Abstract< /strong>
The demarcation and maintenance of jurisdictional boundaries between religious institutions and lay society have been at the center of the conflict between religion and the state since the formation of early Bu ddhism. Drawing on cases presented in Buddhist legal texts (Vinaya) from si x different traditions preserved in Sanskrit\, Pāli\, Chinese\, and Tibetan \, Cuilan Liu challenges the Orientalist assumption that Buddhism is “lawle ss.” She argues that despite using a less aggressive strategy to settle jur isdictional boundaries with the state\, Buddhist clergy in ancient India we re not only interested in creating and implementing Buddhist canon law to g overn Buddhist adherents but were also ambitious and strategic in securing legal privileges and jurisdictional autonomy in their interactions with the state.
Bio of Speaker
Cuilan Liu is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2014\, where she had also made a documentary film Young Jigme screened at t he 2015 International Jean Rouch Film Festival in Paris. Her research focus es on the legal interaction between Buddhism and the state in China\, Tibet \, and India. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of Chinese Reli gions\, the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies\, the Journal of the American Oriental Society\, and the Journal of Indian Ph ilosophy.
This event is co-sponsored by the Tianzhu Buddhist Netw ork and the UBC Department of Asian Studies.