Ann Heirman

Ann Heirman, Ph.D. (1998) in Oriental Languages and Cultures, is professor of Chinese Language and Culture and head of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at Ghent University in Belgium.

She has published extensively on Chinese Buddhist monasticism and the development of disciplinary rules, including Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya (Motilal Banarsidass, 2002), The Spread of Buddhism (Brill, edited volume with Stephan Peter Bumbacher, 2007), and A Pure Mind in a Clean Body (with Mathieu Torck, Academia Press, 2012).

Some details

Studies

• BA Roman Philology, 1985, Ghent University
• MA Roman Philology, 1987, Ghent University (MA dissertation: “Capo e Testa e il concetto di estremità superiore : applicazione e teoria della strutturazione lessicale”)
• Aggregation Higher Secondary Education in Roman Philology, 1988, Ghent University
• MA Oriental Languages and Cultures, 1994, Ghent University (MA dissertation: “The eight Pārājikadharmas)
• Aggregation Higher Secondary Education in Oriental Languages and Cultures, 1994, Ghent University

• D. Oriental Languages and Cultures, 1998, Ghent University (Title: Disciplinary Rules for Buddhist Nuns, Bhikṣuṇīvibhaṅga of the Dharmaguptakas)

Research/Teaching/Positions

* Assistant French Language, Liaoning University, China, 1989

* Assistant Researcher, National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium, 1995-1999

* Assistant Professor, Chinese Language and Culture, Ghent University, Belgium, 1999-2003

* Professor, Chinese Language and Culture, Ghent University, Belgium, 2003-2012

* Full Professor, Chinese Language and Culture, Ghent University, Belgium, since 2012

* Head of the Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures, Gent University, since 2006

* Head of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Ghent University, since 2006

* Head of the Examination Commissions, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, since 2011

Main Publications (Ghent University order)

(full overview of research activities: https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/ann.heirman )

Books

- B. Dessein and A. Heirman (1999), Boeddha, zijn leer en zijn gemeenschap. Gent: Academia Press, xviii + 331 pp.

- (2005) Boeddha, zijn leer en zijn gemeenschap, Second edition. Gent: Academia Press, xviii + 383 pp.

- (2011) Boeddha, zijn leer en zijn gemeenschap, Third edition. Gent: Academia Press, xviii + 373 pp.

- A. Heirman, B. Dessein en D. Delporte (2001), China, een maatschappelijke en filosofische geschiedenis van de vroegste tijden tot de twintigste eeuw. Gent: Academia Press, xxiii + 366 pp.

- (2008) China, een maatschappelijke en filosofische geschiedenis van de vroegste tijden tot de twintigste eeuw (Second edition). Gent: Academia Press, xxiii + 366 pp.

- A. Heirman (2002), The Discipline in Four Parts, Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 3 vols., xiv + 1211 pp. (VABB)

- A. Heirman and M. Torck (2012), A Pure Mind in a Clean Body, Bodily Care in the Buddhist Monasteries of Ancient India and China. Gent: Academia Press (Ginko reeks), 194 pp.

Chapters in books

- A. Heirman and S. Bumbacher (2007), “Introduction: The Spread of Buddhism”, in: A. Heirman and S. Bumbacher (eds.), The Spread of Buddhism. Leiden: Brill, pp.1-14

- A. Heirman (2007), “Vinaya: from India to China”, in: A. Heirman and S. Bumbacher (eds.), The Spread of Buddhism. Leiden: Brill, pp.167-202

- A. Heirman (2010), “Boeddhisme: Situering”, in: Ch. Van Kerckhove and E. Vens (eds.), Overgangsrituelen. Antwerpen: Standaard Uitgeverij, pp.73-78

- A. Heirman (2014). “Abridged Teaching (Lüe Jiao): Monastic Rules between India and China,” in Tansen Sen (ed.), Buddhism across Asia: networks of material, cultural and intellectual exchange, volume 1. New Delhi and Singapore: Manohar and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 193-205.

- A. Heirman (2014), “Gente Daxue de Zhongguo xue yanjiu 跟特大学的中國学研究” (Chinese Studies in Ghent University)”, in Zhang Xiping 张西平 (ed.),Guoji yu xue 国际汉学, International Sinology. Hangzhou: Da xiang chubanshe, pp.394-400.

- A. Heirman (2016), “Ba jing fa ji qi dui biqiuni seng tuan de yingxiang 八敬法及其对比丘尼僧团影响 (The Impact of the Eight Important Rules on the Bhikṣuṇīsaṃgha)”, in Yu Xueming 俞学明 and Qian Xuesong 钱雪松 (eds.), Zongjiao, fazhi yu Zhongguo chuantong 宗教、法治与中国传统 (Religions, Rule of Law and Chinese Tradition). Beijing: Dangdai Zhongguo chubanshe, pp.98-109.

