Dr Chiew Hui Ho
As a Philosophy major at the National University of Singapore, my interest in Western Philosophy shifted to Chinese Philosophy before focusing on Buddhism. After NUS, I studied and worked in Tokyo and Kyoto before becoming a member of the inaugural cohort of the Master of Buddhist Studies program at the University of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, I had the opportunity to audit Professor Victor Mair’s course on reading Chinese Buddhist texts. Encouraged by him to pursue further studies, I landed in Stanford’s PhD Program in Buddhist Studies. After graduation, I immediately took up my current appointment as Lecturer in East Asian Buddhism at the University of Sydney.
My area of research is the socio-cultural history of Buddhism in China. Instead of focusing on major Buddhist monastics or profound Buddhist philosophy, I am interested in how Buddhism was lived and practiced on the ground, especially by the laity. My first book, which examines a substantial body of narratives extolling the Diamond Sutra in the Tang dynasty (618–907), pays attention to the role of the laity in shaping Diamond Sutra devotionalism. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book engages scholarship in history, religion, textual studies, manuscriptology, and literature to understand the religious practices of the laity as it investigates the interaction between storytelling, textual production, ritual, and material culture. Contrary to the common representation of laypeople as passive believers, the book shed light on a Tang laity empowered enough to shape the religion by compelling the monastic establishment to accommodate the changes they initiated.
My undergraduate teaching includes units on language and cultural topics related to China and religion in the Asian and Chinese Studies departments. Some of the units I have taught include A Survey of Buddhism, Buddhism in East Asia, Buddhism in Modern Asia, Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhist Meditation Practices, Zen and Chan Buddhism, Buddhism and Chinese Culture, Chinese Buddhist Texts, Classical Chinese, and Religion and Martial-Arts Fiction. Additionally, I also contribute to other units by lecturing on related subjects. Apart from supervising honors and postgraduate students in topics related to my area of expertise, I also serve as associate supervisor to postgraduate students. I welcome inquiry on postgraduate studies by prospective students whose research interests align with mine.
Courses I teach include
ASNS2011 Buddhist Thought and Culture & CHNS2004 Introduction to Chinese Literature
ASNS3003 Buddhism: Historical Perspective
CHNS2004 Introduction to Chinese Literature
SLCS4500 Research and Writing Methods
SLCS4501 Area Studies and Social Theory
Waiving of prerequisites for these units are possible for interested students. For related inquiries, please email me.
As I remain interested in Buddhist narrative literature of medieval China, my research interest has expanded to include the state of Buddhism after the Tang dynasty. I am currently working on my second book project, which investigates how Buddhist printed illustrations influenced book production in China from the Song to the Ming (960–1644) and how it was in turn shaped by secular book culture, and the effects of their interaction on socio-cultural practices. By exploring the intersection between material culture and spirituality, and religious and cultural practices, the book addresses a significant lacuna in our knowledge in these areas: the interplay of print traditions initiated by Buddhism and secular society, its effects on the evolvement of the Chinese book, Chinese society, and its people.
- American Academy of Religions
- Association of Asian Studies
- Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies
- International Association of Buddhist Studies
- China Studies Centre
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Yan Yuan’s (1635-1704) Dynamic Qi-Monist Conception of the Dao and his Criticisms of the Notions of Emptiness and Stillness in Song-Ming Daoxue. | Matthew STEGGLES |
| The Lord Guan Cult and Lord Guan Performance in Southern Shanxi | Ye TIAN |
Selected publications
(Lumbini International Research Institute, 2006)
Publications
Books
- Ho, C. (2019). Diamond Sutra Narratives: Textual Production and Lay Religiosity in Medieval China. Leiden: Brill. [More Information]
Edited Books
- Zimmermann, M., Ho, C., Pierce, P. (2006). Buddhism and Violence. Kathmandu: Lumbini International Research Institute.
Book Chapters
- Ho, C. (2025). Buddhist Jiaohua: Religious Edification Through Storytelling. In Yingjie Guo (Eds.), Jiaohua: Chinese Ideas and Practices of Moral Transformation., (pp. 47-65). Singapore: Springer. [More Information]
Journals
- Ho, C. (2023). Parasutraic Narratives and Cultic Repertoire: The Plurality of Afterlife Abode in the Tang Lotus Sūtra Cult. Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies, 6(1), 1-54. [More Information]
- Ho, C. (2022). Chinese Buddhist narratives of wonders: Recent studies and approaches. Religion Compass, 16(8), e12445-1-e12445-10. [More Information]
- Ho, C. (2021). Book review - 'Texts and Transformations: Essays in Honor of the 75th Birthday of Victor H. Mair', ed. Haun Saussy. JOSAH: Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities, 52, 180-182.
