Acknowledgements

Although this volume owns much of its existence to encounters and relationships with many people, there are three teachers and friends without whom its development and realization would have been impossible. First, Bart Dessein and Ann Heirman, my supervisors at Ghent, warmly welcomed me to Ghent in 2015, and since then we have shared many hours reading, discussing, correcting, translating, traveling, and talking. Thank you both for your time, kindness, inspiration, for being available whenever advice was needed, and for your constant readiness to help and listen on countless occasions. By fortunate serendipity, I shared an office with Faling (Ang Zou) for five years of my Ph.D. program—the formative phase of shaping this work. Most parts of this book emerged during conversations and discussions with Faling. I am grateful to you, my dear friend, for allowing me to disturb you at any time when I needed advice on a translation or when some new idea crossed my mind. In particular, the section on Li Yong came into existence primarily due to Faling, who generously shared his own knowledge of the scholar–official and encouraged me to conduct further research into him.

This study has its origins in my Ph.D. dissertation and postdoctoral research at Ghent University. Over the years, numerous encounters with colleagues, fellow-students, and visiting researchers have contributed to this book’s evolution in many diverse ways. I am very grateful to Christoph Anderl for his continuous mentorship and friendship (and some exquisite dining!) over the last eight years. I also wish to thank the fellow-students with whom I have shared office space for their enduring support and myriad unforgettable moments together: Yezi Mu, Suzanne Burdorf, Laurent Van Cutsem, Pan Lifei, Sakda Hemthep, Shan Bai, Jasper Roctus, Massimiliano Portoghese, Xiao Xiaozhou, Hui Wen, Igohr Brennand, Duan Xi, Litian Liang, Matteo Sgorbati, Wang Yuzhou, among many others. I am happy to have met Laura Lettere during her visit to Ghent in 2018 and for our lasting friendship since then. Special thanks are due to Yang Gang for sharing so much of his extensive library and sending me rare materials all the way from China. For uncountable chats, laughs, and support, I am grateful to Tom De Rauw, Mathieu Torck, Mieke Matthyssen, Ben Van Overmeire, Lindsey Dewitt Prat, Nan Ouyang, Charles DiSimone, Tine Vekemans, Sander Hens, Agnieszka Rostalska, Mick Deneckere, Eva de Clercq, Andreas Niehaus, Marie-Hélène Gorisse, Lucas den Boer, Christian Uhl, Anna Andreeva, and Henry Albery. I thank Sabine van Cauwenberghe for sustaining a familial atmosphere and patiently taking care of all the routine affairs in our daily office life. Special thanks also to Peter De Smet for consistent technical support.

The datasets for this book have been stored in the Zenodo online depository as a companion to my paper, entitled “Regional Buddhist Communities in Tang China and Their Social Networks: The Network of Master Fayun (?–766),” which has been published in the special issue of the journal Religions (14 (2) 2023) on the Historical Network Analysis in the Study of Chinese Religion, edited by Professor Marcus Bingenheimer, and which is based on the same source material as this volume. I would like to thank Marcus Bingenheimer for his help in the production of these datasets as well as for the licensed publication of the data.

Over the course of turning my thesis into a book, I have had the pleasure of receiving guidance, advice, and inspiration from a range of fantastic scholars. I especially wish to thank Albert Welter, James Robson, Timothy H. Barrett, Marcus Bingenheimer, and Olga Lomová for reading parts of the manuscript at various stages. Their commentaries were essential in crafting this volume, sharpening arguments, and placing the research in a wider perspective. This study was conceived long before my arrival in Ghent. My interest in and work on Buddhism as reflected in Tang Dynasty literary culture commenced at the University of Oxford during my MSt program. I wish to thank all of my teachers and fellow-students there, especially Robert Chard, Yegor Grebnev, Justin Winslett, and the late Stefano Zacchetti. Many of the skills and ideas I needed to write this volume were nurtured during our time together. Therefore, I am most grateful to Nina Kruglikova, who paved my way to Oxford, for making possible so many invaluable relationships.

I am very grateful to a number of people in Ghent for their friendship and support outside office hours. Linghong, Azadeh, Laurien, Sophie, Kathleen, Tim, Veerle, and Christos all made me feel at home and created a warm and nourishing environment. I send heartfelt gratitude to Oshank for his support, patience, encouragement, and loving presence along the way.

Parts of this study are based on articles that have appeared in T’oung Pao, Buddhist Studies Review, and Acta Orientalia. I am sincerely grateful to the editors of these journals—James Robson, Gábor Kósa, Christopher V. Jones, and Alice Collett—not only for allowing me to incorporate portions of the published articles within this study but also for their insightful advice after careful reading of my work. In addition, Section 3 of Chapter 5 shares content with my forthcoming article in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies (no.46, 2023). I wish to thank the journals’ peer reviewers for their comments and critiques, which played a key role in lifting this research to a higher level. I also wish to express my deepest gratitude to Philip Parr, the editor of this book, for his scrupilous work for the whole duration of this project.

I would like to express my gratitude to the institutions that provided the essential financial means for me to conduct this research: the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO); the Dissertation Fellowship from the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies; and the BOF Special Research Fund.

Finally, but really foremost, I thank my family. I send the deepest gratitude home to my parents, Vladimir and Valentina. This volume is for you. It is also dedicated to Lubov, a teacher and friend who played a crucial role in helping me pursue this path.