Chapters in encyclopedia

- A. Heirman (2000), “Rules, Buddhist (Vinaya): Monks”, in: W.M. Johnston (ed.), Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, pp.1093-1094

- A. Heirman (2000), “Rules, Buddhist (Vinaya): Nuns”, in: W.M. Johnston (ed.), Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, pp.1094-1097

- Heirman, Ann (2014). “Buddhist Monasticism.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Chinese Studies. Ed. Tim Wright. New York: Oxford University Press, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0076.xml?rskey=BJPRok&result=1&q=.

Book as editor

- A. Heirman and S. Bumbacher (eds.) (2007). The Spread of Buddhism. Section 8 Uralic & Central Asian Studies, 16. Leiden: Brill, 474 pp.

Articles in Science Citation Index

- A. Heirman (2002), “Can we trace the early Dharmaguptakas?”, T’oung Pao LXXXVIII, pp.396-429

- A. Heirman (2004), “The Chinese Samantapāsādikā and its school affiliation”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 154.2, pp.371-396

- A. Heirman (2008), “Where is the probationer in Chinese Buddhist monasteries?”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 158.1, pp.105-137

- A. Heirman (2008), “Indian disciplinary rules and their early Chinese adepts: a Buddhist reality”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 128.2, pp.257-272

- A. Heirman, P. De Troia and J. Parmentier (2009), “Francesco Sambiasi, a missing link in European map-making in China?”, Imago Mundi 61.1, pp.29-46

- A. Heirman (2009), “Speech is silver, silence is golden? Speech and silence in the Buddhist saṃgha”, Eastern Buddhist 40, 1-2, pp.63-92

- T. De Rauw and A. Heirman (2011), “Monks for hire: Liang Wudi’s use of household monks (jiaseng 家僧)”, Medieval History Journal 14, pp.45-69

- A. Heirman (2011), “‘Buddhist nuns between past and present”, Numen 58, pp.603-631

- A. Heirman (2012), “Sleep Well! Sleeping Practices in Buddhist Disciplinary Rules”, Acta Orientalia 65.4, pp.427-444.

- A. Heirman and Chiu Tzu-Lung (2014), “The Gurudharmas in Buddhist Nunneries of Mainland China,’ Buddhist Studies Review 31.2, pp.241-272.

- A. Heirman (2014), “Washing and Dyeing Buddhist Monastic Robes”, Acta Orientalia 67.4, pp.467-488

- A. Heirman (2016), “Shoes in Buddhist monasteries from India to China: from practical attire to symbol of respect”, Acta Orientalia 69.4, pp. 411 - 439

Review

- A. Heirman (2002), “Bhikkhunī Juo-hsüeh Shih: Controversies over Buddhist Nuns. Oxford: The Pali Text Society 2000, 576 pp. ISBN 0-86013-389-3”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 152.2, pp. 437-441

International peer reviewed articles

- A. Heirman (1995), “Some remarks on the definition of a monk and a nun as members of a community, and on the definition of ‘not to live in community’’, Indian Journal of Buddhist Studies 7, pp.1-22

- A. Heirman (1997), “Some remarks on the rise of the bhikṣuṇīsaṃgha and on the ordination ceremony for bhikṣuṇīs according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya”, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 20.2, pp.33-85

- B. Dessein and A. Heirman (1997), “The Great Wall of China, A ‘VAR, Multimedia and Language Teaching’ Project”, The Journal for the Integrated Study of Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science and Applied Epistemology 14.1, pp.81-83

- B. Dessein and A. Heirman (1998), “*ngo 吾 and *ngâ 我”, Études Asiatiques LII.3, pp.695-761

- A. Heirman (1998), “Gurudharma: an important vinaya rule”, Indian Journal of Buddhist Studies 10, pp.18-26

- A. Heirman (1999), “On pārājika”, Buddhist Studies Review 16.1, pp.51-59

- A. Heirman (1999), “Vinaya : perpetuum mobile”, Études Asiatiques LIII.4, pp.849-871

- A. Heirman (1999), “The Sarvāstivāda pārājika precepts for nuns”, Annali Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 59, pp.144-167

- A. Heirman (2000), “On some fragments of the bhikṣuṇīprātimokṣa of the Sarvāstivādins”, Buddhist Studies Review 17.1, pp.3-16

- A. Heirman (2000), “What happened to the nun Maitreyī?”, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 23.1, pp.29-41

- A. Heirman (2000-2001), “Introduction to the World-map of Francesco Sambiasi”, Annali Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 60-61, pp.365-373

- A. Heirman (2001), “Chinese nuns and their ordination in fifth century China”, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 242, pp.275-304

- A. Heirman (2003), “The pārājika precepts for nuns”, Buddhist Studies Review 20.2, pp.169-181

- A. Heirman (2003), “The time schedule of the kaṭhina period”, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 56 (2-4), pp.309-316

- A. Heirman and T. De Rauw (2006), “Offenders, sinners and criminals: the consumption of forbidden food, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59.1, pp. 57-83

- A. Heirman (2008), “Yijing’s view on the bhikṣuṇīs’ standard robes”, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 21, pp.145-158

- A. Heirman (2008) ‘Becoming a Nun in the Dharmaguptaka Tradition’, Buddhist Studies Review 25.2, pp.147-173

