Dr. Laurent Van Cutsem

Dr. Laurent Van Cutsem is a Postdoctoral researcher ("Doctor-assistant") at the Department of Languages and Cultures (Sinology) and a member of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies, funded by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Ghent University (2023–2026). He received a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Louvain (2015, Summa cum laude) and his Ph.D. from Ghent University (2023), with a dissertation titled "The Zutang ji 祖堂集: Aspects of Textual History, Genealogy, and Intertextuality."

His current research projects include:

1. Postdoctoral project: “Chan hagiographic literature in Tang-Song transition (ca. 750–1050) China."
2. Monograph project: "Studies in the Zutang ji 祖堂集: The Legacy of Xuefeng Yicun 雪峰義存 (822–908) in the Min 閩 (909–945) and Southern Tang 南唐 (937–976) Kingdoms."
3. TEI-based editions of:

   • The Keitoku dentō shōroku 景德傳燈鈔錄.

   • Or.8210/S.4478 (fragments of the Shengzhou ji 聖胄集).

As a contributor to the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts, Laurent Van Cutsem is responsible for the collection and input of variant characters (yitizi 異體字) and the production of XML-based TEI editions of sections of the Zutang ji and related Dunhuang manuscripts (e.g., the Quanzhou Qianfo xinzhu zhuzushi song 泉州千佛新著諸祖師頌, S.1635).

His research interests include Chan literature, medieval Chinese manuscript culture, medieval Chinese linguistics, Historical Social Network Analysis, and TEI scholarly digital editions of pre-modern Chinese texts.