Chinese Studies

Fortbildung für Chinesischlehrkräfte: „Vom Zeichen zum Wort – Theorie und Praxis im Unterricht“ 以字带词：从理论到实践
2025-07-12 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | LuLZ-Raum, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen
Fortbildung für Chinesischlehrkräfte: „Vom Zeichen zum Wort – Theorie und Praxis im Unterricht“
以字带词：从理论到实践

Datum: Samstag, 12. Juli 2025
Uhrzeit: 10:00–17:00 Uhr
Ort: LuLZ-Raum, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen
im thematischen Rahmen von:
Typische Probleme in der Vermittlung chinesischer Schriftzeichen im deutschsprachigen Raum – Analyse und Lösungsansätze aus der Praxis
德语区汉字教学中常见问题的解析与实操

Veranstaltungssprache: Chinesisch（PPT zweisprachig: Chinesisch/Englisch）
Referent: Dr. Dehong Meng (Beijing Foreign Studies University)
Beschreibung:
Diese eintägige Lehrerfortbildung widmet sich typischen Herausforderungen im Unterricht chinesischer Schriftzeichen im deutschsprachigen Raum. Dr. Meng stellt praxisorientierte Lösungsansätze vor, um die Verbindung zwischen Zeichen und Wörtern im Fremdsprachenunterricht effektiv zu nutzen und den Wortschatzerwerb zu fördern.
Anmeldung: bis zum 2. Juli 2025
Link zur Anmeldung: https://forms.gle/UJt2i9MrxzYdCnLM8
oder QR-Code

Kontakt: chaf@aki-goettingen.de
Teilnahme: kostenfrei
Veranstalter:
Akademisches Konfuzius-Institut Göttingen in Zusammenarbeit mit der Professur für Fachdidaktik Chinesisch als Fremdsprache, Ostasiatisches Seminar, Universität Göttingen.
📎 Weitere Informationen:
🔗 Programm und Anmeldung (PDF)
🔗 Veranstaltungsposter (PDF)

Abend der Filmsongs – Gesang & Gespräch
2025-07-19 18:00 - 21:00 | KWZ 0.608
Abend der Filmsongs – Gesang & Gespräch
Ein besonderes Highlight der chinesischsprachigen Filmwoche 2025
Datum: Samstag, 19. Juli 2025
Uhrzeit: 18:00–ca. 21:00 Uhr
Ort: KWZ 0.608, Universität Göttingen
Sprachen: Deutsch & Chinesisch
Eintritt frei | Keine Anmeldung erforderlich
Im Rahmen der chinesischsprachigen Filmwoche 2025 laden wir herzlich zu einem besonderen Abend ein, der Film und Musik auf kreative Weise miteinander verbindet: dem „Abend der Filmsongs“.
Nach der gemeinsamen Filmsichtung von Xiao Wu (1997, Regie: Jia Zhangke) möchten wir mit allen Interessierten in die musikalische Welt chinesischer Filme eintauchen. Zahlreiche chinesische Filme nutzen Musik als zentrales Ausdrucksmittel für Emotionen, gesellschaftliche Veränderungen und persönliche Geschichten. Der Abend bietet die Gelegenheit, diese Lieder gemeinsam zu hören, zu übersetzen, zu reflektieren – und natürlich mitzusingen!
Was Sie erwartet:

Eine kurze Einführung zu ausgewählten Liedern aus chinesischen Filmklassikern
Vergleich verschiedener Versionen (Original, Cover, Karaoke)
Gemeinsames Übersetzen und Diskutieren prägnanter Textstellen
Offene KTV-Runde: Singen ausdrücklich erwünscht, aber ohne Druck!

Bringen Sie gerne auch eigene Lieblingslieder aus chinesischen Filmen mit.
Für Snacks und Getränke ist gesorgt – zusätzliche Mitbringsel willkommen!
Die Veranstaltung richtet sich an alle – mit oder ohne Chinesischkenntnisse, mit oder ohne musikalische Erfahrung. Im Mittelpunkt steht das gemeinsame Erleben von Musik als kultureller Brücke.
Organisation:
Prof. Dr. Tao Zhang (Ostasiatisches Seminar)
Katja Pessl (CeMEAS)

Guest Lecture: Strategic Teaching of Movies as Self-Study Materials for Listening Comprehension
2025-07-21 16:00 - 17:30 | KWZ 0.601
Guest Lecture: Strategic Teaching of Movies as Self-Study Materials for Listening Comprehension
電影作為聽力自學教材的策略教學
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng (National Taiwan Normal University)
Date & Time:
21 July 2025, 16:00–17:30
Location:
KWZ 0.601
Language:
Presentation: Chinese
Slides: Chinese & English
Q&A: Bilingual (Chinese / English)
Abstract:
This lecture aims to explore how movies can be effectively integrated into Mandarin learners’ self-study of listening comprehension, with a focus on practical, strategy-based teaching methods. Through guidance on film selection, key scene analysis, and the design of self-study worksheets, participants will learn how to support learners in conducting targeted listening practice. The lecture will also present real-world teaching cases to demonstrate how language input and cultural context can be combined to enhance learners’ motivation and language proficiency. It is suitable for language instructors, teaching material developers, and learners interested in strengthening their self-study strategies .
中文摘要
本講座旨在探討如何將電影有效應用於華語學習者的聽力自學中，並介紹具體的策略教學方法。透過選片、重點段落摘錄與自學工作表設計，參與者將學習如何引導學生運用電影進行有目標的聽力訓練。本講座亦將分享實際教學案例，說明如何結合語言輸入與文化理解，提升學習動機與語言能力。適用對象包括語言教師、教材設計者與有興趣提升自學策略的學習者。

Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng is a full professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently serving as the Taiwan Chair and visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Dr. Tseng earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University in 1988, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A linguist, phonetician, and teacher educator, her early research focused on phonetics, interlanguage, and second language acquisition. More recently, her work has expanded to include Chinese dialect teacher education, AI-assisted teaching strategies, and the development of an interlanguage prosodic database for Chinese language research in Europe.
Recent publication:
Zhang, F., & Tseng, C.-C. (2025). Inclusive teaching strategies and proprioceptive learning methods for migrants in acquiring basic Chinese. In Y. Liang & Z. Li (Eds.), Diversity and inclusiveness in Chinese as a second language education (pp. 145–174). Routledge.
Ongoing project:
International Integrated Collaboration Project for the University Alliance in the Czech Republic (ICU) and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), under the national-level initiative for international collaboration in key academic fields (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences).
Project Title: The Dynamics of East-West Civilizational Interactions: Conflict or Fusion?
Sub-project: A Study on Interpersonal Communication between Czechs and Taiwanese in the Context of Second Language Teaching

