Profile
Hong Luo studied Indology and Buddhology at Peking University with Prof. Bangwei Wang. He was awarded Ph.D. in 2007 with a dissertation on the Pravrajyāvastu of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra. From 2007 to 2017, he was affiliated with the China Tibetology Research Center and mainly worked for the international cooperative projects on editing Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. From 2011 to 2025, he was visiting scholar of Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Hamburg, Ryukoku University, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University, and Harvard-Yenching Institute. In 2015 and 2016, he taught as Numata visiting professor in the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. From 2018 to 2022, he was professor of Sanskrit Studies, Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University. In 2023, he became a tenured professor of Sanskrit Studies, Department of South Asian Studies, Peking University. He is a member of the consultative committee of International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS), a member of the Editorial Board of the Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series, Wisdom.
Educational Experience
September 2002 to July 2007
Department of Oriental Language & Cultures, Peking University; Degree Awarded: Ph.D.; Speciality: Buddhist Philology
September 1999 to July 2002
Department of Tibetan Language, Southwest University of Nationalities; Degree Awarded: Master; Speciality: Tibetology
September 1993 to July 1995
Department of Chinese Language & Culture, Sichuang University; Degree Awarded: Bachelor; Speciality: Chinese literature
September 1989 to July 1992
Department of Law, Sichuang University; Degree Awarded: Bachelor; Speciality: Law
Work Experience
January 2023- Full Professor with tenure of Sanskrit Studies, School of Foreign Languages, Department of South Asian Studies, Peking University.
January 2018-December 2022 Professor, Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University.
June 2007-December 2017 Assistant Researcher, China Tibetology Research Center.
Research Interests
His study mainly focuses on Tantric Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy. He has edited and published in the STTAR (Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region) series the chapters 9-14 of the Buddhakapālatantra together with Abhayākaragupta’s commentary: the Abhayapaddhati, and he has been editing and translating late Indian Mādhyamika texts, Ratnākaraśānti’s Prajñāpāramitopadeśa, Ratnākaraśānti’s Śuddhimatī, and Abhayākaragupta’s Madhamakamañjarī. He is also interested in the transmission of Indian texts in Tibet. Currently he is investigating the Vinayasūtra and its Indian and Tibetan commentaries, the Jonang translation of the Laghukālacakratantra, and the Tibetan translation of Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī.
Teaching Courses
The Hermeneutics of Mahāyāna Texts, Analyzing and Translating Buddhist Literature, PhD Seminar in Tibetan and Buddhist Literature, History and Culture, Elementary Sanskrit, Advanced Sanskrit
Selected Publications
Monographs
1) The Buddhakapālatantra, chapters 9 to 14. (prefaced by Harunaga Isaacson and Alexis Sanderson) (Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region 11) Beijing-Hamburg, 2010, pp. 61+249. (ISBN 978-7-80253-188-8)
2) Abhayākaragupta’s Abhayapaddhati, chapters 9 to 14. (prefaced by Harunaga Isaacson and Alexis Sanderson) (Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region 14) Beijing-Hamburg, 2010, pp. 33+130. (ISBN 978-7-80253-309-7)
Articles
1) 2025
Even Nāgārjuna Accepts: Remapping the Middle Way in the Light of Ratnākaraśānti’s Interpretation of Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Verse 24.18. Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 53, 77–101.
2) 2022
The Parikarmavastu of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra, インド学チベット学研究 25, 174–211.
3) 2021
The Karmabhedavastu of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra, Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia, 34, 97–143.
4) 2021
How to make and make sense of it? The interpretation, translation, and transmission of kṛt in Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra, Acta Orientalia, 80, 335–348.
5) 2021
The first investigation of Abhayākaragupta’s Madhyamakamañjarī, インド学チベット学研究 24, 57–75.
6) 2021
The Cakrabhedavastu of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra, インド学チベット学研究 24, 49–56.
7) 2020
An Anachronistic Analogy: Rereading the Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn in the light of Ratnākaraśānti’s Prajñāpāramitopadeśa, Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 48, 845–888.
8) 2019
Whence the Five Fingers? A philological investigation of Laghukālacakratantra 5.171-173a as quoted in sMan bla don grub’s Yid bzhin nor bu, Acta Orientalia, vol. 79, 73–110.
9) 2019a
Guṇaprabha, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume II: Lives, Brill, Leiden/Boston, 198–203.
10) 2018
Is Ratnākaraśānti a gZhan stong pa? Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 46, 577–619.
11) 2018a
Saroruha’s Hevajrastotra, China Tibetology, vol. 30, 53–71.
12) 2018b
The opening and concluding verses of Abhayākaragupta’s Madhyamakamañjarī, China Tibetology, vol. 31, 15–23.
13) 2016
The Kāraka section of Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī: A comparative study of the Sanskrit original and the Tibetan and Mongolian translations, Proceedings of A Symposium on Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation, Hamburg, 119–138.
Research Projects
2020-2025 [A Study of the Sanskrit Manuscripts of Ratnākaraśānti’s Writings preserved in the Potala Palace (A standard project financed by the National Fund for Social Sciences, 20BTQ032)]
2019-2022 [A Study of the Adhikaraṇa Literature in Tibetan Buddhism (Projects for Fostering Distinguished Young Scholars, Sichuan University, SKSYL201814)]
2018-2021 [A Comparative Study of Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī and its Tibetan and Mongolian translations, a special project supported by the National Fund of Social Sciences in China, 09@ZH019]
Honors and Awards
2018 Prize for Distinguished Contributions of Philosophical Studies and Social Sciences, Sichuan University
2017 Everest Award (珠峰奖) for publications in foreign languages (the third degree), China Tibetology Research Center
2013 Everest Award for publications in foreign languages (the third degree), China Tibetology Research Center
2011 BDK Fellowship for Foreign Scholars, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai
2009 Sino-Indian Study Scholarship (华梵奖学金), Peking University
1993 Distinguished Individual of Social Service, Sichuan University
Overseas Experience
February to July, 2025 Coordinate Research Scholar, Harvard-Yenching Institute.
April to June 2016 Guest Professor, Numata Chair in Buddhist Studies, the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, the University of Vienna.
May to June 2015 Guest Professor, Numata Chair in Buddhist Studies, the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, the University of Vienna.
August to November 2014 Guest scholar, Centre for Studies in Asian Cultures and Social Anthropology, Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, Austrian Academy of Sciences.
December 2012 to February 2013 Guest scholar, Research Institute for Buddhist Culture, Ryukoku University.
January to February 2012 SFB (Sonderforschungsbereich) visiting scholar, Center for the Study of Manuscript Culture, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg.
January to September 2011 Guest scholar, Research Institute for Buddhist Culture, Ryukoku University.
