BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//ASIAR - ECPv6.0.13.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:ASIAR X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://asiar.hku.hk X-WR-CALDESC:Events for ASIAR REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Asia/Hong_Kong BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0800 TZOFFSETTO:+0800 TZNAME:HKT DTSTART:20220101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250515T150000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250515T163000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20250509T044103Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251023T093814Z UID:10121-1747321200-1747326600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:The Revelatory Imagination: Thought Experiments and the Pluralist Turn DESCRIPTION:Register NOW\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Revelatory Imagination:Thought Experiments and the Pluralist Turn\n\n  \nDate/Time: Thursday\, May 15\, 2025\, 15:00 – 16:30 (HK time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Rm 201\, May Hall\, HKU & Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\n\n\nABSTRACTThis talk explores the imagination as a mode of divine revelation and argues that thought experiments – commonly associated with the natural sciences – possess deep theological significance.  Prof. Fehige proposes that revelation does not merely accommodate the imagination but advances through it.  This claim forms part of a broader response to the pluralist turn in the history and philosophy of science\, which calls on theology to reconsider its own epistemic frameworks.  By re-framing thought experiments in pluralist terms\, a constructive theology of revelation is offered that embraces epistemic diversity and affirms the cognitive significance of the imagination.  This approach not only bridges disciplinary boundaries but also invites a renewed understanding of how theology might respond more faithfully to the complexities of a pluralist world.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERProfessor Yiftach Fehige holds Ph.D. degrees in both philosophy (2004) and theology (2011)\, and holds a B.Sc. In physics (1998).  He has been a core faculty member at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST) at the University of Toronto since 2007.  His work primarily explores the evolving landscape of science and religion\, particularly at the intersection of Eastern and Western perspectives\, a featured in his edited volume Science and Religion: East and West (2016) and his latest monograph Thought Experiments\, Science\, and Theology (2023).\n  \nORGANIZER\nFaith and Global Engagement\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\nCO-ORGANIZER\nASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU\n  \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register NOW URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/the-revelatory-imagination-thought-experiments-and-the-pluralist-turn/ LOCATION:Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-15_Revelation_A4-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250428T123000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250428T134500 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20250408T040626Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T071443Z UID:10098-1745843400-1745847900@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Joker: The Flip Side of Ancient Chinese Cosmology and Science in Hecun DESCRIPTION:Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joker: The Flip Side of Ancient Chinese Cosmology and Science in Hecun\n\n  \nDate: April 28 (Mon)\, 2025\nTime: 12:30 – 13:45 (HK Time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Hybrid @ ZOOM & Rm 201\, May Hall\, HKU (Registration is required.)\nRegister for In-person participation: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9yjCPquwFMkuajA\nRegister for online participation: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/hqokJ73PQaS1-S8NBJaAEg\n\n\nABSTRACTDrawing on 16 months of fieldwork and historical material on Fu (符) rituals\, this talk explores the distinctions between Fu activities and other local sacrificial practices that involve approaching spiritual powers with offerings\, beseeching or begging for assistance. I pseudonymize my field village located in south-central China as Hecun. Through Fu rituals\, Hecun villagers attempt to directly manipulate or even command the spiritual forces. Drawing on historical evidence\, I propose that this fluctuating human-spiritual power dynamic can be traced to the transformation of ancient Chinese cosmology. I argue that in the pre-imperial courts there was a gradual technical transition from magical rituals to religious sacrifices. But in the local cosmology of present-day Hecun\, both magic and sacrifice are evident. This combinatory cosmology has moved like a “capsule” through time\, composing the deep-rooted characteristics of Chinese cosmology that have “sedimented”. I further suggest that the human-spiritual power dynamic reflects a well-established local understanding of how people experience the capricious environmental forces to which they are immediately exposed. This local understanding contrasts with the scientific outlook towards “nature” that underpins these state-led weather-water projects in Hecun. By interweaving relevant anthropological discussion around “nature” with analyses of local rituals\, this talk provides a nuanced understanding of local cosmology and offers insight into the entanglement of magic\, religion and science.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERNie Youping is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at CUHK. My research interests include landscape\, cosmology\, state governance\, and rural China. My dissertation\, A Geography of Uncertainty: Weather\, Technology\, and Cosmology in South-central China\, explores the entanglement of state technocratic projects and local cosmology\, i.e.\, local spiritual beliefs\, in understanding and acting upon the concept of “uncertainty” associated with weather patterns in a Chinese village. This village is situated in the Dongting Lake basin\, a region prone to extreme climate fluctuations between drought and flooding.\n  \nORGANIZERASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU\n  \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/2025april28/ LOCATION:Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/hecun_A2_digital-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250318T143000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250318T154500 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20250305T030846Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T090324Z UID:8982-1742308200-1742312700@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Human Nature and Religious Diversity: Does Religious Diversity Have a Common Anthropological Basis? DESCRIPTION:Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Human Nature and Religious Diversity: \nDoes Religious Diversity Have a Common Anthropological Basis?\n\n  \nDate/Time: March 18 (TUE)\, 2025\, 14:30 – 15:45 (HK time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Hybrid @ ZOOM & Rm 201\, May Hall\, HKU (Registration is required.)\nRegister for In-person participation: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eLPjW447lQn0Yse\nRegister for online participation: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/6LJbU_-IQ0SfTSljgfZ4sA \n\n\nABSTRACTIn a world that is growing ever closer together\, the question also arises as to whether the many different religions in the common world have a common anthropological basis. What connects the religions of the world with each other in the midst of all their diversity? Is there an anthropological theory of the pluralism of religions? And what would such a theory have to look like in which the different religions are conceptually linked?\nThe lecture explores this question by first (1) concentrating on the diversity of religions\, which are an important part of cultures. After this praise of religious plurality\, the lecture then shows (2) what a theory of religious pluralism cannot look like. Again using the example of religion\, it is then explained (3) how religion and religious diversity are to be understood when they are considered from a human and thus anthropological point of view. A conception is then presented (4) by the German philosopher and theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher\, showing how religious diversity\, the plurality of religions\, can be understood conceptually on the basis of common anthropological insights.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERProf. Hans-Peter Grosshans is a distinguished German theologian and philosopher of religion\, renowned for his expertise in hermeneutics\, methodology and philosophy of science. Currently\, he is professor (chair) for Systematic Theology at University of Münster\, Germany. He also serves as Guest Professor (2024-2025) at the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies\, Hong Kong.\nAfter studying theology and philosophy at universities of Tübingen and Oxford\, he did his doctorate under the supervision of Eberhard Jüngel at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Tübingen.\nFrom 1990 to 2002 he taught at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Tübingen. He then held teaching positions at the theological faculties of the universities of Hamburg\, Munich and Zürich before in 2008 he took over his present position as professor (chair) for Systematic Theology and director of the Institute for Ecumenical Theology at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of University of Münster. From 2016–2020 he was dean of his faculty. He is the present president of the German Society for Philosophy of Religion.\n  \nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\nCO-ORGANIZERSFaith and Global Engagement\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\nInstitute of Sino-Christian Studies\, HK.\n  \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/2025march18/ LOCATION:Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/v2diversitycommon_A2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250216T140000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20250216T170000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20250116T064016Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250127T073956Z UID:8944-1739714400-1739725200@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Faith and True Wealth 信仰與真財富 | World Religion Day 2025 DESCRIPTION:World Religion Day 2025\nFaith and True Wealth\n信仰與真財富\n\nWhat is true wealth? Is it money\, or more than money? What is spiritual wealth? What is the relationship between spiritual and material wealth? Does religion want us to be rich or poor? Can we be spiritual in a financial capital like Hong Kong? The Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼis of Hong Kong invites you to join World Religion Day and consider these questions through interfaith dialogue\, devotions and music with members of different religious and non-religious communities in HK.\n什麼是真正的財富？是金錢？還是不止於金錢？什麼是精神財富？精神財富和物質財富之間的關係是什麼？宗教希望我們富有還是貧窮？在香港這樣的金融之都，我們能否保持靈性？香港巴哈伊總會邀請您參與世界宗教日，透過跨宗教對話、靈修和音樂，與香港不同宗教和非宗教社群的成員一起思考這些問題。 \n  \nDate:  Feb 16 (Sun)\, 2025\nTime:  2 – 5 pm (HKT)\nLanguage: English & Chinese\nFormat: Prayers\, singing & chanting performances + Interfaith dialogue + Panel sharings\nVenue: EY Wavespace\, 22/F Citic Tower\, 20 Tim Mei Avenue\, Central\, Hong Kong.\nDirections:\nYou can reach Citic Tower from Admiralty MTR station.\nGet out at Admiralty Exit D ( United Centre) and walk towards Legco Building / Central Government Offices using the overhead walkway.\nOn the right hand side you will see entrance to Citic Tower 2/F.\nThe lifts to 22/ F Wavespace are on 1/F of the building.Note that\, when you reach the entrance to the Citic tower from the overhead walkway\, you will be on the 2/F of the building. But you need to go down to the 1st floor to find the lift to the 22/F.\n\n  \n  \nHost: The Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼis of Hong Kong\nCo-organizers:\nAsian Religious Connections Research Center\, HKIHSS\, HKU\nGreat Future Social Innovate Center（Beijing）\nHong Kong Network on Religion and Peace\n  \n  \nRegister TODAY: \nGoogle Form https://forms.gle/BAuhAXKTUbf6to1r9 or\nEmail or\ncall +852 2367 6407 for registration\n(Limited quotas are available\, first come first serve)*Further details will be sent to you upon successful registration \n  URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/faith-and-true-wealth-world-religion-day-2025/ LOCATION:EY wavespace\, Citic Tower\, 22nd Floor\, Admiralty CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/poster_WRD2025_final.