On 18 June 2026, a cooperation agreement was signed at Renmin University of China in Beijing for the Chinese translation and publication of the Leipzig Kucha Studies series. The agreement brings together the School of Chinese Classics at Renmin University of China, the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, and Gansu Education Press in cooperation with the Dunhuang Studies Publishing Centre.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig by its Secretary General, Dr Christian Winter, and by Professor Monika Zin, team leader of the research project “Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road”. The partner institutions were represented by Professor Yang Qingzhong, Dean of the School of Chinese Classics at Renmin University of China, and by Yun Juntao, President of Gansu Education Press.
From left: YUN, Juntao (President of Gansu Education Press); Dr. Christian Winter (Secretary General of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig; HUANG, Weizhong (Professor und Dean of the Institute of Historical and Philological Studies of China's Western Regions, School of Chinese Classics of Renmin University).
From left: YANG, Qingzhong (Dean of the School of Chinese Classics at Renmin University); Prof. Monika Zin (Team Leader of the Kucha Project at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig); YUN, Juntao (President of Gansu Education Press).
In preparation for the signing, the participating institutions conducted detailed consultations on the organisation and implementation of the project, including editorial planning, translation procedures, design and production standards, and copyright arrangements. Agreement was reached on all principal aspects, and a structured framework for the phased publication of the series was established.
The cooperation provides for an initial group of five volumes from the Leipzig Kucha Studies series to be translated into Chinese.
The translations will be undertaken primarily by faculty members and advanced students of the Institute for the Historical and Philological Studies of China’s Western Regions at the School of Chinese Classics, Renmin University of China.
The agreement constitutes an important step in the systematic dissemination of the research results produced by the Leipzig-based project to the Chinese academic community. Developed over more than a decade, the Leipzig Kucha Studies series presents the outcomes of sustained research on the Buddhist mural paintings of Kucha along the Northern Silk Road, with particular emphasis on iconographic analysis, the critical evaluation of textual sources, and the investigation of spatial and functional contexts.
By enabling access to these publications in Chinese, the cooperation strengthens the international presence of research conducted at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig and provides a robust basis for continued scholarly exchange with partner institutions in China. At the same time, it contributes to advancing collaborative research on the art history and archaeology of the Buddhist sites of Central Asia.
