Un-glossing East Asian Buddhism: Gender, Sangha and the State in the Early-Modern Era

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to encourage your submissions to a Special Issue of Religions dedicated to the theme of “Un-glossing East Asian Buddhism: Gender, Sangha and the State in the Early-Modern Era”. This Special Issue attempts to reconceptualize Buddhism located within the context of the rapidly changing world of post-sixteenth century East Asia. What role and significance did Buddhist practices and the sangha have, in particular, in relation to women and the state? Buddhism in the East Asian region, in response to the area’s rapidly changing socio-political and historical circumstances, needed to adapt in order to stay relevant and to cater to the new desires and needs of the people.

Ideal notions were essential for maintaining the image of a sangha that was lofty and virtuous, which afforded religious legitimacy, in turn warranting financial and material support from wealthy families, rulers, and the masses. It was, by way of navigating between ideals and practice, a contentious issue that Buddhism had to contend with in order to stay relevant to people’s lives. As evidence suggests, monastics were actively involved in reinterpreting these ideals, and at times bending them, to resolve pragmatic issues and to cater to shifting circumstances in a non-ideal world.

This Special Issue aims to focus on areas beyond the usual scriptural, doctrinal, and thoughts of eminent monks and pay direct attention to the Buddhism that has been practiced by the majority of adherents. Selected papers will address the manifestations of East Asian Buddhism that most of the people of the early modern to modern period (c. 16th cen.–early 20th cen.) will have accessed or practiced and which the monastics will have molded and shaped. We invite papers from multidisciplinary fields that explore primary sources to address the question of how Buddhism has adapted to maintain its socio-religious relevance, and possibly even prospered, during and after the Great East Asian War (1592–1598) and up to the modern era.

Suggested themes and article types

In this Special Issue, original research articles are welcome. Their research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following areas of East Asian Buddhism:

• The role of Buddhism in East Asian culture and society;
• Buddhist forms of popular art and literature;
• Trans-border Buddhism;
• Buddhist cultural practices;
• The sangha in relation to the state;
• Gender and sangha;
• Ritual Buddhism;
• War and Buddhism;
• Funerary Buddhism. 

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send these to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Sung-Eun Thomas Kim
Prof. Dr. Nam Lin Hur
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• East Asian Buddhism
• societal relevance
• early-modern era
• Buddhist practices and ritualism
• the Great East Asian War
• Buddhism for the masses