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20241202T120000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20241202T133000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20241119T123937Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251023T094304Z UID:8435-1733140800-1733146200@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Daoism\, Ecology and Sustainable Investing 道教、生態、可持續投資 DESCRIPTION:Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Daoism\, Ecology and Sustainable Investing \n道教、生態、可持續投資\n \n  \nDate: Dec 2\, 2024 (Mon)\nTime: 12:00 – 13:30 (HKT)\nLanguage: English & Mandarin (with translation)\nVenue: Lecture Hall\, G/F\, May Hall\, The University of Hong Kong & Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegister for In-person participation: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3wVvecmqfQT78R8\nRegister for online participation: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqduCtpj4tHN0R1MNtGE47RjyrJ3K6r7ZK\n  \n  \nKeynote Speaker:\nProf James Miller (Author of China’s Green Religion: Daoism and the Quest for a Sustainable Future) (Duke Kunshan University)\n主題發言人：苗建時教授 (Prof James Miller)（杜克崑山大學）\nAbout the Keynote Speaker:\nHis research focuses on the intersection of religion and ecology in China. He has published six books including “China’s Green Religion: Daoism and the Quest for a Sustainable Future” (Columbia\, 2017). He is noted worldwide as an expert in Daoism\, China’s indigenous religion. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include ethics and leadership\, global China studies\, environmental science\, U.S. studies\, religious studies and philosophy.\nMiller has a B.A. (honors) in Chinese studies from Durham University\, a B.A. (honors) and M.A. in theological and religious studies from Cambridge University\, and a Ph.D. in religious and theological studies from Boston University. Before joining Duke Kunshan\, he was director of the School of Religion at Queen’s University\, Canada.\n\n  \nOpening Remark:\nVenerable Daoist Master ZHANG Mingxin (Vice President of Chinese Daoist Association; President of Mount Qingcheng Daoist Association)\n開幕致詞： 張明心 道長（中國道教協會副會長，青城山道教協會會長）\n  \nDiscussants:\nMartin PALMER (Founding Director of the Green Climate Fund Faith Art Media Alliance)\nFAN Ziwei ( Senior Research Assistant of HKIHSS; advisor to the secretariat of the World Federation of Daoism) \nAnthony CHEUNG (Vice Chairman and Convenor of Green Finance\, Friends of the Earth (HK))\nLI Haibo (Chairman of Chengdu Daoist Entrepreneurship and Technology Research Institute)\n評述人\n彭馬田 (Martin PALMER) (聯合國全球氣候變化框架綠色氣候基金信仰藝術傳播聯盟創始總監)\n范紫微 （香港大學香港人文社會研究所高級研究助理、世界道教聯合會顧問）\n張震宇 （香港地球之友副主席）\n李海波（成都市道商科技研究院院長）\n  \nHost: Prof. David A. Palmer (Professor\, Sociology & HKIHSS\, HKU)\n主持人：宗樹人教授（香港大學社會學及香港人文社會研究所）\n  \n  \nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\n  \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/daoism-ecology-and-sustainable-investing/ LOCATION:G/F Lecture Hall\, May Hall\, HKU & Via ZOOM CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/1920x1080_digital_daoism_ecology_sustainable-investing.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20241108T150000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20241108T163000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20241024T072527Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241025T045621Z UID:8404-1731078000-1731083400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Where Christians and Other Believers Meet: A Re-examination of Christianity in Chinese Societies DESCRIPTION:Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Where Christians and Other Believers Meet: \nA Re-examination of Christianity in Chinese Societies\n\n  \nDate/Time: November 8\, 2024\, 15:00 – 16:30 (HK time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Rm 201\, May Hall\, HKU & Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegister for In-person participation: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38YWBKBll5AkLsO\nRegister for online participation: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvd-2oqTMtHNYGp45r4Otc2gOpk4AS-ipy \n\n\nABSTRACTIt has been reported that Chinese societies (including mainland China\, Hong Kong\, Taiwan\, and Singapore) have high levels of religious diversity. It is imperative to locate Christianity in this diverse religious context in order to reexamine the role of Christianity in Chinese societies. With reference to the ideas of common grace in Christian theologians Abraham Kuyper (Netherlands\, 1837—1920) and of religious humility/relativity in Reinhold Niebuhr (USA\, 1892—1971)\, this paper offers a theological and ethical analysis of Christians’ encounter with other believers in social and cultural life in Chinese societies. Many Chinese Christians are wrestled with the issues of “toward the public” and “toward non-Christians.”  Bearding this in mind\, this paper proposes that Christians be realistic without imposition of “confessional bonds” for state and society\, on the one hand\, and Christians appreciate and be open to other believers’ virtues and efforts and thus work together towards progress and flourishing in various spheres of life\, on the other.  \n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERZhibin Xie received his Ph. D. from The University of Hong Kong. He is adjunct professor at the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies\, Hong Kong. He is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry\, Princeton.  He serves on the advisory board for International Journal of Public Theology and on the editorial board for Logos & Pneuma: Chinese Journal of Theology. He also served on the Executive Committee (Asia Representative) at the Global Network of Public Theology (2017-2020).\nZhibin Xie’ s research areas include Christian philosophy & ethics\, public theology\, and Christianity in China. He has published monographs Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China (in English\, Ashgate\, 2006 & Routledge\, 2021)\, Moral Triumph: The Public Face of Christianity in China (in English\, Fortress Press\, 2023)\, Public Theology and Globalization: A Study in Christian Ethics of Max L. Stackhouse (in Chinese\, Religious Culture Press\, 2008 & 2022)\, A Pluralistic and Just Society: An Interpretation of Sino-Christian Ethics (in Chinese\, Logos & Pneuma Press\, 2023). He is editor of Protestantism and Modernity: Kuyper\, Weber\, and Troeltsch (in Chinese\, Logos & Pneuma Press\, 2022). He also published articles in English in journals including Journal of Church and State\, Theology Today\, International Journal of Public Theology\, Political Theology\, and Studies in Interreligious Dialogue and contributed chapter to the volume of The Routledge Companion to Christian Ethics.\n  \nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\nCO-ORGANIZERSFaith and Global Engagement\, HKIHSS\, HKU;\nInstitute of Sino-Christian Studies\, HK.\n  \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for IN-PERSON participation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register for ONLINE participation URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/where-christians-and-other-believers-meet/ LOCATION:Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Xie-zhibin_print_A2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240301T194000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240301T220000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20240228T035732Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240228T040328Z UID:8377-1709322000-1709330400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:“道教的經典與儀式”雲端系列學術講座開幕式暨第一講“《太上靈寶五符序》所見黃初平傳考釋” DESCRIPTION:Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n “道教的經典與儀式”雲端系列學術講座開幕式暨第一講”《太上靈寶五符序》所見黃初平傳考釋\nDate/Time: March 1\, 2024\, 19:40-22:00 (HK time)Language: Putonghua\nVenue: via Zoom (Registration is required.)\nRegistration link: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMtde2hqT8iE9L-ltL723nvFJ354d8fkNDH\nABSTRACT魏晉道教神仙黃初平即今東南沿海廣為流傳的黃大仙，其仙傳故事源出葛洪《神仙傳》幾為學界共識，而美國學者康儒博（Robert F. Campany）首次注意到黃初平傳也見於早期道經《太上靈寶五符序》。本次講座擬在康儒博研究的基礎上，進一步考證現存最早收錄黃初平傳的文獻是《太上靈寶五符序》。又以《太上靈寶五符序》為中心，考釋黃初平成仙的關鍵在於服食松脂、茯苓。首先論證松脂、茯苓方是《太上靈寶五符序》記載的一系列服御方之一，源出靈寶五符天文，又將此經所載松脂、茯苓方與其他道書、本草文獻的相關記載進行比較，最後考述黃初平“叱石成羊”與服食松脂、茯苓的關係及其背後的信仰。期望通過這些論述，深入挖掘黃大仙信仰的道教文化內涵。\nABOUT THE SPEAKER楊金麗，西南交通大學人文學院博士研究生。\nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU; Centre on Chinese Religions\, Southwest Jiaotong University\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/daoist1/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,Online Lecture Series on Daoist Ritual ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/图片_20240228112735-min-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240301T103000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240301T120000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20240223T051446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240226T040609Z UID:8359-1709289000-1709294400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Ritual and Religion in Chinese History and Anthropology DESCRIPTION:Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Ritual and Religion in Chinese History and Anthropology\nDate/Time: March 1\, 2024\, 10:30-12:00 (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (Registration is required.)\nRegistration link: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvcOuvqTosGNxXZqG7iYdEg5uPRPOK_w8c\nABSTRACTAn exploration of ritual practices in Chinese history and anthropology\, as well as indigenous ritual theory concerning these practices\, opens up a number of interesting comparative issues concerning religion\, belief\, and\, of course\, ritual itself.  This talk will discuss these themes and the larger implications these issues may have for our understandings.\nABOUT THE SPEAKERMichael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology at Harvard University.  His interests are focused on the inter-relations between religion\, philosophy\, anthropology\, and history\, with the hope of bringing the study of China into larger historical and comparative frameworks.  He is the author of The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China and To Become a God: Cosmology\, Sacrifice\, and Self-Divinization in Early China\, as well as the co-author\, with Adam Seligman\, Robert Weller\, and Bennett Simon\, of Ritual and its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity.\nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU; Common Core Office\, HKU; Centre on Chinese Religions\, Southwest Jiaotong University\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/ritual-and-religion-in-chinese-history-and-anthropology/ LOCATION:Hybrid – Room 201\, May Hall\, HKU and via Zoom (registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,Online Lecture Series on Daoist Ritual ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1920X1080_Puett-min.