Global China in a Religious World
BRINFAITH 2023 International Conference
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?
This 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.
SESSION I - AUG 17 & 18 [by invitation ONLY]
This session is organised by Asian Religious Connections Research Cluster, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HKIHSS), The University of Hong Kong.
Scholars and experts hailing from diverse regions and disciplines have gathered in Hong Kong last week to share their research findings and engage in thought-provoking conversations. This conference serves as an intellectual platform, deepening our understanding of the multifaceted interactions between China and religious communities worldwide.
"We are thrilled to invite the public to join us for the upcoming sessions of the BRINFAITH 2023 International Conference. This is a unique opportunity for individuals from various backgrounds to engage with leading BRI experts and contribute to the exploration of the religious implications of China's global presence," said the ASIAR Cluster Head Professor David Palmer of the Institute.
Session II - Aug 22 & 23 [open for registration]
This session is organised by Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore via ZOOM.
Program rundown - Day I // Aug 22, 2023
12:00 – 12:15 Opening Remarks
Panel I – Myanmar
Chair: Emily Hertzman || Discussant: Qian Junxi12:15 – 13:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
Achieving 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)
Trans-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)
13:00 – 13:30 Discussion
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Panel II – Chinese religious circulations: China, Southeast Asia and Beyond
Chair: Joseba Estévez || Discussant: Huang Weishan18:00 – 19:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
The Transformation and Transmission of Chinese Shigandang Belief in Modern Vietnam by Hoang-Yen Nguyen (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCMC)
State, Space and Identity: Cantonese death ritual in contemporary Singapore by CHAN Hong Yin Donald (Tel Aviv University)
Migrants, Monks, Monasteries: A Study of the Buddhist Networks between China and Malaya by GOOI Ming Kuan (University of Malaya)
Struggle of identity of transnational Buddhist meditation practices in Contemporary China by LAU, Ngar-sze (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
19:15 – 20:15 Discussion
====== 20:15 – 20:30 Break ======
Panel III – Africa
Chair: Ning Rundong || Discussant: Li Ji20:30 – 21:30 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
Muslim Identity and Religious Encounter of Hui Muslims in Dakar, Senegal by Deng Zheyuan (University of Florida)
Buddhist Networks and Discourses in and outside Madagascar by Xuefei Shi (Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway)
Assembling Shaolin in Zambia: Chinese Migrants, Philanthropy and Cultural Heritage by Hangwei Li (China Agricultural University)
21:30 – 22:15 Discussion
====== End of Day I ======
Program rundown - Day II // – Aug 23, 2023
Panel 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 Iskra12:00 – 13:15 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
Living with the Yinfrastructure: Shadow Infrastructure of Chinese Popular Religion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia by Emily Hertzman (National University of Singapore)
Weaving for gods: Eng Dian Huat and the Sino-Singapore Teochew Embroidery Trade, 1950-60s by Yu Kang & Wang Sisi (National University of Singapore)
From Replicating Hometown to Tracing Roots: A Case Study of Singapore’s Ling Hong Tong Temple by Wu Qi (National University of Singapore)
The Chinese temples, monasteries, regional associations and cemeteries of Kolkata: evidence from epigraphy by Kenneth Dean (National University of Singapore)
13:15 – 13:55 Discussion
====== 13:55– 14:15 Break ======
Panel V – Islam and transnational connections in China
Chair: Chan Kim-kwong || Discussant: Janice Hyeju Jeong14:15 – 15:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
Money is Everything: Ineffective Islamic Constraints in the Labor Market by Wen Meizhen (Zhejiang Normal University)
The 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)
15:00 – 15:30 Discussion
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Panel VI – Temples and BRI connections
Chair: Qian Junxi || Discussant: Tansen Sen18:00 – 19:00 Paper presentations and discussants’ comments
In Search of a Persian Past in Yangzhou: The ‘New Silk Road’ Initiative and China-Iran Relations by Pascale Bugnon (University of Geneva)
One belt, One road, One old horse- Trans-cultural Buddhist Heritage in China’s oldest Temple by Kai Shmushko (Leiden University\Tel Aviv University)
Working on the Wonder – Guanyin devotionalism and transnational spiritual efficacy in contemporary secular China and beyond by Weishan Huang (Hong Kong Shue Yan University)
19:00 – 19:45 Discussion
====== 19:45 – 20:00 Break ======
20:00 – 21:00 Closing Remarks
Session III - Oct 27 & 28 [open for registration]
This session is organised by Center for Global Asia, NYU Shanghai. Session chairs and discussants are to be confirmed.
More details will be released in due course …. stay tuned!