The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Prog ram in Buddhism and Contemporary Society and the UBC Buddhist Studies Forum are delighted to welcome Professor Raoul Birnbaum (University of Californi a\, Santa Cruz). He will present a lecture entitled\, Biographical Imperati ves\, Autobiographical Pacts: Hongyi Dashi and the Construction of Buddhist Lives in 20th c. China.
The elusive monk Hongi Dashi (弘一大師\, 1880-19 42)\, one of the pre-eminent Buddhists of twentieth-century China\, was a c omplex man who lived in a complex time. This talk looks to Hongyi’s great i nterest in studying\, editing\, and composing biographical and autobiograph ical texts\, as well as his careful visual self-representations through cal ligraphic works\, self-portraits\, and posed photographs. What was he doing and why? What relation may all of this have to the later construction of t exts and images that attempt to say something about him?
Abou t the Speaker:
Raoul Birnbaum is a professor of Buddhist stu dies and Rebele Chair in History of Art & Visual Culture at UC Santa Cruz. His publications include The Healing Buddha\, Studies on the Mysteries of M añjuśrī\, and many other works. Current research focuses on two projects: a biographical study of the enigmatic and extravagantly talented Chinese Bud dhist monk Hongyi\; and a study of the seventeenth-century monk-painter Kun can\, as part of a larger project that will include a major exhibition at t he Los Angeles County Museum of Art in late 2016.
For more informatio n\, please click her e.
View PDF poster here.
By:
Professor Raoul Birnbaum\, Buddhist Studies\, University of Calif
ornia\, Santa Cruz
Type: Event