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Spring 2009 Chinese Buddhism Lecture Series sponsored by the Institute of Chinese Buddhist Studies, University of the West
Date: Apr 30, 2009
Time: 5:00~5:50pm meeting graduate students
7:00~8:30pm lecture
Venue: AD208, UWest (1409 walnut Grove Ave. Rosemead, CA)
Tel: 626.571.8811 ext 158
Contact: Ven. Jue Ji
E-mail: jueji@uwest.edu
Speaker: Ven. Zhiru (Dr.), associate professor and chair of Dept of Religious Studies, Pomona College
Title:
“Buddhism, Kingship, and Stûpa Veneration: Sinitic Materialization of the Aúoka Myth in Tenth Century Hangzhou."
Abstract:
There are several Buddhist kings who deliberately modeled themselves after the great Indian cakravartin, Aúoka. One such example is Qian Hongshu (928-988), the last king of the Wuyue Kingdom in China. Hongshu sponsored the production of stûpas to enshrine dhâranî sûtra. He also commissioned the building of Thunder Peak Pagoda (Leifengta). Hongshu’s public reenactment of Aúoka myth highlights the shift from rûpa relic (shensheli) to dharma relic (fasheli) in stûpa veneration.
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