Thank you everyone for coming to Heidelberg and making the conference on Buddhism and modern East Asian literature and film really great!
—
Buddhism in Modern East Asian Literature and Film: Discovering the Repressed Karma in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan
Room 400.02.12
Day 1 (June 12, 2026)
| 13:00 | Hans M. Krämer | Welcome by Heidelberg University |
| 13:10 | Martin Blahota
|
Welcome and introduction |
| Panel 1: Buddhist Images in Modern Japan, China, and Taiwan | ||
| 13:30-14:10 | Ama Michihiro
(Ōtani University, Japan) |
Shakyamuni Buddha Twisted and Tangled in the Spider’s Web: Images of Shakyamuni Buddha by Paul Carus, D.T. Suzuki, and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke |
| 14:10-14:20 | Hai Peng
(University of Pittsburgh, USA) |
Comments |
| 14:20-14:30 | Discussion | |
| 14:30-15:10 | William Chin Fung Ng
(Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany) |
Natural Disasters, Worldly Cares, and Utopianism: Salvationist Visions in the Buddhist Poetry of Late Qing and Republican China |
| 15:10-15:20 | Matthias Schumann | Comments |
| 15:20-15:30 | Discussion | |
| 15:30-16:10 | Martin Blahota
(Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic/Heidelberg University, Germany) |
Between Mazu and Nichiren: The Unstable Spirituality and Japanese Imperialism in Nishikawa Mitsuru’s Taiwanese Literature |
| 16:10-16:20 | Hai Peng | Comments |
| 16:20-16:30 | Discussion | |
| 16:30-17:10 | Feng Xiangjun
(University of Toronto, Canada) |
Transforming Bodhidharma: The Apocryphal Yijin jing 易筋經 and Modern Chinese Martial Arts Fiction |
| 17:10-17:20 | Rolf Scheuermann
(Heidelberg University, Germany) |
Comments |
| 17:20-17:30 | Discussion | |
| 17:30 | Light refreshments | |
| Associated Events | ||
| 19:00-20:00 | Martin Blahota | Opening of the exhibition “Pan-Asianist Solidarity: Visual Propaganda of Manchukuo, 1932–1945.” |
| 20:00-22:00 | Martin Blahota | Screening of a Manchukuo film Watashi no uguisu 私の鶯 (My Nightingale) with Japanese and Chinese subtitles |
Day 2 (June 13, 2026)
| Panel 2: Reenvisioning Karma in Republican China | ||
| 10:00-10:40 | Ying Lei
(Amherst College, USA) |
Reading for Enlightenment: Liang Qichao and the Buddhist Beginning of the Fiction Revolution in Modern China |
| 10:40-10:50 | Lennart Riedel
(Heidelberg University, Germany) |
Comments |
| 10:50-11:00 | Discussion | |
| 11:00-11:40 | Matthias Schumann
(Heidelberg University, Germany) |
The Power of the Dharma: Miracle Tales and the Reconfiguration of Buddhism in Republican China |
| 11:40-11:50 | Hai Peng | Comments |
| 11:50-12:00 | Discussion | |
| 12:00-12:40 | Joey Yiqiao Yan
(GSRL-CNRS, France) |
Triumph over Karma? Eschatological Discourse and Buddhist Demon-Subjugation Rituals in Republican China |
| 12:40-12:50 | Matthias Schumann | Comments |
| 12:50-13:00 | Discussion | |
| 13:00 | Lunch break with light refreshments | |
| Panel 3: Power of Buddhism in Modern and Post-Modern East Asia | ||
| 14:00-14:40 | Francisca Cho
(Georgetown University, USA) |
Absent Mothers and Spiritual Temptresses: The Persistence of Korean Buddhist Cinema |
| 14:40-14:50 | Hai Peng | Comments |
| 14:50-15:00 | Discussion | |
| 15:00-15:40 | Kamila Hladíková
(Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic) |
Coming to Terms with the “Unspeakable”: Buddhist Interpretations of Cultural Trauma in Sinophone Tibetan Fiction |
| 15:40-15:50 | Lennart Riedel | Comments |
| 15:50-16:00 | Discussion | |
| 16:00-16:40 | Teng-Kuan Ng
(Singapore Management University, Singapore) |
Tracing the Contours of Wisdom Cinema in Contemporary China |
| 16:40-16:50 | Hai Peng | Comments |
| 16:50-17:00 | Discussion | |
| 17:00-17:20 | Martin Blahota | Closing remarks |