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240126T120000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20240126T133000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20231212T055713Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240223T050901Z UID:8327-1706270400-1706275800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:The BRI in National Peripheries: Gwadar and the Limits of Outsourced Development DESCRIPTION:Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The BRI in National Peripheries: Gwadar and the Limits of Outsourced Development\nDate/Time: January 26\, 2024\, 12:00-13:30 (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegistration link: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwucO-sqTwvG9C9FXWSkUEgfGqtVLHjanA6\nABSTRACTThe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is an important pilot project of China’s Belt & Road Initiative. Within CPEC\, Gwadar in Pakistan’s Balochistan province enjoys a privileged position in the development imaginaries of both Chinese and Pakistani policymakers. Even though Gwadar is central to the discourse on CPEC and development\, the impact on the ground remains limited. What explains this lack of progress despite Gwadar’s privileged position within CPEC and the BRI? The paper argues that the lack of progress in Gwadar is a function of multiple variables\, including the region’s history as peripheral to Pakistan’s development imaginary\, persistent violence and a growth model predicated on land speculation. Furthermore\, Gwadar signifies what the paper refers to as an ‘outsourced development’ model in the BRI. In this model\, Chinese actors\, especially State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs)\, take on the responsibilities of the state in providing public goods and other social services. The state within the host country further abdicates its limited role in providing peripheral regions with public goods and social services. The paper argues that although these non-state transnational actors are filling the void left by a weak domestic state\, they have limited space for independent action and must work through local power structures. \nABOUT THE SPEAKERTayyab Safdar completed his MPhil and PhD in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. His research explores the evolving dynamics of South-South Development Cooperation\, with the rise of emerging powers in the developing world like China and India. His research also looks at the implications of increasing Chinese investment in developing countries that are a part of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)\, like Pakistan. Using evidence through in-depth fieldwork from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor\, Tayyab is especially interested in understanding the rules and incentives that inform the interaction between Chinese stakeholders and elite actors in Pakistan. Tayyab’s research has been published in the Journal of Contemporary Asia\, Journal of Development Studies\, and Energy for Sustainable Development. In 2022\, he gave testimony before the US-China Economic and Review Commission on China’s response to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and China’s engagement with Pakistan.\nTayyab was the inaugural BRI Post-Doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics & East Asia Center UVA. Prior to joining UVA\, Tayyab was a Newton Trust Post-Doctoral researcher at the Centre of Development Studies\, University of Cambridge.\nORGANIZERSGlobal China Local Cultures (GCLC)\, ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/the-bri-in-national-peripheries/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,GCLC ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Tayyab-Safdar-Jan-26-2024.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231212T150000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231212T163000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014519 CREATED:20231122T034051Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240115T030719Z UID:8315-1702393200-1702398600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Sacred Politics of Chinese Infrastructure: Christians\, Buddha’s Tooth\, and Dragons at Myitsone\, Kachin\, Burma DESCRIPTION:Sacred Politics of Chinese Infrastructure: Christians\, Buddha’s Tooth\, and Dragons at Myitsone\, Kachin\, Burma\nDate/Time: December 12\, 2023\, 15:00-16:30 (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nABSTRACTHow do ‘communist’ Chinese developers handle sacred politics? What role do religions and sacredness play in infrastructural conflicts? Discussions on Chinese investment and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) often highlight the failure of China’s largest-ever hydropower project overseas – the Myitsone Dam mega-project in the ethnic Kachin region of Burma (Myanmar). Public outcry against this multi-billion-dollar development pushed the Burmese regime to halt construction in 2011\, shocking Beijing and causing an international scandal. Based on interviews\, Chinese media analysis\, and ethnographic fieldwork among Kachin people since 2010\, my talk explores this infrastructural conflict’s religious\, indigenous\, and more-than-human politics. The talk focuses on the project site – the famous Myitsone confluence. There\, local village church leaders led and sheltered the earliest anti-dam resistance. There also\, the Chinese developers engaged with Catholicism\, Baptism\, Theravada Buddhism\, and animist worlds. The more-than-human charms of this natural landscape helped create sacredness\, which the Chinese dam proponents struggled to respond to. Throughout\, this international infrastructural controversy always involved sacred politics. (The talk is based on a forthcoming article in the journal Modern Asian Studies.) \nABOUT THE SPEAKERLaur Kiik studies nationalism\, natural resources\, wildlife conservation\, and war in the Burma–China borderlands. He has done ethnographic research among Kachin people since 2010. He is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Tokyo. \nORGANIZERSGlobal China Local Cultures (GCLC)\, ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/sacred-politics-of-chinese-infrastructure-christians-buddhas-tooth-and-dragons-at-myitsone-kachin-burma/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,GCLC ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1920X1080_Laur-KIIK.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231124T150000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231124T163000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20231110T062505Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231212T054600Z UID:8257-1700838000-1700843400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Infrastructural Splintering along the BRI: Catholic Political Ecologies and the Fractious Futures of Sri Lanka's Littorial Spaces DESCRIPTION:Infrastructural Splintering along the BRI: Catholic Political Ecologies and the Fractious Futures of Sri Lanka’s Littorial Spaces\nDate/Time: November 24\, 2023\, 15:00-16:30 (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\n\nABSTRACT This article considers the ways in which the material infrastructures of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) intersect with other infrastructural formations\, and how the resulting overlaps can trigger processes of what I call “infrastructural splintering”. These processes cause infrastructure to be experienced in differentiating ways\, creating divisive politics where there might once have been unity. Embracing these politics as an analytical starting point undermines the techno-material stability of the BRI\, and reveals its more-than-material affects. I illustrate these ideas by developing a case study of the effects of the China-backed Colombo Port City project on Catholic fishing communities that are dependent upon the aquatic commons for survival. The construction of the Port City has brought about significant aquatic pollution and ecosystem destruction\, and public erasure by Colombo’s political elites. Complicating matters is the dominance of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka’s littoral spaces\, which has become divided by a universalist politico-ecological consciousness imposed by the Vatican\, a corruptible local hierarchy\, and environmental activists that engage communities by working through the Church’s sacred infrastructures. By working through these processes of infrastructural splintering\, I consider how the BRI has caused Sri Lanka’s littoral spaces to face increasingly fractious futures.\nABOUT THE SPEAKEROrlando Woods is an Associate Professor of Geography and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at the College of Integrative Studies\, Singapore Management University. His research interests span cities\, infrastructure development\, and religious pluralisms in South and Southeast Asia.\nORGANIZERSGlobal China Local Cultures (GCLC)\, ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/infrastructural-splintering-along-the-bri-catholic-political-ecologies-and-the-fractious-futures-of-sri-lankas-littorial-spaces/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,GCLC ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1920X1080_BRINFAITH-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231123T140000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231123T153000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20231120T202154Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231120T203458Z UID:8294-1700748000-1700753400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Traces of the Way: Memory and Transformation in Daoist Jataka Tales DESCRIPTION:Register Today\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Traces of the Way: Memory and Transformation in Daoist Jataka Tales\n道跡：道教本生故事中的記憶與變化\nDate/Time: November 23\, 2023\, 14:00-15:30 (HK time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Room 730\, Run Run Shaw Tower\, Centennial Campus\, HKU\n日期/時間：2023年11月23日，14:00-15:30\n語言：英語\n地點：香港大學百周年校園逸夫教學樓，730室\nRegistration Link/注冊鏈接: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cu7EJDLnwiXR8Ro\n\nABSTRACTThe Wondrous Scripture of Original Deeds from the Cavern of Darkness (Dongxuan benxing miaojing 洞玄本行妙經) is a medieval Daoist scripture\, consists of a story cycle of the prior lives of Daoist gods. Inspired by Buddhist jataka tales\, these stories exemplify how Daoist authors used and elaborated Buddhist ideas to creatively fit into Daoist cosmology. Thus\, rather than awakening\, the Daoist tales focus on bodily transformation and appointment as deities. Indeed\, the Daoist tales are not really about the karma of the deities but about the efficacy of the True Writs 真⽂. Another key difference is that while Buddhist jataka tales the memory of past lives is a basic assumption\, in Daoist narratives this premise is replaced by “traces” 跡\, some form of visual inscription (textual\, talismanic\, archeological) that verifies the past. In this talk\, I focus on “traces” 跡\, a key notion in medieval Daoist discourse. I discuss the development of the discourse of “traces” from early China to the medieval period\, as well as to our modern ideas of tracing Daoist sources. Alongside transformation\, the notion of “trace” is fundamental to our understanding of medieval Daoism.\n摘要\n《洞玄本行妙經》是一部中古時期的道教經典，由一系列道教諸神的本生故事所組成。這些受到佛教本生故事啓發的道教故事，成爲了解道教作者如何利用、闡釋佛教思想，將其創造性融入道教宇宙觀的絕佳案例。因此，道教故事的重點不在覺悟，而是强調身體的變化以及被任命爲神靈。事實上，道教故事并不專門講述神靈的行業，而是關於真文的功效。另一個關鍵的差異是，佛教本生故事的基本假定是講述前世的記憶，但在道教故事之中，這個前提卻被「跡」所取代了，即是以某種視覺化的銘刻（文字、符篆、古蹟）來證實過去的經歷。這次的講演，我將集中討論「跡」，一個中古時期道教話語中的關鍵概念。我將討論先秦到中古時期「跡」的話語及其發展，以及我們循跡追尋道教根源的現代觀點。除了變化之外，「跡」的概念對於我們理解中古道教也是至關重要的。\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERGil Raz is Associate Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College\, specializing in Daoism. His research interests include Daoist ritual\, notions of the body\, visual and material culture\, and religious interactions in medieval China. His book The Emergence of Daoism (2012) examines the development of Daoism in early medieval China. His recent research focuses on Daoist archeological and epigraphic materials as sources for Daoist lived religion.\n關於講者\n李福，達姆斯大學宗教系副教授，專門研究道教。研究範圍包括道教儀式，身體觀，視覺與物質文明，和中國中古時期宗教互動關係。著有《道教的發源》考察中國中古時期道教的來源與發展。最近主要從事道教生活宗教用考古碑刻資料。\n\nORGANIZERS\nASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU; School of Chinese\, HKU\n主辦方\n香港大學香港人文社會研究所亞洲宗教連結研究組；香港大學中文學院\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register Today URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/traces-of-the-way-memory-and-transformation-in-daoist-jataka-tales/ LOCATION:Room 730\, Run Run Shaw Tower\, Centennial Campus CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Gil-Raz.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231010T180000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231010T193000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20231003T083031Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240828T100613Z UID:8212-1696960800-1696966200@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Transnational Chinese Religion as Shadow Infrastructure along the ‘Maritime Silk Road’: The Case of West Kalimantan\, Indonesia DESCRIPTION:Transnational Chinese Religion as Shadow Infrastructure along the ‘Maritime Silk Road’: The Case of West Kalimantan\, Indonesia.