Main research interests
My main research interest is the study of Medieval Chinese, as reflected in Buddhist texts (early vernacular Chinese; Buddhist Hybrid Chinese), including syntax, semantics, and rhetorical devices. The focus is currently on semi-vernacular texts among the Dūnhuáng manuscript material.
During recent years, research has also focused on Buddhist iconography in Central Asia and China, studying mechanisms of text-image relations in Buddhist narratives.
Other interests: Chan/Zen Buddhism; Classical/Literary Chinese (syntax); Asian history of religion; Buddhist medieval lexicography; Digital Humanities; palaeography (Dūnhuáng manuscripts); Chinese historical phonology
Short CV
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Since Feb. 2015: Professor, Chinese Language and Culture, Ghent University
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Marie Curie Pegasus Fellowship, Ghent Univ. (April 2014-January 2015)
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Visiting Research Fellow, KHK, Ruhr Univ. Bochum (Aug.2013-March 2014)
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Research Fellow, Ruhr Univ. Bochum (2010-2013)
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Guest Professor for East Asian Linguistics, Ghent Univ. (2010-2013)
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Senior Research Fellow, IKOS, Oslo Univ. (2007-2010)
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Associate Professor, IKOS, Oslo Univ. (Jan.-June 2008)
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Guest researcher, Kyoto Univ. (March-June 2008)
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Senior lecturer, IKOS, Oslo Univ. (Jan.-June 2007)
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Research assistant, seminar lecturer, IKOS, Oslo Univ. (Sept.-Nov. 2006)
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Restorer/Consultant, Norwegian Inst. of Palaeography and Historical Philology (Feb.2006-Dec.2007)
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Consultant, Hermes Academic Publishing, Oslo (May 2006-Dec.2007)
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Research Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala (Sept.2004-June 2005)
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Doctoral Research Fellow/Lecturer, IKOS, Oslo Univ. (2000-2004)
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Lecturer, IØO, Univ. of Oslo (1999)
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Research assistant/Lecturer, IØO, Univ. of Oslo (1997-1998)
Current international research projects
Main supervisor of PhD projects
- "A study on Chinese phonetic loan characters in Dunhuang manuscripts dating from 700-1000" (Suzanne Burdorf, BOF funded, 2016-2020)
- "Polishing a brick to make a mirror: Buddha-nature, rhetoric and literary strategies in early Chan Records of the Transmission of the Lamp" (Laurent van Cutsem, BOF funded, 2017-2021)
- "Tense and aspect in early Chinese Buddhist literature. A diachronic and comparative study" (Yezi Mu, CSC and BOF funded, 2013-2019; completed; the PhD thesis can be downloaded from here: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8625840)
- "Grammatical studies in Buddhist hybrid Chinese: the passive form" (Jianhong Zeng, CSC funded, 2011-2020; completed; the PhD thesis can be downloaded from here: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8683519)
- "A diachronic study of the development of Chinese poetry structures (800 BCE - 800 CE): with an emphasis on the syntactic and phonological features of 3-character groups" (Wang Jie, CSC, 2016-2020)
- The development of Standard Chinese education and its impact on the Hani Minority in Yunnan, Southwest China (Shan Bai, 2019-2023)
Co-supervisor in joint PhD projects
- "Economic monastic texts among the Dunhuang manuscripts" (Ji Liang, Lanzhou University, CSC, 2017-2018)
- "A study of the relationship between Medieval Chinese Buddhism and the practice of divination" (Yang Gang, Sichuan University, CSC 2017-2018; completed; the thesis can be downloaded here: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8637032)
- "A study of idiomatic phrases in medieval Chan texts" (Zeng Chen, Sichuan University, 2018-2019)
- "A study on the relationship between Yongming poetic style and politics in the Yongming era" (Zhang Ziyao, Renmin University, 2018-2019; completed; the thesis can be downloaded here: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8662690)
- "The fusion of the three religions in late Ming dynasty: with an emphasis on the texts written by Chan monks about Zhuangzi" (Liu Yu, Renmin University, CSC 2019-2020)
Previous research projects
"Dynamics of Text Corpora and Image Programs: Representations of Buddhist Narratives along the Silk Route" (MERCATOR/CERES, Ruhr Univ. Bochum):
"Zen Thought, Literature, Language and Rhetoric in a Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspective" (IKOS, Univ. of Oslo)
Publications (published and in progress)
See: https://ugent.academia.edu/ChristophAnderl