BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES Reflecting on Maritime Transportation as the Sinew of Commerce and Conflict ABSTRACTIn this talk, drawing from her recent book, Sinews of War and Trade, Professor Laleh Khalili will discuss the centrality of maritime transport infrastructures to the making of capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula. She will highlight histories of […]
Film Screening: The Exemplar + Centenary Commemoration “A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love” The film “The Exemplar” is about the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbás (1844-1921), a Persian philosopher, spiritual leader and central figure of the Bahá’í Faith who promoted teachings of peace, unity, gender equality […]
In Collaboration with Initiative for the Study of Asian Catholics E-WORKSHOP: GLOBAL CHINESE CATHOLICISM ONLINE - 8, 9, 10 December 2021 This workshop explores the lived realities of Chinese Catholic communities established around the world as well as interactions among them and with Chinese Catholics in China. While most of the literature on Chinese Catholicism focuses either on […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES New Visions for the New Globality: China’s BRI vs. Russia’s Greater Eurasian Space ABSTRACTThe Belt and Road Initiative has caused a lot of controversy in Russia’s expert discussion. Formally, Moscow is very enthusiastic about the BRI project and considers it a positive factor in international relations. Russian-Chinese relations […]
A Half-day Retreat @ HKU + Lung Fu Mountain: Demystifying Mindfulness from the perspectives of Psychology and Buddhism We spend most of our time learning about the outside world and try to change small parts of it, but most of us know very little about our own inner mindscape, and even less about how to […]
Reimagining Capital | International learning Series Spiritual Capital in Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism: A Sociological Perspective on Capacity Building The sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu is one of the main sources for conceptualising spiritual capital. In this framework, spiritual capital would need to be understood through its expression in embodied habits or dispositions (habitus), which […]
The New Mindscape Spiritual Training Programme Congratulations on completing CCHU 9014, Spirituality, Religion and Social Change! During the course, you had the opportunity to reflect on many spiritual questions; you learned about different ideas and concepts; and you were exposed to different spiritual practices and social issues. You might have a lot of questions about how […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES Hidden Treasures of the Silk Road—An Ontological Shift in Thinking of Things ABSTRACTThis talk focuses on an ontological shift in thinking of small-sized Silk Road talismans and amulets. The true value of them has been neglected by previous studies. Among them, the Ordos Bronze Crosses, problematically identified as […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES Old Roads, Religious Mobility, and Paradigms of Long-Distance Transmission: Epigraphic and Petroglyphic Complexes in a Transit Zone between Eurasian Frontiers ABSTRACTGraffiti 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. […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES "Without ritual, there would be no ethnic culture": Religion and changing Chinese diasporic identity in Vietnam ABSTRACTIn 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 […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES “The Dharma Assembly”: Exploring a dynamic infrastructure for contemporary Han Chinese participation in Tibetan Buddhist monastic contexts ABSTRACTDuring 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 […]
BRINFAITH RELIGION AND EMPIRE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES Magic Power Reconfigured: Chinese Popular Religion in CitiesABSTRACTThis 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 […]