演講：賀樊怡 博士
12 APRIL 23
中研院近史所 & 法國遠東學院「法國人文學界反思近現代」系列講座
2022-2023 - 「危機中的人民、公民與國家」
主講人：
Dr. Stéphanie HOMOLA 賀樊怡 博士
講題：
The Art of Fate Calculation:
Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng
日期：
二〇二三年四月十八日（二）下午三時
地點：
中央研究院近代史研究所檔案館第二會議室
摘要：
Based on long-term fieldwork conducted in Taipei, Beijing, and
Kaifeng, this work explores the multi-faceted dimensions of fate-calculation –
a widespread social and cultural phenomena in contemporary Chinese societies.
Within the broader field of the anthropology of divination, I address fate
calculation both as a social institution and as an intellectual activity. This
combined approach requires studying as an interdependent whole different
aspects which are often separate: specialists’ work and expertise, clients’
practices, mantic techniques, the historical evolution of such knowledge and
practice and their relationship with the State. First, I examine the
legitimization processes of divinatory arts, their adaptation to modern
classifications of knowledge, and the status of fate calculation experts in
contemporary societies. Second, I focus on the cognitive processes through
which fate calculation enables actors to analyze situations, give meaning to
them, and find solutions to their problems. Departing from a conception of a
shared and uniform “worldview” that would unconsciously guide people’s
behavior, this work rather aims at examining the concrete processes through
which various actors learn and gradually form cosmological interpretations of
the world in certain contexts of social life. It shows how notions of fate and
fate calculation circulate in contemporary societies and come to form a common
knowledge which, despite a shared vocabulary, may vary greatly in details and
interpretations. Fate calculation resists uniformization and
institutionalization, not only because of the stigma of “superstition” but also
because of its internal dynamic.
此演講由法國遠東學院臺北中心主任梅豪方教授主持。
此為英文演講。自由入座，無須報名。
演講
2022-2023 - 「危機中的人民、公民與國家」
主講人：
Dr. Stéphanie HOMOLA 賀樊怡 博士
講題：
The Art of Fate Calculation:
Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng
日期：
二〇二三年四月十八日（二）下午三時
地點：
中央研究院近代史研究所檔案館第二會議室
摘要：
Based on long-term fieldwork conducted in Taipei, Beijing, and
Kaifeng, this work explores the multi-faceted dimensions of fate-calculation –
a widespread social and cultural phenomena in contemporary Chinese societies.
Within the broader field of the anthropology of divination, I address fate
calculation both as a social institution and as an intellectual activity. This
combined approach requires studying as an interdependent whole different
aspects which are often separate: specialists’ work and expertise, clients’
practices, mantic techniques, the historical evolution of such knowledge and
practice and their relationship with the State. First, I examine the
legitimization processes of divinatory arts, their adaptation to modern
classifications of knowledge, and the status of fate calculation experts in
contemporary societies. Second, I focus on the cognitive processes through
which fate calculation enables actors to analyze situations, give meaning to
them, and find solutions to their problems. Departing from a conception of a
shared and uniform “worldview” that would unconsciously guide people’s
behavior, this work rather aims at examining the concrete processes through
which various actors learn and gradually form cosmological interpretations of
the world in certain contexts of social life. It shows how notions of fate and
fate calculation circulate in contemporary societies and come to form a common
knowledge which, despite a shared vocabulary, may vary greatly in details and
interpretations. Fate calculation resists uniformization and
institutionalization, not only because of the stigma of “superstition” but also
because of its internal dynamic.
此演講由法國遠東學院臺北中心主任梅豪方教授主持。
此為英文演講。自由入座，無須報名。
演講