October 14-18, 2001
Held at Beijing, P.R. China
Encounters and Dialogues

Co-sponsored by the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, P.R. China and
The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, University of San Francisco

This scholarly and international conference, to be held on the 400th anniversary of Matteo Ricci’s arrival in Beijing, will examine and review historical and cultural encounters and dialogues between China and the West in late Ming and early Qing dynasties through presentations and discussions.

The goal of the conference is to promote research on primary resources in Chinese-Western cultural history and to increase awareness for preservation of historical and cultural relics. Subjects may include history, art, language, science, literature, theology and comparative analysis of editions of scholarly works. Research works are expected to be based on new studies of primary source materials. Special emphasis is on the historical and cultural encounters and dialogues between Western missionaries and Chinese people. (top)

Conference program

Panel I: Diplomacy and mission before 1800
This panel offers a close look at the pre-1800 history of commercial and diplomatic relations between China and Western countries. By examining specific commercial or diplomatic cases, the panelists will offer a fresh perspective as to how circulation of goods and knowledge affected the relationship between China and the West, especially the China mission. Panelists are also encouraged to examine how the above circumstances affected later Western imperialistic rhetoric towards China.

Panel II: Grassroots Exchanges in Local Contexts
This panel focuses on micro-historical studies of local Christian communities in China in the late Ming and early Qing period. By discussing how the "Teachings of the Lord of Heaven" spread in selected locations, scholars will examine the diversity, local nature as well as the national integration of the China mission. Panelists are also encouraged to explore how Christianity fits in the local religious landscape of China's different regions.

Panel III: Presenting the Message
This panel discusses how language and literary forms developed in the context of inter-cultural transmission, and how the missionaries, their converts, and the Chinese people at large dealt with traditional and new ideas through Chinese literary genres or grammatical features in the Chinese language, and how interactions took place in both directions, East and West.

Panel IV: Religion and Science: Organic Project and Chinese Responses
This panel will examine how the interplay of religion and science worked both from the Western and Chinese viewpoints during the late Ming and early Qing period. Panelists are asked to explore issues such as the association of Aristotelian philosophy or science with revealed religion as introduced by the Jesuits, as well as the ways Chinese emperors, courtiers, literati and other commoners understood the relationship between Western science and religion.

Panel V: Artistic Paradigms and Practices
This panel explores how cultural exchanges took place in art in the late Ming and early Qing period. Panelists are encouraged to reconstruct not only the historical and material circumstances of production, but also the cultural meaning in Chinese and Western artifacts and practices in the areas of aesthetics, perspective, optics, and so on, with special attention to the workings of the social networks of art.

Panel VI: Preserving Memory: Collections on Chinese-Western Relations
The focus of this panel is on the archival preservation of historical documents. Panelists will present the contents and history of some of the collections and materials in different depositories and discuss their significance for the study of the Chinese-Western relations.

Panel VII: Constructing Memory: Historiographical Issues
This panel will explore how scholars and officials in China and the West until the early 20th century studied the encounters and dialogues in the late Ming and early Qing periods, historiographical strategies and methodologies they employed in their research and the results and impact of their approaches have been in the study of Chinese-Western cultural history.

For inquiries in the Chinese language contact:
Institute of World Religions of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
5 Jianguo Mennei Street Beijing 100732, P.R. China
Tel: (86-10) 6513-8521 Fax: (86-10) 6522-1532
For inquiries in other languages, contact the Ricci Institute (top)

April 25, 2001
5:30pm - 6:30pm, Reception follows
University of San Francisco
Lone Mountain Campus, Room 100
San Francisco, CA 94117
Home Afar: The Life of Jewish Communities in Shanghai during WWII

Please join the USF Center for the Pacific Rim and its Ricci Institute for a free public lecture by Dr. Peter Vamos on the life of Jewish Communities in Shanghai during WWII.

Dr. Peter Vamos is Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. and Lecturer in Chinese Language and History at Karoli Gaspar University, Hungary.

Sponsored by the Kiriyama Chair for the Pacific Rim Studies at the Center for the Pacific Rim and EDS-Stewart Chair at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History

FREE and OPEN to the Public. Reservations recommended.
Call the USF Center for the Pacific Rim at 415-422-6357
E-mail: pacrim@usfca.edu (top)

March 2, 2001
8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Lone Mountain Campus of USF, Pacific Rim Conference Center (Rm LM 148)
2800 Turk St, between Masonic and Parker

Gateways of Power: 21st Century Religion and Ritual in China, Tibet, and Japan

Co-sponsored byCenter for the Pacific Rim, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and the Ricci Institute

A one-day symposium and reception honoring Peter J. Coughlan, President, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Institute focused on the ways in which some of East Asia’s most long-lived religious traditions are actively adapting to as well as influencing both subtle and dramatic sociocultural change.

This unique event will not only bring together leading scholars discussing the contemporary practice of Christianity in China, Buddhism in Tibet and Japan, and Shinto in Japan, it will also give equal time to religious specialists from each of these traditions. A Christian missionary, a Tibetan-Buddhist lama, a Pure Land Buddhist priest, and a Shinto priest will provide firsthand perspectives on the state of religion and ritual in their respective communities.

The symposium's keynote speaker is Professor Catherine Bell from Santa Clara University, a leading specialist in the study of ritual practice and theory. Following the presentations, ritual performances from each of the traditions will conclude the symposium, which is open to the public and is sponsored by The Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at the University of San Francisco.

For more information, please contact:

John Nelson, Symposium Chair
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94117
Phone: 415-422-5093; Fax 415-422-5356; E-Mail: nelsonj@usfca.edu. (top)

February 12, 2001
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
USF Lone Mountain Campus, Room 100

Social Change and Spiritual Development in China Today

Free Public Lecture presented by
The Ricci Institute at the USF Center for Pacifc Rim

Keynote Speaker: Richard P. Madsen, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, University of California at San Diego

China's current pace of development brings opportunity and disruption to every level of society. In this crucible of change, personal commitments and social values are being tested and refined.

These challenges of modernization have stirred China's soul. Today many in China actively affirm the spiritual dimensions of their own lives. Intellectuals and artists alike seek to strengthen their society's value resources and moral sensitivities. Interest increases in the wisdom traditions of classical China and Christianity, as well as new religious movements.

This colloquium brings together a small group of experienced resource persons, to begin a cross-disciplinary conversation concerning spiritual development in China today. Christianity in contemporary China will be a significant, but not exclusive, focus of discussion.

The intent is (a) to share information currently available from the several perspective represented by the invited participants and (b) to move toward establishing a network among scholars and others, both in China and beyond, engaged in the study of spirituality and spiritual/moral development in contemporary China.

The colloquium will begin with a public lecture by Richard Madsen, Ph.D. of the University of California--San Diego, scheduled for the late afternoon. On the following morning, Professor Madsen will join an invited group of twenty colleagues for two working sessions, each consisting of brief panel presentations and full group discussion. The formal colloquium will end in a luncheon meal. An informal research caucus will meet briefly in an early afternoon session, to discuss next steps in developing a network among scholars interested in issues of spirituality and spiritual/moral development in contemporary China.

Reservations recommended.
For more information, please contact the Ricci Institute. (top)