On the afternoon of September 23, 2025, the 154th session of Expert Forum of BNUBS, was held in Conference Room 1722 of the Houzhulou Building. Professor Zhou Jianbo from the School of Economics at Peking University was invited to deliver a lecture themed Limitations and Adaptations of the Traditional Commodity-Money Economy: An Investigation Centered on the Localization of Buddhism in Medieval China. The lecture was hosted by Teacher Chen Yueyuan from the School, with the participation of many teachers and students of the School.

Professor Zhou Jianbo’s lecture started with the development of the commodity economy in the Han Dynasty and the problems it faced. During the Qin and Han dynasties, with the improvement of productivity and the increase of social surplus, commodity exchange and social mobility accelerated gradually. Land annexation, displaced people, and usury became important factors affecting the stability of the social economy. In response to these social issues, the traditional Confucian economic thought, which centered on "valuing righteousness over profit", "prioritizing agriculture over commerce", and "denouncing luxury and advocating frugality", focused on restricting mobility and encouraging production, but failed to fundamentally address the mobility problems caused by the development of the commodity economy.

On this basis, Professor Zhou focused on analyzing the profound impact of Buddhism on economic ethics and institutional aspects after its introduction to China. He proposed that Buddhism injected a new ethical framework into social and economic behaviors through concepts such as "karma and reincarnation". Buddhism’s emphasis on wealth circulation, poverty relief, and encouraging lending made up for the deficiencies of traditional economic thought in social security and risk mitigation. Taking the monastery economy from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty as an example, Professor Zhou elaborated in detail on how Buddhism promoted the circulation of commodities, the development of financial markets, and the establishment of social mutual assistance systems through institutional arrangements such as temple fairs, lending, pawnbroking, and charitable donations.

In addition, Professor Zhou also explored in depth the interaction and integration between Buddhism and Chinese local culture. He pointed out that in the process of colliding with Confucianism and Taoism in China, Buddhism gradually formed a new localized ethics, which promoted the innovation of social organizations. This integration not only enhanced the society’s ability to respond to economic fluctuations, but also laid the foundation for the cultural pattern of the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the Song and Ming dynasties.

At the interactive session at the end of the lecture, many teachers and students had a lively discussion on issues such as the modern significance of Buddhist economic ethics, the historical evolution of the monastery economy, and its enlightenment for contemporary financial systems. The lecture concluded successfully with warm applause.

Contributed by Academic Department of the School’s Graduate Student Union

Edited by Chen Yueyuan

Reviewed by Hu Conghui