Guest Lecture: The Application of Animated Films in Mythology Teaching
2025-07-22 14:00 - 15:30 | KWZ 0.601
Guest Lecture: The Application of Animated Films in Mythology Teaching
動畫電影在神話教學中的應用
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng (National Taiwan Normal University)
Date & Time:
22 July 2025, 14:00–15:30
Location:
KWZ 0.601
Format:
Hybrid
Online Registration:
Please register via email: goechaf@uni-goettingen.de
Language:
Presentation: Chinese
Slides: Chinese & English
Q&A: Bilingual (Chinese / English)
Abstract:
This lecture explores the use of animated films as engaging and effective tools in mythology instruction, helping to spark interest and deepen cultural understanding. Participants will learn how to guide students in identifying mythological themes, archetypal characters, and symbolic meanings through film selection, narrative analysis, and visual storytelling. The lecture will also discuss how to combine animated films with reading, discussion and creative activities to enhance students’ cross-cultural understanding and the ability to distinguish between classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese and dialects. This lecture is ideal for language teachers, humanities educators, and anyone interested in incorporating mythology into teaching practice .
中文摘要：
本講座探討動畫電影如何作為神話教學的輔助教材，激發學習興趣並深化文化理解。透過分析選片原則、故事結構與視覺符號，參與者將學習如何引導學生辨識神話主題、角色原型與文化寓意。講座亦將共同討論如何結合動畫電影與閱讀、討論、創作活動，提升學生的跨文化理解與文言、白話、方言的區辨能力。此課程適合語文教師、人文學科教學者及對神話教育有興趣的教育人員。
Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng is a full professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently serving as the Taiwan Chair and visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Dr. Tseng earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University in 1988, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A linguist, phonetician, and teacher educator, her early research focused on phonetics, interlanguage, and second language acquisition. More recently, her work has expanded to include Chinese dialect teacher education, AI-assisted teaching strategies, and the development of an interlanguage prosodic database for Chinese language research in Europe.
Recent publication:
Zhang, F., & Tseng, C.-C. (2025). Inclusive teaching strategies and proprioceptive learning methods for migrants in acquiring basic Chinese. In Y. Liang & Z. Li (Eds.), Diversity and inclusiveness in Chinese as a second language education (pp. 145–174). Routledge.
Ongoing project:
International Integrated Collaboration Project for the University Alliance in the Czech Republic (ICU) and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), under the national-level initiative for international collaboration in key academic fields (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences).
Project Title: The Dynamics of East-West Civilizational Interactions: Conflict or Fusion?
Sub-project: A Study on Interpersonal Communication between Czechs and Taiwanese in the Context of Second Language Teaching

Like a Rolling Stone 《出走的決心》 06. 11. 2025, 19:30, Méliès Kino Göttingen Mand. m. engl. UT, 106 Minuten, Referentin: Heidi Marweg (Mannheim)
2025-11-06 19:30 - 21:30 | Méliès Kino, Göttingen
Chinesischsprachige Filmwochen Göttingen Herbst/Winter 2025
哥廷根中文电影季 2025-秋冬
Dialoge zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft
EINTRITT FREI!

06.11.2025 (Do), 19:30 Uhr – Méliès Kino
Like a Rolling Stone 出走的決心 (China, 2024)
Sprache: Mandarin mit englischen Untertiteln, 106 Min
Referentin: Heidi Marweg (Mannheim)
https://www.midnightblurfilms.com/likearollingstone
Eintritt frei, Tickets über die Webseite des Lumière-Méliès reservieren: https://lumiere-melies.de
Regie: Yin Lichuan
Land: VR China
Länge: 106 Min (ca.)

Filmbeschreibung:
Nach jahrzehntelanger Hingabe an Familie und Alltag beschliesst Li Hong mit über 50 Jahren, endlich das Steuer selbst in die Hand zu nehmen und sich auf eine lange ersehnte Reise zu begeben. Rückblenden offenbaren ein Leben voller gesellschaftlicher Erwartungen, familiärer Verpflichtungen und persönlicher Einschränkungen. Der Film basiert auf der wahren Geschichte von Su Min, deren Solo-Roadtrip in China zur viralen Inspiration für viele Frauen wurde.
Im Fokus stehen nicht spektakuläre Szenen eines Road-Trips, sondern vielmehr die leisen Momente, in denen Alltag zur Ge-fährdung wird – und der Entschluss zur Veränderung zur Befreiung.
Damit lädt der Film zu einer Reflexion ein über Geschlechterrollen, Selbstbestimmung und den Mut, sich aus eingefahrenen Bahnen zu lösen.

Referentin:

Heidi Marweg (Mannheim) – Sie hat Sinologie, Mittlere und Neuere Geschichte und Politikwissenschaft in Freiburg, Köln, Nanjing und Heidelberg studiert und sich seither mit Transformationen in Kultur und Gesellschaft beschäftigt und für den interkulturellen Dialog eingesetzt. Sie interessiert sich für politische Strukturen und ihr Wirken auf Kultur und Gesellschaft. Reisen sind ihr Inspiration und Gelegenheit zur Begegnung. Sie hat zahlreiche Buchvorstellungen, Vorträge, Podien, Konzerte und Filmvorführungen konzipiert und organisiert.

Prof. Zhang Ning (Oxford): How to Tell a Sensitive History: Interviews with Chinese International Communist Volunteers in Burma
2025-11-12 18:15 - 19:45 | Verfügungsgebäude (VG) 1.102
Abstract:
Dr. Zhang is working on a book project that offers a pioneering exploration of the experiences of Chinese volunteers in Burma between 1968 and 1989. These volunteers were primarily former sent-down youths who supported the Burmese Communist Party’s insurgency against the Burmese government. After China withdrew its official military presence in 1973, many volunteers returned home and faced the difficult process of reintegrating into a society largely unaware of their contributions and sacrifices. Although Chinese involvement in the Burmese Civil War has long been an open secret, it remains officially unacknowledged by the Chinese government. The volunteers’ hopes of being recognised as soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army were met with silence, while their experiences of political repression under the BCP continue to be a sensitive and contested subject in contemporary China.
Drawing on sixty in-depth interviews and a substantial collection of personal archives, Dr. Zhang’s project sheds light on the human dimensions of “international communism” and its reverberations in Southeast Asia. This lecture explores not only how these historical actors remember and recount their contentious pasts, but also the ethical and methodological challenges of researching and narrating politically sensitive histories in China. It highlights how the act of telling these stories—by both the witnesses and the historian—reveals the emotional, political, and moral limits of historical inquiry under conditions of state silence and collective forgetting.
Speaker:
Dr. Ning Zhang received her PhD from Fudan University in China and is currently a Research Associate at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies. Her research examines the social and political history of modern China, with a particular focus on the Sent-Down Youth Movement and Maoism in Southeast Asia. From 2022 to 2024, she held a Newton International Fellowship at the University of Oxford, funded by the British Academy, for her project entitled “Chinese Sent-Down Youth and the Communist Movement in Burma (1968–1989).” During this fellowship, she conducted extensive fieldwork and oral history interviews. The findings from this research form the basis of her current book project and this lecture.
Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Weiyena – ein Heimatfilm 13.11.2025, 19:30, Méliès Kino Göttingen Mand. & Dt. m. dt. UT, 96 Minuten, Filmgespräch mit Judith Benedikt & Weina Zhao (online), Moderation: Katja Pessl (Universität Göttingen)
2025-11-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Méliès Kino Göttingen
Here you can find for information.

