Images, Relics, and Legends ─ The Formation and Transformation of Buddhist Sacred Sites

A major collection of important essays by many of the leading scholars in the field of Buddhism, including Phyllis Granoff from Yale University, T. H. Barrett from the University of London, Raoul Birnbaum from University of California, Toru Funayama from Kyoto University, Eugene Wang from Harvard University, and others. The spread of Buddhism in Asia may be viewed from one perspective as a protracted and complex process in which numerous sacred sites were continually created and re-created in different parts of Asia. This study of Buddhist sacred sites in South and East Asia yields some revealing new perspectives on the cross-cultural issues created by the Buddhist conquest of Asia. The volume sheds new light on issues such as pilgrimage, the development of Buddhist monasticism, the remembrance of Buddhist saints and patriarchs, Buddhist sacred sites, and more, and deepens our understanding of the Buddhist tradition. The volume contains thirteen original articles plus a preface and full bibliography.

James Benn is a scholar of medieval Chinese religions (Buddhism and Taoism). His three major areas of research are bodily practice in Chinese religions, the ways in which people create and transmit new religious practices and doctrines, and the religious dimensions of commodity culture. He has published numerous articles in journals such as the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. Jinhua Chen studied at Beijing University and the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences before coming to Canada in 1992 for further education. After receiving his PhD from McMaster University in 1997 with a dissertation on the formation of Tendai Esoteric Buddhism in Japan, he conducted his postdoctoral research at Kyoto University, Japan. Since 2001, he has been a member in the Department of Asian Studies at UBC, where he was also appointed by the federal government of Canada as the Canada Research Chair in East Asian Buddhism.