Conferences and lectures provided or organized by members of the EFEO

Nouvelles découvertes archéologiques au Laos :
le site de Nong Hua Thong et son « trésor»

Dr. Christine Hawixbrock, Archaeologist

Le site de Nong Hua Thong (province de Savannakhet), qu’Henri Parmentier visite rapidement en 1912 fut totalement oublié jusqu’en 2008, date à laquelle un trésor d’orfèvrerie d’origine khmère, d’une richesse exceptionnelle, y a été découvert. Trois courtes inscriptions khmères sont inscrites sur deux plateaux et un bol en argent. La plus ancienne peut être datée du viiie siècle. Ce « trésor » est actuellement en cours d’étude. Le site est caractérisé par une série de levées de terre dont certaines ont pu avoir fonction d’enceinte et par une série de retenues d’eaux. Les fouilles préliminaires qui ont eu lieu en avril 2009 (EFEO-Ministère de l’Information et de la Culture laotien), ont permis de constater une longue période d’occupation du lieu, remontant jusqu’aux époques protohistoriques.

Historienne de l’art et archéologue, Christine Hawixbrock s’est spécialisée particulièrement sur le monde khmer par le biais de l'étude des monuments de Jayavarman VII, qui l'a conduite à la rédaction d’un doctorat en histoire de l’art et en archéologie khmère intitulée « Population divine, religion et politique sous Jayavarman VII » soutenu en 1994. Membre de l’EFEO de 1995 à 2002, Christine Hawixbrock a eu notamment, à Siem Reap, la responsabilité de la mission EFEO/Unesco de restructuration des collections des dépôts de la Conservation d'Angkor. Elle a participé à de nombreux programmes archéologiques, au Preah Khan et au Palais Royal à Angkor, à Muang Champassi et à Phanom Van dans le Nord-Est de la Thaïlande, et sur le site de Vat Phu dans le Sud-Laos. Christine Hawixbrock est actuellement chargée par l’EFEO et le ministère de l’Information et de la culture Lao des fouilles du site de Nong Hua Thong et de l’inventaire des pièces d’orfèvrerie du trésor de Nong Hua Thong. Elle est par ailleurs chargée par le SAGV (Service de l’aménagement et de la gestion du site du Patrimoine Mondial de Vat Phu, Champassak) de l’inventaire et du rangement des collections archéologiques du site de Vat Phu.

Friday, September 25, 2009, at 6:30 pm at the EFEO.

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 30 June 2009

Informal presentation:

Standardization in Khmer Ceramic:
a case study of Thnal Mrech and Bangkong Kiln sites

Chhay Rachna
Archaeologist, APSARA Authority

Heng Piphal
Archaeologist

During the last four years, the Ceramic Team of the Department Conservation of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology of APSARA Authority, conducted archaeological studies, including mapping, excavation and analysis of the artefacts at Thnal Mrech Kilns (TMK) and Bangkong Kilns (BK). The radiometric datings obtained from various charcoal samples collected from these sites, suggest dates ranging from the 9th to the early 13thcenturies. The artefacts collected from the crossdraft kiln structures of TMK site and BK15 and BK16 have been classified according to Khmer linguistic terms for ceramics, defined by both shape and function, such as Kpoeurng (roof tile), Danlap, Kotth, Khuoch, Ak kambor, and Chan (small containers), Tho, Ka-am, Chhnang, Krala, Phoeng and Peang (large containers).

This presentation is divided into two study cases. In the first one, we have examined pottery technology: the physical and characteristics of clay and temper and the art of decorated ceramic vessels in clay. In the final one, we have explored the standardization hypothesis. We use measurement of standardization in ceramic as evidence for specialized craft production. The analysis and interpretation of ceramic wasters remains at both kiln sites in Angkor region, allows archaeologists to accomplish varied results. These include establishing a time scale, documenting interconnections between different areas, and suggesting activities that were carried out at particular sites. These techniques and theories are used to bridge the gap between the recovery of ceramics and their interpretation within archaeological contexts.

