Stephanie Balkwill, Ph.D. (2015), McMaster University, is Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhism at the University of California, Los Angeles. She publishes on the social, political, and intellectual history of Buddhist women in early medieval China. James A. Benn, Ph.D. (2001), University of California, Los Angeles, is Professor of Buddhism and East Asian Religions at McMaster University. He is the author of Burning for the Buddha: Self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007) and Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2015).

"The contributors have succeeded in creating a volume that is as accessible as it is thought-provoking. [...] This volume would therefore be of particular use in the classroom and to those who are new to the study of Buddhism. More experienced students of Buddhism would also benefit from the well-researched and diverse case studies." – Joseph Chadwin, Religious Studies 48. 2 (June 2022)

• AcknowledgmentsList of FiguresNotes on ContributorsIntroductionStephanie Balkwill and James Benn1 Metropolitan Buddhism vis-à-vis Buddhism at the Metropolis: How to Understand the Ling in the Empress Dowager’s NameStephanie Balkwill2 Silla King Chinhŭng Institutes State-Protection Buddhist RitualsRichard D. McBride II3 The Commissioner of Merit and Virtue: Buddhism and the Tang Central GovernmentGeoffrey C. Goble4 Images of Humane Kings: Rulers in the Dali-Kingdom Painting of Buddhist ImagesMegan Bryson5 Buddhism and Statecraft in Korea: The Long ViewGregory N. Evon6 Refusing the Ruler’s Offerings: Accommodation and Martyrdom in Early Modern Nichiren BuddhismJacqueline I. StoneIndex