April 13, 2014, Penn State Abington College

THE ORIENTAL CLUB
OF PHILADELPHIA
____
REGIONAL
SYMPOSIUM
APRIL 13, 2014
ITINERARY
9:00–9:30 Registration and coffee 9:30–10:15 Welcome by Dr. Norah Shultz,
Associate Dean, Penn State Abington
Keynote address by Dr. Nathan Sivin,
Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania 10:15–10:45
Coffee break
10:45–12:00 Panel A
12:00–1:30
Lunch break
1:30–2:45
Panel B
2:45–3:15
Coffee break
3:15–4:30
Panel C
4:30–5:00 Business meeting and presidential election
(members new and old are welcome)
PANEL A
Frank Hoffman, West Chester University
Questions of Knowledge and Justification in the Angulimalasutta
Kamma ripens at different times. Buddha takes the view that it is fortunate for Angulimala to be beaten now so he does not have to suffer in
niraya for thousands of years. Knowledge that this is so in Buddhism
depends on personal experience of abhijñā (special knowledge, psychic
powers) achievable in meditation. The Buddha’s view raises the question,
“can there be a good justification for those without realization to believe
that skilled meditators indeed have realization”?
Stephen Lang, Penn Museum
The Guangshengsi Murals at the Penn Museum
The Penn Museum is undertaking a conservation survey of two large murals originally from Guangsheng Monastery in Shanxi Province. Current
efforts involve a complete digital documentation of the pieces along with
a conservation assessment that will lead to a larger restoration project
over the next two years. This presentation will cover how the paintings
came into the museum and the ongoing debate about location, iconography, and dating of the murals.
Patricia Kolbe, Temple University
The Anomaly of Buddhist Vegetarianism in China
Though even today in most parts of the world Buddhist monastics are not
vegetarian, and though the most influential monastic codes do not require
abstention from meat (provided it is “pure” under the three criteria), by
the fifth and sixth centuries in China the pressure to adopt a vegetarian
diet was on the rise, and after the sixth century vegetarianism was in general rigorously practiced by monks and nuns. This presentation will take
a brief look at some of the unique influences that may have contributed to
this anomaly among Buddhist communities in Asia.
Gooyong Kim, Temple University
K-pop Idol Girl Groups: Cultural Genre of Neoliberalism in Confucian
Korean Society
As a means of economic profiteering since Korea’s market devastation
owing to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the subsequent IMF bailout, there have been burgeoning numbers of K-pop groups that market
various themes of sexualized feminity. Combined with a rigid Confucian
gender hierarchy, the dominant genre of K-pop idol groups represent how
Korean society has been preoccupied with unchecked desire of economic
growth or prosperity by systematic commodification of feminity. In other
words, the current proliferation of girl groups as the dominant cultural
genre of Korean society has been Korea’s systematic response to its
political and economic crises to regain Korea’s prowess in global market
competition, by exploiting obedient, docile female bodies that the society
has capitalized on their un- and underpaid labour during its aggressive
industrialization from the 60s, to the 80s.
Mark McNicholas, Pennsylvania State University, Altoona College
Commoners Advising the Throne in Mid-Qing China
I am a historian of China interested in encounters between commoners and the state in the Qing period (1644-1911). My current research
involves archival cases of provincial scholars submitting policy advice
to the throne in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These
cases open windows on political culture at a turning point in the dynasty’s fortunes. The policy recommendations reflect contemporary affairs
and popular opinion at the lower reaches of educated society. Official
responses (punishments and rewards) indicate ambiguous and shifting
rules of engagement, mirroring ambivalence over the larger tradition of
“opening wide the paths of speech” (guangkai yanlu).
Charlotte Moore, West Chester University
The Role of the Body-Mind in Kūkai’s Esoteric Buddhist Philosophy
The intention of this paper is to examine the role of the body in Kūkai’s
esoteric Buddhist philosophy with the hope that it will offer another,
non-dual, perspective on the mind/body problem. I argue, more specifically, that in Kūkai’s philosophy, the body-mind is the site, or “locus”
for enlightenment. I provide evidence for this claim by examining four
aspects of Japanese Buddhist philosophy, namely, the “three mysteries,”
“body mandala,” the “subtle body,” and the role of “bliss,” or sexual
energy in tantric meditation. The primary focus of the present inquiry is
Kūkai’s fascicle entitled Attaining Enlightenment in This Very Existence.
