Heretics in the Holy Land – Chinese Buddhist Pilgrims and Their Perception of Non-Buddhist Religious Groups in India / 18th July 2023

On invitation of the DHARMA team in Berlin, Prof. Dr. Max Deeg (School of History, Archaeology, and Religion, Cardiff University) gave a talk titled “Häretiker im Heiligen Land – chinesische buddhistische Indienpilger und ihre Wahrnehmung nichtbuddhistischer Religionsgruppen” (“Heretics in the Holy Land – Chinese Buddhist Pilgrims and Their Perception of Non-Buddhist Religious Groups in India”) at the Institute for Asian and African Studies in Berlin on 18th July 2023.

Max Deeg discussed the terminology used in the Chinese sources to refer to different categories of ‘heretics’ in India, with a special focus on Jainas in 7th-century texts. He also shared some insights from his work on a new English translation and extensive commentary of Xuanzang’s Record of the Western Region with the audience.