Stephen F. Teiser, D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion, received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1986 and joined the faculty there in 1988. His first book, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China in 1988, won the ACLS Committee on History of Religions for best first book in the field. Since then, he has been a central figure in the global study of Chinese religion frequently collaborating with scholars in Asia and Europe. His scholarship has ranged in subject and method from sociologically informed philological studies of canonical Buddhist and Chinese religious texts, to the codicology and ritual structures of excavated manuscripts, to the art and ritual of Buddhist cave shrines from India to China. His scholarship shaped the field of the study of Chinese religions perhaps more than that of any other living scholar. His other major works include the books “The Scripture on the Ten Kings” and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, 1994, which was awarded the Joseph Levenson Book Prize (pre-twentieth century) in Chinese Studies; Reinventing the Wheel: Paintings of Rebirth in Medieval Buddhist Temple, which won the Prix Stanislas Julien by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Institut de France; and, most recently, Yili yu fojiao yanjiu 仪礼与佛教研究 (“Ritual and the Study of Buddhism”), based on the Guanghua Lectures by Distinguished Scholars in the Humanities, delivered at Fudan University. He has also made profound contributions to undergraduate teaching, editing the series “Columbia Readings of Buddhist Literature,” which made several classic works available alongside background essays by leading scholars. He has trained generations of undergraduate and graduate students to think critically about Chinese religious history and texts, and many of his students now hold key positions in the field themselves. His commitment to advising was recognized in 2014 when he was the co-recipient (with Jacqueline I. Stone) of the Graduate Mentoring Award from Princeton’s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. This conference, held on the occasion of his retirement from teaching, is our way to thank and congratulate him for his many contributions.
Date
Register
https://religion.princeton.edu/form/form-reinventing-the-study-of-ch
Abstracts
Participants
- Daniel Burton-Rose
Kean-Wenzhou University - Kelly Carlton
Columbia University - Ian Chapman
Library of Congress (EAS) - Huaiyu Chen
Arizona State University - Paul Copp
University of Chicago - Jennifer Eichman
Independent Scholar - Charles Hallisey
Harvard University - Helen Hardacre
Harvard University - Shih-shan Susan Huang
Rice University - April Hughes
Boston University - John Kieschnick
Stanford University - Sinae Kim
University of Toronto - Kwi Jeong Lee
Lee Independent Scholar - Yiyi Luo
University of Massachusetts Amherst - Thomas Mazanec
University of California Santa Barbara - Mark Meulenbeld
Hong Kong University - John Strong
Bates College - Wei Wu
Emory University - Judith Weisenfeld
Princeton University - Chuck Wooldridge
Lehman College - Stuart Young
Bucknell University - Jimmy Yu
Florida State University - Minhao Zhai
NY University Shanghai - Jessica Zu
University of Southern California
Schedule
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Welcome and Keynote Address (Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture)
4:30–4:35 Opening Remarks, Judith Weisenfeld
4:35–4:45 Introduction of Keynote Speaker, Paul Copp
4:45–6:00 Keynote Address
Shih-shan Susan Huang, “A Journey Back to Hell: Reinventing Ten Kings of Hell Imagery after the Tang”
6:00–7:00 Reception (Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture Lobby)
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Panels and Reflections (All panels and reflections are in Aaron Burr 219)
8:15–9:00 Continental Breakfast
9:00–9:15 Introduction of John Kieschnick
April Hughes
Reflections on Stephen F. Teiser’s Contributions to the Study of Chinese Religions
John Kieschnick
9:15–9:30 Advisor Reflections #1
Jimmy Yu
9:30–11:15 Panel 1: Possession, Poetry, and Preaching in Medieval China
Chair: John Strong
Kelly Carlton, “The Vulnerability and Power of Youth: Children in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Āveśa Rituals”
Sinae Kim, “Sermons on Motherhood and Filial Piety in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha”
Kwi Jeong Lee, “Ornamenting a Buddha World: ‘Miscellaneous’ Liturgies in the Dunhuang Manuscripts and the Salvific Efficacy of Beautiful Things”
Thomas Mazanec, “Poetry, Style, and Community in Pelliot chinois 3409”
11:15 AM–1:00 Lunch (Chancellor Green Rotunda)
1:00–1:15 Advisor Reflection #2
Yiyi Luo
1:15–3:00 Panel 2: Illuminating Ritual and Pantheon in Chinese Religions
Chair: Charles Hallisey
Stuart Young, “Divine Silkworm Families and Sericulture of the Heavens: Multispecies Silk Rituals in Medieval Daoism”
Mark Meulenbeld, “The Plum Mountain Vernacular and the Efficacy of Mountains Among the Iu Mien in Northern Thailand”
Daniel Burton-Rose, “Agricultural Deities in Ritual Manuscripts from Southwestern China: An Environmental Humanities Perspective on Shared Religious Practices”
Huaiyu Chen, “The Everlasting Torch of Wisdom: A Cultural History of Stone Lamp Platforms in Medieval Chinese Religions”
3:00–3:15 Coffee Break
3:15–3:30 Advisor Reflection #3
Minhao Zhai
3:30–5:15 Panel 3: Constructing and Reconstructing Modern Chinese Religions
Chair: Helen Hardacre
Jennifer Eichman, “A Well-Imagined Life: The Late Ming Buddhist Nun Zhujin”
Wei Wu, “The Easy Path and the Fast Path: Chinese Buddhists’ Engagement of Pure Land and Esoteric Practices, 1912—1949”
Chuck Wooldridge, “Maintenance and Displacement at Taipei’s Longdong Bao’an Temple”
Jessica Zu, “War, Rape, and Karmic Psychopolitics: Rereading the Story of the Genocidal King Viḍūḍabha and the Shakya Female Slaves”
5:15–5:30 Break
5:30–5:45 Advisor Reflection #4
Ian Chapman
5:45–6:00 Closing Remarks Stephen F. Teiser
Sponsors
- Department of Religion
- Glorisun
- Numata
- Center for Culture, Society and Religion
- Tang Center for East Asian Art
- East Asian Studies Program
Poster
See the original event posting here.
