Spring 2008 Events
All events are free and open to the public
Email ceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu for further information
January
The Concept of Ritual in the Excavated Texts from Chu: Are They a Direct Source of the Theory of Ritual and Social Norms in Xunzi?
Dr. Masayuki Sato, Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University
Tuesday, January 22, 11:00AM, Cherpack Lounge in Williams Hall
This lecture starts with reviewing Paul Goldin's research on the Xunzi's (ca.316-235 BC ) theory of Li (rituals and social norm) in his Rituals of the Way, and then attempt to focus on some points which it has not sufficiently discussed: (1) Xunzi's concepts of Li itself has various conceptual origins as not characterized only as “Confucian” context; (2) it can be characterized by the fact that it was proposed for resolving various levels of socio-political and ethical issues of the Warring States period; and (3) it reveals itself as an evolving concept which allows manifold meanings from "rituals" to “a metaphor of socio-political order.” This lecture then analyzes the way the term of Li functions as main topics in various socio-political discourses of the Warring State period, and Xunzi’s intention that he tried to “resolve” each issues by incorporating the term of Li into his own discourse which other thinkers has not used. The lecture also mentions the contribution of another Goldin’s work to the point that the inquiry into the Guodian and the Shanghai Chu bamboo materials can shed new light on the source of Xunzi's concept of Li. In the last part, the lecture tries to conjecture the degree that the term Li has conceptualized before the time of Xunzi.
(Lunch to follow at 12:30 for graduate students and faculty)
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
The Sing-song girls of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Tuesday, January 22, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla (Honda Ishiro, 1954)
Wednesday, January 23, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Japan, America, and the ‘Realities’ of Liberty City: Regulation and the Politics of Narrative in the Grand Theft Auto Games
David Leheny, Princeton
Thursday, January 24, 3:00PM, Silverman 240A (Law School)
The video game Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels have been notorious political footballs, convincing some that the violence committed in the games pose a social threat as impressionable young players might become more aggressive in real life, and convincing others that the games’ critics are poorly informed moral scolds. This presentation examines the politics of video game regulation in Japan, drawing attention to the ways in which the source of the GTAIII games’ menace is understood as their putative realism. It embeds this discussion of realism within larger political debates surrounding the production of popular culture products, the protection of juveniles from harmful influences, and the construction of menace in the news media.
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series
Culture of Remembrance and the Northern Region in Korea: Bringing an Unknown War Hero Back into History
Sun Joo Kim, Harvard
Thursday, January 24, 4:40PM, History Department Lounge
Korean Lecture Series
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
New Year's Sacrifice (Cui Wei)
Tuesday, January 29, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Mothra (Honda Ishiro, 1961)
Wednesday, January 30, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
February
The Allocation of Talent Under National Health Insurance: The Case of Japanese Cosmetic Surgery
Mark Ramseyer, Harvard Law
Tuesday, February 5, 3:00PM, Silverman 240A (Law School)
DECRIPTION TBA
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
Shadow Magic (Ann Hu)
Tuesday, February 5, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Gidrah the Three-Headed Monster (Honda Ishiro, 1964)
Wednesday, February 6, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
The "Middle People" (Chungin) and Genealogy Compilation in Modern Korea
Eugene Park, University of California, Irvine
Thursday, February 7, 4:30PM, College Hall 209
Korean Lecture Series
Japanese Architecture Film Series
Onmyoji (Takata Yujiro, 2001)
Thursday, February 7, 7:00PM, Logan Hall 402
Introduction by Professor Frank L. Chance
Sponsored by the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden and the Center for East Asian Studies
China Rising: China’s Military Modernization and its Implication for the US
