Dixuan Yujing Chen

Dixuan Yujing Chen (religious name: Dixuan Shi), Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions at Grinnell College, is an ordained Buddhist nun of the Mahayana tradition. She received her PhD in East Asian Religions from the University of Florida in 2017, and an MA in the Philosophy of Religion from National Chengchi University, Taiwan. Her main areas of teaching include East Asian religions, Zen Buddhism, religious healing practices, gender in religion, and the intersection of food and belief (“eating is believing”).

Dr. Chen’s research explores religious healing, meditation, and gender. Her current project examines how breathing techniques associated with meditation and therapeutic practices evolved in medieval Chinese Buddhism. She has received the Wabash Center Early Career Faculty Teaching Fellowship (2022–23) and the Harris Faculty Research Fellowship (2023-24).

Beyond her role at Grinnell College, she serves on the Executive Board of Directors of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions.

Recent publications:

 “Inhaling Tradition, Exhaling Innovation: Controlled Breathing as Medicine in Tiantai Buddhism.” Studies in Chinese Religions 10, Issue: 2 (2024): 115-150.

“More than Curing the Sick: A Re-Examination of Medicine Buddha Worship in Medieval China” Journal of Chinese Religions 52, no. 1 (2024): 1-27.