International Conference on “The Spread of Buddhism and Language Change”

From 10 to 12 December 2021, the 14th International Conference of Chinese Buddhist Languages, organised by the Department of Chinese Language Studies (CHL) and Centre for Research on Chinese Language and Education (CRCLE) in The Education University of Hong Kong, and the Centre for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism in The Chinese University of Hong Kongwas held fully online. The conference took the theme “The Spread of Buddhism and language change” and invited two keynote speakers, Professor William S-Y. Wang (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Professor Victor H. Mair (University of Pennsylvania).

More than 100 scholars from over 50 universities and institutions all over the world signed up for the conference, addressing issues on language changes in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, caused by the spread of Buddhism, and Chinese-translated Buddhist scriptures, including the research on Sanskrit-Chinese comparative collation, comparative studies of different translations of the same scripture, comparative studies of Buddhist and non-Buddhist languages and characters, and research on the Yinyi (dictionaries of pronunciation and meaning) of Buddhist scriptures. Finally, the Programme Committee selected 60 accepted conference papers for different panels, and invited plenary speakers who were internationally recognised in Chinese Buddhist languages studies.

Professor Zhu Qingzhi, Chair Professor of CHL and Director of CRCLE said, “The ancient Chinese Buddhist scriptures are the largest religious literature relics in human history, and have important linguistic research value. It can help us better understand the relationship between the transmission of religion and language change, especially the relationship between the spread of Buddhism in East Asia and the language changes in East Asian countries. The International Conference on Chinese Buddhist Languages provides scholars an international academic forum for studying the language of Chinese Buddhist scriptures from linguistic perspective.”

This conference also broadened the horizon of Chinese Buddhist Languages research from both theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Group photo with the speakers and participants.

Professor Zhu Qingzhi, Chair Professor of CHL and Director of CRCLE of EdUHK (left) and Professor William S-Y. Wang of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.