Chhay Rachna graduated a B.A. degree in Archaeology from the Royal University of Fine Arts in 2002. He wrote his dissertation on Kbal Spean, Ancient Stone artefacts. Since 2003, he worked for the Conservation of Monuments in the Angkor Park and Preventive Archaeology Department of APSARA Authority. He had been involved in various cooperation projects between APSARA with NRICP, GAP, EFEO, and NUS. From 2006, his team conducted the excavation and analyst the artifacts from Thnal Mrech Kilns Site and Bangkong Kilns Site in the Angkor region.

Heng Piphal is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai`i at Manoa. He received his B.A. from the Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh in 2002. Heng Piphal has been involved in many professional archaeological projects with American teams (LOMAP, University of Hawai'i, Heritage Watch, and NAGA), Japanese teams (JSA and SCP), German teams (Memot Center of Archaeology), and local Cambodian institutions (APSARA, the Ministry of Culture, and the Royal Academy of Cambodia). His works cover Cambodiaprehistory to pre-Angkor and Angkor periods. His main interests, however, is a political economy approach to early state formation in Cambodia.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009, at 6:30 pm at the EFEO.

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 3 June 2009
On June 3, in Siem Reap, Jacques Gaucher has made a presentation to the International Coordination Committee (CIC) for the protection and development of the Angkor site. He has talked on

Résultats des fouilles de la campagne archéologique
2008-2009 au Palais royal d'Angkor Thom

[Results of the excavations during the 2008-2009 archaeological campaign at the Royal Palace at Angkor Thom].

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 13 March 2009

Informal presentation:

Recent investigations at Hariharâlaya
- Recherches récentes à Hariharâlaya

Part 3: A cultural evolution or revolution at Hariharâlaya?

Armand Desbat (CNRS)
Located in the area of Roluos, the capital of Hariharâlaya and some of its monumental temples constitute the first Angkorian capital, a prototype strongly influential on town planning studies and historical research in Angkor. Three successive talks, one week apart, will present the outcomes of some recent works carried out in Roluos, mostly within the framework of the French-Cambodian archaeological mission for the Angkor region (APSARA / MAE / EFEO).

The third talk (13th March) given by Armand Desbat (in French) has introduced the studies undertaken on the ceramics unearthed during the archaeological excavations in Roluos. He will present some preliminary results and various research perspectives on the evolution of the angkorian ceramic culture and its influences.

Armand Desbat, Directeur de Recherches at CNRS in Lyon, is a ceramologist with a long experience in ancient ceramics in Europe. Since 2004, he has been studying angkorian ceramic corpus, at the airport rescue excavations and in Roluos.

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 27 February and 6 March 2009

Informal presentation:

Recent investigations at Hariharâlaya -
Recherches récentes à Hariharâlaya

Part 1: Dating temples: histories of styles & style of history?

Christophe Pottier, EFEO Siem Reap

Located in the area of Roluos, the capital of Hariharâlaya and some of its monumental temples constitute the first Angkorian capital, a prototype strongly influential on town planning studies and historical research in Angkor. Two successive talks, one week apart, will present the outcomes of some recent works carried out in Roluos, mostly within the framework of the French-Cambodian archaeological mission for the Angkor region (APSARA / MAE / EFEO).

In the first talk (27th February), Christophe Pottier has presented in English how architectural studies of some of the best “well dated” monuments, Prah Ko and Bakong, show an unexpected chronological complexity and the need for an in-depth reappraisal of the understanding and chronology of the first Angkorian monuments.

