Time: October 25, 6:00 pm (Vancouver) | 9:00 pm (New York) | October 26, 9:00 am (Beijing/Taipei)
Zoom Registration: https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5EqceyuqzwsGdOG94PovHvjRrDu4eKhdN8l
The lecture will be presented in Mandarin, live-streamed via YouTube with simultaneous English and Mandarin channels.
Abstract:
To expand the living space and social foundation of Buddhism in the new era, Zhao Puchu, in response to the unfavorable conditions where Buddhism was regarded as “feudal superstition” and “spiritual pollution,” cited prominent figures of the time, such as Mao Zedong and Qian Xuesen, as evidence to propose the theory that “Buddhism as Culture.” By doing so, he actively integrated the development of Buddhism into the construction of socialist civilization. As a leader in the Buddhist community, Zhao Puchu’s view of “Buddhism as Culture” was not a rigorous academic positioning, but rather a functionalist one. By highlighting the cultural connotations of Buddhism, he sought to change the public’s prejudice and misunderstanding of Buddhism.
About the speaker: Sheng Kai (Tsinghua University)
Professor Sheng Kai was born in 1972. He is currently the Vice Dean of the Institute for Ethics and Religious Studies at Tsinghua University and a professor, the supervisor of master’s and doctorate students of the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua. He is the chief expert of the Major Project of the National Social Sciences Fund “Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks”, the Vice Director of the Research Institute of the Buddhist Culture of China 中國佛教文化研究所 and the editor-in-chief of Buddhist Studies 佛學研究. He specializes in Buddhist schools of the South and North Dynasties, the relationship between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, Chinese Buddhist social history, modern and contemporary Buddhism, and comparative studies between Buddhism and Western philosophy. His main publications include: (1) Rituals of Chinese Buddhism, (2) Study on Repenting Practices of Chinese Buddhism, (3) Study on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha-śāstra School, (4) Thoughts and Beliefs in Amitābha Pure Land During Jin-Tang Dynasties, (5) A New History of Chinese Buddhism: With a Focus on Its Faith and Monastic Life, (6) An Intellectual History of Daśabhūmi-śāstra School in Medieval China, and (7) A History of Chinese Buddhist Faith and Life. His Study on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha-śāstra School has won the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation and the Third Prize in Humanities and Social Sciences at the fifth Ministry of Education Awards.
About the discussant: Fan Wenli (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences / University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Fan Wenli is an associate researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She also serves as the Secretary General of Chinese Society for Eastern Philosophy (CSEP). She has published a monograph, Action and Its Results: A Study Based on Karmaphalasambandhaparīkṣā of Tattvasaṃgraha and Tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā, which focuses on Tattvasaṃgraha(pañjikā) and explores the debates in Indian philosophy about self, causality, and other issues. She also compiled a book titled Encyclopedic tradition in Chinese Buddhism: a perspective from the social history of knowledge, which includes more than ten excellent academic papers discussing the characteristics of encyclopedia works and knowledge system construction created in different periods of Chinese Buddhism. At present, her ongoing research includes the evolution history of the Chinese Buddhist knowledge system, the history of Eastern philosophy in the 20th century, and so on.
About the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series: Launched in September, 2021, the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series (印證佛學傑出學術系列講座) is a collaborative, multi-university partnership between Peking University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Inalco (Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales), Princeton University, Harvard University, and the University of British Columbia. The Lecture Series is established in honour of Venerable Cheng-yen 證嚴, founder of Tzu Chi, and her mentor Yinshun 印順 (1906–2005), with the goal of promoting topics in Buddhist Studies.
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