Printemps du CEIB 2022 - International Symposium "Individuals and their Inner Worlds in Chinese Religious Life", June 9-10

Event organized by the Centre d'études interdisciplinaires sur le Bouddhisme (CEIB), supported by the Sheng Yen Education Foundation, the Inalco Foundation, the French Institute for East Asian Research - IFRAE (Inalco-Université Paris Cité-CNRS) and the Inalco Scientific Council.

CEIB Spring 2022

The 4th Lin Li-Kouang Distinguished Lecture For Buddhist Studies

4th Annual Conference - June 9, 2022 - 10am-12pm

Guest speaker: Raoul BIRNBAUM, Professor of Buddhist Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz) for a presentation entitled:

On Calligraphy and Buddhist China: A Visual Studies and Material Culture Approach to Buddhist Studies

Individuals and their Inner Worlds in Chinese Religious Life

International Symposium - June 9 and 10, 2022
Coorganized by James BENN (McMaster University), Benjamin BROSE (University of Michigan) and JI Zhe (Inalco)

This colloquium proposes to address the question of the inner life in Chinese religions from medieval times to the present day, through the critical analysis of biographical accounts and the exploitation of unpublished historical resources, focusing on certain key figures, from eminent Buddhist monks to devoted Confucian scholars. The investigation will focus in particular on crucial moments in the personal lives of the latter, such as death, illness or marriage, but also on the tensions between inner and outer life, also marked and shaped by social and political change.

With a dozen contributions from academics based in Europe, North America and East Asia, the main aim of this event will be to shed light on the religious techniques involved in this culture and self-constitution, as well as the dynamics of the spiritual economy within the Chinese world.

Bringing together a dozen scholars from Europe, North America and East Asia, this conference considers the inner worlds of Chinese religious figures from the medieval period to the present day. With critical analyses of biographical materials and the exploration of original historical sources, we focus on crucial moments-marriage, illness, revelation, and death-in the personal lives of eminent religious figures. We also reflect on the tensions between inner and outer lives, which are caused, shaped, and even radicalized by social and political changes. This conference thus aims to examine a variety of Chinese religious techniques for the cultivation, constitution, and preservation of self, as well as the dynamics of the spiritual economy within the Chinese world.

This conference is organized by the CEIB, sponsored by the Sheng Yen Education Foundation, the Inalco Foundation, IFRAE and the Scientific Council of Inalco.