Launched in September, 2121, the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series (印證佛學傑出學術系列講座) is a collaborative, multi-university partnership between Peking University, Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University, University of British Columbia, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
The Lecture Series is established in honour of Venerable Cheng-yen 證嚴, founder of Tzu Chi, and her mentor Yinshun 印順 (1906–2005), with the goal of promoting topics in Buddhist studies. The series is organised at Cambridge by Dr Noga Ganany with the generous support of the Tzu Chi Foundation.
This lecture in the series is given by Prof. John Kieschnick, Stanford University, with discussant Prof. Roel Sterckx, University of Cambridge.
This talk takes as its starting point five words—欲 (desire), 業 (karma), 慈 (compassion), 清 (purity) and 味 (flavor)—in an attempt to identify five major themes driving the history of Buddhist vegetarianism in China over the course of roughly 1600 years.
John Kieschnick is The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies. He specializes in Chinese Buddhism, with particular emphasis on its cultural history. He is the author of the Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval China, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, and Buddhist Historiography in China. He is currently writing a history of Chinese vegetarianism.