From July 1st to the 7th, members of the CBS participated in a collaborative program on "The History of Buddhist Ideology and Social Life" sponsored and organized by the Institute for Ethics and Religious Studies (IERS) at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The program was also jointly sponsored by the National Social Science Foundation of China and the Social Science and Humanity Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
The intensive program consisted of lectures, a symposium, and fieldwork training particularly focused on the study of regional Buddhism in the area surrounding Shijing Mountain. Located 70 kilometers southwest of Beijing, Shijing Mountain is one of the area's most important Buddhist centers. Particular focus was given to Yunju Temple which preserves the world's largest collection of stone sutra slabs and one of only three extant sets of woodblocks of the printed Chinese Tripitaka.
CBS director Prof. Jiang Wu was invited to give a series of lectures and also to give a presentation titled "From Manuscript to Print: the Carving of the Kaibao Canon in 10th Century Chengdu, Sichuan." His insightful presentation proposed the newest discovery in the mysterious creation of the first printed Tripitaka in China. Dr. Wu's presentation was received with much interest and appreciation from all the contributing global scholars. UA East Asian Studies students Huiqiao Yao and Yi Gong also presented their research on textual spirituality and spreading of Chan in North China during Liao Dynasty in the symposium.
The CBS is proud to contribute to global projects like this in order to foster a more comprehensive understanding of Buddhism worldwide.