The Center for Buddhist Studies is glad to announce the Sixth lecture of the Lingyin Buddhist Studies Lecture Series in 2019 fall at the U of A. Professor Weirong Shen is scheduled to present. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Title: ON THE INTEGRATION OF CHINESE AND TIBETAN, EXOTERIC AND ESOTERIC BUDDHISM DURING THE PERIOD OF TANGUT XIA KINGDOM
Speaker: Weirong Shen
Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University
Date and Time: Dec. 2, 2019, 12:30 pm
Location: COPPER ROOM STUDENT UNION
Suggested Parking: 2nd Street Garage
This lecture aims to reveal the obvious ingredients of Chinese Buddhism and Exoteric Buddhism in Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism during the period of Tangut Xia Kingdom through textual analysis and studies on four Chinese translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts dating from the period of Tangut Xia Kingdom, including a series of texts such as Mahamudra teachings seen in Dacheng yaodao miji 大乘要道密集 (The Secret Collection of Works on Essential Path of Mahayana), The Pith Instruction of Practicing and Reciting the Heart Sutra 持誦聖佛母般若多心經要門, and the Collection of the Ultimate Meaning of the Mahamudra Teachings 大手印究竟要集, The Sadhana of the Protective Deity of Desire 欲護神求脩, a gter ma text unearthed in Khara-Khoto and attributed to Padmasambhara 西天得大手印成就班麻薩鉢瓦.
Bio: Weirong Shen received his B.A. and M.A. in History Studies from Nanking University. In 1998, he was rewarded Ph. D. in Language and Cultural Studies of Central Asia from Bonn University. Between 1998 and 2005, he carried out teaching and researches at various international Institutions such as Lumbini International Research Institute, Harvard University, Macalester College, Humboldt University of Berlin, Kyoto University. In 2006, he joined School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University of China as Professor and founded Tibetan and Buddhist History Research Institute and Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Studies Center. Starting in 2015, he is also Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University and leads the Chinese Minority Language and Literature Studies. Weirong Shen’s areas of specialization include Chinese ancient history, especially Yuan Dynasty and Tibetan history, religious history of Tibetan, Mongols, Tangut, Uygur and Han Chinese during 11th to 15th centuries.