Chinese Studies Teaching Staff

Dr Li-Kuei Chien
Contact Information

Email: lkc30@cam.ac.uk

Current Position

Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow in Chinese Buddhism

Biographical Details

PhD, Art History and Archaeology, SOAS, University of London
MA, Art History and Archaeology, SOAS, University of London
MA, Art History and Art Criticism, Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan
BA, Politics, Soochow University, Taiwan

Research Interests

Dr Chien’s PhD thesis examines the contemplative bodhisattva image, a widespread Buddhist icon in fifth and sixth-century Northern China. Her work combines traditional iconographic analyses with close study of the language of dedicatory inscriptions and scriptures. This methodology has provided fresh insights into the formation of early Chinese Buddhist beliefs and practices that could not have been obtained using either visual or textual sources alone, shedding new light on the ways in which early Chinese Buddhists created and named a deity through production of its images.