Professor T H Barrett

Key information
- Roles
- Department of History Emeritus Professor China Institute Academic Staff, SOAS China Institute Japan Research Centre Academic Staff Centre of Buddhist Studies Member
- Department
- China Institute, Centre of Buddhist Studies, Japan Research Centre, Department of History & School of History, Religions and Philosophies
- Qualifications
- BA (Cantab), PhD (Yale)
- Email address
- tb2@soas.ac.uk
Research interests
History of Chinese religion, notably Taoism and Buddhism; pre-modern Chinese history, especially the Tang period
Publications
A Monkey Jumps and Britain Awakens to Mahayana: Aspects of the Westward Spread of Chinese Buddhism
Barrett, Timothy (2024). Hong Kong: (Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong)
View this bookThe Woman Who Discovered Printing
Barrett, T. H. (2008). London: (Yale University Press)
View this bookTaoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese History
Barrett, T. H. (1996). London: (Wellsweep)
View this bookLi Ao: Buddhist, Taoist, or Neo-Confucian?
Barrett, T.H. (1992). Oxford: (Oxford University Press)
View this bookSingular Listlessness: A Short History of Chinese Books and British Scholars
Barrett, T.H. (1989). London: (Wellsweep)
View this bookThe Flowering of British Sinology
Barrett, T. H., 2023, Journal of Chinese History (7), 2, pp 349-373
View this articleChina in British Education: The Natzler Report in Historical Perspective
Barrett, T.H., 2023, Asian Affairs (54), 2, pp 201-220
View this articleLiterati Encomia on Embroidered Buddhist Icons, c.700-900 CE
Barrett, T. H., 2023, Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in China (25), 1, pp 3-16
View this articleSome Remaining Problems in Early Accounts of Huineng and the Platform Sutra
Barrett, T.H., 2023, Hai Chao Yin, 2, pp 202-218
View this articleJapanese Monks and Chinese Books: Glimpses of Buddhist Sinology in Early Tokugawa Japan
Barrett, Timothy H., 2021, Religions (12), 10, pp 871
View this articlePrecepts, Vaccinations, and Demons: How Did Chinese Laypeople Perceive the Bodhisattva Precepts?
Barrett, T.H., 2021, The Eastern Buddhist. New Series (49), 1/2, pp 25-37
View this articleZen and the “Image” in Tang Poetry
Barrett, T.H., 2020, British Journal of Chinese Studies (10), pp 1-14
View this articleZen and the Art of Librarianship
Barrett, T.H., 2019, Journal of Chan Buddhism (1), pp 3-16
View this articleBreaking the Reputation of Female Rule in China: Daoism and the Rewriting of the History of the Reign of Wu Zhao (624-705)
Barrett, T.H., 2019, NAN NÜ: Men, Women and Gender in China (21), 2, pp 183-193
View this articleFaxian and the Meaning of Bianwen 變文: The Value of His Biography to the Study of China
Barrett, T.H., 2019, Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies (2), 1, pp 1-15
View this articleA Possible Buddhist Influence on Chinese Political Thought
Barrett, T.H., 2018, Studies in Chinese Religions (4), 4, pp 341-354
View this articleArthur Waley, Xu Zhimo, and the Reception of Buddhist Art in Europe: A Neglected Source
Barrett, T.H., 2018, Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies (1), 1, pp 226-247
View this articleHellenic Shadows on the China Coast: Greek Terms for "Foreigner” and “Religion” in Early Anglophone Missionary Sinology
Barrett, T.H., 2017, Journal of Translation Studies (New Series) (1), 1, pp 59-84
View this articleA Wooden Manuscript from Late Qing Yunnan(救世鴻文): Beyond the Print–Manuscript Distinction
Barrett, T.H., 2016, Studies in Chinese Religions (2), 3, pp 221-236
View this articleMichael Pye, Translating Drunk – and Stark Naked: Problems in Presenting Eighteenth Century Japanese Thought
Barrett, T.H., 2016, Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (3), pp 236-249
View this articleSima Guang 司馬光 and Ennin 圓仁 on Reports of Imperial Cannibalism: A Correction
Barrett, T.H., 2015, Studies in Chinese Religions (1), 3, pp 203-208
View this articleA Bicentenary in Robert Morrison's Scholarship on China and his Significance for Today
Barrett, T.H., 2015, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (25), 4, pp 705-716
View this articleTranscribed Printers’ Colophons at Dunhuang as Evidence for Early Printing
Barrett, T.H., 2015, Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology (6), pp 149-153
View this articleSpeaking up for Superstition: A Note on the Ethics of Chinese Popular Belief
Barrett, Timothy H., 2014, Journal of Chinese Philosophy (41), 5, pp 709-722