Ori Tavor, University of Pennsylvania
Beyond Apologetics: Taking Pre-modern Chinese Ritual Theory Seriously
The rise of Ritual Studies as an interdisciplinary academic discipline has
engendered a renewed interest in the practices of non-Western religious
traditions. Most modern theorists, however, tend to treat pre-modern
textual accounts of ritual as primary sources that need to be read and
analyzed using modern Western methodology in order to make sense. In
my talk, I will argue that much can be gained by reading early Chinese
discussions on ritual at face value, as sophisticated textual units aimed
at theorizing ritual. Distilling a common approach to the theorization of
ritual in China can thus provide us with alternative solutions to the challenges this field faces today.
PANEL B
Erin Schoneveld, Haverford College
Women, Film, Japan
What does “women’s cinema” signify in the era of post-feminist culture? What role do Japanese women directors play in the contemporary
filmmaking world? Through an evaluation of feature films by director
Kawase Naomi (b. 1969) - who is regarded by many as Japan’s leading
female filmmaker - I will examine the narrative and aesthetic content
her work as well as highlight some of the important themes and stylistic
devices that serve to underscore Kawase’s filmmaking approach.
Xiuqin Zhou, Penn Museum
Dating of the Emperor Tang Taizong’s Six Stone Horse Reliefs
It is a received view that the famous Emperor Tang Taizong’s six stone
horse reliefs, erected at his mausoleum in Shaanxi, China, were carved
during the second half of the Zhenguan reign between 636 to 649 CE.
Recently, this dating has been challenged by Chinese scholars, claiming
that the horse reliefs were completed by Taizong’s son, Emperor Gaozong. This talk examines the validity of the received view by exploring
associated Tang texts, the hidden motive behind carving the stone horses,
recent archaeological findings, and contemporary stone sculpture erected
at the mausoleum site.
Adam Valerio, Temple University
Buddhist Psychology: To Whom Does it Belong?
“Buddhist psychology” is a slippery category. As a mutually constructed
article of Buddhist, psychotherapeutic, and scholastic culture, it is fair
to ask, “Who gets to define this term?” Its semantic character shifts in
accordance with its ownership—from Buddhist scholar to Western psychologist to lay Buddhist to practitioner of Buddhist-inspired therapies
such as Naikan and Morita to contributor within the Japanese Buddhism
Psychological Association—and thus new psychologies and also new
Buddhisms emerge. This talk will raise several crucial questions in
regard to this phenomenon, linking it to a project aimed at using the
category of Buddhist psychology as a lens for deepening our understanding of the relationship between psychology and Buddhism, historically,
philosophically, as fields of study, and as social forces.
Gregory Alles, McDaniel College
Are Rathvas Intuitive Dualists?
In March 2013, with the help of two colleagues in India, I conducted
a survey of 175 college students, mostly Rathvas, in what is now Chhotaudepur District, Gujarat. In the fall I repeated the survey with 358
students at two colleges in Maryland. The primary focus of the survey was afterlife beliefs and views about dharma. In this presentation,
however, I want to share briefly some striking and unexpected results
pertaining to the conception of the human person and solicit responses
about them. The results raise questions about a presumed universal intuitive dualism advocated, e.g., by scholars like Paul Bloom.
Madeleine Wilcox, University of Pennsylvania
Shanghai’s Lane-House Musical Comedy Grows Up: Left-Wing Urban
Films in the Civil War Period
My dissertation, ‘The Lane-house and the Role of Domestic Space in
Shanghai’s Cinema,’ uses the hybrid space of the longtang fangzi, or
lane-house, to uncover the ways in which representation of domestic
space in Shanghai’s left-wing film movement links revolutionary politics
and cinematic aesthetics. In my presentation I’ll compare scenes from
1937 Street Angels and the 1948 Myriad of Lights to demonstrate a tonal
shift in what I am calling the “lane-house sensibility” as it moves from
youthful musical comedy of the 1930s to the family dramas of the late
1940s.
