Young Scholars Team Up to Present Research Proposal on Chinese Buddhism

Organized by the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, the 3^rd Young Scholar's Chinese Buddhism Forum (YSCBF) for research proposal presentation took place on August 31^st, 2024 at Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA). The forum brought together forum participants across the three years as well as more than 40 scholars from home and abroad to participate in the two-day seminar. Prior to the forum, participants and scholars attended the inauguration of the Chinese Chan Research Center (漢傳禪學研究中心). In addition, DILA presented Ven. Guo Huei (果暉法師), the Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), with the title of professor emeritus in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the research and promotion of Chinese Buddhism in his roles as a director of a department, a professor, and Abbot President of the DDM sangha.

Ven. Guo Huei indicated that with "upholding Chinese Chan Buddhism" as one of DDM's unchanging goals, the direction that DDM is moving toward is "international, youthful, and popular," echoing the spirit of YSCBF. This year, the forum brought together excellent researchers from all over the world, with nearly half of the participants coming from overseas. Moreover, many new achievements came to fruition as young professors volunteered to mentor the newcomers online. 

Ven. Guo Jin (果鏡法師), the director of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, said that the YSCBF this year was conducted in the form of study groups, with 35 professors volunteering to mentor young researchers, who came from various academic institutions, including DILA, Fo Guang University, Huafan University, Hsuan Chuang University, Yuan Kuang Institute of Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, National Cheng Kung University, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Central University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Tunghai University, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and National Taipei University of Education. There were also researchers from China, Europe, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and other places. A total of 139 master's and doctoral students and 21 undergraduates applied for the forum, and the research proposals presented were of high quality.

Assistant Researcher Chang Ya-wen (張雅雯) highlighted the innovations of the third YSCBF - new blood nurtured in the previous two years joined the senior professors to lead the way for the newcomers. Through themed study groups, monthly lectures, and interactions on social media such as Line, YouTube and Instagram, they applied a hybrid in-person as well as online mode to further extend their academic outreach to undergraduates interested in Buddhist studies from all disciplines in the university.

Chang Hsi-jui (張禧睿), a postdoctoral student, came to Taiwan from Nagoya University in Japan to present her research proposal. She indicated that the study group of East Asian Buddhism she was in consists of researchers from Taiwan, the U.S., and Japan, and has conducted eight meetings. They read two English or Chinese books a month or share the Buddhist classics they read, while Prof. Kuo Pei-chun (郭珮君) and Prof. Li Chih-Hung (李志鴻), who are specialists in Japanese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism of Tang Dynasty, would give them advice. She pointed out that the study group is much in line with the spirit of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. If there is a chance in the future, she will follow the example of the past two years' predecessors by sharing her learning experience with future scholars.

The forum this year began with Prof. Liao Chao-heng (廖肇亨)'s lecture on "A Preliminary Study on the Culture of Buddhist Laity of the Qing Dynasty (清代居士佛教文化初探)." There were a total of 13 sessions of research proposal presentation and feedback, with 43 presenters (15 of whom presented online from overseas). The proposals that passed the review were awarded the scholarships by Ven. Guo Jin, on behalf of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. The forum was concluded with the "Chinese Buddhist Temple Gazetteers Database Promotion Seminar" (中國佛寺志資料庫推廣交流會), where Hung I-mei (洪一梅) and Tsao Te-Chi (曹德啟) were invited to introduce the analysis system for the biographical network of Chinese Buddhist Temple Gazetteers, which aims to facilitate academic research.

According to the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, in October 2025, the 40^th anniversary of the founding of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, the Institute will co-organize the "Chung-Hwa International Conference on Buddhism" (中華國際佛學會議) with DILA. Researchers who have been awarded scholarships through the YSCBF research program are expected to present their papers at the conference. The publication of outstanding thesis at the conference will be sponsored by the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. 



Original Chinese text / Chang Yao-chung (張曜鐘)
Photos / Li Chia-chun (李佳純), Fan Lee (李東陽), Chang Yao-chung (張曜鐘)
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL