Department seminar: Lizhu Fan and Na Chen

Lecture series: Revival of Confucianism in China

Lizhu Fan, Professor of Sociology

Return of the Ancestors: Lineage Tradition in Southern Zhejiang

This presentation is based on anthropological observations of lineage traditions in the Southern Zhejiang, the birthplace of China's private economy since the post-Mao reform. Many villages have now rebuilt their ancestral halls and recompiled their genealogies. The lineage tradition, which used to be considered as a lost Confucian cultural heritage, is clearly on the rise. The current revival of lineage tradition is not a simple return to the earlier pattern; instead it is closely related to local development, to specific social ties, to local political changes and to the globalization.

Na Chen, Research Fellow, Fudan Development Institute

The Birth of a Religious Group - An Ethnographic Study of Confucian Congregation

This is an ethnographic study of the Confucian Congregation, an emerging religious group in Fujian Province, southeast China. The presentation provides an account of the origin, the beliefs and rituals, the organization, and the development strategy of the Confucian Congregation. It started with one person providing supernatural healings and developed into an “organized religion” with hundreds of members in seven franchised branches. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the contemporary trend of the revival of Confucianism in China, the Congregation leaders were even able to make a seemingly impossible matter come true, that is, to achieve a legitimate status for their “superstitious” group.

About the lecturers

FAN Lizhu is a Professor of Sociology and a Director of Globalization and Religious Studies at Fudan University. As a pioneer scholar on the study of the sociology of religion in China, she has engaged in and historical and ethnographic studies of Chinese folk religious beliefs, contributed to sociological theories of religion, and the general study of the trends of religious beliefs in modern Chinese society. She has published widely both in Chinese and English. She taught at many distinguished universities in US and Europe. Now her focus is on the studies of Globalization and Religious Transformation.

Professor Na Chen is a research fellow at the Fudan Development Institute, Fudan University. He received his academic degrees from Peking University in China and the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University in the US. His research interests include sociology of religion, sociology of development and intercultural communication. He has published dozens of papers and book contributions, both in Chinese and in English. His recent research includes the study of “Confucian Congregation” in Southeast China, the revival of Confucianism and the reconstruction of Chinese identity, and the issue of “religion” and “superstition”.

Light refreshments will be served in the Corner Room after the seminar. All interested are welcome!