- A. Heirman (2010), “Fifth century Chinese nuns: an exemplary case”, Buddhist Studies Review 27.1, pp.61-76

- A Heirman and Tzu-Lung Chiu (2012), “Gurudharma in Taiwanese Buddhist Nunneries”, Buddhist Studies Review 29.2, pp.273-300

- A Heirman (2015), “Buddhist Nuns through the Eyes of Leading Early Tang Masters”, The Chinese Historical Review 22.1, pp. 31-51

Review

- A. Heirman (1998), “Die Vorschriften für die Buddhistische Nonnengemeinde im Vinaya-Piṭaka der Theravādin, Ute Hüsken, Dietrich Meier Verlag, Berlin, 1997 (Monographien zur Indischen Archäologie, Kunst und Philologie 11), 519 pp., ISBN 3-496-02632-4”, Études Asiatiques LII.3, pp.975-978

- A. Heirman (1999), “Die Pravāraṇā in den kanonischen Vinaya-Texten der Mūlasarvāstivādin und der Sarvāstivādin, Jin-il Chung, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden, Beiheft 7), Göttingen, 1998, 368 pp., ISBN 3-525-26156-X”, Buddhist Studies Review 16.2, pp.235-237

- A. Heirman (1999; case studies verschillend van 1998), “Die Vorschriften für die Buddhistische Nonnengemeinde im Vinaya-Piṭaka der Theravādin, Ute Hüsken, Dietrich Meier Verlag, Berlin, 1997 (Monographien zur Indischen Archäologie, Kunst und Philologie 11), 519 pp., ISBN 3-496-02632-4”, Buddhist Studies Review 16.1, pp.87-91

- A. Heirman (2001), “Der Orden in der Lehre, Zur religiösen Deutung des Saṅgha im frühen Buddhismus, Oliver Freiberger, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2000 (Studies in Oriental Religions 47), 278 pp., ISBN 3-447-04284-2”, Buddhist Studies Review 18.1, pp.122-126

- A. Heirman (2001), “A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa, on the Basis of its Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Pāli Versions, W. Pachow (Buddhist Tradition Series 31), Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi 2000. 240 pp. ISBN 81-208-1572-6”, Buddhist Studies Review 18.2, pp.243-246

- A. Heirman (2001), “Prātimokṣasūtra der Sarvāstivādins, Teil II Kritische Textausgabe, Übersetzung, Wortindex sowie Nachträge zu Teil I, Georg von Simson (editor), Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden XI, Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen: Philologisch-Historische Klasse Dritte Folge Nr. 238, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000. 371 pp. ISBN 3-525-82510-2”, Buddhist Studies Review 18.2, pp.246-249

- A. Heirman (2003), “The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China. An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. Yifa. (Kuroda Institute, Classics in East Asian Buddhism) University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu 2002. 352 pp. ISBN 0-8248-2494-6”, Buddhist Studies Review 20.1, pp.102-106

- A. Heirman (2004), “Charming Cadavers, Horrific Figurations of the Feminine in Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature. Liz Wilson. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1996. 258 pp. ISBN 0-226-90053-3 (cloth), 0-226-90054-1 (paper)”, Buddhist Studies Review 21.1, pp.98-100

- A. Heirman (2005), “Daughters of Emptiness, Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns. Beate Grant. Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2003. 192 pp. ISBN 0-86171-362-1”, Buddhist Studies Review 22.1, pp.71-72

- A. Heirman (2005), “Der Ursprung der japanischen Vinaya-Schule, Risshū 律 宗, und die Entwicklung ihrer Lehre und Praxis. László Hankó. Cuvillier Verlag Göttingen, Göttingen 2003. xiii, 433 pp. 50€ ISBN 3-89873-620-2”, Buddhist Studies Review 22.2, pp.195-202

- A. Heirman (2010), “Konrad Meisig (ed.). Translating Buddhist Chinese, Problems and Prospects. East Asian Intercultural Studies 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010. vii, 166 pp. Paperback € 36, ISBN 978-3-447-06267-1”, China Review International 17.1, 151-156.

- A. Heirman (2010), “Konrad Meisig. The Beginnings of Buddhist Ethics. The Chinese Parallel to the Kūṭadantasutta, edited, translated and compared with the Pāli. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011. vii, 120 pp. Paperback €38, ISBN 978-3-447-06459-0”, China Review International 17.3, 352-354.

- A. Heirman (2012), “Tsai Suey-Ling 蔡穗玲. The Life of the Buddha. Woodblock Illustrated Books in China and Korea (Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 76). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012. 314 pp., 74 illustrations. Paperback € 78, ISBN 978-3-447-06621-1”, China Review International 19.1, pp.131-135.

- A. Heirman (2013), “Taiwan’s Tzu Chi as Engaged Buddhism, Origins, Organization, Appeal and Social Impact, by Yu-Shuang Yao. Leiden, Boston: Global Oriental, Brill, 2012. 243 pp., 65€, ISBN 978 90 04 21747 8”, Buddhist Studies Review 30.1, pp.137-139