Prof. Stephen F. Teiser, Princeton University
“The Origins of the Dunhuang Manuscripts”
Friday, April 10 (note day) at 7:30 p.m.
Knight Building, Room 102. Knight Building is behind Memorial
Auditorium.
From the time the manuscripts from Dunhuang were first
discovered in 1900, curious minds have wondered why the texts were deposited in
the library cave (Mogao Cave 17) in the early 11th century. Two major reasons
have been proposed. The “sacred waste” theory proposes that the texts,
wrappers, and paintings in the cave had outlived their usefulness in religious
and social life but were too sacred or rare to be simply burned or disposed of.
Hence, batches of manuscripts from several temple libraries were collected and
sealed up. Another theory is that the manuscripts were intentionally placed
into the cave in order to “avoid disaster,” such as the rumored invasion of the
Karakhanids.
These theories have guided research and generated
important scholarship.
But they have also encouraged us to ignore other
important aspects of Buddhist manuscript culture. In particular, in assuming
that the entire body of manuscripts from Dunhuang constitutes a library or
single corpus, such theories obscure the multiple origins of the manuscripts
and the diverse range of religious and social institutions in which the texts
were produced. Instead of focusing on the end of the manuscripts, this lecture
explores how the genesis of the manuscripts provides invaluable information about
Buddhist religious practice and the institutions of literacy in medieval China.
Free and Open to the Public
Speaker's Bio
Stephen F. Teiser is the D. T. Suzuki Professor in
Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at
Princeton University. He specializes in the study of Buddhism and Chinese
religions.
His current research focuses on Chinese Buddhist practice
and medieval liturgical manuscripts.
Sponsored by the Silk Road Foundation, Ho Center for
Buddhist Studies, and Center for East Asian Studies
The Expedition of the French Sinologist Paul Pelliot to
Chinese Turkestan and China, 1906-1909
Date
Thu Apr-16-2015, 6:00pm
Location
Levinthal Hall, Stanford Humanities Center
Program / Series
Silk Road Buddhism
Co-sponsor
Stanford Humanities Center
Jean-Pierre Drège
Director Emeritus, Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient
Paul Pelliot himself briefly described the archeological
expedition he led in Turkestan and China at the beginning of 20th century and
that we know about it is usually limited to the facts stated in Pelliot’s
published reports at that period. And yet it is possible to propose a better
evaluation of the ins and outs of his mission which seemed important for both
French scholars and economic investors. This can be made thanks to the notebook
written by Pelliot during his trip, recently published, and to his personal
papers kept now in the Guimet museum in Paris.
Free and open to the public
Speaker's Bio
From 1980 to 1989, Jean-Pierre Drège was research fellow
at the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. He was the director of this
institution from
1998 to 2004. He has taught the history of Chinese
manuscripts and books at the Ecole pratique des hautes études from 1985 to
2012. He also directed the Research Group on Dunhuang manuscripts at the
Centre national de la recherche scientifique from 1993 to 2001 and co-directed
the Institut d’études chinoises at the Collège de France from 1992 to 1999. He
recently published a new French translation of the Record of buddhistic
kingdoms by the monk Faxian (2013).
Co-sponsored by Ho Center for Buddhist Studies and the
Stanford Humanities Center
Coming soon:
“’The Tea Road’”:
Shanxi Merchants and the Expansion of Chinese Trading Network in the
Mongolian Steppe”
By Zhijian Qiao, Ph.D. candidate, History
Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Knight Building Room 102.
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Posted by: Connie Chin <csquare@stanford.edu>