\nDate/Time: October 10\, 2023\, 18:00 – 19:30 (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\n\nABSTRACTIn Singkawang\, West Kalimantan the local Chinese Indonesian community is currently engaged in a major Chinese Religious revival in which inter-ethnic spirit-medium practices figure strongly. At the center of this revival are processes of recreating Chinese Indonesian identities in relation to both highly localized gods\, spirits and territorially-grounded senses of belonging and re-sinicization processes that relate to transnational circulations of Chinese language education and media circulations within a greater Chinese cultural sphere. As China rises as a global superpower\, manifesting political and economic hegemony through investments in ambitious infrastructural development projects along the territories within the imagined Belt Road Initiative (BRI)\, including the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) which runs through Indonesia\, members of this socially\, culturally and geographically peripheral community are realigning themselves symbolically and imaginatively with China as a social-historical force in the world. In this presentation\, I will explain how this realignment rarely involves participating in large physical infrastructural projects of the BRI\, but instead involves participating in the figurative and symbolic aspects of transnational Chinese Religion. I will explain how\, alongside the material infrastructure\, the figurative aspects of Chinese Religion act as a shadow infrastructure which transports practitioners into a transnational realm of stories\, myths\, and politics in which divine bureaucrats demonstrate their power (Man. shen and ling) by interacting with and intervening in peoples’ daily lives. By doing so\, I hope to expand our understand of the concepts of both infrastructure and religion\, and place into a productive tension concrete forms of infrastructural development and more figurative and imaginary dimensions of religious infrastructure.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERDr. Emily Hertzman is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research focuses on mobilities\, identities\, religious practices\, and politics. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto (2017) and her MA (2006) and BA (2001) from the University of British Columbia. Her theoretical and empirical research is centered around understanding how peoples’ concepts of home and belonging are transformed under broader shifting social conditions\, including mobility\, democratization\, transnationalism\, economic restructuring\, and liberalization\, as well as religious encounters and personal identity construction processes. In 2020\, Dr. Hertzman joined the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore as a Research Fellow in the Religion and Globalization Cluster. She is one of the editors of the book CoronAsur: Asian Religions in the Covidian Age\, (University of Hawai’i Press\, 2023). She has published in Global Networks\, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies\, Indonesia\, Journal of Chinese Overseas and HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory.\nORGANIZER\nOrganizer: ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, under the RGC Research Fellowship “Chinese Modernity and Soft Power on the Belt and Road”. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/transnational-chinese-religion-as-shadow-infrastructure-along-the-maritime-silk-road-the-case-of-west-kalimantan-indonesia/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/1920X1080_BRINFAITH.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230817T090000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20231028T235900 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230328T073800Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231025T065338Z UID:7349-1692262800-1698537540@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Global China in a Religious World | BRINFAITH 2023 International Conference DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH 2023 International Conference\nGlobal China in a Religious World\n \n \n \n \n \n Discussions on the rise of Global China\, through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and beyond\, have focused on physical infrastructures\, financial investments\, commerce\, and geopolitics. What about the religious dimension of China’s deepening entanglements with the world? Religion is central to the culture and national identity of most BRI and adjacent countries\, and\, often\, their political system and ideology as well. These religions include Islam\, Buddhism\, Hinduism\, and Protestant\, Catholic and Orthodox Christianity\, among others. What are the religious implications and consequences of these circulations and frictions? The growing presence of China in countries of the Global South may increase the importance of China in the imagination\, strategies\, or missionizing goals of religious organizations\, movements\, political parties and ideologies in those countries. These imaginations\, strategies and identity formations may be inflected by a resurfacing of historical imaginations and networks. At the same time\, growing links offer opportunities for the international expansion of Chinese religious and spiritual networks and organizations. This increased circulation may impact on China’s religious ecology and complicate China’s internal religious policy as well as its management of religious exchanges in the service of diplomacy and soft power.\nThis international conference\, composed of 3 sessions\, will bring together scholars working on different regions and disciplines\, to map out the contours of the religious dimensions and implications of Global China\, through discussion of empirical studies and testing of different analytical frameworks.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n SESSION I [by invitation ONLY]\nThis session is organised by Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster\, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HKIHSS)\, The University of Hong Kong. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session I - Day I - Aug 17\n Day I – Aug 17\, 2023\n@G/F\, May Hall\, The University of Hong Kong \n9:00 – 9:15 Opening Remarks by David A. Palmer\, Professor \n(Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences and Dept of Sociology; Convenor of the Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU.) \n \nPanel I – AfricaChair: Ning Rundong || Discussant: Justin Haruyama \n9:15 – 10:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nChinese Missionary Movements and the Spread of Christianity in Africa: A Study of the Impact of BRI on Religious Networks in Ethiopia\, Kenya and Nigeria by Adedeji Aina Ademola (Obafemi Awolowo University) \nCommodifying religion in West Africa: A deconstruction of the syncretic formula of China by Wincharles Coker & Botchway\, De-Valera N. Y. M. (University of Cape Coast) \nThe Role of China’s Contractors in the Construction of Churches in African: Is BRI serving Christian Evangelization Mission? by Conrad John Masabo (University of Dar es Salaam) \n10:15 – 11:00 Discussion \n======11:00 – 11:15 Break ====== \nPanel II – Iran and TurkeyChair: Yana Pak || Discussant: Chan Kim-kwong \n11:15 – 12:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nBetween Religious Principalism and Pragmatism: Islamic Republic of Iran and Popular Republic of China by Arash Reisinezhad (University of Tehran) & Marzbali\, Mohsen Abbaszadeh (University of Mazandaran) \n“The Role of Religion in China-Iran relations (1979-2023): What are the larger Implications”? by Manochehr Dorraj (Texas Christian University) \nTracing China in the Turkish Islamist Imagination by Birol Baskan \n12:15 – 13:00 Discussion \n======= 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch ======= \nPanel III – IndonesiaChair: Michel Chambon || Discussant: Emily Hertzman \n14:00 – 15:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nIs China an Islamophobic Country? Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Battle of Narrative within the Muslim Community in Indonesia by Harry Bawono (National Research and Innovation Agency of the Republic of Indonesia) \n“I Love Kung Fu Hustle Movie”: How the Transformation of Chinese Religiosity Affects Indonesian Culture by Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad (Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh) \n“We Are Indigenous”: The Eco-Religious Narratives of Indonesian Confucians for National and Global Citizenship by Krisharyanto Umbu Deta (Gadjah Mada University) \n15:00 – 15:45 Discussion \n====== End of Day I  ====== \n  \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session I - Day II - Aug 18\n Day II – Aug 18\, 2023\n@G/F\, May Hall\, The University of Hong Kong \n9:00 – 9:15 Opening Remarks by Chen Zhiwu\, Professor \n(Chair Professor of Finance\, Cheng Yu-Tung Professor in Finance\, Director\, Hong Kong Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences\, University of Hong Kong) \n \nPanel IV – Malaysia & PhilippinesChair: Jules Liu || Discussant: Orlando Woods \n9:15 – 10:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nUnpacking China’s halal trade networks in the Belt and Road Initiative: a political economy approach by Brian U. Doce (Murdoch University) \nThe Question of Allegiance for Chinese Salafi Muslim Immigrants in Malaysia by JIANG Xiaokun (Utrecht University) \nIndigenous Cosmologies and Religiosity: How Indigenous Groups Mobilize Against Chinese Dams in the Philippines by Alvin Camba (University of Denver) \n10:15 – 11:00 Discussion \n====== 11:00 – 11:15 Break ====== \nPanel V- Arab WorldChair: Orlando Woods || Discussant: Cao Nanlai \n11:15 – 12:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nHealing Ties: China’s Health Silk Road and Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Arab Gulf by Wang Yuting (American University of Sharjah) \nHan Chinese Conversion to Islam in Dubai: Unexpected Consequences of Global China Encountering Cosmopolitan Islam by Jacqueline Armijo (University of Hawaii at Hilo\, Chinese University of Hong Kong) \n12:00-12:30 Discussion \n====== 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch ====== \nPanel VI – Cambodia and ThailandChair: Anna Iskra || Discussant: Michel Chambon \n13:30 – 14:30 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nMandarin Education\, Chinese Influence\, and Taiwanese Cooperation: The Rapid Growth of Yiguandao in Cambodia over the Past Decade by Richard Ping-i Li (National Chengchi University) \nBuddhism as Spectacle: Performing Nationhood in Cambodia and China by Enhua Zhang (University of Massachusetts Amherst) \nThe Giant Guanyin that Never Was: The BRI and Religion in the Realpolitik of South Thailand by Joseba Estévez (University of Hong Kong) \n14:30-15:00 Discussion \n====== 15:00 – 15:15 Break ====== \n15:15 – 16:15 General discussion and closing \nremarks by Tansen Sen and David Palmer \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n SESSION II [Online]\nThis session is co-organised by Asia Research Institute (ARI)\, National University of Singapore via ZOOM. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session II - Day I - Aug 22\n Day I // Aug 22\, 2023\n12:00 – 12:15 Opening Remarks \n  \nPanel I – MyanmarChair: Emily Hertzman || Discussant: Qian Junxi \n12:15 – 13:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nAchieving Magnificence (Zhuangyan) through Becoming an Ideal Patron: Merit Making and Loving-kindness in the Trade of Marble Buddhist Images across the Myanmar-China Border by Beiyin Deng (Arizona State University) \nTrans-regionalisation\, Cross-border Monks and Local Buddhist Devotees: The Revival of Theravada Buddhism in China’s Southwestern Borderland Xishuangbanna by Zhen Ma (Dali University\, Yunnan) \n13:00 – 13:30 Discussion \n==================== \nPanel II – Chinese religious circulations: China\, Southeast Asia and BeyondChair: Joseba Estévez || Discussant: Huang Weishan \n18:00 – 19:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nThe Transformation and Transmission of Chinese Shigandang Belief in Modern Vietnam by Hoang-Yen Nguyen (University of Social Sciences and Humanities\, VNU-HCMC) \nState\, Space and Identity: Cantonese death ritual in contemporary Singapore by CHAN Hong Yin Donald (Tel Aviv University) \nMigrants\, Monks\, Monasteries: A Study of the Buddhist Networks between China and Malaya by GOOI Ming Kuan (University of Malaya) \nStruggle of identity of transnational Buddhist meditation practices in Contemporary China by LAU\, Ngar-sze (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) \n19:15 – 20:15 Discussion \n====== 20:15 – 20:30 Break ======  \nPanel III – AfricaChair: Ning Rundong || Discussant: Li Ji \n20:30 – 21:30 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nMuslim Identity and Religious Encounter of Hui Muslims in Dakar\, Senegal by Deng Zheyuan (University of Florida) \nBuddhist Networks and Discourses in and outside Madagascar by Xuefei Shi (Chr. Michelsen Institute\, Norway) \nAssembling Shaolin in Zambia: Chinese Migrants\, Philanthropy and Cultural Heritage by Hangwei Li (China Agricultural University) \n21:30 – 22:15 Discussion \n====== End of Day I ====== \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session II - Day II - Aug 23\n Day II // – Aug 23\, 2023\nPanel IV – Chinese Popular Religion in South and Southeast Asia before and after BRI: Religious Developments along the “Maritime Silk Road”Chair: Huang Weishan || Discussant: Anna Iskra \n12:00 – 13:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nLiving with the Yinfrastructure: Shadow Infrastructure of Chinese Popular Religion in West Kalimantan\, Indonesia by Emily Hertzman (National University of Singapore) \nWeaving for gods: Eng Dian Huat and the Sino-Singapore Teochew Embroidery Trade\, 1950-60s by Yu Kang & Wang Sisi (National University of Singapore) \nFrom Replicating Hometown to Tracing Roots: A Case Study of Singapore’s Ling Hong Tong Temple by Wu Qi (National University of Singapore) \nThe Chinese temples\, monasteries\, regional associations and cemeteries of Kolkata: evidence from epigraphy by Kenneth Dean (National University of Singapore) \n13:15 – 13:55 Discussion \n====== 13:55– 14:15 Break ====== \nPanel V – Islam and transnational connections in ChinaChair: Chan Kim-kwong || Discussant: Janice Hyeju Jeong \n14:15 – 15:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nMoney is Everything: Ineffective Islamic Constraints in the Labor Market by Wen Meizhen (Zhejiang Normal University) \nThe Struggle to Join the Ummah: Islamic Education and Cleric Training under the Newest Religious Regulations in China by Yang Xiaozhen (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) \n15:00 – 15:30 Discussion \n==================== \nPanel VI – Temples and BRI connectionsChair: Qian Junxi || Discussant: Tansen Sen \n18:00 – 19:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nIn Search of a Persian Past in Yangzhou: The ‘New Silk Road’ Initiative and China-Iran Relations by Pascale Bugnon (University of Geneva) \nOne belt\, One road\, One old horse- Trans-cultural Buddhist Heritage in China’s oldest Temple by Kai Shmushko (Leiden University\Tel Aviv University) \nWorking on the Wonder – Guanyin devotionalism and transnational spiritual efficacy in contemporary secular China and beyond by Weishan Huang (Hong Kong Shue Yan University) \n19:00 – 19:45 Discussion \n====== 19:45 – 20:00 Break ====== \n20:00 – 21:00 Closing Remarks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n SESSION III [Online\, open for public registration]\nThis session is co-organised by Center for Global Asia\, NYU Shanghai via ZOOM. \n \n Register Session III\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session III - Day I - Oct 27\n Day I // Oct 27\, 2023\n12:00 – 12:15 Opening Remarks \n \nPanel I – Religious and Secular Utopias and ChinaChair: Yana Pak || Discussant: David A. Palmer \n12:15 – 13:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nWhen Sacred Fire Meets Revolution: Female Workers’ Evening Schools in 1930s Shanghai by Miao Feng (The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) \nW.E.B. Du Bois on China and Pan-African Utopia: From Afro-Orientalism to Afrofuturism by Saheed Yinka Adejumobi (Seattle University) \nBRI Projects as Secular Faiths by Pengfei Hou (Xinjiang University) \n13:15 – 14:00 Discussion \n==================== \n  \nPanel II – Sri Lanka and PakistanChair: Orlando Woods || Discussant: Bhagya Senaratne \n18:00 – 19:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nBuddhist Diplomacy of China: From Religious Diplomacy to Economic Partnership – A Sri Lankan Experience by Anuththaradevi Widyalankara (University of Colombo-Sri Lanka) \nChina’s Belt and Road Initiative and Sri Lanka: ‘Buddhist Diplomacy’ as a Strategic Soft Diplomacy Tool by Asantha Senevirathna (General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University) \nReligious Dimensions of China’s Global Rise in Pakistan: Circulations\, Frictions\, and Implications by Sania Muneer (SOAS University of London) \n19:00 – 19:45 Discussion \n  \n[The Panel III has been cancelled.] \n \n====== End of Day I ====== \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Session III - Day II - Oct 28\n []Day II // Oct 28\, 2023\n12:00 – 12:15 Opening Remarks \n \nPanel IV – India and Himalayan regionChair: Qian Junxi || Discussant: Tansen Sen \n12:15 – 13:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nContesting Footprints of Buddha: India and Japan’s Responses to China’s Buddhist Diplomacy in South Asia by Ranjana Mukhopadhyaya (University of Delhi) \nMapping the Terrain of an Alienated Borderland: Territorial disputes in the Eastern Himalayas and the re-invention of Buddhism by Georgios T. Halkias (The University of Hong Kong) \nChina’s Religious Promotion Along the Borders in the Trans-Himalaya Region by Abhigya Langeh (Central University of Jammu) \n13:15 – 14:00 Discussion \n==================== \n  \nPanel V – Islamic worldChair: Bhagya Senaratne || Discussant: Maria Adele Carrai \n18:00 – 18:45 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments \nChina and the Islamic World: A Religious Perspective in the New Cold War by Jianping Wang (Shanghai Normal University) \nReligiosity and Attitudes towards China in the Arab World: An Analysis of the Arab Barometer Survey Data by Marko Jovanović (Institute of Social Sciences\, Belgrade\, Serbia) \n18:45 – 19:30 Discussion \n====== 19:30 – 19:45 Break ====== \n \n19:45 – 20:45 Closing Remarks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n ORGANIZER \nHong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HKIHSS)\, The University of Hong Kong \nCO-ORGANIZERS \nAsia Research Institute (ARI)\, National University of Singapore; \nCenter for Global Asia\, NYU Shanghai \n  \nCONVENOR \nProf. David A. Palmer (Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences\, The University of Hong Kong) \nCO-CONVENORS \nProf. Tansen Sen (Center on Global Asia\, NYU Shanghai) \nDr Michel Chambon (Initiative for the Study of Asian Catholics\, Asia Research Institute\, National University of Singapore) \nDr Emily Hertzman (Asia Research Institute\, National University of Singapore) \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n  The conference is generously supported by the project Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road (BRINFAITH) at the Asian Religious Connections research cluster of the HKIHSS\, University of Hong Kong. \n \n Download Conference Materials\n \n Access Conference Papers (for conference participants ONLY) URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/global-china-in-a-religious-world/ LOCATION:G/F Lecture Hall\, May Hall\, HKU & Via ZOOM CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/poster-a4-for-website-finished-for-printing.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230725T120000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230725T133000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230706T053420Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241209T061724Z UID:8112-1690286400-1690291800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Religious Organization Ecology: Exploring Schisms in High-Tension Religious Groups DESCRIPTION:Register Today\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Religious Organization Ecology: Exploring Schisms in High-Tension Religious Groups\nDate/Time:July 25\, 2023\, 12:00 noon (HKT)Language: English\nVenue: Via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegistration Link: https://bit.ly/ASIARJuly25\n\nABSTRACTPrevious studies have attempted to synthesize religious economies\, new institutional\, and organizational ecology theories into a single perspective. Religious organization ecology theory proposes to be that synthesis and attempts to address meso-level weaknesses in cultural studies of lived religion. By analyzing schisms within high tension religious groups (otherwise known as “cults\,” “new religious movements\,” or “emergent religious groups”)\, the importance of church to sect mechanics\, authority and doctrine\, and niche conditions become apparent. These findings support ROE theory expectations of schism\, suggesting that this research program may be a good way to address positivist charges of a lack of empiricism. Finally\, the contribution of ROE to the cultural sociological study of religion is discussed. Future studies are needed to verify the theoretical improvements posited by ROE. \nABOUT THE SPEAKERSteven Foertsch is an award-winning third-year doctoral student in the sociology of religion program at Baylor University and research assistant at the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) with experience in research\, policy\, and working for IGOs/NGOs. From experiences ranging from AmeriCorps to the United Nations\, he focuses on socio-ontological belief. He has conducted many studies to get at these religious and political beliefs– varying from Middle Age Papal Hegemony\, Satanism\, Wampanoag powwows\, and AI chatbots to contemporary Christofascism. With this background\, Steven is looking forward to continuing his research into the intersections of belief\, social and political philosophy\, emerging and New Age religious groups\, political economy\, deviance\, and pluralism.\nHOSTDr Paul Joosse (Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong)\nORGANIZERSASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register Today URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/religious-organization-ecology-exploring-schisms-in-high-tension-religious-groups/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Steven_poster_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230426T193000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230426T210000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230417T060354Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241209T061523Z UID:7825-1682537400-1682542800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Time and the River: Temporal and Material Flows and the Potency of Life on the Mekong DESCRIPTION:Time and the River: Temporal and Material Flows and the Potency of Life on the Mekong\nABSTRACTDams suggest progress – they are a way of arresting the flow of water (and that which it contains) to convert its potential energy into something useable. But in so doing\, dams reconfigure the multiple lives and non-lives within which riparian residents live. But this is a transformation\, not simply an erasure: as multiple scholars have shown\, modernity gives rise to new magics\, and new ways of being. This lecture explores these new ways of negotiating power and potency on a changed river\, asking what new horizons open as old ones close\, and exploring how these new potentials disturb webs of being and dwelling on the river.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERAndrew Alan Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. He is the author of Mekong Dreaming: Life and Death along a Changing River (Duke University Press\, 2022) and Ghosts of the New City: Spirits\, Urbanity and the Ruins of Progress in Urban Northern Thailand (University of Hawaii Press\, 2014).