Dr. Chao Zhang, IIBS Research Fellow for the period June – September 2016, holds a PhD in Historical and Philological Sciences from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (2014). Her thesis explored a group of Chinese Buddhist historiographies commonly called « Chan Miscellanea » (chanlin biji). She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the East Asian Civilisations Research Centre (CRCAO, Paris). Her research revolves around themes such as Chinese Buddhist historiography, the Chan/Zen literature, the religious practice of local elites in Pre-modern China, and the reception of Chinese writings in Medieval Japan.