The Legend of Hei 《罗小黑战记》 – Die Kraft in Dir 14.11.2025, 16:00–18:30, ZHG 006, Universität Göttingen Dt. Synchronfassung, 101 Minuten, Einführung: Tao Zhang (Universität Göttingen)
2025-11-14 16:00 - 18:30 | Zentrales Hörsaalgebäude, ZHG 006, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, Göttingen, 37073, Deutschland
Here you can find more information.

Lehrkräftefortbildung: Filme im ChaF-Unterricht – Didaktische Impulse und Praxisideen
2025-11-22 10:00 - 17:30 | LulZ-Raum, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Waldweg 26, Göttingen
Im Rahmen der Chinesischsprachigen Filmwochen Göttingen 2025 möchten wir herzlich zur folgenden Lehrkräftefortbildung einladen:
Lehrkräftefortbildung 教师培训:
„Filme im ChaF-Unterricht – Didaktische Impulse und Praxisideen“

电影在中文作为外语课堂中的运用——教学启示与实践探索

Präsenzveranstaltung: 22. November 2025, 10:00–17:30 Uhr
Ort: LulZ-Raum, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Waldweg 26, Göttingen
Online-Nachbereitung: 11. Dezember 2025, 18:30–20:00 Uhr (Zoom)
Referentinnen: Anne Sass & Prof. Dr. Tao Zhang
Gemeinsam erkunden wir den Einsatz chinesischsprachiger Filme im Unterricht und diskutieren praxisnahe Ansätze für den Chinesischunterricht im deutschsprachigen Raum.
Die Fortbildung richtet sich an Lehrkräfte und Lehramtsstudierende im Bereich Chinesisch als Fremdsprache und ist kostenfrei.
Anmeldung bis zum 02. 11. 2025 unter:
https://survey.academiccloud.de/f/996135?lang=de
Alle Details finden sich im angehängten Infoblatt und Plakat.

Lecture: Prof. Eric Vanden Bussche (Tokyo University): The Global 19th Century: Networks of Knowledge, Migration, and Empire
2025-11-26 16:15 - 17:45 | PH 20 (Humboldtallee 19/21)
Abstract:
This lecture investigates how transnational scientific and geographical exchanges between China, Brazil, and British Burma contributed to the dual processes of nation-building and empire-building in the nineteenth century. Drawing on archival sources from China, Brazil, Myanmar, and Great Britain, it centers on two interconnected case studies: Fu Yunlong’s intelligence-gathering mission to South America and the cartographic expeditions along the Sino-Burmese borderlands. By foregrounding the agency of both state and non-state actors, it demonstrates how intelligence-gathering missions, border negotiations, and the establishment of Qing legations in Europe catalyzed the production, transfer, and negotiation of knowledge systems. These undertakings simultaneously advanced broader political, territorial, and settler-colonial objectives. Moving beyond nation-centered narratives, the lecture broadens the analytical lens on the global circulation of scientific and geographical knowledge. It further contributes to ongoing theoretical and methodological debates on settler colonialism, a concept typically grounded in Euro-American experiences. In doing so, it highlights the dynamic roles that Asian and South American actors played in shaping the expanding global networks of expertise, diplomacy, and migration.
Speaker:
Eric Vanden Bussche is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan. His research and teaching examine the historical and contemporary dimensions of border disputes in East and Southeast Asia, as well as the transnational processes shaping Chinese immigration to Brazil. He is co-editor of Critical Han Studies: The History, Representation, and Identity of China’s Majority (University of California Press, 2012) and co-author of 《巴西与中国：世界秩序变动中的双方关系》 (世界知识出版社, 2001). He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Beijing University. He is currently working on a project titled “The Making of a ‘New China’ in the Tropics: Geographical Knowledge and Chinese Migration to Brazil, 1870s-1900s.”
Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Farewell My Concubine 《霸王别姬》 03.12.2025, 18:00–21:45, ZHG 008, Universität Göttingen Mand. m. engl. UT, 171 Minuten, Referent: Martin Gieselmann (Universität Heidelberg)
2025-12-03 18:00 - 21:45 | Zentrales Hörsaalgebäude, ZHG 008

East Asia and West Asias: Dialogues in Past, Present, and Future Worldmaking
2025-12-05 09:45 - 17:15, 2025-12-06 10:00 - 17:30 | Historische Sternwarte, University of Göttingen, Geismar Landstraße 11, Göttingen, 37083
Here you can find the Conference Program.

Lecture: Prof. Shigeru Akita (Osaka University): From 'Green Revolution' to 'Economic Liberalization' in 1970s-80s' India: Impacts of Oil Crises in a Global Perspective
2025-12-09 18:15 - 19:45 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 1.701, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073, Deutschland
Abstract:
This talk reconsiders the progress of India’s ‘Green Revolution’, specifically agricultural development in the 1970s, within the context of the two oil crises. How did India achieve a ‘Green Revolution’, and what factors contributed to India’s agricultural development in the 1970s? How did India manage to recover from this second economic turmoil in the early 1980s? As this presentation will show, the oil crises of the 1970s and its aftermath in the 1980s and the early 1990s laid the groundwork for the restructuring of the international economic order and the so-called economic miracle in Asia.
Speaker:
Shigeru AKITA is Professor of Global History, Osaka University, Japan. He is doing ‘Creating Global History from Asian perspective’ through global economic history. His major publications include, (ed.) Oil Crises of the 1970s and the Transformation of International Order: Economy, Development and Aid in Asia and Africa (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023).
Organizers:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen
Prof. Ravi Ahuja (Göttingen)

