Public Lecture – Invited speaker: Dr. Junfu Wong – Practising Stone Stelae: Buddhist Beliefs and Rituals of Lay Believers in the Guanzhong Region during the Northern Dynasties

Guanzhong lay associations served as vital centers for the establishment of religious stone stelae during the premodern period. Buddhist concepts profoundly influenced both the imagery and textual elements inscribed on these stelae. Each stele features a rich corpus of inscriptions that offer an almost unfiltered glimpse into the religious beliefs and rituals of lay believers in the late fifth and sixth centuries. By examining these epigraphic texts, this presentation demonstrates how reading and viewing the inscriptions can serve as complementary methods for reconstructing the religious practices of lay believers. Its first section analyzes the dedicatory prayers, revealing a distinctive fourfold pathway to the afterlife that emerged through the syncretic integration of diverse, unrelated scriptures. It also explores the cosmological concept of the twin sages, employed by lay believers to articulate the origins of their beliefs. Building upon this, the second section examines patronage registers through visual analysis, reconstructing the ritual scenes depicted on the stelae. Consequently, this presentation reveals how these stone stelae depict a vibrant yet locally rooted lay religious tradition distinct from monastic doctrinal or canonical frameworks.