View this articleDeqing and Daoism: A View of Dialogue and Translation from Late Ming China
Barrett, T.H., 2013, Culture and Dialogue (3), 1, pp 11-23
View this articleThe Woman Who Invented Notepaper: Towards a Comparative Historiography of Paper and Print
Barrett, T.H., 2011, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (21), 2, pp 199-210
View this articleFinding a Place for Mountains in Chinese Religion: Bibliographical and Ethnographic Perspectives
Barrett, T.H., 2010, 中國文化研究所學報 Journal of Chinese Studies (51), pp 357-374
View this articleThe Advent of the Buddhist Conception of Religion in China and its Consequences for the Analysis of Daoism
Barrett, T.H., 2009, Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies (9), 2, pp 149-165
View this articleFrom Shrine to Monastery in China: In Search of an Untold Story
Barrett, T.H., 2009, Asia Major. Third Series (22), 1, pp 1-11
View this articleSuperstition and its Others in Han China
Barrett, T.H., 2008, The Religion of Fools? Superstition Past and Present. Past and Present Supplement 3 (199), suppl. 3, pp 95-114
View this articleClimate Change and Religious Response: The Case of Early Medieval China
Barrett, T.H., 2007, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (17), 2, pp 139-156
View this articleBrowsing along the Dao: Notes on the Schipper-Verellen Companion to the Daozang
Barrett, T.H., 2007, 中國文化研究所學報 Journal of Chinese Studies (47), pp 481-494
View this articleChinese Religion in English Guise: The History of an Illusion
Barrett, T. H., 2005, Modern Asian Studies (39), 3, pp 509-533
View this articleThe Madness of Emperor Wuzong
Barrett, T.H., 2004, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie (14), pp 173-186
View this articleTang Taoism and the mention of Jesus and Mani in Tibetan Zen
Barrett, T. H., 2003, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (66), 1, pp 56-58
View this articleOn the reconstruction of the Shenxian zhuan
Barrett, T. H., 2003, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (66), 2, pp 229-235
View this articleBuddhism, Taoism and the eighth century Chinese term for Christianity
Barrett, T. H., 2002, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (65), 3, pp 555-560
View this articleStupa, Sutra and Sarira in China, C. 656-706 CE
Barrett, T. H., 2001, Buddhist Studies Review (18), 1, pp 1-64
View this articleThe Rise and Spread of Printing: A New Account of Religious Factors
Barrett, T. H., 2001, SOAS Working papers in the Study of Religions, pp 1-40
View this articleWoodblock dyeing and printing technology in China, c.700A.D.: the innovations of Ms. Liu and other evidence
Barrett, T. H., 2001, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (64), 2, pp 240-247
View this articleEdwardian Theatre and the Lost Shape of Asia: Some Remarks on Behalf of a Cinderella Subject
Barrett, T.H., 2000, East Asian History (19), pp 87-102
View this articleImages of Printing in Seventh Century Chinese Religious Literature
Barrett, T.H., 1998, East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine (15), 1, pp 81-93
View this articleDid I-ching Go to India? Problems in Using I-ching as a Source for South Asian Buddhism
Barrett, T.H., 1998, Buddhist Studies Review (15), 2, pp 142-156
View this articleChina and the Redundancy of the Medieval
Barrett, T. H., 1998, The Medieval History Journal (1), 1, pp 73-89
View this articleThe Feng-tao k'o and Printing on Paper in Seventh-Century China
Barrett, T.H., 1997, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (60), 3, pp 538-540
View this articleThe Fate of Buddhist Political Thought in China: The Rajah Dons a Disguise
Barrett, T. H., 1996, The Buddhist Forum (4), pp 1-7
View this articleThe Emergence of the Taoist Papacy in the T’ang Dynasty
Barrett, T.H., 1994, Asia Major. Third Series (7), 1, pp 89-106
View this articleCrossing Borders: Sinology in Translation Studies
Barrett, T. H., (eds.) and Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi, (eds.) (2022). Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. (Asian translation traditions series)
View this bookMiddle Kingdom and Wider Buddhist World: Introducing Some Neglected Sources from Late Imperial and Modern China
Barrett, T.H. (2023). In: Silk, Jonathan A., (eds.) and Zacchetti, Stefano, (eds.), Chinese Buddhism and the Scholarship of Erik Zürcher. Leiden: Brill, pp 390-407
View this book sectionA Revolutionary Afterlife: The Construction of a History of Chinese Atheism
