The Organization of Life in Ancient and Early Medieval China: Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist Approaches

Brown Bag luncheon with Prof. Dennis Schilling

“Early civilizations have different ideas what life is compared to our times. When does life begin, when does it end? What regulates the physiological and biological functions of the human body? What makes certain forms of life—plants, animals, human beings—differ from each other? Beyond the history of anthropology, ideas of life have a tremendous impact on the organization of society and religion. The order of life textures society: religion and culture controls life resources, stratifies society, discriminates people so that new ideas about life inevitably call for alternative ways of living together.”

Prof. Dennis Schilling (Ph.D, Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany), Professor of Chinese Philosophy at Renmin University in Beijing, teaches and writes on early and medieval Chinese philosophy; The Book of Changes [Yijing]; Women in Early China; and Comparative Philosophy. In addition to his numerous books in German, he is the co-editor of the English volume How Should One Live?: Comparing Ethics in Ancient China and Greco-Roman Antiquity.

Lunch will be provided. This lecture is sponsored by the Religious Studies Program. This talk is part of Religious Studies Week. For more information please contact Tobias Zuern.