Dennis Stromback, Temple University
Understanding the Meaning of Violence through an Asian Theological
Perspective
The dominant epistemological orientation on the structure of violence
is grounded in dualistic postures that champions noetic reflection--this
mode of inquiry where the mind is reflecting on the reflections of the
world. While this view may seem innocuous, what is foreclosed, as a result, is how the origins of violence may be found in the topological space
of religious experiences’a space where the absolute is realized to contain
its own negation. I will cite Nishida Kitaro’s religious worldview as a
mode of inquiry that can illuminates how dualistic positions that privilege noetic reflection teeters on becoming problematic in regards to the
subject of violence because noetic reflection fails to unmask the deepest
aspects of one’s identity that may be responsible for one’s participation
in violence.
Jeffrey Rice, The University of Delaware and The College of New Jersey
Re-creating Tang History in Eleventh-Century China
In eleventh-century China, the Song emperor commissioned a revision
of the official history of the Tang, which had been compiled one hundred
years earlier. At the same time, the combination of woodblock printing
technology and a growing cash economy created an unprecedented boom
in book production and consumption, in which privately compiled books
on history were very popular. These competing versions of Tang history can shine a light on the motivations and methods for revising Tang
history, which furthers our understanding of both Tang history itself, and
of the historiographical practices of the Song authors who shaped that
history.
PANEL C
Marcus Bingenheimer, Temple University
Names and Dates in Classical Chinese Digital Corpora
The talk will introduce the Digital Archive of Temple Gazetteers and
show how dates, person and place names are tagged. This tagging allows
for a ‘distant’ reading of the gazetteers revealing facts about the corpus
that were previously unknown. We will also show how an onomastic inquiry can guide research by leading to new research questions. Research
into dates on the level of corpus too will be shown to provide fruitful
new perspectives into the history of sacred sites.
Kathlene Baldanza, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Mongol Tactics in Vietnam
The three Mongol campaigns in Vietnam at the end of the thirteenth
century are surprisingly neglected in scholarly research. In his 1333
book, Annam Chi Luoc (“Brief History of Annam”), the author, Le Tac
recounts his own tragic encounter with Mongol troops and subsequent
exile in China. Annam Chi Luoc shows Asia in the midst of a military
transition, as soldiers continued to use war elephants while adopting
deadlier gunpowder weapons. Using Annam Chi Luoc as a source enriches our understanding of Mongol tactics and the toll their campaigns took
within Vietnam.
Zehao Zhou, York College of Pennsylvania
Using Prison Art as an Academic Resource to Teach Multidisciplinary and
Critical Thinking Skills and Support Curricular and Co-curricular Activities
This presentation will discuss multiple ways to use the Golden Venture
refugee art created by 108 Chinese immigration detainees in the York
County Prison between 1993 and 1997 to teach critical thinking skills
in multiple disciplines in a college setting. The presenter assisted the
refugees in the creation of the art works and was interviewed in 2013 by
StoryCorps about his volunteer experience with the detainees.
Bert Beynen, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Temple University
The Symbolism of the Panther in the Literature of the Middle East
This paper analyses the panther in the Dionysus worship, Ferdowsi’s
Shahnameh, and Shota Rustaveli’s The Man in the Panther Skin (MPS):
it indicates uncontrolled emotion. This explains why Rostam puts on a
panther skin in battle: in battle emotion need not be controlled. In Dionysian rites the participants dress like animals since in the rites emotions
are not controlled. Avtandil, the hero of MPS, too, is like a panther in
battle. Tariel, the second hero of MPS, wears his panther skin when he
cannot control his emotions.