Barrett, T. H. (2022). Studies of China and Chineseness since the Cultural Revolution: Volume 1: Reinterpreting Ideologies and Ideological Reinterpretations. Singapore: World Scientific, pp 21-40
View this book sectionAn Exploration of Japanese Reprints and Lost Chinese Books: Rethinking the Song Period Platform Sutra
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Chen, Jinhua, (ed.), Transmission of Buddhism in Asia and Beyond: Essays in Memory of Antonino Forte (1940-2006). Singapore: World Scholastic, pp 39-62
View this book sectionA Short History of an Abbreviated Tang Tiantai Text
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Yue, Jing, (eds.), Chen, Jinhua, (eds.) and Wang, Song, (eds.), Chinese Transformation of Buddhism and Crossborder Transmission of Buddhism: Pan-Asian Spread of Tiantai/Ch'ŏnt'ae/Tendai Texts, Ideas and Practices and Its Position in East Asian Society. Singapore: World Scholastic, pp 1-38
View this book sectionIntroduction
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Barrett, T.H., (eds.) and Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi, (eds.), Crossing Borders: Sinology in Translation Studies. Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, pp xi-xlii
View this book sectionMalan as Dorset Worthy: Solomon Caesar and Valentine Ackland
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Pfister, Lauren F., (ed.), Polyglot from the Far Side of the Moon: The Life and Works of Solomon Caesar Malan (1812-1894). London: Routledge, pp 35-46
View this book sectionNorthern Wei Wutaishan: An Outside View of Centres and Peripheries
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Chen, Jinhua, (eds.), Kuan, Guang, (eds.) and Fo, Hu, (eds.), What Happened After Mañjuśrī Migrated to China? The Sinification of the Mañjuśrī Faith and the Globalization of the Wutai Cult. London: Routledge, pp 77-88
View this book sectionPosthumous Conversions of Confucians: A Zen Case Study from Song China to Modern Japan
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Jones, C. V., (ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations. Oxford: British Academy, pp 210-224
View this book sectionLearning and Outcomes in Early Anglophone Sinological Translation: The Case of Thomas Manning (1772-1840)
Barrett, T.H. (2022). In: Barrett, T.H., (eds.) and Wong, Lawrence Wang-chi, (eds.), Crossing Borders: Sinology in Translation Studies. Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, pp 99-143
View this book sectionHow Important is Mount Wutai? Sacred Space in a Zen Mirror
Barrett, T.H. (2021). In: Andrews, Susan, (eds.), Chen, Jinhua, (eds.) and Kuan, Guang, (eds.), The Transnational Cult of Mount Wutai: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden: Brill, pp 238-252
View this book sectionAgainst Epigraphy: Once More a Visit to Zen and History
Barrett, T.H. (2020). In: Zhan, Ru, (eds.), Chen, Jinhua, (eds.) and Ji, Yun, (eds.), Tones from the Stones: Production, Preservation and Perusal of Buddhist Epigraphy in Central and East Asia. Singapore: World Scholastic, pp 273-292
View this book sectionThe Chinese Perception of Jainism 耆那教
Barrett, T.H. (2020). In: Cheng, Anne, (eds.) and Kumar, Sanchit, (eds.), India-China: Intersecting Universalities. Paris: Collège de France, pp 6-21
View this book sectionThe Early Modern Origins of Chinese Indology
Barrett, T.H. (2020). In: Cheng, Anne, (eds.) and Kumar, Sanchit, (eds.), India-China: Intersecting Universalities. Paris: Collège de France, pp 91-104
View this book sectionThe Boxer Prize: The History of A Thousand Miles of Miracle in China
Barrett, Timothy H. (2020). In: Klein, Thoralf, (ed.), The Boxer War: Media and Memory of an Imperialist Intervention. Kiel: Solivagus Praeteritum, pp 150-175
View this book sectionReligion and Violence in China
Barrett, T.H. (2020). In: Gordon, Matthew S., (eds.), Kaeuper, W., (eds.) and Zurndorfer, Harriet, (eds.), The Cambridge World History of Violence. Volume II: 500-1500 CE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 349-367
View this book sectionHerbert Giles as Reviewer
Barrett, T.H. (2019). In: Engberts, Christiaan, (eds.) and Paul, Herman, (eds.), Scholarly Personae in the History of Orientalism, 1870-1930. Leiden: Brill, pp 118-142
View this book sectionWalking by Itself: The Singular History of the Chinese Cat
Barrett, Timothy H. and Strange, Mark (2018). In: Sterckx, Roel, (eds.), Siebert, Martina, (eds.) and Schäfer, Dagmar, (eds.), Animals through Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1911. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 84-98
