Silk Road, Buddhism and Cultural Memory in East Asia

Dear Colleagues,

The transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road represents one of the most significant processes of cultural exchange in Eurasian history—rather than a simple diffusion of religious doctrine, this process involved complex interactions among languages, visual cultures, ritual systems, and literary traditions, contributing to the formation of enduring cultural memories across East Asia. From Gandhara and Kucha to Dunhuang, Chang’an, Nara, and Kyoto, Buddhist ideas and practices were continuously translated, adapted, and reinterpreted within diverse local contexts.

This Special Issue aims to explore the dynamic relationship between Silk Road Buddhism and cultural memory in East Asia, and seeks to examine how religious concepts, visual representations, and textual traditions were transmitted, localized, and embedded into regional knowledge systems and collective identities. The topic aligns closely with the the scope of Religions, particularly the journal’s focus on interdisciplinary approaches to religious traditions within historical, cultural, and philosophical frameworks.

We welcome original research articles and review papers that engage with, but are not limited to, the following themes:

1. Buddhist transmission and localization along the Silk Road;
2. Cultural memory and narrative formation in East Asia;
3. Dunhuang manuscripts and textual cultures;
4. Buddhist art, material culture, and sacred spaces;
5. Translation, multilingualism, and knowledge circulation;
6. Literary representations of the Silk Road and the “Western Regions”;
7. Digital humanities approaches to Buddhist heritage;
8. Museums, tourism, and contemporary reinterpretations of Silk Road Buddhism.

We hope that this Special Issue will stimulate new interdisciplinary research and contribute to a deeper understanding of how Buddhism functioned as a transregional cultural force shaping memory, identity, and knowledge systems in East Asia.

Dr. Jiade Shao
Dr. Dongbo Liu
Dr. Zhouyuan Li
Dr. Futong Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.