Divination in Chinese Religions

10-11 December 2019


Organization

Philip Clart (Leipzig University)

Fabrizio Pregadio (IKGF Erlangen)

Matthias Schumann (IKGF Erlangen)

Workshop Venue

IKGF Seminar Room, Building D1
Hartmannstr. 14
91052 Erlangen


This workshop explores the role of divination within Chinese religious history. Divination is a complex term, which denotes various practices and techniques that aim to reveal the hidden significance of events or knowledge related to the future. Associated practices and techniques include both technical calculations as well as more intuitive, inspired forms of divination. The role of divination in Chinese religious history varied accordingly, ranging from the use of astrology for ritual means to the revelation of Buddhist prophecies. The aim of this workshop is to explore the various functions of divination both within the established religious communities as well as in local cults and popular religious movements. In addition, the workshop will also consider the more critical views that are attested in official religious discourse. While divinatory practices are just as ubiquitous within the religious field as they are in Chinese society more generally, divination retained a streak of the unorthodox and a critique of associated practices could be used for the sake of self-legitimation and identity construction.


For more information, please contact Matthias Schumann (matthias.schumann@fau.de).


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Poster Flyer Abstracts



Program

10 December, 2019

9:00 a. m. Welcome Address
Overviews
9:20 a. m. State, Religion, and Divination in Premodern China
Edward Shaughnessy (Chicago University)
10:10 a. m. Coffee Break
10:40 a. m. State, Religion, and Divination in Modern China
Stéphanie Homola (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
11:30 a. m. Women and Chinese Divination
Elena Valussi (Loyola University Chicago)
12:20 p. m. Lunch Break
Yijing
1:30 p. m. The Yijing in Daoist Ritual Traditions
Barbara Hendrischke (University of Sydney)
2:10 p. m. The Yijing in Daoist Self-Cultivation Traditions
Fabrizio Pregadio (IKGF Erlangen)
2:50 p. m. Coffee Break
3:20 p. m. The Yijing in Chinese Buddhism
Beverley Foulks McGuire (University of North Carolina Wilmington)
Techniques
4:00 p. m. Chinese Taoist Temple Divination
Adeline Herrou (LESC, Paris)
Movie
4:40 p. m. "Master Feng, Taoist Monk in China Today"
directed by A. Herrou

11 December, 2019

Spirit-Inspired Divination
9:00 a. m. Spirit-Mediums and Divination in China
Brigitte Baptandier (LESC, Paris)
9:40 a. m. Spirit-Writing and Postmortem Destiny
Vincent Goossaert (EPHE, PSL)
10:20 a. m. Coffee Break
10:50 a. m. Chinese Spirit-Writing Cults
Philip Clart (Leipzig University)
11:30 a. m. Spirit-Writing in 20th-Century Redemptive Societies
Matthias Schumann (IKGF Erlangen)
12:10 p. m. Lunch Break
Prophecy
1:20 p. m. Temporality, Cognition, and the Predictive Mode in Weft Confucian Discourse
Grégoire Espesset (EPHE, Paris)
2:00 p. m. Prophecy in Daoism
Dominic Steavu (University of California Santa Barbara)
2:40 p. m. Coffee Break
3:10 p. m. Prophecy in Chinese Buddhism
Mario Poceski (University of Florida/IKGF)
Techniques
3:50 p. m. Astrology and the Astral Pantheon in Medieval China
Jeffrey Kotyk (McMaster University)
Critical Views and Concluding Discussion
4:30 p. m. Religion, Divination, and the Elites
Michael Lackner (IKGF Erlangen)
Daoism and Divination
Fabrizio Pregadio (IKGF Erlangen)
Chinese Buddhism and Divination
Esther-Maria Guggenmos (IKGF Erlangen)



International Consortium for Research in the Humanities

"Fate, Freedom and Prognostication. Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe."

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Hartmannstr. 14
91052 Erlangen
Telefon: +49 (0)9131 85 - 64340
Fax: +49 (0)9131 85 - 64360
E-Mail: petra.hahm@fau.de