Lu Zhang is Ph. D candidate from the Department of East Asian Studies. Her dissertation project, titled “Presenting the Buddha: The ’Sages and Worthies as Incarnations (of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas)’ in Chan Historiographies in Song China,” was awarded a fellowship for graduate students by Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Her dissertation examines historiographical works in Chinese Chan Buddhism from the 11th to 13th centuries with a particular focus on a rarely noticed group of individuals who are considered incarnated Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Compiled into a specific section titled the “Sages and Worthies as Incarnations (of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas),” the individuals from diverse traditions are venerated as Buddhist saints in Chan historiographical works. Considering the section as an important indicator of the development of Buddhism and social environment, her dissertation explores questions of how and why these figures are upheld as Buddhist saints, and argues that Buddhism during this time period greatly prospered through a variety of active and dynamic self-reinventions.