Catherine Despeux, winner of the Stanislas Julien medal from the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres

La médaille Stanislas Julien awarded by the AIBL is an award for the best dissertation relating to China.

Discover: Le classique du thé, Lu Yu, collection Bibliothèque chinoise (Les Belles Lettres, 2023)

"In ten chapters, Lu Yu's Le Classique du thé covers the main aspects of this beverage whose fashion spread in the 8th century, thanks in particular to Lu Yu. Essentially dealing with the picking of tea, its preparation, the necessary utensils, the stories of tea lovers and the art of living around a cup of tea, this text has exerted a considerable influence, not only in China itself, but also in Japan and Korea". (Catherine Despeux)

Biography
Catherine Despeux, now an honorary professor, was a university professor at Inalco, Department of Chinese Studies. She specializes in body techniques and self-cultivation in Taoism, traditional Chinese medicine and Buddhism. Her research has also focused on the relationship between medicine, society and religion in medieval China, with studies notably of medical manuscripts found in Dunhuang, studies published in a collective work she edited, Médecine, religion et société dans la Chine médiévale (Paris, Collège de France, 2010). She has also explored the history of women in Taoism and the practices specific to it.

Among her translations are:

-an anthology of chapters from the Book of the Way and Virtue, with a thematic presentation of the main notions of this text translated according to the interpretations of two ancient commentators little known to the general public: Lao-tseu. Le guide de l'insondable, Paris, Entrelacs, 2010.

- the translation with a consequent introduction of texts on women's practices in nineteenth-century Taoism: Pratiques des femmes taoïstes. Méditation et alchimie intérieure, Paris, les Deux Océans, 2013.

- the annotated koan translation of Chan Buddhism: La Passe sans Porte by Wumen Huikai, Paris, Seuil, 2014.

- the translation of three essential texts in Taoist liturgy: Le Livre de la contemplation intérieure et autres textes taoïstes (anonymes), translated by Catherine Despeux, Paris, collection Rivages/payot, 2022.