Mingli Sun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, as well as a Research Assistant for the FROGBEAR project and Glorisun Global Network for Buddhist Studies. Her research area is Tang Buddhism in the regions of Sichuan and two capitals (Chang’an and Luoyang), with a particular focus on multi-media and interdisciplinary studies of texts and images. She has published over the past few years a dozen of journal articles and book chapters both in Chinese and English.

Major publications include:

(1) ‘An Analysis of the Transformation Tableaux of the Sūtra of Visualizing Amitayus Buddha as Carved on the Cliffs in Sichuan from the Tang and Five Dynasties’ 四川唐五代摩崖浮雕觀無量壽經變分析, in Studies on the Grotto Arts 石窟藝術研究 2016, pp. 174-239.

(2) ‘An Analysis on the Factors of Light Circles and Treasure Ships of Transformation Tableaux of the Sūtra of Visualizing Amitayus Buddha in Sichuan from the Tang and Five Dynasties’ 四川唐、五代觀無量壽經變光明轉與寶船因素分析. Palace Museum Journal 故宮博物院院刊4 (2017), pp. 119-131.

(3) ‘An Analysis of the Stone-carved Transformation Tableaux of the Sūtra of Visualizing Amitayus Buddha in Dazu’大足石刻觀無量壽經變分析, in A Full Collection of the Stone Carvings in Dazu 大足石刻全集 Vol. 9 (2018), pp. 336-402.

(4) ‘An Analysis of the Images of Treasure Birds in the Transformation Tableaux of the Western Pure Land Sūtras in Sichuan from the Tang and Five Dynasties’ 四川唐五代西方淨土經變之寶鳥圖像分析. Journal of Putuo Studies 普陀學刊 10 (2020), pp. 133-168.

(5) ‘A Textual Examination on the Image of Amitābha with Fifty Bodhisattvas’ 阿彌陀佛五十菩薩像文獻疏證. Journal of Dazu Studies 大足學刊4 (2020), pp. 282-301.

(6) ‘A Forgotten Eminent Buddhist Monk and His Social Network for Constructing Buddhist Statues in Qionglai 邛崍: A Study Based on the Statue Construction Account in 798’. Religions 15 (2024): 412.