Lecture Series: Buddhism in Modern China 2025/2026: Reflections on Writing Knowledge History of Buddhism in Modern China: A Perspective from Buddhist Philology and Historiography
2025-12-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Online
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
Prof. Dr. 龔雋 GONG Jun (Sun Yat-sen University)
Time: December 12, 2025, 10:00–12:00 CET
Venue: Online via VooV Meeting/ 騰訊會議 (Link: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/pWP6lzBG7jvQ)
Language: Chinese/ 中文
Abstract:
本演讲以近代以来中国佛教史研究为案例，主要探究宗教史研究中如何处理文本与经验的复杂关系，这对于宗教思想史研究来讲具有重要的方法论意义。主体内容共分三部分，第一部分在现代中国学术史研究从80年代“思想史”到90年代“学术史”的转型脉络中，来说明中国佛教史研究的嬗变与得失。第二部分阐明近代中国佛学研究的方法论经验，特别从近代中国学术思想史研究中的经史学关系来加以分析，论述了哲学、新史学及经学等不同类型佛学研究的方式及其特点，并指出欧阳竟无为代表的内学研究对现代中国佛学研究所具有的启发意义。最后，指出近代以来中国佛学史研究受到域外研究的深刻影响，并从中深刻地反思与阐释如何恰当地处理中国佛教思想史研究中的在地经验与域外传统的关系。
Taking modern Chinese Buddhist historiography as a case study, this lecture examines how to approach the complex relationship between textual analysis and lived experience in the study of religious history—an issue of considerable methodological importance for the intellectual history of religion. The lecture consists of three main parts.
The first part situates the transformations, achievements, and limitations of Chinese Buddhist historiography within the broader intellectual shift in modern Chinese scholarship from the “history of thought” in the 1980s to the “history of scholarship” in the 1990s.
The second part elucidates the methodological insights of modern Chinese Buddhist studies, with particular attention to the relationship between canonical studies and historical scholarship as articulated in modern Chinese intellectual history. It analyzes the distinct approaches and characteristics of various modes of Buddhist scholarship, including philosophical studies, the New Historiography, and classical philology, and highlights the methodological significance of “inner learning” (neixue 內學) scholarship, represented by Ouyang Jingwu, for modern Buddhist studies.
Finally, the lecture discusses the profound influence of foreign scholarship on modern Chinese Buddhist historiography and offers reflections on how to appropriately navigate the relationship between local intellectual experience and external scholarly traditions in the study of Chinese Buddhist intellectual history.
Short Bio:
龚隽，中山大学哲学系教授、中山大学比较宗教研究所教授，副所长、博士研究生导师；中山大学哲学系佛学研究中心主任，2024年起任中山大学哲学系（珠海）、中山大学哲学系双聘教授。学术兼职有:中华外国哲学史学会东方哲学专业委员会副主任，中国社科院评价研究院宗教专业委员会委员，《新史学》（中华书局）学术编委，《汉语佛学评论》（上海古籍出版社）主编，《人文宗教研究》（北京大学宗教文化研究院主办）编委等。主要从事中国佛教思想史及中国哲学史的教学与研究。主要研究作品有1、《作为“知识”的近代佛学史论——在东亚视域内的知识史论述》，商务印书馆，2019年版，（与陈继东教授合著）。2、《中国禅学研究入门》，（与陈继东教授合著），复旦大学出版社，2009年版。3、《禅史钩沉：以问题为中心的思想史论述》，北京三联书店，2006年版。4、《修剪菩提树――“批判佛教”的风暴》（译著），上海古籍出版社2004年版。在《哲学研究》、《世界宗教研究》、《中国哲学史》、《台湾大学佛学研究中心学报》、《国际禅研究》（日本东洋大学主办）等海内外学术刊物发表论文40余篇。
Gong Jun is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University and Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Comparative Religion. He also serves as Director of the Center for Buddhist Studies. Since 2024, he has held a dual appointment at both the Guangzhou and Zhuhai Philosophy Departments of Sun Yat-sen University.
His professional roles include Vice Chair of the Committee on Eastern Philosophy of the Chinese Association for the History of Foreign Philosophy, member of the Religion Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Evaluation Institute, editorial board member of New Historiography 新史学, Editor-in-Chief of Review of Chinese Buddhist Studies 汉语佛学评论, and editorial board member of Journal of Humanistic and Religious Studies 人文宗教研究.
His research focuses on the intellectual history of Chinese Buddhism and Chinese philosophy. Major publications include:《作为“知识”的近代佛学史论》 (Modern Buddhist Studies as “Knowledge”, 2019, with Chen Jidong); 《中国禅学研究入门》 (An Introduction to Chinese Chan Studies, 2009, with Chen Jidong);《禅史钩沉》 (Excavating the History of Chan, 2006); 《修剪菩提树——“批判佛教”的风暴》 (Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm of “Critical Buddhism”, 2004, translation)
He has published more than forty articles in leading journals in China and abroad.

讲座 Lecture: The Plurality of Global Chinese and a Multi-Standard Perspective in Chinese Language Teaching
2025-12-16 16:15 - 18:45

The Wandering Earth II 《流浪地球 II》 17.12.2025, 18:00–21:45, ZHG 008, Universität Göttingen Mand. m. dt. UT, 173 Minuten, Einführung: Marc Hermann (Universität Bonn)
2025-12-17 18:00 - 21:30 | Zentrales Hörsaalgebäude, ZHG 008

