present.” Thirteen international scholars, specializing in Buddhist Studies, Sinology, History, and Digital Humanities, gathered to exchange insights on the study of biographical material in Chinese Buddhism, both past and present.

The workshop stood out due to its unique format: four introductory lectures presented methodologies, challenges, and results from ongoing research projects, laying the groundwork for subsequent discussions. In three thematic sessions, participants contributed opening statements of five minutes on the topics of “Sources for Biographical Information Across Time,” “Biographies, Social Networks, and the Use of Digital Humanities,” and “Relations Between Biographical Material and Historiographical Frameworks.”

The diverse disciplinary backgrounds and research approaches fostered dialogue between traditional, predominantly analog, and emerging digital research methodologies. Participants also explored commonalities, differences, and continuities in biographical sources spanning the nearly two thousand years of Chinese Buddhist history.

The workshop concluded with unanimous enthusiasm, with participants expressing strong interest in continuing this exchange and repeating the format in the future.

A flyer of the workshop with the full program can be viewed and downloaded here.