Skip to main content

Alexander Mayer

Profile picture for Alexander Mayer

Contact Information

E Asian Lang & Cult
707 S Mathews, Rm 3016
608 S Mathews
M/C 146
Urbana, IL 61801
Associate Professor

Research Interests

Chinese Buddhism, the intellectual history of Chinese Buddhism, biographical literature and the representation of the person in the 7th century; Chinese Buddhist commentary

Research Description

Current Projects:

Açvaghosa's Dacheng qixin lun in Fazang's (Tang) and Xufa's (Qing) Interpretation
Chinese Buddhist Sutra Exegesis in Historical Perspective
Kuiji's Commentary Jingang jing Zanshu on the Vajracchedikå-sutra; and Sthiramati's Trimçikå Commentary on "Mere Cognition".

Education

Habilitation, University of Heidelberg, 1999
Ph.D. in Chinese Studies, University of Tübingen, 1989
M.A. University of Tübingen, 1985

Additional Campus Affiliations

Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Associate Professor, Religion
Associate Professor, Program in Medieval Studies
Associate Professor, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies

Recent Publications

Lodrö Sangpo, G., (TRANS.), Migme Chödrön, G., (TRANS.), & Mayer, A. L., (TRANS.) (2017). Vijñapti-mātratā-siddhi: A Commentary (Cheng Weishi Lun) on Vasubandhu's Triṃśikā by Xuanzang. (The Collected Works of Louis de La Vallée Poussin; Vol. 1-2). Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House.

Mayer, A. L. (2017). Tools for the Study of Louis de La Vallée Poussin's Vijñapti-mātratā-siddhi: Cheng weishi lun. (The Collected Works of Louis de La Vallée Poussin; Vol. 3). Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House.

Mayer, A. L. (2009). A Review of Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogācāra Buddhism and the Ch’eng Wei-shih Lun. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 16, 191-216.

Mayer, A. L., & Röhrborn, K. (Eds.) (2005). Xuanzangs Leben und Werk: Lexikalische Untersuchungen zur uigurischen Xuanzang-Biographie. (Veröffentlichungen der Societas Uralo-Altaica; Vol. 34, No. 8). Harrassowitz Verlag.

Mayer, A. L. (2003). Der Anblick des Berges in den chinesischen Bergmonographien. In G. Giesemann, & X. Ertzdorff (Eds.), Erkundung und Beschreibung der Welt (pp. 511-520). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004333543_022

View all publications on Illinois Experts