Lecture: 龍居佛地：一位百歲僧人的宗教歷程/ Dragon Dwelling in a Buddhist Land: The Religious Journey of a Centenarian Monk
2025-12-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Online
Titel: 龍居佛地：一位百歲僧人的宗教歷程/ Dragon Dwelling in a Buddhist Land: The Religious Journey of a Centenarian Monk
Time：18. December 2025 CET 10:00–12:00 Online Speech via ZooM
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/DUk42lG4QpalgCW06b2M9A
Abstract：(Chinese Version)
本研究依据文献与访谈，记述了江苏大林禅寺静海老和尚（1919-2019）一生的宗教经验。出身极贫、早入小庙为僧的静海，后因进入佛学院受教育而得以成为僧团精英的一员。1950年后他被迫还俗，1982年复出，并于1989年离开天宁寺，投身重建武进大林寺。在大林寺，他不仅重建了寺庙，聚集了信众，而且勉力创办了武进佛学院，使大林寺逐步成为当地的一个佛教中心。静海的历程折射了一百多年来中国政治与宗教的宏观变迁，同时也在展现了近代汉传佛教变革与重建的一些重要机制。一方面，二十世纪上半叶出现的佛学院，对于僧团内部的社会流动性产生了重大影响。正是得益于这一新制度，静海本人才摆脱了小庙应付僧的命运，经过“学僧”这一过渡性身份，最终转变为大丛林的法师。另一方面，静海所主持的大林寺重建过程反映了佛教传统对原有地方传统的吸收和运用的高超能力。例如，当地的道教遗产“白龙”和“龙母”崇拜，不仅得到了重新肯定，而且被转化为佛教功德和成就的证明。总地来看，静海老和尚的佛教生涯可以分为两个部分。他的前半生都是在不同佛教制度框架内寻找自己的位置；他的后半生——以他在1989年主动离开著名的天宁寺为转折点——则将自己前半生的经验融入到重建大林寺的策略之中。在这个意义上 ，静海个人的小故事与1980年代之后中国大陆佛教复兴的大故事分享了相同的母题，即对二十世纪上半叶的某种再现或折返。
Abstract: (English Version)
Based on textual sources and interviews, this study recounts the religious experiences of Master Jinghai (1919–2019) of Dalin Chan Temple in Jiangsu. Born into extreme poverty and ordained at a small rural temple at an early age, Jinghai later entered a Buddhist academy, which enabled him to rise into the ranks of the monastic elite. After 1950, he was compelled to return to lay life; he reentered the sangha in 1982 and, in 1989, left Tianning Temple to devote himself to the reconstruction of Dalin Temple in Wujin. At Dalin Temple, he not only rebuilt the monastery and gathered a community of devotees, but also worked to establish the Wujin Buddhist Academy, gradually transforming Dalin into a local center of Buddhist activity.
Jinghai’s life journey mirrors the broader political and religious transformations that unfolded across China over the past century, while also revealing several key mechanisms behind the reform and reconstruction of modern Chinese Buddhism. On the one hand, the emergence of Buddhist academies in the first half of the twentieth century profoundly reshaped social mobility within the sangha. It was precisely through this new institutional pathway that Jinghai escaped the fate of remaining an obscure monk in a small rural temple and, through the transitional status of a “student-monk,” ultimately became a Dharma teacher in major monastic centers. On the other hand, the process of reconstruction that Jinghai oversaw at Dalin Temple illustrates the remarkable capacity of Buddhist tradition to absorb and repurpose local traditions. For instance, local Daoist heritages such as the cults of the “White Dragon” and “Dragon Mother” were not only reaffirmed but were transformed into proofs of Buddhist merit and accomplishment.
Overall, Master Jinghai’s Buddhist career may be divided into two phases. His early life was marked by efforts to find his place within various institutional frameworks of modern Buddhism; his later life—beginning with his voluntary departure from the renowned Tianning Temple in 1989—integrated his earlier experiences into a strategic blueprint for rebuilding Dalin Temple. In this sense, Jinghai’s personal narrative shares the same underlying motif as the revival of Buddhism in mainland China after the 1980s: a return to, or rearticulation of, certain institutional models and aspirations originating in the first half of the twentieth century.
Profile：(Chinese Version)
汲喆，法国国立东方语言文明学院（Inalco）社会学教授、东语-圣严近现代汉传佛教讲席教授、法国多学科佛教研究中心（CEIB）主任。他的主要研究领域包括近佛教现代性、宗教全球化、宗教社会学理论与法国汉学史。著作包括《宗教、现代性与时间性：当代禅宗的社会学》 (Religion, modernité et temporalité: une sociologie du bouddhisme chan contemporain, CNRS Editions, 2016)，主编有《二十世纪中国佛教的两次复兴》（与Daniela Campo、王启元合编，复旦大学出版社，2016）、《得道与成圣——现代中国宗教权威的建构》(Making Saints in Modern China , co-edited with David Ownby and Vincent Goossaert, Oxford University Press, 2017)、《改革开放时代的中国佛教》(Buddhism after Mao: Negotiations, Continuities, and Reinventions, co-edited with Gareth Fisher and André Laliberté, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019)、《现代世界的思想者——齐美尔研究辑选》（与任强合编，商务印书馆，2021）、《新时代中国的佛教嬗变——国家、文化与宗教之间》（Metamorphosis of Buddhism in China’s New Era: Between State, Culture, and Religion, co-edited with David L.Wank and Ashiwa Yoshiko, Bloomsbury Academic, 2025）等。
(English Version)
Ji Zhe is a Professor of Sociology and the holder of the Inalco-Sheng Yen Chair for the Studies of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Buddhism at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco), as well as the Director of the Centre d’Études Interdisciplinaires sur le Bouddhisme (CEIB). His primary research areas include Buddhist modernity, the globalization of religion, sociological theories of religion, and the history of French sinology. His publications include Religion, modernité et temporalité: une sociologie du bouddhisme chan contemporain (CNRS Editions, 2016); and he has served as editor or co-editor of 二十世纪中国佛教的两次复兴 (co-edited with Daniela Campo and Wang Qiyuan, Fudan University Press, 2016); Making Saints in Modern China (co-edited with David Ownby and Vincent Goossaert, Oxford University Press, 2017); Buddhism after Mao: Negotiations, Continuities, and Reinventions (co-edited with Gareth Fisher and André Laliberté, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019); 现代世界的思想者——齐美尔研究辑选 (co-edited with Ren Qiang, The Commercial Press, 2021); and Metamorphosis of Buddhism in China’s New Era: Between State, Culture, and Religion (co-edited with David L. Wank and Ashiwa Yoshiko, Bloomsbury Academic, 2025), among others.

Guest Lecture / 讲座: East Asian Hanzi Art: Between Calligraphy and Abstraction 东亚汉字艺术：介于文笔（书写）与抽象之间
2025-12-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.603, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen

Lecture: Revisiting the Understanding of “the Other” through Thermae Romae II: Implications for Chinese Language Teaching
2026-01-16 14:30 - 16:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 1.701, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073, Deutschland
從《羅馬浴場 II》回看我們如何理解「他者」文化—— 對華語教學的啟示
Revisiting the Understanding of “the Other” through Thermae Romae II:
Implications for Chinese Language Teaching
2026年1月16日（週五）14:30–16:00
KWZ 1.701， 哥廷根大學
報告人：曾金金 教授， 國立台灣師範大學
主持人：張陶 教授， 哥廷根大學
摘要
本報告以日本影視作品《羅馬浴場 II》為例，討論流行影視文本中「他者」文化的呈現方式，以及其中所體現的跨文化想像。作品透過幽默與錯位的敘事手法，將不同文化與時空並置，呈現文化差異被感知、想像與再詮釋的過程。報告嘗試從跨文化與語言學習的相關視角出發，思考此類影視作品在華語教學語境中可能引發的更廣泛反思，並為文化理解與比較提供一個開放的觀察方向。
Abstract:
Taking the Japanese audiovisual work Thermae Romae II as an example, this talk examines how “the Other” is represented in popular screen media and how cross-cultural imagination is articulated through audiovisual narratives. By juxtaposing different cultures and temporalities through humor and narrative displacement, the film foregrounds processes through which cultural differences are perceived, imagined, and reinterpreted. Drawing on perspectives from intercultural communication and language learning, the talk further considers how such works can stimulate broader discussions of cultural understanding and comparison within the context of Chinese language teaching.
時間與地點
時間：2026年1月16日（週五）14:30–16:00
地點： KWZ 1.701， 哥廷根大學
Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng is a full professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently serving as the Taiwan Chair and visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Dr. Tseng earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University in 1988, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A linguist, phonetician, and teacher educator, her early research focused on phonetics, interlanguage, and second language acquisition. More recently, her work has expanded to include Chinese dialect teacher education, AI-assisted teaching strategies, and the development of an interlanguage prosodic database for Chinese language research in Europe.
Recent publication:
Zhang, F., & Tseng, C.-C. (2025). Inclusive teaching strategies and proprioceptive learning methods for migrants in acquiring basic Chinese. In Y. Liang & Z. Li (Eds.), Diversity and inclusiveness in Chinese as a second language education (pp. 145–174). Routledge.
Ongoing project:
International Integrated Collaboration Project for the University Alliance in the Czech Republic (ICU) and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), under the national-level initiative for international collaboration in key academic fields (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences).
Project Title: The Dynamics of East-West Civilizational Interactions: Conflict or Fusion?
Sub-project: A Study on Interpersonal Communication between Czechs and Taiwanese in the Context of Second Language Teaching

Lecture: Realizing Buddhahood in the Human Realm: The Theory and Practice of Humanistic Buddhism
2026-02-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Raum 4.105, Waldweg
Realizing Buddhahood in the Human Realm:
The Theory and Practice of Humanistic Buddhism
Lecture Series: Buddhism in Modern China 2025/2026
Prof. Dr. 宣方 Xuan Fang (Renmin University of China)
Time: February 4, 2026, 14:00 PM – 16:00 PM CET
Venue: Raum 4.105, Waldweg
Language: Chinese/ 中文
Abstract
即人成佛：人间佛教的理论与实践
摘要
人生佛教作为汉传佛教回应现代性议题最重要的理论论述和实践模式，对二十世纪后半叶以来佛教在海峡两岸的蓬勃发展居功至伟，引起学界广泛的关注，相关研究持续升温，本世纪以来渐成显学，成果卓有可观。不过，此中仍有未发之覆，特别是一些基础的教理问题，对佛教共同体内部而言十分重要。例如，太虚关于人间佛教诸多论述引发后人大相径庭的理解，人间佛教推展过程中的种种歧出也使其备受争议。回归到基础教理层面来分析，争议的焦点集中在两个方面：第一、人生佛教思想的核心理论、宗旨及其性质是什么？是共世间的人天乘法门，还是大乘的菩萨道？第二、人生佛教如何修行？是由人、天、声闻、菩萨层层转进，还是由人乘直达佛乘？人菩萨行是否可能、如何可能？前一方面要回答人生佛教是什么，后一方面要回答人生佛教怎么修，这两个基础教理问题相互关联，是人生佛教的核心理论和立论根本；尤其是第二个问题，仍属学术界既往研究的未发之覆。人生佛教能否在教理上自洽地解答上述问题、回应各种质疑？本讲演将依据太虚、印顺的相关论述，对此作一考察。
Humanistic Buddhism (rensheng fojiao) represents one of the most significant theoretical articulations and practical models through which Chinese Buddhism has responded to the challenges of modernity. Since the second half of the twentieth century, it has played a crucial role in the remarkable revival and expansion of Buddhism in both Mainland China and Taiwan. As a result, it has attracted sustained scholarly attention since the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Nevertheless, important issues remain insufficiently examined, particularly certain foundational doctrinal questions that are of great significance within the Buddhist community itself. For example, Taixu’s various interpretations of Humanistic Buddhism (renjian fojiao) gave rise to markedly divergent understandings among later generations, while differing paths of practical implementation have rendered the movement highly contested. When these debates are reconsidered at the level of fundamental doctrine, they converge on two central issues: First, what are the core theoretical foundation, ultimate aim, and doctrinal nature of Humanistic Buddhism? Should it be understood as a form of this-worldly Buddhist practice oriented toward the human and celestial vehicles, or as an expression of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva path? Second, how is Humanistic Buddhism to be practiced? Does cultivation proceed step by step—from the realms of human and celestial beings, through the śrāvaka path, and onward to the bodhisattva path—or does it advocate a direct transition from the human vehicle to Buddhahood? Is the practice of the “human bodhisattva” theoretically possible, and if so, in what sense? The first question concerns what Humanistic Buddhism is, while the second addresses how it is to be practiced. These two fundamental doctrinal issues are closely interconnected and together constitute the core theoretical framework and justificatory basis of Humanistic Buddhism. In particular, the second issue remains largely unexplored in existing scholarship.
Can Humanistic Buddhism provide a doctrinally coherent response to these questions and adequately address the various criticisms directed toward it? Drawing on the writings of Taixu and Yinshun, this lecture examines these issues from the perspective of Buddhist doctrinal theory.
Short Bio
宣方，中国人民大学宗教学系副教授，佛教与宗教学理论研究所研究员，兼任北京大学、香港中文大学、厦门大学、云南大学、中国佛教文化研究所等十余所国内佛学机构客座教授，《宗教》、《宗教研究》、《汉语佛学评论》等专业期刊编委。主要研究佛教思想史和当代佛教。
Xuan Fang is associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Renmin University of China and Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Religious Theory. He also serves as a visiting professor at more than ten Buddhist studies institutions in China, including Peking University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Xiamen University, Yunnan University, and the China Institute of Buddhist Culture. He is a member of the editorial boards of several leading academic journals, including Religion, Religious Studies, and Chinese Buddhist Studies Review. His main research interests focus on the intellectual history of Buddhism and contemporary Chinese Buddhism.

Chinesischsprachiges Film- und Kulturforum Göttingen 哥廷根影像与文化论坛 Jahresthema 2026 „Sprache(n) in Bewegung: Mehrsprachigkeit und globale Perspektiven“ Eine Veranstaltungsreihe der Professur für Fachdidaktik Chinesisch als Fremdsprache und des CeMEAS
2026-02-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.609, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Sonderveranstaltung: Lehramtstreffen mit Gastvortrag und Austausch
Vortrag: 影视（短⽚）融合差异化学习任务在外语教学中的运⽤ Einsatz von (Kurz)Filmen im Fremdsprachenunterricht mit differenzierten Lernaufgaben
Referent: Xikai Chen 陈希凯, Studienreferendar mit Fächerkombination Chinesisch und Englisch
Zeit: 19:00-21:00, 05. Feb. 2026
Raum: KWZ 0.609, Universität Göttingen
Sprachen: Deutsch/Chinesisch
Moderation: Miriam Meyer (M.Ed. Chinesisch als Fremdsprache)
Organisiert von Prof. Dr. Tao Zhang Professur Fachdidaktik Chinesisch als Fremdsprache
Abstract:
In einer heterogenen Lerngruppe mit verschiedenen Interessen und Schwerpunkten der Lernenden bieten lange und kurze Filme als Lernmedien im Fremdsprachenunterricht einen großen Raum, in dem sich die Schüler*innen mit den technischen und ästhetischen Aspekten der Filme auseinandersetzen und ihre eigenen Perspektiven und Kreativität einbringen können, sei es in rezeptiven oder produktiven Aktivitäten. Anhand seiner Praxiserfahrung aus dem Unterrichtsalltag des Referendariats präsentiert Xikai Chen in diesem Vortrag unterschiedliche Einsatzmöglichkeiten von langen und kurzen Filmen sowie seine Reflexion und Evaluation der Vor- und Nachteile der bereits durchgeführten Lernaufgaben, die eng mit Filmanalysen und Kurzfilmproduktionen verbunden sind.
Kurzbio:

Xikai Chen, Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (Tongji Universität, 2020) sowie Master of Arts in Kulturanthropologie und Master of Education in Chinesisch und Englisch (Universität Göttingen, 2024), verfügt über die Zulassung des BAMF zur Lehrtätigkeit in Integrationskursen für DaF/DaZ und hat zahlreiche Hochschulzertifikate im Bereich der Anwendung sprachlicher Fertigkeiten, z.B. Theaterpraxis und Präsentation, Mündliche Kommunikation mit dem Schwerpunkt Rhetorik und Interkulturelle*r Trainer*in, Schreibberatung, Medienkompetenz und Digitale Bildung an der Universität Göttingen erworben. Seine Forschungsinteressen im Bereich der Didaktik für den Fremdsprachenunterricht umfassen den Einsatz von Theater und audio-visuellen Medien im Sprachunterricht, interkulturelle Kommunikation und Kulturvermittlung sowie die Förderung von Sprech- und Schreibkompetenzen im Fremdsprachenunterricht.
陈希凯，同济大学汉语国际教育硕士（2020）、哥廷根大学文化人类学专业文学硕士（2024）、汉语及英语师范专业教育硕士（2024），并持有BAMF认证的德语二外（融入课程）的教学资质，并已经修毕哥廷根大学开设的“戏剧实践与展示”“口头沟通之修辞学”“跨文化培训”“写作咨询”“媒体素养”及“数字教学”等多项与语言运用、青少年教育直接相关的证书项目。外语教学法方向的研究兴趣：戏剧与影音媒体在语言教学中的运用、外语课堂里的跨文化沟通与文化教学、口语表达与写作能力培养等。

Lecture Prof. John Kieschnick (Stanford University) : "The Monk, the Poet, the Bureaucrat, and the Anarchist: Vegetarian Discourse in Republican-era China"
2026-04-02 16:00 - 18:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.606, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Ort: KWZ. 0.606
Vortrag (Hybrid): Prof. John Kieschnick (Stanford University)
Wer online teilnehmen möchte, kann sich gerne unter qinqin.peng@uni-goettingen.de melden.
Abstract:
In the first half of the twentieth century, leading monks were eager to harness new developments to further the longstanding Chinese Buddhist cause of vegetarianism. The prominent monk Yinguang 印光 (1862–1940) wrote essays promoting vegan soap and, somewhat surprisingly, MSG. Others championed the new urban vegetarian restaurants. In addition to drawing on traditional doctrines in established ways, Buddhists also adapted teachings of karma for the modern era of nationalism. However, Buddhists were not the only proponents of vegetarianism in Republican-era China. In this talk, I place Buddhist vegetarian activism in the context of the vibrant discourse on politics, culture, and health in the early twentieth century through four figures: Yinguang, Lü Bicheng 呂碧城 (1883–1943), Huang Yanpei 黃炎培 (1878–1965), and Li Shizeng 李石曾 (1881–1973), each with different motivations for promoting vegetarianism and different relationships to Buddhism.
Short Bio:
John Kieschnick is The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies and co-director of the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford. He specializes in Chinese Buddhism, with particular emphasis on its cultural history. He is the author of The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval China, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, and Buddhist Historiography in China. In connection with a regular graduate seminar, he has compiled a primer for reading Buddhist texts in Chinese. He is currently completing a translation of the Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled during the Song Dynasty and is writing a general history of Chinese vegetarianism.
Ph.D., Stanford University (1996); B.A., University of California at Berkeley (1986).

Lecture (Hybrid): Dr. Stefania Travagnin (SOAS, University of London): "Repositioning Women in the History of Chinese Buddhism: Case studies from the Late Qing and Republican Sichuan"
2026-04-09 16:00 - 18:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.609, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Datum & Uhrzeit: 9. April, 16:00–18:00 CET
Ort: KWZ. 0.609
Wer online teilnehmen möchte, kann sich gerne unter qinqin.peng@uni-goettingen.de melden.
Abstract:
The history of Chinese Buddhism has too often been told as a story of male monks, with particular emphasis on a select group of “eminent” figures. I propose a different approach by centering female communities—especially small nunneries—and attending to the so-far unheard voices of Buddhist women. As my findings show, Buddhist women have not simply witnessed the unfolding of history; they have been active agents in making it.
My research is based on archival research and multi-year fieldwork conducted in both urban and rural areas of Sichuan, encompassing one hundred temples and their resident nuns, as well as several institutes of Buddhist studies that had been established for lay Buddhist women and nuns’ education. In this talk, I will highlight the leadership roles nuns played in the religious sphere and in local communities from the late Qing and Republican periods to the present day. Based on recurring patterns and areas of excellence in my data, I have so far identified seven main themes that best illustrate Buddhist women in late Qing and Republican Sichuan: (1) entrepreneurship in education and culture; (2) inner-Sangha relations and networks; (3) involvement in wars; (4) the building or revival of Buddhist sites; (5) historiography and memorialization strategies; (6) life on sacred mountains; and (7) spiritual and societal authority. I will also offer methodological and theoretical reflections that formed the foundations of my work and that may serve as models for similar future studies.
This study aims to advance an alternative history in which nuns are protagonists, the marginal becomes exemplary, and the very notion of “eminence” is redefined; it unfolds a page of history that both complements and challenges the official (male) narrative of modern Chinese Buddhism, while illuminating the distinctive local features of Sichuan Buddhism.
Short Bio
Stefania Travagnin is a Reader in Chinese Buddhism at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where she also chairs the Centre of Buddhist Studies. Her interdisciplinary work focuses on Buddhism and Buddhist communities in modern China and Taiwan, from the late nineteenth century to the present. As co-director of the project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan,” initially supported by a Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange Research Grant (2017–2023), she has examined Buddhist communities in Sichuan, with particular attention to nuns and nunneries in the late Qing and Republican eras. She has recently completed a British Academy–funded project (2024–2025) on Tzu Chi humanitarianism beyond Asia. Travagnin has edited and co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China: Insights and Case Studies from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (Routledge 2016), the three-volume publication Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (De Gruyter 2019–2020), and Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law (Routledge 2023); she is editor-in-chief of Review of Religion and Chinese Society.