View this book sectionChinese History as a Constructed Continuity: The Work of Rao Zongyi
Barrett, T.H. (2017). In: Lambert, Peter, (eds.) and Weiler, Björn, (eds.), How the Past was Used: Historical Cultures, c. 750-2000. Oxford: British Academy, pp 259-275
View this book sectionBuddhist Nirvana and Its Chinese Interpreters
Barrett, T.H. (2017). In: Mair, Victor H., (ed.), Buddhist Transformations and Interactions: Essays in Honor of Antonino Forte. New York: Cambria Press, pp 53-64
View this book sectionComing to Terms with Religion in East Asia
Barrett, T.H. (2016). In: Paramore, Kiri, (ed.), Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp 73-84
View this book sectionPattern Reproduction Possibilities and the Alpha and Omega of Tibetan Printing
Barrett, T.H. (2016). In: Diemberger, Hildegard, (eds.), Ehrhard, Franz-Karl, (eds.) and Kornicki, Peter, (eds.), Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities and Change. Leiden: Brill, pp 560-574
View this book sectionTerminology and Religious Identity: Buddhism and the Genealogy of the Term Zongjiao
Barrett, T.H. and Tarocco, Francesca (2012). In: Krech, Volkhard, (eds.) and Steinicke, Marion, (eds.), Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives. Leiden: Brill, pp 307-319
View this book sectionOn the Road to China: The Continental Relocation of Sacred Space and its Consequences for Mountains, Minds, and Texts
Barrett, T.H. (2012). In: Benn, James, (eds.), Chen, Jinhua, (eds.) and Robson, James, (eds.), Images, Relics, and Legends: The Formation and Transformation of Buddhist Sacred Sites. Essays in Honor of Professor Koichi Shinohara. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, pp 46-67
View this book sectionReading the Liezi: The First Thousand Years
Barrett, T.H. (2011). In: Littlejohn, Ronnie, (eds.) and Dippmann, Jeffrey, (eds.), Riding the Wind with Liezi: New Perspectives on the Daoist Classic. Albany: State University of New York Press, pp 15-30
View this book sectionReligious Change Under Eastern Han and its Successors: Some Current Perspectives and Problems
Barrett, T.H. (2010). In: Nylan, Michael, (eds.) and Loewe, Michael, (eds.), China's Early Empires: A Re-Appraisal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 430-448
View this book sectionThe Monastery Cat in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Cat Poems of the Zen Masters
Barrett, T.H. (2009). In: Benn, James A., (eds.), Meeks, Lori, (eds.) and Robson, James, (eds.), Buddhist Monasticism in East Asia: Places of Practice. London: Routledge, pp 107-124
View this book sectionRitual in the Library, with Special Reference to Daoism
Barrett, T.H. (2009). In: Reiter, Florian C., (ed.), Foundations of Daoist Ritual: A Berlin Symposium. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp 13-26
View this book sectionDaoism in Action? The Princess-Nuns of the High Tang Period
Barrett, T.H. (2007). In: Reiter, Florian C., (ed.), Purposes, Means and Convictions in Daoism: A Berlin Symposium. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp 113-130
View this book sectionBuddhist Precepts in a Lawless World: Some Comments on the Linhuai Ordination Scandal
Barrett, T. H. (2005). In: Bodiford, W. M., (ed.), Going Forth. Visions of Buddhist Vinaya. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, pp 101-23
View this book sectionInner and Outer Ritual: Some Remarks on a Directive Concerning Daoist Dragon-casting Ritual from Dunhuang
Barrett, T.H. (2002). In: 李, 焯然, (eds.) and 陳, 萬成, (eds.), 道苑繽紛録 A Daoist Florilegium. A Festschrift Dedicated to Professor Liu Ts'un-yan on his Eighty-Fifth Birthday. Xianggang: 商務印書館, pp 315-334
View this book sectionIntroduction to Religion and Biography in China and Tibet
Barrett, T. H. (2002). In: Penny, B., (ed.), Religion and Biography in China and Tibet. London: Curzon, pp 1-12
View this book sectionShinto and Taoism in Early Japan
Barrett, T. H. (2000). In: Breen, John, (eds.) and Teeuwen, M., (eds.), Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Richmond: Curzon Press, pp 13-31
View this book sectionFrom Religious Ideology to Political Expediency in Early Printing: An Aspect of Buddho-Daoist Rivalry
Barrett, T. H. (2012). Herts: (Minnow Press. Working paper in the study of religions, 4)
View this bookForeword to: Guang Xing, Filial Piety in Chinese Buddhism
Barrett, Timothy H. (2022).
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