This book offers a comprehensive exploration of Chinese Buddhist rituals and their pivotal role in shaping both Chinese Buddhism and broader Chinese culture. Translated from the revised and enlarged Chinese edition of Zhongguo hanchuan fojiao liyi by Shengkai (Commercial Press, 2020), it addresses a significant gap in current scholarship: the underrepresentation of ritual practices in the study of Chinese Buddhism’s development.

While previous research has largely focused on doctrinal, philosophical, and ethical dimensions, this volume emphasizes ritual as a dynamic site of cultural interaction. It argues that the encounter between Indian and Chinese civilizations during Buddhism’s transmission to China was not merely theoretical but deeply embodied in ritual forms. These ceremonies served as a medium through which foreign religious ideas were localized, negotiated, and ultimately integrated into Chinese society.

Despite the abundance of surviving ritual texts, the book highlights the difficulty of reconstructing how these rituals were performed in practice. It calls attention to the need for a more nuanced understanding of ritual as lived experience, not just textual tradition. By foregrounding ritual, this book contributes to a richer, more holistic view of Chinese Buddhism and its cultural legacy.

Professor Kai Sheng is currently a professor, supervisor of master and doctoral students, vice-head of the Department of Philosophy, Vice President of Institute for Ethics and Religious Studies (IERS) at Tsinghua University.

He is also the Principal Investigator for the project on "Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks" which is supported by the Major Grant of Chinese National Social Sciences Fund, the Vice-Director of the Research Institute of the Buddhist Culture of China and the editor-in-chief of journal Foxue yanjiu.

Professor Kai Sheng’s research areas include Buddhist schools of South and North Dynasties in China, the relations between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the social history of Chinese Buddhism, Buddhism in the modern society, Buddhism and western philosophy. His study on the rites of confession (chanfa 懺法) in Chinese Buddhism started in 1998.