Dr. Thomas Bickford
Tuesday, February 12, 4:30PM, Logan Hall 402
Dr. Thomas Bickford is a senior research analyst at the Center for Naval Analysis Corporation in Alexandria, Virginia. An expert in Chinese military matters, Dr. Bickford travels frequently to China in order to track and analyze political and military developments as they affect US-China relations. He is the author of numerous publications on the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Cosponsored by The International Relations Program and the Center for East Asian Studies
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
New Woman (Cai Chusheng)
Tuesday, February 12, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla vs The Smog Monster (Banno Yoshimitsu, 1971)
Wednesday, February 13, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Colonial Subjectivity and the Problem of Desire: The Choson Industrial Exhibition, 1915
Se-Mi Oh, Columbia University
Thursday, February 14, 4:30PM, College Hall 209
DECRIPTION TBA
Korean Lecture Series
Japanese Architecture Film Series
Conflagration (Ichikawa Kon, 1958)
Thursday, February 14, 7:00PM, Logan Hall 402
Introduction by Professor Frank L. Chance
Sponsored by the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden and the Center for East Asian Studies
The Plight of North Korean Women in China
Peter Beck, Executive Director, U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
Tuesday, February 19, 4:30PM, Logan Hall 402
DECRIPTION TBA
Korean Lecture Series
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
A Woman for Two (Ling Zifeng)
Tuesday, February 19, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Terror of Mechagodzilla (Honda Ishiro, 1975)
Wednesday, February 20, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Chinese-Muslim Memory and Historiography in China
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, Department of History, New York University
Thursday, February 21, 4:30PM, *New Location*: College Hall 209 (moved from College Hall 314)
The talk will discuss the problem of memory and history in a community defined by a condition of both displacement and belonging devises its own versions and variations of common Chinese devices of writing the past.
Humanities Colloquiumn, Co-Sponsored by the Middle East Center
Japanese Architecture Film Series
Rikyu (Teshigahara Hiroshi, 1989)
Thursday, February 21, 7:00PM, Logan Hall 402
Introduction by Professor Stephanie Feldman
Sponsored by the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden and the Center for East Asian Studies
The Economics and Political Economy of Japanese Stagnation
Robert Feldman, Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co., Ltd.
Tuesday, February 26, 4:30PM, Huntsman Hall F55
CEAS-Lauder Distinguished Lecturer
Co-sponsored by CEAS and the Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies and Penn Lauder CIBER
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Nausicä of the Valley of the Winds (Miyazaki Hayao, 1994)
Wednesday, February 27, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Japanese Architecture Film Series
Spirited Away (Miyazaki Hayao, 2001)
Thursday, February 28, 7:00PM, Logan Hall 402
Introduction by Professor Julie Nelson Davis
Sponsored by the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden and the Center for East Asian Studies
March
Japan's Experience with the GATT/WTO Dispute Settlement System
Akio Shimizu, Associate Dean, Waseda Law School
Tuesday, March 4, 3:00PM, Silverman 240A (Law School)
DECRIPTION TBA
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
Lust, Caution (Ang Lee)
Tuesday, March 4, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla 1985 (Hashimoto Koji, 1984)
Wednesday, March 5, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
CEAS Distinguished Lecturer
And History Took a Calligraphic Turn: The Art of Tai Jingnong’s Writing
David Der-wei Wang, Edward C.Henderson Professor of Chinese Literatureat Harvard University and Director of CCK Foundation Inter-University Center for Sinological Studies
Thursday, March 6, 4:30PM, *New Location: College Hall 200* (Changed from Fisher-Bennett Hall 244)
The lecture will focus on the following aspects of Tai Jingnong’s work: the dissemination of modern Chinese writing in visual terms; calligraphy and its geographical implications; and the poetics of “muted” Sinophone articulations.
Humanities Colloquium
East Asia and the Middle East: What Can We Learn from Comparative Approaches to Global History?
