Lecture Series -Buddhism 2025/2026
Buddhism in Modern China: Concepts, Practices, and History
Over the past two centuries, Buddhism in China has engaged dynamically with shifting socio-political landscapes, global circulations of knowledge, and the multifaceted pressures associated with modernity, resulting in enduring transformations of doctrine, ritual life, institutional structures, and China’s cultural imagination and identity. This lecture series traces how Buddhist ideas and practices have been interpreted, adapted, and reconfigured from the late Qing through the Republican era to the present, drawing on perspectives from history, religious studies, anthropology, and philosophy. By following these trajectories of change, the series highlights the intricate ways in which Buddhism has shaped—and been reshaped by—the changing intellectual, social, and political life in modern China, providing a forum for interdisciplinary dialogue across fields, methods, and historical contexts.
Dates and times
2025/2026
Location
University of Göttingen & Online (hybrid)
Organizers
Peng Qinqin (University of Göttingen)
Zhu Ziyi (University of Göttingen)
Contact persons
Peng Qinqin: qinqin.peng@uni-goettingen.de
Zhu Ziyi: ziyi.zhu@uni-goettingen.de
Language
Chinese and English
Schedule:
December 12, 2025 (Friday), CET 10:00–12:00 (Online-VooV)-Chinese
GONG Juan 龔雋 (Sun Yat-sen University)
Title: Reflections on Writing Knowledge History of Buddhism in Modern China: A Perspective from Buddhist Philology and Historiography
近現代中國佛教知識史書寫的反思：從經史學的視域看
Link of Meeting: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/pWP6lzBG7jvQ
December 18, 2025 (Thursday), CET 10:00–12:00 (Online-Zoom)-Chinese
JI Zhe 汲喆 (INALCO)
Title: Dragon Dwelling in a Buddhist Land: The Religious Journey of a Centenarian Monk
龍居佛地：一位百歲僧人的宗教歷程
January 28, 2026 (Wednesday), CET 16:00–18:00 (in-person)-English
Jörg Plassen (Ruhr University Bochum)
Title: Some Remarks on the Term Zongjiao Zhongguohua (Sinicization of Religions) from a Buddhological Perspective
February 4, 2026 (Wednesday), CET 14:00–16:00 (In-person) -Chinese
Xuan Fang 宣方 (Renmin University of China)
Title: Realizing Buddhahood in the Human Realm: The Theory and Practice of Humanistic Buddhism
即人成佛：人間佛教的理論與實踐
March 18, 2026 (Wednesday), CET 16:00–18:00 (in-person) -Chinese
CHEN Jidong 陳繼東 (Aoyama Gakuin University)
Title: The Question of Buddhist Schools in China: Continuities and Transformations from Tradition to Modernity
中國佛教的宗派問題：從傳統到近代的連接與變化
March 19, 2026 (Thursday), CET 16:00–18:00 (in-person) -Chinese
CHEN Jidong 陳繼東 (Aoyama Gakuin University)
Title: Self-Affirmation and Self-Discovery: Mutual Understandings between Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in Modern Times
自我肯定與自我發現：近代中日佛教的相互認識
April 09, 2026 (Wednesday), CET 16:00–18:00 (in-person) -English
Stefania Travagnin (SOAS, University of London)
Title: Repositioning Women in the History of Chinese Buddhism: Case studies from the Late Qing and Republican Sichuan
April 23, 2026 (Thursday), CET 16:00–18:00 (in-person) -Chinese
KAN Cheng-Tsung闞正宗 (Fo Guang University)
Title: The Monastic Rescue Crew in Chongqing during the Sino-Japanese War (1940–1945)
抗戰下的重慶僧侶救護隊（1940–1945）
We will continue to update the information on the lecture series. Please stay tuned!