Part 2: Beyond temples: a new picture of de Hariharâlaya?
Annie Bolle (INRAP)
Christophe Pottier (EFEO Siem Reap)

The second talk (6th March) has been given jointly by Annie Bolle and Christophe Pottier (in French). It has introduced the archaeological excavations investigations conducted in Roluos in four different sites (Prah Ko, Bakong, Prei Monti and Trapeang Phong) and how it helps to draw a new and integrated picture of the capital of Hariharâlaya. Beyond the case of Hariharâlaya, it is thus a new reading of the beginnings of the urban history of Angkor which will be proposed.

Dr. Christophe Pottier is the Director of the EFEO center in Siem Reap since 1992 and he conducted some restoration works and various researches on Angkor architecture and territorial planning. Since 2000, he directs the French-Cambodian Archaeological Mission on the Angkor Region and is also co-director of the Greater Angkor Project.

Annie Bolle, archaeologist at INRAP (Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives – France) has been excavating in Angkor since 1995, and in Roluos in particular since 2004.

27th February 2009 at 6:30 pm at the EFEO.

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 6 February 2009

Informal presentation:

Preah Vihear seen from Angkor and Wat Phou

Prof. Sachchidanand Sahai
Expert-Historian, Apsara Authority, Siem Reap

The Sacred Complex of Preah Vihear will be presented on the basis of field-work done at the site from August to December 2008. Five inscriptions relating to the site will be discussed in an attempt to adress a number of  unsolved questions  regarding the chronology, layout and significance of the site.

Sachchidanand Sahai is an alumnae of University of Paris , Sorbonne (1965-69) where he researched  under the supervision  of eminent French savant George Cœdès and produced a pioneering  doctoral thesis, published as  Les institutions politiques et l’organisation administrative du Cambodge ancien, (1971). His other publications:  The Phra Lak Phra Lam (1973),   The Ramayana in Laos  (1976),  The Krishna Saga in Laos (1978), The Rama Jataka in Laos (1997) are based on  a first hand  study of original palm-leaf manuscripts  in the old Laotian language. India in 1872 as Seen by the Siamese (2001) reconstitutes  the unwritten  chapter  of Thai history relating to King Chulalongkorn's  visit to British India in that year. The Mekong: Space and Social Theory  (2005), The Bayon of Angkor Thom (2007), and a co-authored book  Ta Prohm  A Glorious Era in Angkor Civilization (2007) are his other publications.

As founder  of the Southeast Asian Review, Sahai has edited  and published  thirty two volumes  of this journal since 1976. In 1981, he founded  the international conference  on Thai Studies. Sahai held the Chair of Southeast Asian Studies  at the Magadh Universty , Bodh Gaya  (India) and worked  as the Pro Vice Chancellor  of the  university in 2001. He has also worked as  Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2003-2006);   Research Professor at Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, New Delhi (1988-90); and Visiting Professor  of Asian Civilization  at Sisavangvong University, Vientiane (1970-73).

Sahai is currently  Expert-Historian  Apsara Authority, Siem Reap.  

6th February 2009 at 6:30 pm at the EFEO.

- Cambodia, Siem Reap, 7-10 January 2009

The conference on Dynamics of Human Diversity in Mainland Southeast Asia organized by Nick J. Enfield (MPI Nijmegen) and Joyce C. White (University of Pennsylvania) has taken place at the Siem Reap Center from January 7 to 10.

- India, New Delhi, 6-9 March 2010

From March 6 to 9, Dominic Goodall, S. L. P. Anjaneya Sarma and Alex Watson have been in New Delhi to participate in the First Asian Philosophy Congress, organized by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research at Jawaharlal Nehru University.  They have given papers respectively on

Shaiva views on liberation and the relevance of Mala

and

An examination of Vedanta in the Paramoksanirasakarika
and Paramoksanirasakarikavritti

and

The Samkrantivada of the Pasupatas

- India, Calcutta, 2-3 March 2010

Peter Skilling has given a lectured titled

Medieval Myths – Unpacking North Indian Buddhism, 700-120

at the conference on Early Medieval India: Society, Economy & Culture being organized for March 2 and 3 by the Department of Ancient Indian History & Culture of the University of Calcutta.

