Planting Buddhism: Flora in the monasteries of Luoyang

Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Lecture Series in Chinese Buddhism at the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies.

In this talk I seek to bring the emerging field of plant humanities—which articulates the importance of attending to the role of plants in human history and culture—into conversation with Buddhist Studies. Taking as a case study The Monasteries of Luoyang 洛陽伽藍記, compiled by Yang Xuanzhi 楊衒之in the mid sixth century, I will argue that plants played a significant, but overlooked, role in the creation of Buddhist places in medieval China. 

Although the monastic landscapes described in The Monasteries of Luoyang shared much with the garden culture of medieval China, plants could also take on new meanings in religious contexts. Trees, flowers, and fruits were instrumental in cultivating the sensory and affective dimensions of Buddhism; through plants, temples and monasteries came to feel a certain way. Yet plants were not simply passive objects, and trees especially might be understood to have a certain kind of agency and spiritual potency. 

As I will show, plants elicited behaviors, thereby co-creating human-vegetal relations that were at the heart of Buddhist placemaking and the growth of the religion. 

About the speaker

Natasha Heller is a cultural historian of Chinese Buddhism with research interests spanning the premodern period (primarily 10th through 14th c.) and the contemporary era. She teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and is currently a Faculty Fellow of UVA’s Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures. 

Attending the event

This event is free and open to all, followed by a wine reception. 

• Organiser: SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies