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UID:b7399377-0c76-4edb-9546-66844c8cc6f9@nexttoyou
DTSTAMP:20261105T155138Z
DTSTART:20261110T190000Z
DTEND:20261110T200000Z
SUMMARY:Levan Book Chat—Mengxiao Wang\, Performing Enlightenment
DESCRIPTION:A discussion of Mengxiao Wang's new book\, Performing Enlighte
 nment: Buddhism and Theater in Early Modern China (Harvard University Pre
 ss\, 2026). The author will be joined in conversation by Shih-shan Susan 
 Huang (Rice University) and Wilt L. Idema (Harvard University)\, moderate
 d by Lori Meeks (USC). Organized in partnership with the Department of Ea
 st Asian Languages and Cultures\, the East Asian Studies Center\, and the
  Early Modern Studies Institute. Registration is required. REGISTER HERE\
 n\nAbout the Book: In early modern China\, a major revival of Buddhism co
 incided with a surging fascination with theater. Buddhist monastics and l
 aypeople increasingly participated in viewing\, discussing\, and writing 
 plays. Far from merely serving as a medium for conveying religious teachi
 ngs and practices\, drama became a source of deep concern for Buddhists d
 ue to the perceived tension between spiritual discipline and worldly ente
 rtainment.\n\nIn Performing Enlightenment\, Mengxiao Wang examines how Bu
 ddhist clerics and laity engaged with and drove innovations in theater du
 ring the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Drawing on an extensive rang
 e of sources—including clerical sermons\, scriptural commentaries\, templ
 e gazetteers\, morality books\, literati prose\, and dramatic texts and p
 aratexts—Wang argues that Ming-Qing Buddhists resolved the conflict betwe
 en religion and entertainment by transforming theater into a creative mod
 e of devotional practice. Consequently\, playwriting\, stage performance\
 n\nhttp://next-to-u.app/events/b7399377-0c76-4edb-9546-66844c8cc6f9
URL:http://next-to-u.app/events/b7399377-0c76-4edb-9546-66844c8cc6f9
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