- India, Ernakulam (Kerala), 9-11 November 2009

From November 9 to 11, Dominic Goodall, Nirajan Kafle, S.A.S. Sarma, and R. Sathyanarayanan have given classes on the reading of Kashmirian, Nepalese, and South Indian scripts at the “Basic Course on Manuscriptology and Palaeography” organized at the Center for Heritage Studies, Hill Palace, Thripunithura, Ernakulam (Kerala), with the financial assistance of the National Mission for Manuscripts and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

- India, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 18-19 February 2009

Dominic Goodall has given a paper entitled

The Throne of Worship:
an Archaeological Tell of Religious Rivalries

at a conference on The Dynamics of Religious Pluralism: Conflict, Assimilation and Innovation in Pre‑Modern India organized by Christine Chojnacki and Najaf Haidar in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, on February 18 and 19.

- India, Pondicherry, 19th July - 13th August 2010

The Classical Tamil Summer Seminar will take place from 19th July to 13th August 2010 at the Podicherry's Centre. More informations.

- India, Pondicherry, 18 March 2010

On March 18 Valérie Gillet has given a lecture at Pondicherry University on the Pallava temple of Kailasanatha in Kancipuram for the students of Professor K. Rajan.

- Indonesia, Jakarta, 23-25 February 2009

February 23 to 25 Daniel Perret has taken part in the International Conference on Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies II: Civil Conflict and Its Remedies, Banda Aceh, with a talk entitled

Aceh and Barus:
The Old Conflicts (11th to 17th centuries)

- Japan, Kanazawa, 10 July 2009

Guillaume Carré has given a lecture (in Japanese) in Kanazawa (Japan) at the invitation of the KAREN (Kaga-clan Research Network) on the topic of 

Le rôle de la guilde de l’argent (ginza) de Kanazawa
dans la mise en circulation des nouvelles monnaies de l’ère Hôei (1710-1711)

[The role of the Kanazawa silversmiths guild (ginza) in the circulation of new coins during the Hôei era (1710-1811)]. The lecture will be held at the former imperial high school on Friday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m.

- Japan, Tokyo, 10 and 24 May 2010

The Buddhism seminar of the EFEO’s Tokyo Center, led by Iyanaga Nobumi, will be held on Monday, May 10 and 24 (6:00 to 8:00 p.m.), in the lecture room of the Tôyô bunko: reading of the Ōjōyōshū de Genshin 29 and 30.

- Japan, Tokyo, 3 and 17 March 2010

Buddhism seminar organized by the Tokyo EFEO Center on Wednesdays, March 3 and 17, devoted to reading Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 25 and 26 (6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Tôyô Bunko lecture hall).

- Japan, Kamakura, 18 February 2010

On February 18, Frédéric Girard has spoken on

Le rêve de Myoe, le rêve de Dogen 

[Myoe’s dream, Dogen’s dream] (at the Kenchoji temple at Kamakura, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 3 and 17 February 2010

The seminar on Buddhism at the EFEO Center has been held on Wednesday, February 3 and 17: Reading of Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū 23 and 24 (lecture hall, Toyo bunko, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 15 February 2010

On February 15, Frédéric Girard has taken part in the seminar of Professor Okuda Isao (Professor Emeritus at the Seishin joshi University [Tokyo] and visiting profess at Columbia University) dedicated to reading manuscripts by Myoe concerning dreams. Frédéric Girard has taken part in the work being done by Professor Okuda’s team on the

Compilation et commentaire du Journal des rêves de Myôe
et recherches analytiques sous l’angle des doctrines ésotériques

[Compilation and commentary on the Dream Journal of Myôe and analytical research from the angle of esoteric teachings].