Cemil Aydin, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Princeton University, Near Eastern Studies Department and Assistant Professor of History, University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Monday, March 17, 4:30PM, Logan Hall 17
DECRIPTION TBA
Humanities Colloquium, Co-Sponsored with the Middle East Center
Myth, Memory and the Mongol Invasions of Japan
Tom Conlan, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, Bowdoin
Tuesday, March 18, 4:30PM, Logan Hall 17
This talk explores the Mongol Invasions of Japan, as well as how myths pertaining to Japanese defense against the Mongols, such as the kamaikaze ("divine winds") arose.
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
A Better Tomorrow (John Woo)
Tuesday, March 18, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Penn-in-Seoul Information Session
Wednesday, March 19, 5:00PM, Williams Hall 639
Program Dates: June 26 - August 20, 2008
The Penn-in-Seoul Program enters its 15th year this summer. Students can earn two course units of credit and will meet with senior officials from the Foreign Ministry, Bank of Korea, Korea Development Institute, or the National Intelligence Service, etc. Students will also take several cultural tours, and end the summer with a month-long, full-time internship.
Additional Information and Questions: contact Dr. Frank Plantan, fplantan@sas.upenn.edu - 215.898.0453
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla vs. Mothra (Okawara Takao, 1992)
Wednesday, March 19, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Japan’s Answer to Harry Potter: The Abe no Seimei Boom
Laura Miller, Professor of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago
Thursday, March 20, 4:30PM, Fisher-Bennett Hall 244
Beginning in 1994, the legendary astrologer and Yin Yang master named Abe no Seimei became the focus of intense cultural interest. Why was a sorcerer who lived during the Heian era (794 1192) suddenly the subject of manga, films, a TV series, novels, anime and numerous books? This presentation will trace the trajectory of shaman/wizard fixation and will link the recent popularity of this historic figure with other trends in popular culture.
Issues in Contemporary East Asia lecture Series
Veneration and Imagery of Buddhist "Saints" in Japan from 1700-Present
Patricia J. Graham
Tuesday, March 25, 5:30PM, Meyerson Hall B3
This talk explores the reasons for the enduring popularity in the Japanese Buddhist pantheon of Buddhist "saints" -- monks known as Rakan (Luohan in Chinese; and Arhat in Sanskrit) and laity known as the Buddha's 10 Great Disciples (Shaka Judai deshi). Both groups were devout, unconventional personages who gained enlightenment after hearing the teachings of the Buddha in India. Their popularity as personal saviors continues to the present and has inspired the creation of numerous idiosyncratic images by artists working within and apart from formal Buddhist organizations. Their widespread appeal is emblematic of their transcendence beyond Buddhism to universal symbols of individualism and integrity.
Humanities Colloquium
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
Rouge (Stanley Kwan)
Tuesday, March 25, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla vs. Destroyah (Okawara Takao, 1995)
Wednesday, March 26, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Screening of: I Just Didn’t Do It
Thursday, March 27, 3:00PM, Silverman 245A (Law School)
It's not enough to plead ignorance. Tomorrow it might be you on trial. Masayuki SUO, writer-director of the world- renowned "Shall We Dance?" makes his return to feature film-making after an 11 year absence. In "Fancy Dance"(1989) he examined the little-known world of apprentice Buddhist monks. In "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't"(1992) he explored the intricacies of university sumo wrestling. In "Shall We Dance?" he gave the same treatment to the twilight world of Japanese ballroom dance. This time he brings his powerful yet entertaining analysis to bear on the closed world of Japan's legal system. This story of one man, falsely accused of the crime of molestation, examines the problems of an authoritarian judicial system where an individual faces the full, unchecked weight of state power.
Sino-Japanese relations in the 17th and 18th Centuries: Some New Perspectives
Angela Schottenhammer, Professor of Chinese and East Asian History at the Department for Asian Studies, Munich University, Germany
Monday, March 31, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (5th Floor, Williams Hall)
Light lunch will be provided.
