Review of Lotus Blossoms and Purple Clouds by Brian J. Nichols

Authors

Xingyi Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Xingyi Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is trained as a Buddhologist specializing in East Asian Buddhist history and thought. Her research interests include Buddhist monasticism, Vinaya studies, the Pure Land tradition, ethics, and Buddhist literature. Born and raised in China, she obtained an MTS in 2015 from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD in 2021 from Harvard University. She is currently completing a monograph on the commentarial tradition of the Dharmaguptakavinaya and the formation of the Vinaya School, examining cultural exchanges between Song China and Kamakura Japan. Her second project investigates the systematization of the theory of monastic vows in Tibet through the lens of Sakya masters such as Sakya Pandita and Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, tracing its complex impact on the mainland monastic order under the Mongol court.