Conferences
- Ho, C. (2019). Parasutraic Literature and Scriptural Devotion: The Deep Roots of Humanistic Buddhism. International Conference on 'Humanistic Buddhism' and 'Chinese Buddhist Literature', Unanderra: Nan Tien Institute.
- Ho, C. (2012). Diamond Sutra Tales and the Reshaping of Medieval Chinese Religiosity. The XVIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.
- Ho, C. (2012). The Vajracchedikii in East Asia (II): The World of the "Miracle Tale. RELIGST 252: Hearts and Diamonds: The Lives of Buddhist Sacred Texts.
Other
- Ho, C. (2018), An Echo from the Ancient Past: Depictions of the Lotus Sutra in Dunhuang Murals and Their Message for the Contemporary World: The Institute of Oriental Philosophy.
2025
- Ho, C. (2025). Buddhist Jiaohua: Religious Edification Through Storytelling. In Yingjie Guo (Eds.), Jiaohua: Chinese Ideas and Practices of Moral Transformation., (pp. 47-65). Singapore: Springer. [More Information]
2023
- Ho, C. (2023). Parasutraic Narratives and Cultic Repertoire: The Plurality of Afterlife Abode in the Tang Lotus Sūtra Cult. Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies, 6(1), 1-54. [More Information]
2022
- Ho, C. (2022). Chinese Buddhist narratives of wonders: Recent studies and approaches. Religion Compass, 16(8), e12445-1-e12445-10. [More Information]
2021
- Ho, C. (2021). Book review - 'Texts and Transformations: Essays in Honor of the 75th Birthday of Victor H. Mair', ed. Haun Saussy. JOSAH: Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities, 52, 180-182.
2019
- Ho, C. (2019). Diamond Sutra Narratives: Textual Production and Lay Religiosity in Medieval China. Leiden: Brill. [More Information]
- Ho, C. (2019). Parasutraic Literature and Scriptural Devotion: The Deep Roots of Humanistic Buddhism. International Conference on 'Humanistic Buddhism' and 'Chinese Buddhist Literature', Unanderra: Nan Tien Institute.
- Ho, C. (2019). Truth and Its Reception: The Wonder and Metaphor of the Incorruptible Tongue in the Lotus Sutra Tradition. The Journal of Oriental Studies, 29, 182-208.
2018
- Ho, C. (2018), An Echo from the Ancient Past: Depictions of the Lotus Sutra in Dunhuang Murals and Their Message for the Contemporary World: The Institute of Oriental Philosophy.
- Ho, C. (2018). Samantabhadra: Iconographical Transformations and Ritual Identities. International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture, 28(2), 147-176. [More Information]
2017
- Ho, C. (2017). Sinitic Buddhist Narratives of Wonders: Are There Miracles in Buddhism? Philosophy East and West, 67(4), 1118-1142. [More Information]
2016
- Ho, C. (2016). Imagining the Beginnings of the Cult of the Diamond Sutra. International Journal for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization, 1(1), 5-36.
2012
- Ho, C. (2012). Diamond Sutra Tales and the Reshaping of Medieval Chinese Religiosity. The XVIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.
- Ho, C. (2012). The Vajracchedikii in East Asia (II): The World of the "Miracle Tale. RELIGST 252: Hearts and Diamonds: The Lives of Buddhist Sacred Texts.
2009
- Ho, C. (2009). Review of Morten Schlütter. How Zen Became Zen: The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China. China Review International: a journal of reviews of scholarly literature in Chinese studies., 16(4), 568-572.
- Ho, C. (2009). Review of Zhiru (Ng). The Making of a Savior Bodhisattva: Dizang in Medieval China. China Review International: a journal of reviews of scholarly literature in Chinese studies., 16(4), 553-556. [More Information]
2006
- Zimmermann, M., Ho, C., Pierce, P. (2006). Buddhism and Violence. Kathmandu: Lumbini International Research Institute.