April
Constructing Culture: Three Japanese Architects Struggle with Shinto
Dana Buntrock, UC Berkeley
Tuesday, April 1, 5:30PM, Meyerson Hall, Upper Gallery
While most contemporary Japanese architects treat religion as a quaint cultural influence that can be freely abstracted and adopted, in this talk I discuss how three prominent designers took on religion in their work, with varied and interesting results.
The first, Dr. Terunobu FUJIMORI, is better known among historians as a celebrated author and architectural historian. In addition, he is also an amateur architect who has received Japan’s highest architectural award. Raised in a remote area strongly influenced by Suwa Shrine, Fujimori reflects a genuine embrace of Shinto as it once existed, rooted in the mountains and living things of the land. His architecture, as one example, is often clothed not merely in natural materials, but even in living plants. But while Fujimori embraces Shinto, most urbane architects do not. The other two sites I discuss are within the precincts of Konpira (Kotohira) Shrine on Shikoku Island and at the Izumo Grand Shrine. Fumihiko Maki, architect at Izumo, deployed symbolic features, from trees used in sacred landscapes and ancient myths carved into stone – but also challenges the role of Shinto today, by, for example, offering an observation platform intended to allow visitors to look down on Japan’s second most important shrine. Ryoji Suzuki, the architect at Konpira, embraced the religious roots of the site – but these are far from easy issues. Konpira was originally an esoteric Buddhist site, shedding this identity in the tumultuous years of the late nineteenth century. Today, Buddhist and Shinto architecture is woven throughout the site; Suzuki reinforced this effect. These architects and their work reflect only some of the ways that Shinto is seen in Japan today, but they nonetheless reveal its uneasy place in contemporary society.
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series, Co-Sponsored by the Department of Architecture
The World Affairs Council Presents:
From Wall Street to the Great Wall: Doing Business in China
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
How do US multinational companies work with a nation with a population of more than one billion and a growing presence on the world's stage? What are the historical and social challenges confronting American entrepreneurs as they make their way inside this emerging powerhouse? And what are the political and legal constraints shaping the way multinational corporations are doing business in China today?
Three experts will discuss strategies and opportunities for launching businesses in China: Jack Perkowski , CEO and founder of ASIMCO Technologies and author of Managing the Dragon: How I'm Building a Billion Dollar Business in China ; Peter O'Neill , Executive Director, Center for Trade Development, Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development; and Jacques deLisle , University of Pennsylvania Law Professor and leading expert on contemporary Chinese law and politics.
Moderator: James Kristie , Editor and Associate Publisher
Location: Union League of Philadelphia, 140 S. Broad St.
Business attire required. For your convenience, please enter through Sansom Street.
Schedule:
5:30 p.m. Registration and cash bar reception
6:00 p.m. Program
7:15 p.m. Book signing
Event options:
Members
Program only: $20 or program pass
Non-members
Program only: $25
More Information and registration can be found at: http://www.wacphila.org/programs/center_city.html#china
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
Fists of Fury (Luo Wei)
Tuesday, April 1, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Heaven and Man: From a Cross-Cultural Perspective
Zhang Longxi, City University of Hong Kong
Wednesday, April 2, 5:15 PM, Logan Hall 402
The particularist and nationalist “Asian values” argument has a variation in the form of a theory of the “Unity of Heaven and Man,” which makes the claim that Eastern, and particularly Chinese, way of thinking is holistic, synthetic, and advocating the harmony of man and nature, whereas the Western way of thinking is analytic, aggressive, and responsible for the destruction of nature and many ecological disasters. By examining in some detail the theory of the “Unity of Heaven and Man” as famously proposed by the Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu (179-104 B. C. E.) during the Western Han dynasty and the European medieval ideas of the Great Chain of Being and the correspondences between man and nature as microcosm and macrocosm, I try to debunk the dichotomous view proposed by some Chinese scholars and argue for the importance of breaking away from stereotypes and prejudices for a better understanding of different cultures and traditions East and West.