- Japan, Tokyo, 12 February 2010

On February 12, Frédéric Girard has given a lecture on

Repenser le moyen-âge religieux –
autour de Dogen, Myoe, Honen et le Koyasan

[Rethinking the religious middle ages – Dogen, Myoe, Honen, and Mount Koya] (at Taisho University, Tokyo, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 20 January 2010

On Wednesday, January 20, Caroline Hirasawa (Associate Professor at Jōchi University) has talked on the subject of

Enfers de l’Ōjō yōshū dans l’histoire de l’art du Japon

[Ōjō yōshū hells in Japanese art history] (both 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., in the Tôyô bunko lecture hall).

- Japan, Tokyo, 6 January 2010

Seminar on Buddhism at the EFEO Center, Tokyo: Wednesday, January 6: reading Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 22.

- Japan, Tokyo, 28 November 2009

Frédéric Girard has visited Japan from November 8 to December 8 at the invitation of the Toyo University in Tokyo (Faculty of Letters, Buddhist Studies Deparment, chaired by Professor Takemura Makio). He has given five lectures there. After them, on November 28 (1:00 to 5:00 p.m.), he has taken part in an international symposium À la recherche d’une éco-philosophie au Japon [The search for an eco-philosophy in Japan], organized by the Toyo University’s Center for Eco-philosophy Research with the cooperation of the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, and the newspaper Yomiuri. His talk is entitled

Sons sublimes, spontanés et nature créatrice,
autour de la ‘Stance sur la clochette au vent’ de Rujing

[Sublime, spontaneous sounds and creative nature: Rujing’s ‘Stanza on a wind chime’].

- Japan, Tokyo, 11 and 25 November 2009

Seminar on Buddhism at the EFEO Center, Tokyo, Wednesday, November 11, and Wednesday, November 25 (from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.): reading Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 18 and 19 (Tôyô bunko lecture hall).

- Japan, Tokyo, November 2009

Michela Bussotti has been in Japan from November 18 to 22 to participate in a colloquium on the culture of Chinese publishing being organized by, among others, the National Institute of Literature at Tokyo University. She has presented a peper on the family genealogies from Huizhou.

- Japan, Tokyo, 14 and 18 October 2009

Wednesdays, October 14 and 28, seminar on Buddhism at the Tokyo Center: reading Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 16 and 17 (from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., lecture hall at the Toyo bunko).

- Japan, Tokyo, 7 October 2009

On Wednesday, October 7 (3:30 to 6:00 p.m.), Nobumi Yanaga has taken part in a workshop co-organized by the Department of Studies in Indian Philosophy and Buddhology at Tokyo University and the EFEO’s Tokyo Center (lecture room of the Department). He has chaired a lecture given by Peter Skilling on the topic

Scattered leaves from an intellectual history of Buddhism:
Reflections on the pre-modern liturgy of Siam

- Japan, Tokyo, 16 and 30 September 2009

The seminar on Buddhism at the Tokyo Center has taken place on Wednesday, September 16 and 30: reading of Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū (6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Toyo bunko lecture hall).

- Japan, Tokyo, 22 July 2009

On Wednesday, July 22, Professor Komine Kazuaki (Rikkyô University) has given a lecture on

Narration and iconography in the Shaka no honji
from the Bodmer collection Bodmer

(Tôyô bunko lecture hall, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 8 July 2009

On Wednesday, July 8, as part of the Buddhism seminar at the Tokyo Center, the reading of Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 13, continues (Tôyô bunko lecture hall, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 2 July 2009

On Thursday, July 2, Nobumi Iyanaga has given a lecture in Yokohama at the Hyakugōkai accupuncturists’ meeting on the topic

Tachikawa-ryū and sexual ‘heresies’
in medieval Japanese esoteric thought

(Ginô bunka kaikan room, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Tokyo, 24 June 2009
The seminar on Buddhism at the EFEO Center in Tokio, directed by Iyanaga Nobumi, will take place on Wednesday, June 24: reading of Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 12 (Tôyô bunko lecture hall).

