During this academic year, the Division of Russian and Eastern Studies (RAE) in the Dept of Modern and Classical Languages organizes a series of activities under the unified theme of "Discover Asia."  Through film showings, faculty research presentations, and a public lecture, we intend not only to discover, explore, and analyze various parts and aspects of Asia, but we also will interrogate how Asia is discovered, by raising questions such as: What/where is Asia?  Who—in terms of race, class, and gender—discovered it?  In what ways?  To what ends?  In what historical contexts? 

An integral part of our “Discover Asia” activities is a brown bag series of RAE faculty research presentations over the course of the year.  The next presenter is Professor Matt Wells of Chinese Studies and he will give an exciting presentation entitled “The Five Divine Formulas of the Peijun zhuan: Esoteric Daoism and Lifewriting in Early China.”   Come and join us.

 

Synopsis:

This presentation will explore in a preliminary way the text of the Peijun zhuan, an early hagiography from the Shangqing Daoist tradition. Our discussion will focus on the nature of the text, its position in canonical Daoist literature, and its description of the five "Divine Formulas." We will also discuss the nature of hagiography in early medieval China and how religious writing might fit within the broader scope of "lifewriting" (biography and autobiography) from the period.