\nORGANIZERS-ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, under the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)-NYU Shanghai Centre for Global Asia URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/time-and-the-river-temporal-and-material-flows-and-the-potency-of-life-on-the-mekong/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Andrew_poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230418T190000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230418T210000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230411T054245Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231102T045651Z UID:7802-1681844400-1681851600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Buddhism in Russia: Introspection of Spirituality and New Modalities DESCRIPTION:Register Today\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Buddhism in Russia: Introspection of Spirituality and New Modalities \nDate/Time:April 18\, 2023\, 7:00 – 9:00 pm (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: G/F Lecture Hall\, May Hall\, HKU & via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegistration Link: http://bit.ly/RussianBuddhism\n\nABSTRACTBuddhism is regarded as a traditional faith in Russia and is part of the national spiritual tradition. Buddhism is a traditional religion for three regions of Russia: Buryatia\, Tuva and Kalmykia. In the 17th century\, Vajrayāna (Lamaism) Buddhism was brought to Russia by the cattle-breeding Buryats and Kalmyks who had come from Dzungaria (China) to the lower Volga. In 1741\, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna recognized Lamaism in Buryatia and arranged for the formation of Buddhist monasteries. This date is considered the date of official recognition of Buddhism in Russia. \nDuring the Soviet period\, the Buddhist clergy suffered from persecution and many lamas lost their land rights. Schools and monasteries were shut down\, temples were robbed\, and their material possessions were confiscated and put in museums.\nAt the same time\, Russian intellectuals used Buddhism as a way to express their discontent with the social system and as a way to escape the harshness of reality. Unofficial Buddhist communities began to develop in the USSR and then Russia. Nowadays\, Buddhism is present in Russia in a variety of ways: as an organized institution\, unifying the traditional Vajrayāna communities; non-institutional Buddhism in the form of small groups of Mahayana and Theravada; lay Buddhism in the form of a philosophical and everyday cultural tradition. In recent years\, the government has been offering substantial backing to Buddhist clerics in their educational pursuits.\nABOUT THE SPEAKERAlexey MASLOV is a professor and the Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University\, as well as the President of the Foundation for promoting Buddhist Education and Research. He is a renowned scholar in Asian and Chinese studies in Russia\, a governmental expert in East Asian relations\, a visiting professor of several European and Chinese Universities\, and he has published more than 20 books\, including translations of Buddhist scriptures.\nORGANIZERS•ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, under the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\n•HKU Centre of Buddhist Studies\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register Today URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/buddhism-in-russia-introspection-of-spirituality-and-new-modalities/ LOCATION:G/F Lecture Hall\, May Hall\, HKU & Via ZOOM CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Maslov_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230418T120000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230418T133000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230402T090929Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230403T063713Z UID:7710-1681819200-1681824600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Ways To Be and Not to Be: Reading LaoZhuangZi PhiloPoetically DESCRIPTION:Register Today\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Ways To Be and Not to Be: Reading LaoZhuangZi PhiloPoetically \nDate/Time:April 18\, 2023\, 12:00 – 13:30 pm (HK time)Language: English\nVenue: May Hall 201 AND via ZOOM (Registration is required.)\nRegistration Link: http://bit.ly/KyooTalk\n\nABSTRACTReady? Set\, here we go again.  \n“Pathways” (Dao道) in classical Daoist discourses\, not really “ready-made\,” tend to make themselves anew quite readily\, all the way through; “way-making (dao) that can be put into words\,” “eloquently couched” as such (信言不美 美言不信Daodejing 道德經CH 8)\, “is not really way-making” (道可道非常道)\, says the old sage (老子)\, who also says that “those who know will not say it\, and those who say would not know it” (知者不言 言者不知). What is he saying? Dao is effable and ineffable. So what? What are we supposed to do?\nToday\, which GPS will take us to this Daoist “door of all wonders” (衆妙)? What kind of thresholding\, not just gatekeeping\, would be possible? Taking the auto-poetic generativity of such good old Daoist paradoxes and ironies as a philosophically renewable energy\, this seminar\, the first in the series\, on the Daoist PhiloPoetics of transitive ambiguation introduces ways to reboot Laozi (老子) and Zhuangzi (庄子) translingually\, focusing on their metamorphic—metaphorical and metaphysical—avant-gardism\, their waiting (weiding未定 Zhuangzi 04) game.\nABOUT THE SPEAKERKyoo Lee aka Q is a philosopher\, writer\, art critic and a Professor of Philosophy and Gender Studies at the City University of New York\, who works widely in the interwoven fields of the Arts and Humanities. The author of Reading Descartes Otherwise (FUP) and a forthcoming book on visual philopoetics (MIT Press)\, she is a recipient of faculty fellowships from Cambridge University\, KIAS and the Mellon Foundation among others\, and her genre-bending writings that explore co-generative links between critical theory and creative prose have appeared in Flash Art\, Jacket 2\, Randian\, The White Review\, etc.\, as well as numerous academic venues. Actively engaged in various editorial (currently\, philoSOPHIA\, SUNY Press)\, curatorial and public intellectual projects\, recently she served as the editor for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022\, a judge for the Poetry Translation Prizes at the Poetry Translation Center (London) and PEN America (NYC)\, and the faculty leader for the Mellon Seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center\, “mp3: merging poetry\, philosophy\, performativity.”\nORGANIZERASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register Today URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/ways-to-be-and-not-to-be-reading-laozhuangzi-philopoetically/ LOCATION:May Hall 201 AND via Zoom (Registration is required.) CATEGORIES:ASIAR ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/kyoo-talk_1920_615.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230327T093000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230327T110000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230313T095320Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231102T045544Z UID:7344-1679909400-1679914800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:The Belt and Road Initiative and Spirit Mediums: The Lower Sesan 2 Dam and Sacred Space in Northeastern Cambodia DESCRIPTION:The Belt and Road Initiative and Spirit Mediums: The Lower Sesan 2 Dam and Sacred Space in Northeastern Cambodia\nABSTRACTThe Lower Sesan 2 Dam (LS2) is the largest and most controversial hydropower dam ever developed in Cambodia. The 400 MW capacity project\, which blocks both the Sesan and Srepok Rivers in Stung Treng Province\, northeastern Cambodia\, was only completed by a Chinese company\, Hydrolancang International Energy Company\, in 2018\, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Here\, I consider the relationship between LS2 and sacred spaces of rural ethnic Lao people\, including how spirit mediums and the associated belief systems of local people have been impacted by LS2. Female spirit mediums have contested the LS2 since before its construction began\, and have also been directly affected by the dam. Adopting a feminist political approach\, the argument is that apart from having potentially important material impacts\, dams such as LS2 also serve to alter nature-society relations through variously affecting spirit mediums\, their practices\, and beliefs associated with spirits.\n  \nABOUT THE SPEAKERDr. Ian G. Baird is a Professor of Geography and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most of work relates to political ecology and Laos\, Cambodia and Thailand. His most recent book is Rise of the Brao: Ethnic Minorities in Northeastern Cambodia during Vietnamese Occupation (University of Wisconsin Press\, 2020).\nORGANIZER\nOrganizer: ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, under the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G) URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/the-belt-and-road-initiative-and-spirit-mediums-the-lower-sesan-2-dam-and-sacred-space-in-northeastern-cambodia/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Ian_poster_1920x1611.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230322T163000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230322T182000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230313T071843Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230313T084914Z UID:7303-1679502600-1679509200@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:From Faith Statements to Faith Stakeholders – The Growth of the Faith Environment Movement Worldwide | by Martin Palmer DESCRIPTION:Register Today\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Special Lecture of CCHU9014 Spirituality\, Religion and Social Change\nFrom Faith Statements to Faith Stakeholders – The Growth of  the Faith Environment Movement Worldwide\nDate/Time:\nMarch 22\, 2023\, 16:30 – 18:20 (HK time)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: Knowles Building 223\, The Univerisity of Hong Kong\nRegistration is required (except for CCHU9014 students): https://bit.ly/2023March22\nABSTRACT\nThe world’s faiths run 50% of all schools; a third of all universities; more than a third of all medical facilities; own about 8% of the habitable surface of the planet; and are probably the fifth largest investing group in the world. In 1986 at the request of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as International president of WWF\, Martin Palmer organised the first ever meeting between the world’s major faiths and the environmental movement. Nearly forty years on\, every major faith in the world has created environmental statements based on their  beliefs and teachings. Since then\, hundreds of thousands of temples\, mosques\, churches etc now run environmental projects. The UN has described the faith environment movement as  “the largest civil society environmental movement in the world.”\nBut faith groups aren’t just moral voices – they are also direct stakeholders. In 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh and Martin Palmer founded Faithinvest to work with all the major faiths on helping them be Faith-Consistent in their Investments. Four years on\, many faiths are now reviewing their investment policies and demanding better environmental and sustainable opportunities to put their teachings into practice through their assets and investments.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKER\nMartin Palmer is co-founder with HRH The late Prince Philip\, Duke of Edinburgh of the Alliance on Religions and Conservation (ARC)\, and founding President and CEO of Faithinvest. He is a Fellow of the Club of Rome and Special Advisor to many faith networks as well as to the UN and World Bank.\nMartin studied Theology\, Religious Studies and Chinese at Cambridge (1973-6) after a year as a volunteer in Hong Kong from 1972 -3 where he learnt to read Classical Chinese and speak Cantonese. Martin is a regular contributor to BBC programmes and has written over twenty books on faiths. He is one of the foremost translators of Chinese Classics\, including the Dao De Jing\, the Yijing and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms\, most of these for Penguin Classics.\nHe is an active Anglican Lay Preacher and is married to the writer and former SCMP journalist Victoria Finlay.\n\nORGANIZERS\nAsian Religious Connections Research Cluster (ASIAR)\, HKIHSS\, HKU\nCenter of Buddhist Studies\, HKU\nFaith and Global Engagement\, HKIHSS\, HKU\nThe New Mindscape (CCHU9014 Spirituality\, Religion and Social Change | HKU Common Core)\n \n Register Today URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/from-faith-statements-to-faith-stakeholders-the-growth-of-the-faith-environment-movement-worldwide-by-martin-palmer/ LOCATION:Knowles Building 223\, The University of Hong Kong CATEGORIES:The New Mindscape ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/MP_poster-high-resolution-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230228T180000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230228T190000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230213T131311Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231102T045234Z UID:7257-1677607200-1677610800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Africa in and beyond China’s BRI: Development and Security in a New Era of Global Competition DESCRIPTION:Africa in and beyond China’s BRI: Development and Security in a New Era of Global Competition\nABSTRACTThis seminar will examine Africa in the evolving BRI with special interest in security. It will firstly take stock of Africa in the BRI at a time of change and questions about the trajectory of a transcontinental nature that has been repositioning Africa’s previous salience in China’s foreign policy in the global South. Almost all African states have signed up to the BRI\, which has also been integrated into the official China-Africa cooperation framework. In practice\, however\, the BRI remains a work in progress.  