Dear Colleagues,

Please excuse cross-posting. On behalf of my colleague, Professor HIDA Romi, who is not on this list, I announce the following lecture by Professor Giuseppe Vignato at Waseda University on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

Title: Reading Rock Monasteries -- Kucha as a Case Study

Speaker: Professor Giuseppe Vignato, Peking University

Time: 3pm--5pm

Venue: Waseda University, Toyana Campus, Buliding 33, 6th floor, Meeting Room No. 11

Abstract: In this lecture I will show how rock monasteries were organic wholes aimed at satisfying all the functions required for the life of the monastery itself. In the last 20 years I have been investigating several elements and the interaction among different units within the monasteries that are useful to understand rock monasteries as complete religious settlements. To study a rock monastery in its entirety aims at re-creating the milieu in which monastic life and Buddhist worship took place. Crucial concepts, some introduced in the past and some being presently investigated, will be presented in this lecture; they will include: boundaries and gates, connective architectures, districts, and groups. A representative cave will be presented which will illustrate the likely interaction between space and function in the rock monasteries.

About the Speaker: Giuseppe Vignato is Professor of School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University. Along with his main interest in the archaeology of Buddhist rock monasteries in Kucha, he teaches Mediterranean Archaeology and the Archaeology of the Silk Road as well. He has published widely on the Archaeology of Buddhist sites in Kucha and Turfan, such as Quduan yu Zuhe - Qiuci Shiiku Siyuan Weizhi de Kaoguxue Tansuo (Districts and Groups - An Archaeological Investigation of the Rock Monasteries of Kucha, Shanghai Classic Publishing House: 2013) and Archaeological and Visual Sources of Meditation in the Ancient Monasteries of Kuca (with Angela F. Howard, Brill: 2014).

The lecture will be given in English and translated into Japanese by Dr. HIYAMA Satomi. It is free of charge and open to the public. Anybody interested will be welcome.

Nobuyoshi Yamabe

Waseda University