Date: 30 & 31 August 2025 (Sat & Sun) [Hong Kong Time]
Time: 9 am to 6 pm
Venue: The University of Hong Kong
Language: English / Putonghua
Buddhism, as one of the world’s major religious and influential philosophical traditions, has a rich and complex history of transmission across diverse cultures, vast regions, and historical periods. This conference aims to explore the multifaceted processes by which Buddhist teachings, practices, and institutions have been transmitted from the past to the present. The conference will bring together scholars to examine the historical, textual, ritual, social, and pedagogical dimensions of Buddhist transmission. This conference seeks to illuminate the rich tapestry of Buddhism’s transmission, offering insights into its past, present, and future trajectories.
Conference website | Speakers & Abstracts | Registration
Organizers
Tung Lin Kok Yuen
Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Media Partners
Buddhistdoor
Buddhistdoor Global
Presentations in English
(Arranged in alphabetical order)
Keynote Speaker
Mattia Salvini Dharmavardhana Jñānagarbha
Rector and Dean of Liberal Arts, International Buddhist College
>> Two Sanskrit verses on Sukhāvatī: prosody, chanting, and the transmission of Buddhism from language to language and from place to place
Invited Speakers
Henry Albery
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia of The University of Tokyo
>> Avadānas in text and art, from Gandhāra to Kučā
Ven. Tenzin Choidron (Irina S. Urbanaeva) [present in Tibetan, with English translation]
Chief Research Fellow, Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist, and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
>> Buddhism in Russia: a look at its history, current status, and challenges
Zinaida Debenova
Junior Research Fellow, Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
>> Buddhism in Buryatia: Historical Adaptation, Syncretic Practices, and the Devotional Tradition.
Georgios T. Halkias
Director, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> Entangled Times, Places, and Lineages: Issues of Transmission in the Seminal Sphere
Catherine Hardie
Assistant Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
Berthe Jansen
Assistant Professor of Tibetan Studies, Leiden University
>> Ghoom Monastery as a Tibetan Buddhist Contact-Zone: the Life and Legacy of the Mongolian Lama Sherab Gyatso
Klaus-Dieter Mathes
Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> The Significance of the Meditation Tradition and Gzhan stong Transmissions for the Formation of Religious Identities
Ng C. H., Ernest
Chief Executive Officer, Tung Lin Kok Yuen and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> No mud, no lotus: the enduring legacy of compassion and wisdom in contemporary Buddhist organisations
Ven. Sik Hin Hung
CBS Senior Fellow & Former Director, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
G. A. Somaratne
Senior Lecturer, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> Strategic Use of Prose-Verse Texts as an Ancient Method of Dhamma Transmission: A Case Study of Selected Discourse of the Pāli Canon
Yao Shuang
Lecturer in Comparative Literature, School of Liberal Arts of Renmin University of China
>> Lineage Tenets Preserved on the Walls: A Study of the Mural Cycle in the Assembly Hall of Phun tshogs gling Monastery
Presentations in Putonghua
(Arranged in alphabetical order)
Keynote Speaker
Kirill Solonin
Professor, School of Classics of Renmin University of China
>> Texts and Lineages: Textual Clusters in Tangut Buddhism
Invited Speakers
Chen Ming
Professor and Dean of the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University
>> The flying tortoise: The Cross-cultural transmission of a Buddhist tale’s texts and images in ancient Eurasia
Guang Xing
Former Director, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> Free Will and Moral Responsibility in Early Buddhism
Mei Ching-Hsuan
Associate Professor, Department of Buddhist Studies of Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts
>> Supreme Medicine and Golden Rosary: The Transmission of sNying-thig in the dGe lugs Tradition
Chung-hui Tsui
Tung Lin Kok Yuen Scholar in Buddhist Art and Culture, Centre of Buddhist Studies of The University of Hong Kong
>> Medicine Buddha Statuary and Cult at Longmen Grottoes: Iconographic Evolution and Convergence of Buddhist Healing Traditions