Co-sponsored by the Graduate Group in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and the Center for East Asian Studies
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Pokemon 2000 The Movie (Yuyama Kunihiko, 1999)
Wednesday, April 2, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
King of Children (Chen Kaige)
Tuesday, April 8, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Why Japan Still Matters
Mitsuru Kitano, Minister of Public Affairs, Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C.
Wednesday, April 9, 12:00PM, The Forum in Stiteler Hall
DECRIPTION TBA
Part of the JASGP Cherry Blossom Festival
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla Millenium (Okawara Takao, 1999)
Wednesday, April 9, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Making an Impression: The History and Process of Japanese Woodblock Print Making
Shirley Luber, Gilbert Luber Collection
Julie Davis, Assistant Professor of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania
Thursday, April 10, 5:00 PM, Logan Hall 17 ( 249 South 36th Street)
DECRIPTION TBA
Part of the JASGP Cherry Blossom Festival
Christian Missions and National Identities: Comparative Studies of Cultural ‘Conversions’ in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and East Asia
Conference to be held at the University of Pennsylvania, April 10-11, 2008 Location: 209 College Hall Organized by Heather J. Sharkey Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania - hsharkey@sas.upenn.edu
Sponsored by the Middle East Center, African Studies Center, Center for East Asian Studies, South Asia Center, Graduate School of Education, University Research Foundation, and the Departments of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations (NELC) and South Asia Studies (SAST).
The Society for the Study of World History at the University of Pennsylvania Announces its inaugural meeting:
Concepts of Change and Transformation: inter-cultural and inter-disciplinary approaches
First in the Annual Series: Comparative Cultural Foundations and Development
April 11-13, 2008 at the University ARCH Crest room
3601 Locust Walk, Philadelphia PA 19104 (The ARCH is located at the intersection of Locust Walk and 36th Streets)
Friday, April 11, 4-6PM
Saturday, 9:30AM-5:30PM
Change is a concept that crosses the boundaries of civilizations, but also that differs in its precise form in each. Thus Heraclitus the Greek, the ancient Indians, the Muslims, and the Chinese all have related but distinct understandings of the concept. Change is also an issue addressed by physics, as in the transformations of mass to energy and vice versa, and by sociology, as it examines social change.
A small and informal conference to discuss the concept is being sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies at Penn, with additional support from History, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the Dean's Office. Several eminent scholars will be joining us. Our intent, however, is to have an informed and relaxed discussion, to which graduate students and advanced undergraduates were most welcome.
Speakers:
Alexander Woodside - Professor, History, University of British Columbia
Arthur Waldron - Professor, History, University of Pennsylvania
Randall Collins - Professor, Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Denis Mair - I-Ching Specialist, Currently teaching at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania
Sung Shin Kim - Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania
Neil Kuster - Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania
Shivaji Sondhi - Professor, Physics, Princeton University
Michael Cook - Professor, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
Kurt Guldentops - Graduate Student, History, University of Pennsylvania
Sponsors:
Center for East Asian Studies
University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office
University of Pennsylvania Department of History
University of Pennsylvania Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
The Construction of Meaning: Commentary in the Chinese Tradition
Daniel K. Gardner, Smith College
Monday, April 14, at 11 A.M., Cherpack Lounge (5th Floor, Williams Hall)
EALC Inaugural Rickett Lecture
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou)
Tuesday, April 15, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: All Monsters Attack (Kaneko Shusuke, 2001)
Wednesday, April 16, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Prostitution in Postwar Japan, 1945-1960
Holly Sanders, Villanova
Thursday, April 17, 4:30PM, Fisher-Bennett Hall 244
This talk will draw on Dr. Sanders dissertation: "Prostitution in Postwar Japan: Debt and Labor," which explores the changing legal and social landscape of prostitute labor during the early postwar years. It locates prostitution within the family economy as an important source of credit for women and their dependents.