- Japan, Tokyo, 20-21 June 2009

On June 20 and 21 Iyanaga Nobumi will take part in the colloquium Asian Studies Conference Japan organized by Sophia University in Tokyo. He will chair a round table on

Performing Texts:
Interaction and Interpretation in Medieval Ritual Practices

- Japan, Tokyo, 29 April to 5 May 2009

From April 29 to May 5 Iyanaga Nobumi has been in New York to serve as a discussant at the international colloquium on Onmyôdô organized by the Columbia Center for Japanese Religion, at Columbia University.

- Japan, Tokyo, 13 and 20 April 2009

On April 13 and 20, the Monday seminar on Buddhism at the Tokyo Center has consisted of reading in Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 7 et 8 (lecture room at the Tôyô bunko).

- Japan, Tokyo, 9-23 March 2009

The Tokyo Center’s Seminar on Buddhism: Monday, March 9, and Monday March 23, reading of Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū, 6 and 7 (lecture hall at the Tôyô bunko).

- Japan, Tokyo, 20 March 2009

On March 20 Nobumi Iyanaga has given a lecture at the Maison franco-japonaise (3:30 p.m.) on the topic

L’orientalisme: savoir, politique et idéologie

[Orientalism: knowledge, politics, and ideology] on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Société franco-japonaise d’orientalisme.

- Japan, Tokyo, 2 and 16 February 2009

On Monday, February 2 and 16, the EFEO’s seminar on Buddhism, covering the reading of the Ōjō yōshū of Genshin (4 and 5), has taken place in the lecture hall of the Tôyô bunko.

- Japan, Tokyo, 19 January 2009

Seminar on Buddhism, organized by the EFEO Center, Monday, January 19 (Tôyô bunko lecture hall): reading Genshin’s Ōjō yōshū.

- Japan, Tokyo, 5-12 January 2009

At the invitation of Nihon University (Tokyo), Alain Arrault has been in Japan from January 5 to 12 to take part in the international colloquium Ningbo and its surroundings: Regional and Historical Features of Local Philological Materials and their Value as a Resource for Historical research. He has presented a paper on

New documents for Chinese Popular Religion

- Japan, Kyoto, 27 May 2010

On May 27 (11 a.m.), the monthly seminar on Buddhism, directed by Iyanaga Nobumi, will take place in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute in collaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS Centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 13 May 2010

On May 13 (6:00 p. m), Nam-lin Hur, Professor in the Asian Studies Department and Director of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) will give a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series EFEO / ISEAS) on the subject:

Why did Hideyoshi Invade Korea in 1592? A New Approach

(in English).

- Japan, Kyoto, 13 May 2010

On May 13 (10:30 a.m.) the monthly seminar on Japanese architecture, directed by Nicolas Fiévé, will take place in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute.

- Japan, Kyoto, 25 March 2010

On March 25 (at 6:00 p.m.),Caroline Hirasawa has given a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO / ISEAS) on

The Profit in Portraying Hells for Women in Tateyama mandara

During the Edo period (1600-1868) narrations of paintings today called Tateyama mandara enabled priests from the foothills of the mountain Tateyama to transport their far-flung sacred landscape to new spaces and thereby to purvey products and services. The priests emphasized the mountain as a portal to the other world and promoted interventions for saving women, seen as doomed to hell without professional assistance. Among the many stories and landmarks illustrated in the images are a series of hells specifically designated for women, repurposed from other image traditions in ways that reveal much about the nature of the Tateyama cult. Tateyama mandara reflect contemporary concerns about female reproductive responsibilities and repercussions, and indicate the cult’s solutions to the problem of female salvation. This talk will attempt to explore the demand side of these illustrated marketing campaigns.

Caroline Hirasawa is an Assistant Professor of Japanese art history at Sophia University in Tokyo. She has written on the classical and medieval development of hell painting in Japan, and is currently completing a book entitled, Hellbent on Heaven: Damnation and Salvation in Tateyama mandara.

