Chair person
Ass. Prof. Gil Raz
Gil Raz specializes in Chinese Religion, with a particular interest in Daoism, and the interaction between Daoism, popular religious practices, and Buddhism. Between studies in History and Religious Studies in Hebrew University (B.A. 1992) and Chinese Religions in Indiana University (M.A. 1996, Ph.D. 2004), he spent some six years in China and Taiwan. He conducted three years of field work in Taiwan, working closely with a Daoist priest. He is currently completing a book that examines the formation of the Daoist religious tradition between the second and fifth centuries CE. His research interests include Daoist ritual, both historical and contemporary, Daoist sacred geography and mythology, traditional divination systems, concepts of the body and sexual practices in Chinese religions.
P 01 - Debating Ritual in China
Chair: Ass. Prof. Gil Raz
gil.Raz@Dartmouth.EDU
Download preliminary daily schedule here (pdf)
(for better readability kindly print it out)
Common activities:
Reception
On Monday, 29 September, we will officially open the conference with a reception from 19.30 to 22.30
Key Note Lecture
Tuesday, 30 September:
Key Note Speaker Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.
"Magie und Ritual"
Plenary Discussion
Wednesday, 1 October at 18.00 introductory presentation:
Prof. Dr. Christoph Wulf, Freie Universität Berlin
"The Future of the Science of Ritual in a transcultural Context"
Exchange meeting
Thursday, 2 October from 9:00 - 12:00:
Exchange meeting between scientists from the German Archaeological Institute
and the Collaborative Research Center SFB 619
Speakers (synonym for referee, panelist, active participant)
Day 1 – Monday, 29 September 2008
11:00-11:45 Michael Puett
11:45-12:30 Gil Raz
Merging the Paths:
Redefining Celestial Master Ritual in the Fifth Century
14:00-14:45 Poul Andersen
Essence and Function (ti and yong):
A Daoist Theory of Ritual
14:45-15:30 David Mozina
a Case Study from Contemporary Daoist Practice
in
16:00-16:45 Julius N. Tsai
Daoist Ritual Discourse and the Case of the
Nocturnal Announcement (suqi 宿啟)
Abstract
Ritual has been at the core of Chinese culture, society, and politics since the earliest formative stages of the Chinese polity itself. It is then little wonder that theorizing about the importance of ritual is also found in an array of Chinese sources. Such theorizing, however, may not always appear as such to the modern reader. Theoretical statements about ritual may often be implicit, couched in narrative and poetic forms. They may be found in polemical discourses and in exegetical passages on the numerous ritual manuals produced by the various religious traditions that developed in China. Thus, indigenous theories of ritual are usually not readily recognizable, and are therefore easily ignored by scholars of ritual. Moreover, theory is often said to develop only in reflexive and comparative contexts, such as modern academia. Hence, indigenous theory ought not really exist. However, as we discuss in our papers, Chinese authors and performers of ritual have not only been keenly aware of diverse ritual systems, but have constantly been in debate with rival ritual schemes. It is precisely in understanding these debates and their implicit assumptions and implications that we may discern indigenous Chinese theories of ritual.
The papers in this panel all aim at revealing such indigenous theories of ritual in a variety of contexts, with a particular focus on the little understood Daoist tradition and its interaction with other traditions of discourse and practice. The Daoist communal tradition, which appeared in the second century CE, has continued to develop to the present day in constant and complex interaction with various other ritual schemes, including imperial ritual, Confucian and other philosophical systems, local cults, and Buddhism. Through carefully selected case studies ranging from early China to contemporary practices, the panelists will investigate interpretive and theoretical models, both explicit and implicit, that underlie various ritual schemes in the Daoist tradition.