Humanities Colloquium
40 US Cities to Participate in China Town Hall
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Time Webcast: 7:00-7:45 p.m. Eastern Time (to be shown on a large screen at the venue below) On-Site Briefing: 7:45 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Place: University of Pennsylvania Law School, Gittis Room 214 34th and Chestnut Streets (enter on Sansom Street between 34th and 36th Streets)
To participate in the webcast and on-site briefing,you need to show up at 6:45 p.m. (To view the webcast subsequently, visit: www.ncuscr.org/cth)
In this year of presidential and Congressional elections, the role of China, and its effect on the lives of every American, has a central place in discussions of U.S. foreign policy. CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections, a nationwide event being conducted in 40 cities on Thursday, April 17, will provide a unique opportunity for Philadelphia-area residents to learn about the importance of China´s relationship with the United States, and have the questions that matter to them answered by leading China specialists. CHINA Town Hall will feature noted political analyst Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute discussing, via live webcast, how China figures as an issue in the 2008 presidential and Congressional elections. He will then respond to questions from audience members throughout the country in a conversation moderated by Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Following the national portion of the program, each venue will have an on-site China specialist who will address China-related topics of particular interest to the local community. In Philadelphia, the on-site specialist will be Adam Segal, the Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow of China Studies of the Council on Foreign Relations. He will discuss the next steps a new administration in Washington should take with respect to US China policy. Segal is the author of "Digital Dragon: High Technology Enterprise in China."
China Town Hall is sponsored by the National Committee on US-China Relations in collaboration with partners across the country. The Foreign Policy Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania Law School are cosponsoring the Philadelphia program.
The National Committee on United States-China Relations is a national, non-partisan public affairs organization devoted exclusively to building constructive and durable relationships between the United States and China. The Committee creates opportunities for informed discussion and reasoned debate about the issues of common interest and concern to the United States, the People´s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. The Foreign Policy Research Institute is a Philadelphia-based think tank, devoted to bringing scholarly insights to bear on US foreign policy and national security issues. FPRI is headed by Dr. Harvey Sicherman, a former aide to three US secretaries of state. FPRI´s Asia Program is headed by Jacques deLisle, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania. RSVP: lux@fpri.org or 215 732 3774, ext 303
Twentieth-Century Chinese Film Series
A Chinese Odyssey (Stephen Chow)
Tuesday, April 22, 7:00PM, Towne 303
Giant Monsters of Japan Film Series
Godzilla: Final Wars (Kitamura Ryohei, 2004)
Wednesday, April 23, 6:00PM, McNeil 167-8
Multiculturalism and Education in South Korea
Youngdal Cho, Dean, College of Education, Seoul National University
Wednesday, April 30, 4:30PM, Logan Hall 402
DECRIPTION TBA
Korean Lecture Series
May
Neo-Confucian Impact on the Art of the Choson Dynasty
Youngsook Pak, Korea Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor, Yale University
Friday, May 9, 11:00AM, Cherpack Lounge (Williams Hall)
Korean Lecture Series
Materials and Monuments, Patrons and Places: Studies in the Creation of Buddhist Images in China
Roderick Whitfield
Friday, May 9, 4:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (Williams Hall)
Cammann Memorial Lecturer
Daoism in Ancient Japan: Still-born or Aborted?
Herman Ooms, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Wednesday, May 14, 4:30PM, Cherpack Lounge (Williams Hall)
The diffuse nature of Daoism in early Japan has kept the historiographical debate concerning its presence in the archipelago unresolved. Yet, in the late seventh century, under the Yamato rulers Tenmu and Jito, Daoist elements played an important role in articulating the sacred dimensions of /tenno /rule. On the other hand, Daoism is often associated in the historical record of the eighth century with plots and subversive movements that were suppressed by the very state that had adopted its symbolics. This paper examines these two aspects of Daoism’s role in ancient Japan with special emphasis on the/ Chinkon-sai/ ritual.
June
