Presentation
As a sinologist and historian (Ph.D. in East-Asian Studies, École Pratique des Hautes Études, 2011), my research focuses on the evolution of institutions and practices of Chinese Buddhism, and of the Chan school in particular, in the twentieth century. I am especially interested in the links between the reconfiguration of Buddhism and the birth of a « modern Chinese Buddhism » at the end of the Qing and the Republican period on the one hand, and the reconstruction of Buddhism in the post-Maoist period and up to the present day on the other. Most of my work combines the analysis of textual sources with fieldwork.
Research themes
- Religious biographies and autobiographies, and the relationship between hagiographical writing and the formation of religious leadership.
- The evolution of institutions (Dharma lineages, monastic regulations and education) and practices (meditation techniques and teaching strategies) of Chinese Buddhism in the twentieth century.
- The emergence of the new genre of religious instructions styled kaishi 開示.
- The transmission of religious knowledge from the Republican period to post-Maoist China through the case study of Dajinshan 大金山 Chan female Monastery in Jiangxi.
Daniela Campo