École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO)
Italian School of East Asian Studies (ISEAS)
4, Yoshida Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku
Kyoto 606-8302 JAPAN
ISEAS
Phone: 075-751-8132
Fax: 075-751-8221
e-mail: iseas@italcult.or.jp
EFEO
Phone: 075-761-3946
e-mail: efeo.kyoto@gmail.com

- Japan, Kyoto, 21 March 2010

Frédéric Girard has taken part in the International Symposium on Illustrated Homilies (Gasan) organized by Professor Yoshizawa Katsuhiro, (Hanazono University) in Kyoto, March 20 to 22. His lecturehas treated

Le thème de Mañjusri chevauchant le lion

[The theme of Mañjusri riding a lion].

- Japan, Kyoto, 25 February 2010

On February 25 (at 6:00 p.m.), Jin Baek has given a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO / ISEAS) on

Climate, Sustainability and the Space of Ethics:
Watsuji Tetsuro’s Cultural Climatology and Residential Architecture

In the contemporary discourse of sustainability in architecture and urbanism, climate is often understood through the collection of data related to natural phenomena, such as rains, seasonal directions and intensities of winds. What is overlooked in this approach, however, is the notion of climate itself. Cultural context leads us to rediscover the value of Watsuji Tetsuro's (1889-1960) notion of "climate" (fūdo). With reference to Watsuji’s philosophy, this presentation will demonstrate: first, how climate is not merely scientific, but intertwined with humane qualities; second, how climate operates as the context for discovery of “who we are”; third, the relationship between climate and inter-personal ethics; and lastly, how inter-personal ethics operate as the basis for efficient, sustainable building performance. In this lecture, the spatial composition of exemplary residential works—both traditional and contemporary—will also be discussed with reference to the intermeshed schema of climate, sustainability and ethics.

Jin Baek teaches theory and design studio as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, Pennsylvania State University. He completed his Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, after studying at Yale University (M.A.) and Seoul National University (B.S.). His articles dealing with cross-cultural issues between East Asian and Western modern architecture have been published in leading architectural and philosophical journals, including Architectural Research Quarterly, Architectural Theory Review, Journal of Architectural Education, and Philosophy East and West. He is also the author of Nothingness: Tadao Ando’s Christian Sacred Space (Routledge, 2009).

- Japan, Kyoto, 8 February 2010

On February 8, Frédéric Girard has taken part in the seminar on Japon moderne et contact avec les cultures étrangères [Modern Japan and contact with foreign cultures] with a talk on

Discussions philosophiques entre Émile Guimet
et les religieux intellectuels japonais

[Discussions between Émile Guimet and Japanese intellectual religious figures]  (Kyoto University, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.).

- Japan, Kyoto, 7 February 2010

Frédéric Girard has been invited to a seminar at Hanazono University (Kyoto) on the reading from manuscripts of the works of Kogetsu, a Zen monk of the 17th century. On February 7 he has given a reading, with commentary, of five poems (at the Daitokuji temple, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.).

- Japan, Kyoto, 26 January 2010

On January 26 (at 6:00 p.m.), Pauline Kent has given a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO / ISEAS) on

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: A relic of the past?

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is now often relegated to the pile of quaint or exotic studies on the society of Japan. However, ever since its first publication in English (1946) and Japanese (1948) it has never been out of print and, recently, has enjoyed a renaissance as it has been translated into many more languages. The book itself was the product of, not only wartime studies, but also the social and professional background of its author, Ruth Benedict. Benedict, one of the pioneers of cultural anthropology, introduced a number of new ideas and methods during her studies on cultures. Ironically, her rejection of racial determinism and attempts to demonstrate the relativity of cultures has led to criticism of her own studies as culturally deterministic. There are now many (often uncritical) criticisms of both Chyrsanthemum and Benedict, but this talk will try to elucidate some of the background surrounding the continuing success of the book, which, in its latest reincarnation, has recently enjoyed much popularity in China.