Lecture Prof. Kan Cheng-Tsung (Fo Guang University): "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)"
2026-04-23 16:00 - 18:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.602, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Datum & Uhrzeit: 23. April, 16:00–18:00 Uhr CET
Ort: KWZ. 0.602
Vortrag (Hybrid): Prof. Kan Cheng-Tsung (Fo Guang University)
Sprache: Chinesisch
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）
Der Vortrag findet im Hybrid-Format statt. Hier ist die Link: https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/j/62703037730.
Abstract:
During the War of Resistance against Japan, Chinese Buddhist monks actively participated in national salvation efforts, thereby transforming the negative image of corruption and passivity that had been associated with Buddhism since the late Qing period. After the August 13 Battle of Shanghai in 1937, the Shanghai Monastic Rescue Team was established under the leadership of Master Hongming. Comprising 120 members, the team carried out rescue operations amid intense gunfire and bombardment and suffered heavy casualties. Owing to a lack of funding and the unjust imprisonment of Master Hongming, the team was dissolved in 1938. In March 1940, Master Leguan, who had previously participated in the Shanghai rescue team, initiated the establishment of the Monastic Rescue Crew of Ciyun Monastery in the wartime capital Chongqing, which was later reorganized as the Chongqing Municipal Monastic Rescue Crew. The team consisted mainly of young monks who, after receiving medical and basic military training, undertook air-raid rescue operations in the Nan’an district of Chongqing. Carrying banners bearing the character “Buddha,” they rushed to rescue sites without waiting for the all-clear signal. Between 1940 and 1941 alone, they were mobilized more than 2,000 times and rescued over 3,000 wounded civilians. Their funding relied primarily on ritual services conducted by monasteries, and their living conditions were austere. The team continued its work for more than five years, until the victory of the War, becoming the longest-lasting and most effective monastic rescue organization of the period. Their efforts constitute a remarkable chapter in the history of Buddhist patriotism and humanitarian courage.
抗戰時期，中國佛教僧侶積極投身救國，扭轉了清末以來佛教腐敗無為的負面形象。1937年「八一三淞滬會戰」後，上海率先成立「上海僧侶救護隊」，由宏明法師領導，共120人，在槍林彈雨中搶救傷患，犧牲慘重。後因經費斷絕及宏明法師蒙冤入獄，該隊於1938年解散。1940年3月，曾參與上海救護隊的樂觀法師在重慶慈雲寺發起成立「陪都慈雲寺僧侶救護隊」，後改組為「重慶市僧侶救護隊」。全隊以青年僧侶為主，經醫護與軍事訓練後，承擔重慶南岸地區的空襲救護任務。他們手持「佛」字旗幟，不待警報解除即奔赴現場，僅1940至1941年間出勤兩千餘人次，搶救傷患逾三千人。經費主要靠寺院經懺維持，生活清苦。該隊持續運作五年餘，直至抗戰勝利，成為歷時最長、成績最顯著的僧侶救護組織，書寫了佛教界愛國護教、英勇救難的珍貴篇章。
Short Bio:
Kan Cheng-Tsung (b. 1961, Chiayi, Taiwan) is Professor and Chair of the Department at Fo Guang University. He received his PhD in History from National Cheng Kung University and previously served as Executive Director of the Archives of the Buddhist Association of China (Taiwan), as well as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts and Hsuan Chuang University. His research focuses on the history of Taiwanese Buddhism, modern East Asian Buddhist interactions, and the relationship between Buddhism and popular religion. He is the author of numerous books, including One Hundred Years of Taiwanese Buddhism (1999), The Buddhist Association of China in Taiwan (2009), Buddhism under Japanese Rule in Taiwan (1895–1945) (2011), Guanyin Belief: Local and Transregional Dimensions (2018), and East Asian Buddhism in the Late Qing and Republican Period (2025).

Student Short Film Screening & Discussion 学⽣短⽚展映及交流：影像中的⽂化相遇
2026-04-29 12:15 - 15:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.607, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
For more information please click here.

Lecture Zhang Longxi (Hunan Normal University): "The Promise and the Challenge of World Literature"
2026-04-30 16:00 - 18:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.602, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Abstract:
In this lecture, Prof. Zhang Longxi will address the current situation of “World Literature.” Although the notion of “World Literature” aims at global cosmopolitanism, the field remains heavily Eurocentric. While Goethe’s original vision was inspired by Chinese texts, modern circulation still prioritizes Western languages like English and French. Thus, academic frameworks, exemplified by Casanova’s Paris-centric model, continue to marginalize rich non-Western traditions, including Chinese classics. To achieve a truly global perspective, scholars must actively integrate diverse literary histories and expand the literary canon to reflect a genuine, rather than Western-dominated, global reality.
Short Bio:
Prof. Zhang Longxi (Ph. D. from Harvard) has taught at Peking, Harvard, the University of California, Riverside, and City University of Hong Kong, and is currently Xiaoxiang Chair Professor 潇湘特聘教授 at Hunan Normal University and Li De Chair Professor 砺德讲席教授 at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. He is an elected foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History, and the Antiquities and also of Academia Europaea. He has published more than 30 books and numerous articles in Chinese and English, including, most recently, A History of Chinese Literature (London: Routledge, 2023), and World Literature as Discovery: Expanding the World Literary Canon (London: Routledge, 2024).

Lecture: Prof. Jisi Wang (Peking University): "Continuities and Changes in China’s Foreign Policy Since the 2010s"
2026-05-06 16:15 - 17:45 | Verfügungsgebäude (VG) 4.102
6. May (Wednesday), 16:15-17:45pm
Room: VG 4.102

Abstract:
Since the 2010s, China’s reading of its strategic environment has shifted, even as the core aims of its foreign policy have remained constant. This lecture examines these continuities and changes through the deterioration of China–US relations. It argues that the central challenge for Chinese foreign policy today is how to protect national interests in an era of long-term strategic competition without allowing competition to become self-reinforcing confrontation. The question is therefore how China and the United States might still preserve room for coexistence, crisis management, and limited cooperation before the relationship hardens past recovery.
Speaker:
Professor Wang Jisi is Founding President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University. He also holds the Boya Chair Professorship (Emeritus) at the School of International Studies. His research interests include U.S. foreign policy, China’s foreign relations, and Asian security, and he is the author of widely cited works in these fields, including the influential essay “Marching Westwards: The Rebalancing of China’s Geopolitical Strategy.” Wang Jisi served as Director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from 1991 to 2005, and as Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University until 2013.

Prof. Rana Mitter (Harvard University): China and the US in a Changing Global Order: How Can History Help Us Read the Future?
2026-06-19 12:15 - 13:45 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.603, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073
Room: KWZ 0.603
Time: 19. June (Friday), 12:15-13:45
Abstract:
The world of the past 80 years is rapidly coming to a close, and a new order is emerging. On every major issue, we need new thinking. What does the new tension between the US and China mean for Asian regional security, and how will it affect Europe? What will AI and technological change affect global politics? What will be the role of the Middle Powers navigating between the US, China and Russia? And can history teach us how to understand the present and future?
Speaker:
Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the author of several books, including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013) which won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature, and was named a Book of the Year in the Financial Times and Economist. His latest book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (Harvard, 2020).

Workshop „Sprachen lernen mit Apps“
2026-06-19 14:00 - 18:00 | Kulturwissenschaftliches Zentrum, KWZ 0.607, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, Göttingen, 37073, Deutschland
Workshop „Sprachen lernen mit Apps“ mit Arvid Storch, M.A.
Freitag, 19.06.2026, 14:00–18:00 Uhr s.t.
KWZ 0.607, Universität Göttingen
Hier gelangen Sie zum Poster und hier zum Programm.
Der Workshop findet im Rahmen des BMFTR-geförderten Projekts AI-MS statt und beschäftigt sich mit Sprachlern-Apps, KI-gestützten Anwendungen sowie Blended-Learning-Konzepten.
