The Royal Asiatic Society initiated the Professor Mary Boyce Prize for articles relating to the study of religion in Asia. Award winning submissions receive £250 and are published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. The focus of the prize is any religion, anywhere in Asia and at any time, and the Society’s main aim is to encourage the submission of pieces of original, unpublished research that make innovative contributions to understanding, learning and scholarship.
Since its initiation the Prize has been awarded irregularly. Winners include:
2007 - Julius N, Tsai for the article, Reading the ‘Inner Biography of the Perfected Person of Purple Solarity’: Religion and Society in an Early Daoist Hagiography.
2009 - Alexander Wynne for the article, The Buddha's ‘skill in means’ and the genesis of the five aggregate teaching.
There is limited archival material at this stage but it contains:
2007
- Judge's comment upon submissions for the Prize, electronic document.
2008
- Draft publicity poster for the Professor Mary Boyce Prize and the George Staunton Prize, electronic document.
2009
- Copies of emails between Charlotte de Blois, Executive Editor, Royal Asiatic Society, and Alexander Wynne, winner, Professor Mary Boyce Prize concerning his entry and award. Two pieces, dated 9 June -14 July 2009.
2010
- Submission letter for entry to the prize. Handwritten, 1 piece.
2011
- Draft publicity poster for the Professor Mary Boyce Prize and the George Staunton Prize. Computer printed, 1 piece.