Masako Nakagawa, Villanova University
Somei Uzawa (1872-1955) and Showa Japan
Somei Uzawa(1872-1955), born in Nagae was lawyer, politician and
Judicial doctor. He led the defense team at the time of the International
Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was born in Nagae, Chiba and
graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. Uzawa was elected member
of Lower House in 1908 and served six terms. In 1928 he was elected
member of House of Lords. In 1934 he was appointed the first principal
of Meiji Middle in 1912 School and the President of Meiji University in 1934. He was also the first president of Meiji University Oratory
Club. His statues stand on Meiji University campus and at Meiji Middle
School. At Tokyo Trial Uzawa, He wrote books and articles on judicial
prudence. Uzawa, chief of the defense section, gave the closing statement. Uzawa’s life is closely integrated in Showa Japan.
Kin Cheung, Temple University
Emei Shan Tourism Company Ltd.: Sacred Buddhist Mountain Listing in
China’s Shenzhen Stock Market
Since Mount Emei launched a publicly traded stock in 1997, other
Chinese Buddhist sites in China have made plans for their own Initial
Public Offerings. Despite increasing scholarship on Buddhist economics
regarding tourism, commercialization, and consumerism, there is little
consideration towards Buddhist involvement in raising and growing
capital through the contemporary epitome of capitalism: the stock market. What exactly are the financial and religious implications of buying,
trading, or owning shares of a Buddhist mountain stock? Looking at
this unique development in fundraising will contribute to the overall
conversation on religious tourism, temple economics, and contemporary
Chinese Buddhist engagement with capitalism.
The Oriental Club of Philadelphia Leadership
President: Pierce Salguero
Secretary/Treasurer: Stephen Lang
Organizing Committee Members: Kin Cheung, Adam Valerio
Directory of Attendees
Kathlene Baldanza
[email protected]
Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
Assistant Professor of History and
Asian Studies
Bert Beynen
[email protected]
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute,
Temple University
Instructor
Marcus Bingenheimer
[email protected]
Temple University
Assistant Professor
Kin Cheung
[email protected]
Temple University
PhD Candidate
Frank Hoffman
[email protected]
West Chester University
Professor
Gooyong Kim
[email protected]
Temple University
Adjunct Professor
Patricia Kolbe
[email protected]
Temple University
Ph.D Student
Stephen Lang
[email protected]
Penn Museum
Keeper, Asian Section
Tingyu Liu
[email protected]
University of Pennsylvania
Mark McNicholas
[email protected]
Pennsylvania State University,
Altoona College
Assistant Professor of History
Fuquan Mo
[email protected]
University of Pennsylvania
Charlotte Moore
[email protected]
West Chester University
Adjunct Instructor
Ori Tavor
[email protected]
University of Pennsylvania
Lecturer
Masako Nakagawa
[email protected]
Villanova University
Associate Professor, IGIS
Sharlie Conroy Ushioda
[email protected]
Lower Merion School District
Retired High School Teacher
Jeffrey Rice
[email protected]
The University of Delaware and
The College of New Jersey
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Adam Valerio
[email protected]
Temple University
Instructor and PhD Student
Pierce Salguero
[email protected]
Penn State University,
Abington College
Assistant Professor of Asian
History and Religious Studies
Erin Schoneveld
[email protected]
Haverford College
Assistant Professor
Dennis Stromback
[email protected]
Temple University
PhD Student
Madeleine Wilcox
[email protected]
University of Pennsylvania
PhD Candidate
Zehao Zhou
[email protected]
York College of Pennsylvania
Professor
Xiuqin Zhou
[email protected]
University of Pennsylvania
Museum Senior Registrar
NOTES
NOTES
RESTAURANT OPTIONS
(in order of distance from campus)
Colonial Quy Bau (Vietnamese):
101 Moreland Rd, Willow Grove, (215) 346-2328
Ooka (Japanese): 1109 Easton Rd, Willow Grove, (215) 659-7688
Tiffin (Indian): 8080 Old York Rd, Elkins Park, (215) 635-9205
Szechuan Mandarin: 8080 Old York Rd, Elkins Park, (215) 782-9081
Yong Hwa Roo (Korean): 6779 N 5th St, Philadelphia, (215) 224-4414
Uzbekistan: 12012 Bustleton Ave, Philadelphia, (215) 671-1990
This listing is for general informational purposes only.
These business or organizations are not endorsed or recommended in any
official capacity by Pennsylvania State University, its faculties, departments,
divisions, or administrative units.
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