Dr. Wen Zhao

Bild von Wen Zhao

Internationales Kolleg für Geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung "Schicksal, Freiheit und Prognose. Bewältigungsstrategien in Ostasien und Europa"
 Hartmannstr. 14
91052 Erlangen




Home Institution: Nankai University, College of Philosophy


IKGF Visiting Fellow March 2019 – July 2019

(Last change of profile by end of stay)

IKGF Research Project:

The Sinification of Western Astrology from the Aspect of the Taoist Canon


Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Zhao Wen is currently a Lecturer at the College of Philosophy, Nankai University, China. He studied for his PhD at LMU Munich. His doctoral thesis investigated the historical development of "seeing the Buddha" and its relationship with Buddha embodiments, as described in early Prajñāpāramitā literature in Sanskrit and in Chinese. He is particularly concerned with the bodhisattva practice within the Prajñāpāramitā tradition, but his work aims concurrently to engage with broader issues, such as the history of ideas, rhetorical techniques, and Buddha visualization practices, based on a strictly philological study of the primary sources. In addition to studies on early Mahāyāna Buddhism, he is engaged in the study of traditional Chinese religions and the cultural exchange on the Silk Road. He is not only interested in Chinese divination practices, such as birthdate-based divination Si-zhu (四柱) and the prognostication technique Liu-yao (六爻), but also in the historical development of certain technical terms employed in those texts. Thus, during his stay at IKGF, he will focus on an interesting astrological text found in the Taoist canon, which exhibits influences from the work of the Hellenistic astrologer Dorotheus of Sidon. Studying this work has revealed that a focus on Western astrological technical terms and their Chinese counterparts can also shed light on the development of divination techniques in China.

Selected Publications

Articles

2017“漢地五門禪與中亞出土禪經中的念佛” [The Buddhānusmṛti in the Chinese Five-Doors Meditation and Sanskrit Meditation Manual from Central Asia], Chung-Hwa Buddhist Studies 中華佛學研究 18, pp. 113-139.
2017“鸠摩罗什所传念佛三昧之丝路源流” [The Silk Road Origin of the Samādhi of Recollecting Buddha taught by Kumārjīva], The World Religious Cultures 世界宗教文化 2017/4, pp. 21-27.
2013“大智度論菩薩道的文本建構與實踐” [The Text and Practice of the Bodhisattva Path in * Māhaprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa], in: Xueyu (ed.) Modern Explanation of Buddhist Culture 佛教文化的現代詮釋, Hongkong: Chung Hwa 中華書局, pp.131-156.
2011“语言与真实” [Language and Truth], in Zongfeng 宗风, Beijing: Religous Culture Press 宗教文化出版社, pp.98-109.
2011“彝族灵魂观念与先秦巫术社会中的魂魄鬼神观” [The concepts of spirit and ghost in Yi ethnic group and that in the pre-Qin period], Journal of Chuxiong Normal University 楚雄师范学院学报 2011/8, pp. 51-55.