The Avataṃsaka-sūtra, one of the most voluminous Mahāyāna sūtras, has survived in Chinese and Tibetan translations. This lecture is going to shed light on the transmission of the text by comparing the Chinese and Tibetan versions. In addition, it will be shown how the scholar-monks of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism under-stood and interpreted this sūtra in their commentaries. It will be discussed whether we can speak about the sinification of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra in the process of interpretation.

Imre Hamar is the head of the Department of Chinese Studies, the director of the Insititue of East Asian Studies, and the director of the Confucius Institute. He received his PhD in 1997, and his habilitation in 2004. His research field is Chinese Buddhism, especially the Huayan school. He was Fulbright visiting professor at University of Virginia and Numata visiting professor at Hamburg University. He is the author of A Religious Leader in the Tang: Chengguan’s Biography (The International Institute for Buddhist Studies Tokyo, 2002) and the editor of Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism (Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007).