Second\, and drawing on such cases as Mali and South Sudan\, it will examine the multifaceted theme of security in Africa’s engagement with the BRI and in terms of how China’s multi-level engagement has been evolving. In doing so\, particular attention will be dedicated to examining China’s official rationale concerning the efficacy of economic development as key to overcoming security challenges.\nABOUT THE SPEAKERDr. Daniel Large is Associate Professor at Central European University\, Vienna\, Austria\, and a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute\, Nairobi. His book publications include China and Africa: The New Era (Polity\, 2021)\, and New Directions in the Study of Africa and China (Routledge\, 2018)\, co-edited with Chris Alden\, and recent journal articles include “China\, Africa and the 2021 Dakar FOCAC.” African Affairs (2022) and\, with Lina Benabdallah\, “‘The Key to solving all problems’? Unpacking China’s development-as-security approach in Mali.” Third World Quarterly (2022).\nORGANIZER\nOrganizer: ASIAR Research Cluster\, HKIHSS\, under the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\nCo-organizer: NYU Shanghai Center for Global Asia URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/africa-in-and-beyond-chinas-bri-development-and-security-in-a-new-era-of-global-competition/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/daniel-large_poster_final.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230205T140000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230205T170000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20211215T033339Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T132357Z UID:6163-1675605600-1675616400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Healing Our World 療癒我們的家園 | World Religion Day 2023 DESCRIPTION:[Re-activated]\nWorld Religion Day 2023\nHealing Our World: Spiritual Inspirations\, Conversations\, Actions\n療癒我們的家園：知—行—共勉\nInterfaith dialogue\, devotions and music with members of different religious and non-religious communities in HK. Come to share and learn about healing our world at the personal\, community and planetary levels\nDate:  Feb 5 (Sun)\, 2023\nTime:  2 – 5 pm (HKT)\nLanguage: English\nVenue: EY Wavespace\, 22/F Citic Tower\, 20 Tim Mei Avenue\, Central\, Hong Kong.\nFormat: Prayers\, singing & chanting performances + Interfaith dialogue + Panel sharings\nRegister TODAY: Email or call +852 2367 6407 for registration.\n(Limited quotas are available\, first come first serve)*Further details will be sent to you upon successful registration \n  URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/healing-our-world/ CATEGORIES:The New Mindscape ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/poster_healing_2023-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230116T163000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20230116T183000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20230104T101048Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T091017Z UID:7088-1673886600-1673893800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Bringing local values into the ESG framework in Asia | Green Finance Forum DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH | ESG BRI\nGreen Finance Forum: Bringing local values into the ESG framework in Asia \nOpening Remark:Dr Ma Jun\, Co-chairman\, G-20 Sustainable Finance Study Group; Chairman\, Hong Kong Green Finance Association\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nKeynote Speeches\nThe changing definitions of ESG investment in Asia\nSpeaker: Anthony Cheung\, Managing Director\, ESG at Polymer Capital; Convenor of Green Finance\, Board Governor at Friends of the Earth (HK)\nAbstract: ESG has gained prominence in Asia including Hong Kong for a relatively short period of time. Yet\, its definitions and applications are already shifting. Through examining a selection of latest initiatives and regulations\, this introduction will illustrate how the definitions of ESG investment are changing in Hong Kong and across the region and what are the key implications. \n\nBringing local values into the ESG framework: the WeValue InSitu method\nSpeaker: Prof Marie Harder\, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science & Engineering\, Fudan University\, Shanghai\nAbstract: A significant challenge for ESG systems is to find ways to obtain useful indicators about local shared values\, which are considered very difficult to elicit in an authentic\, communicable\, and useful form which also allows comparisons across localities. In this presentation we introduce the method named WeValue InSitu\, which takes groups of local persons through a crystallization process whereby their lived-values are made more explicit through specially designed cycles of meaning-making dialogic activity. We will use illustrations from cities such as Shanghai and Vienna and BRI countries in Asia and Africa studies to explore the usefulness of the WeValue InSitu approach for use in ESG. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\nRespondents\nProf Tarani Chandola\, Director\, Methods Hub\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, HKU\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nLufei Yang\, SDG Finance Lead\, Asia\, UNOPS\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nJoy Song\, Co-chair of ESG Disclosure and Integration Working Group\, HKGFA\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\nRoundtable Discussion \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nCo-organisers\nBRINFAITH\, ASIAR research cluster\, HKIHSS\, HKU\nThe Methods Hub\, Faculty of Social Sciences\, HKU\n\nSupporting Institutions (no particular order)\nHong Kong Financial Services Institute\nHong Kong Green Finance Association\nLL.M. Arbitration and Dispute Resolution\, Faculty of Law\, HKU\nCentre for Global Asia\, NYU Shanghai\nFriends of Earth (HK)\nThe Hong Kong Independent Non-Executive Director Association\nCPA Australia\n  URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/esg_bri/ LOCATION:Hybrid – HKU Social Sciences Chamber (Jockey Club Tower\, 11/F) and via Zoom CATEGORIES:ASIAR,BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Revised_Web_ESG_BRI_Poster_1920x1268.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20221116T200000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20221116T210000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20221116T083113Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T071356Z UID:6982-1668628800-1668632400@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Sailors and Slaves in Medieval Maritime Asia: from baghdād to baghpūr DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\nSailors and Slaves in Medieval Maritime Asia: from baghdād to baghpūr\nABSTRACTThis talk presents some of the preliminary ideas and findings of Dr. Ha Guangtian’s ongoing project which examines the role of multi-racial\, multi-religious\, and multi-lingual sailors and slaves in facilitating Muslim trans-regional trade in medieval maritime Asia. He asks what is entailed if we are to shift our attention away from trade and diplomacy; and how we are to reconstruct an alternative subaltern trans-regionalism where race\, religion\, and class intersect — in ways that may compel us to reconsider current paradigms centred on the trans-Atlantic world.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERDr. Ha Guangtian is Assistant Professor of Religion at Haverford College and the author of Fragile Transcendence: Sound and Saint in Sino-Sufism\, to be published in September 2021. He is currently working on a new project that examines the entwinement of sex and slavery in the making of Islam in maritime Asia.\n\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/sailors-and-slaves-in-medieval-maritime-asia/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Ha-Guangtian_poster_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220914T103000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220914T120000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014520 CREATED:20220913T043352Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T093141Z UID:6949-1663151400-1663156800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Greening the Belt and Road: Risk Mitigation\, Dispute Prevention and Resolution DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH | Green BRI\nGreening the Belt and Road: Risk Mitigation\, Dispute Prevention and Resolution\nKeynote Speech: Green Investment Principles Along the Belt and Road\nAbout the SpeakerDr. Ma Jun is currently the Chairman of the Green Finance Committee\, China Society for Finance and Banking\, and the former member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China. He led the drafting of China’s Green Finance Guidelines (2015-16) and facilitated global consensus on scaling up green finance under the G20 framework (2016-18). As a leader in the field of green and sustainable finance\, Dr. Ma Jun also serves as the sustainable finance special adviser of the United Nations Environment Programme\, the Director of Beijing Green Finance Association\, the Chairman and President of Hong Kong Green Finance Association\, and many other public welfare duties.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nDiscussants SpeechesDeveloping Holistic and Locally Based Frameworks for Greening the BRI\nSpeaker: Prof. David Palmer\, HKIHSS/Dept of Sociology\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nBelt & Road Initiative and Dispute ResolutionSpeaker: Edward Liu\, MH\, Partner\, Haiwen & Partners LLP\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nRoundtable: Greening the BRI-risk mitigation\, dispute resolution and prevention\nDiscussants:Dr. Ma JunProf. David PalmerMr. Edward LiuProf. Shahla Ali\nRundown:10:30am – 10:35am Welcome and Introduction by Prof. Ali10:35am – 11:05am Presentation by Dr. Ma11:05am  – 11:15am Presentation by Prof. Palmer11:15am – 11:25am Presentation by Mr. Liu11:25am – 11:35am Presentation by Prof. Ali11:35am – 12:00nn Open discussion/Q&A URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/greening-the-belt-and-road-risk-mitigation-dispute-prevention-and-resolution/ LOCATION:online via Zoom or in person (11/F\, Academic Conference Room\, Faculty of Law\, Cheng Yu Tung Tower\, HKU) CATEGORIES:ASIAR,BRINFAITH ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/green-bri.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220913T130000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220913T140000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014521 CREATED:20220822T035433Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231212T054711Z UID:6772-1663074000-1663077600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Iran and BRI: A Cultural Perspective of Strategic Cooperation DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\nIran and BRI: A Cultural Perspective of Strategic Cooperation\nABSTRACTIran and China’s relationship is following a long tradition of exchanges that can be traced back to ancient times. Certainly\, when studying the long tradition of Iran and China\, we can perceive that the Silk Road was not only linking cities like Xi’an and Isfahan for trade but also facilitated\, the exchange of ideas\, sciences\, education\, and intellectual exchanges. One of the most important aspects of Iran and China relations in ancient times is religion. Persian religions including Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism were spread to China by the Iranian elites who have also played an important role in non-Iranian religions in this regard. The relationship between China and Iran has intertwined in history as well as the old and new Silk Road projects and BRI. Indeed\, cultural contacts and mutual influence via the Silk Road have been robust throughout the centuries. My speech proposes a new understanding of the old relationship between the two nations in the present cultural and political climate.