Events

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Kenneth Dean, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Historical Network Analysis models actors and their relationship in networks. This presentation will show how the visualization of such networks and certain metrics can inform our understanding of Chinese Buddhist history. The data is derived from more than 2700 biographies and other sources, and records the relationships between more than 16,000 actors in the period between 100 and 1900 CE.

In this talk we will focus on what in the network view is the beginning of Chinese Buddhism – the Dao’an-Huiyuan-Kumārajīva triangle, a formation that appears at the beginning of the main network component. The triangle can help to frame basic phenomena, such as why Chinese Buddhism has always considered itself Mahāyāna, or the unbroken popularity of prajñāpāramitā texts in China.

We will look into how network science tools and concepts can brought into dialog with the writing of history. Community detection algorithms, for instance, correctly distinguish between the communities of Dao’an and Huiyuan on the one hand, and Kumārajīva’s on the other. Nevertheless different layout algorithms suggest that the Dao’an-Huiyuan-Kumārajīva triangle should be seen as one dynamic unit, that formed the true fountainhead of Chinese Buddhism. This can be explained by the cohesion that is provided by bridge actors. These played a hitherto neglected role in the communication networks of their time: Huiyuan’s brother Huichi, Tanyong, a former general, and Dao’an’s fellow student Fahe, were all in various ways involved in bridging different communities and generations of Chinese and Indian Buddhists in China. The network view highlights their traces.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Marcus Bingenheimer obtained an MA (Sinology) and Dr.phil (History of Religions) from Würzburg University and an MA (Communication Studies) from Nagoya University. Marcus currently works as Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University, Philadelphia. From 2005 to 2011 he taught Buddhism and Digital Humanities in Taiwan. He has supervised various projects concerning the digitization of Buddhist culture and was responsible for the Chinese Localization of TEI. His main research interests are the history of Buddhism in East Asia and early Buddhist sutra literature. Regarding the former, he is currently assembling a dataset for the historical social network analysis of Chinese Buddhist history; regarding the latter, he is working on a translation of the Shorter Chinese Saṃyuktāgama (T.100). Besides that, Marcus is interested in computational approaches to the Humanities and how to do research in an age of digital information.

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