Title:

The Emergence of Global Daoism

Speaker:

David A. Palmer (Professor, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong)

Sun Jiayue (Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong)

Talk Abstract:

Although Daoism is often seen as an indigenous Chinese religion, the dissemination of Daoist culture, beliefs, and practices outside contemporary China is not a new phenomenon. China’s traditional sphere of influence has facilitated the spread of Daoism to its neighbors; Chinese migrants have exported and transplanted Daoism into other countries, especially since the nineteenth century; and an increasing number of non-Chinese in the United States and Europe have been studying and constructing their own discourses and practices of Daoism in the past few decades. Is Daoism globalized, and how can we conceptualize these various existing ways of understanding and practicing Daoism around the globe? This talk will examine three patterns of Daoist globalization and the accompanying issues, notably surrounding anxieties around Daoist authority and authenticity.

Speaker Bio:

David A. Palmer is a Professor jointly appointed by the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. He received his Ph.D. from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. His interdisciplinary research and teaching are situated at the intersection of sociology and anthropology, and are informed by scholarly traditions in history, religious studies and Sinology. He is best known for his award-winning books The Religious Question in Modern China (Joseph Levenson Award of the Association for Asian Studies and PROSE award of the American Publishers’ Association, co-authored with V. Goossaert) and Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China (Francis L.K. Hsu Award of the Society for East Asian Anthropology). His latest book, Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality (co-authored with E. Siegler), was published in 2017 by the University of Chicago Press. He is currently leading the “Asian Religious Connections” research cluster at his Institute, where he directs projects on Daoism among the Yao in northern Laos (i.e., the Yao Dao Project, see https://yaodao.hku.hk/) and on religious entanglements with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (see https://asiar.hku.hk/brinfaith/home/).

Sun Jiayue is a Ph.D. student at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Hong Kong. Supervised by Professor David A. Palmer, he is a member of the Yao Dao Project team. His research interests include Chinese religion, ethnic minority culture, and popular literature. He is currently working on a project about transethnic Lu Ban worship, ritual, and carpentry in South China.