\nABOUT THE SPEAKERDr. Alireza Khoshrou is currently a senior research associate in China Studies in the Research Department\, at the Islamic Cultural and Relation Organization\, Iran. He had served as Head of East Asian Religions Studies at the International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (ICRO). Khoshrou is a member of the Faculty of World Studies\, University of Tehran and he has written extensively on cross- cultural issues in East Asia and China. Khoshrou graduated from Jilin University. He has been invited as a visiting scholar to several universities\, including Chinese Hong Kong University\, Waseda University\, Jilin University\, Shandong University\, University of Ljubljana\, etc. Dr. Khoshrou’s academic works and research focus on Modern Confucianism\, Chinese Culture and Religious Studies and Public Diplomacy.\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/iran-and-bri-a-cultural-perspective-of-strategic-cooperation/ LOCATION:via Google Meet (Registration Required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Alireza_poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220525T140000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220525T150000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014521 CREATED:20220517T085745Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T070547Z UID:6461-1653487200-1653490800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Magic Power Reconfigured: Chinese Popular Religion in Cities DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\nMagic Power Reconfigured: Chinese Popular Religion in Cities\n \n \n \n \n \n ABSTRACTThis talk analyzes how divine magic power is reconfigured in the urban setting. The speaker will discuss how a spirit medium\, who moved from the countryside in Taiwan to an urban area\, refashioned the elements of village religion to cope with the fast life rhythms of adherents who are scattered across the city and no longer share a unified dwelling space. The speaker will examine the spirit medium\, the core shrine members\, and occasional petitioners\, and show how affective and psychological connections have become increasingly important in binding urban adherents to deities. Distinct from Western religious individualism premised on individual preference and freedom of will\, the contemporary popular religion in Taiwan is ingrained with kinship intimacy.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERWei-Ping Lin received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cambridge University. She is a Professor at National Taiwan University. She was affiliated with the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 2005-06 and 2017-18\, and with the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University in 2012-13. Her interests include religion (including topics related to material culture\, spirit mediums\, and urban religious transformation)\, kinship\, and imagination. She is the author of Materializing Magic Power: Chinese Popular Religion in Villages and Cities (Harvard University Asia Center\, 2015)\, and Island Fantasia: Imagining Subjects on the Military Frontline between China and Taiwan (Cambridge University Press). She also edited Mediating Religion: Music\, Image\, Object and New Media (Taiwan University Press\, 2018; in Chinese) and Ambience Contaminated: Sensory Experiences and the Boundary of Religion (Taiwan University Press\, forthcoming; in Chinese).\n\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/magic-power-reconfigured-chinese-popular-religion-in-cities/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/revised_wei-ping-poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220510T130000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220510T140000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014521 CREATED:20220426T064027Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T072012Z UID:6415-1652187600-1652191200@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:“The Dharma Assembly”: Exploring a dynamic infrastructure for contemporary Han Chinese participation in Tibetan Buddhist monastic contexts DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\n“The Dharma Assembly”: Exploring a dynamic infrastructure for contemporary Han Chinese participation in Tibetan Buddhist monastic contexts\nABSTRACTDuring the first half of the twentieth century\, all but a handful of intrepid Han Chinese practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism undertook the long and difficult journey to the Tibetan plateau. In the contemporary era\, however\, massively improved transport infrastructures mean that Tibetan sacred landscapes\, monastery spaces and ritual gatherings are now important settings for contemporary Han Chinese involvement in Tibetan Buddhism. This talk explores a participatory infrastructure that has played an outsize role in facilitating\, focusing\, and fostering the visits of Han Chinese Buddhists to Tibetan monastic contexts in the past three decades: namely\, the “Dharma assembly.” Drawing on fieldwork findings from the 2010s\, I will discuss how Dharma assemblies – large scale multi-day ritual events – have been creatively and flexibly deployed to meet and mediate the needs of Tibetan lamas\, their monasteries\, and Chinese followers in a period of burgeoning cross-cultural religious encounter.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERCatherine Hardie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Translation\, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research lies at the intersection of the Tibetan and Chinese cultural worlds with a particular focus on contemporary Han Chinese involvement in Tibetan Buddhism. She completed her doctoral studies in anthropology at the University of Oxford in 2019 with the thesis titled “Tibetan Buddhist Spiritual Capital in Contemporary China.” She is currently working on her first book project as well as extending her research into Tibetan Buddhism in China with a GRF-funded project looking at the platform-based dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism on WeChat and Weibo. Her publication and translation activity to date has centred on Larung Gar\, a preeminent Tibetan Buddhist institution and religious settlement in Eastern Tibet. A forthcoming book chapter titled “Innovations in Lay Buddhist Education in New Era China’s Sinophone Tibetan Buddhist Milieu” examines Larung Gar’s impactful and innovative digitally-mediated Buddhist outreach in the Han Chinese world during the culminating decade of China’s reform era (2006-2015).\n\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/the-dharma-assembly-exploring-a-dynamic-infrastructure-for-contemporary-han-chinese-participation-in-tibetan-buddhist-monastic-contexts/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Hardie_poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220411T130000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220411T140000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014521 CREATED:20220321T023100Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T072325Z UID:6389-1649682000-1649685600@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:"Without ritual\, there would be no ethnic culture": Religion and changing Chinese diasporic identity in Vietnam DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\n“Without ritual\, there would be no ethnic culture”: Religion and changing Chinese diasporic identity in Vietnam\nABSTRACTIn this talk\, I will present a total of four case studies to analyse the transformations and hidden discourses of ethnic Chinese (người Hoa 華人) rituals dedicated to public gods. Vietnam’s ethnic Hoa communities have proactively taken advantage of their long-lasting folk religions and ritual system to reserve and further the values of maintaining ethnic cultural identity and developing inter-ethnic exchanges.\nWith their post-war economic status in decline\, Vietnam’s ethnic Chinese have been learning to use their cultural traditions to secure their position in the local society. As a result\, the Confucian concept of “Without ritual\, there would be no morality” 道德禮儀\, 非禮不成  has now been re-formulated as “Without ritual\, there would be no ethnic culture” 民族文化\, 非禮不成 and been applied to adapt to local socio-political backgrounds in contemporary Vietnamese society.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERNguyen Ngoc Tho (阮玉詩) is Associate Professor in Cultural Studies\, majoring in East Asian and Vietnamese folklore and social ritual studies. He concentrates on rituals\, customs and daily life of the Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese peoples under the East Asian perspective. He obtained his PhD degree in Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City\, was a visiting scholar to Zhongshan University (PRC) in 2008\, the Harvard-Yenching Institute during the 2017/2018 academic year\, Harvard University’s Asia Centre in 2018/2019\, Boston University in 2019/2020\, and Brandeis University 2020/2021. Nguyen Ngoc Tho is the author of six books and more than 40 journal articles published in Vietnam and overseas. He holds the co-authorship of dozen other books\, book chapters and journal articles. He is currently the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies\, University of Social Sciences and Humanities\, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City. He also serves as a member of the Standing Committee of The National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) of Vietnam (Council of Culture\, Arts\, and Tourism).\n\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/without-ritual-there-is-no-ethnic-culture-religion-and-changing-chinese-diasporic-identity-in-vietnam/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tho_poster_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220225T100000 DTEND;TZID=Asia/Hong_Kong:20220225T110000 DTSTAMP:20260404T014521 CREATED:20220215T082358Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T073256Z UID:6316-1645783200-1645786800@asiar.hku.hk SUMMARY:Old Roads\, Religious Mobility\, and Paradigms of Long-Distance Transmission: Epigraphic and Petroglyphic Complexes in a Transit Zone between Eurasian Frontiers DESCRIPTION:BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES\nOld Roads\, Religious Mobility\, and Paradigms of Long-Distance Transmission: Epigraphic and Petroglyphic Complexes in a Transit Zone between Eurasian Frontiers\nABSTRACTGraffiti inscriptions and rock drawings mark an ancient network of capillary routes that connected Central Asian Silk Routes with major South Asian arteries for religious mobility and trade. The presentation aims to showcase developments of digital imaging and mapping techniques to document and promote the tangible cultural heritage of epigraphic and petroglyphic complexes in the Upper Indus transit zone of northern Pakistan. In order to better explain patterns of religious\, cultural and commercial exchanges\, paradigms of long-distance transmission provide useful alternatives to gradual diffusion by point-to-point contact expansion based on models of ‘Old Roads’ between Chinese\, Central Asian and Indian empires.\n\nABOUT THE SPEAKERJason Neelis\, Associate Professor of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University and author of Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks (Leiden/Boston: Brill\, 2010)\, conducts research on cross-cultural exchanges along intertwined networks for migration\, trade\, and religious and cultural transmission within and beyond the north-western borderlands of South Asia. He currently directs a project on Epigraphic and Petroglyphic Complexes in the Upper Indus region of northern Pakistan.\n\nORGANIZERThe event is organized by the CRF Project “Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road [BRINFAITH]” (RGC CRF HKU C7052-18G)\, which is hosted by the ASIAR – Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster in HKIHSS. URL:https://asiar.hku.hk/event/old-roads-religious-mobility-and-paradigms-of-long-distance-transmission-epigraphic-and-petroglyphic-complexes-in-a-transit-zone-between-eurasian-frontiers/ LOCATION:Via Zoom (Registration required) CATEGORIES:BRINFAITH,Religion and Empire Public Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asiar.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Jason_poster.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR