For over 2500 years Buddhism was implicated in processes of cultural interaction that in turn
shaped Buddhist doctrines practices and institutions. While the cultural plurality of Buddhism
has often been remarked upon the transcultural processes that constitute this plurality and
their long-term effects have scarcely been studied as a topic in their own right. The
contributions to this volume present detailed case studies ranging across different time
periods regions and disciplines and they address methodological challenges as well as
theoretical problems. In addition to casting a spotlight on topics as diverse as the role of
trade contacts in the early spread of Buddhism the hybrid nature of religious practices in
Japan or Indo-Tibetan relations in Tibetan polemical literature the individual papers jointly
raise the question as to whether there might be something distinct about how Buddhism steers
and influences forms of cultural exchange and is in turn shaped by modalities of cultural
interaction throughout Asian as well as global history. The volume is intended to demonstrate
the need for investigating transcultural dynamics more closely in the study of Buddhism and to
suggest new avenues for Buddhist Studies.