Pauline Kent teaches at the Faculty of Intercultural Studies, Ryukoku University, Japan. She is presently Director of the Afrasian Centre for Peace and Development Studies, Ryukoku University. Publications on Benedict include “Misconceived Configurations of Ruth Benedict: The Debate in Japan over The Chrysanthemum and the Sword”, in Reading Benedict/Reading Mead: Feminism, Race, and Imperial Visions (Johns Hopkins Press, 2004); and “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: The use of radical comparisons to enhance mutual understanding” (Afrasian Centre for Peace and Development Studies Working Paper 33, 2008).

- Japan, Kyoto, Nichibunken 9 January 2010

Frédéric Girard has given a lecture at the Nichibunken (International Research Center for Japanese Studies) on the topic

Guimet et ses dieux

[Guimet and his gods] as part of Professor Fumihiko Sueki’s seminar on Japanese Buddhism.

- Japan, Kyoto, 15 December 2009

On 15 December (at 6:00 p.m.), Ellen Van Goethem has given give a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO / ISEAS) on

Questioning the Landscape:
In Search of the Four Gods Protecting Japan’s Chinese-style Capitals

In ancient Japan, geophysical divination was an integral part of the site selection process preceding the relocation of capital cities. A site was considered auspicious if protected by four gods—the Black Turtle-Snake, the Vermilion Bird, the Azure Dragon, and the White Tiger—but primary sources provide scant information on the actual landscape features representing these gods. Secondary sources describing the site selection process, particularly those discussing the siting of Heian-kyō, generally resort to the term “the four guardian gods are in balance” (shijin sōō) and its interpretation offered in the Sakuteiki, the text on garden aesthetics attributed to Tachibana no Toshitsuna (1028–94). In a section on the planting of trees in the garden of a private residence, the Sakuteiki explains that an auspicious site requires the presence of a mountain, a plain, a river, and a road to the north, south, east, and west, respectively. It is commonly assumed that this way of divining the four gods in the landscape was a development unique to Japan. Based on textual analysis, however, this talk will first show that a similar tradition existed on the continent. Using geographical as well as written evidence, it will then be argued that the Sakuteiki explanation should not be used to describe the site selection process of Chinese-style capitals. Instead, it will be suggested that the Sakuteiki interpretation developed out of a need to make individual house lots within the capital fortuitous.

Ellen Van Goethem is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, Hosei University. Before joining Hosei University in 2008, she has been a visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University and Kyoto University, and taught at Ghent University. Her principal field of research concerns Chinese-style capital cities in Japan with a special focus on Nagaoka. She is the author of Nagaoka: Japan’s Forgotten Capital (Brill, 2008).

- Japan, Kyoto, 30 November 2009

On November 30 (at 3 p.m.), Benoît Jacquet has talked on the topic

Des regards modernes sur la villa Katsura:
une histoire croisée de l’architecture japonaise

[Various modern opinions on the Katsura villa: an interrelated story from Japanese architecture] as part of the seminar on relations between modern Japan and foreign cultures at the onset of globalization (Ibunka sesshoku to kindai Nihon. Dojidai wo ikita hitobito no kiroku) organized by the EFEO and the ISEAS at the Humane Sciences Research Institution (Jinbun kagaku kenkyujo) of Kyoto University.

- Japan, Kyoto, 28 November 2009

On November 28 (at 6 p.m.), Jacques Ferrier, architect of the French Pavilion at the Shanghai Universal Exhibition (to be held in 2010), has presented his works at a round table of Japanese architects chaired by Endo Shuei (Kobe University) at the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute. The discussions has been moderated by Thomas Daniell (Seika University, Kyoto) and Benoît Jacquet.

- Japan, Kyoto, 27 November 2009

On November 27 (at 11 a.m.) the monthly seminar on Buddhism, directed by Iyanaga Nobumi, has been hold in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute in collaboration with the EFEO and the ISEAS Centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 20-23 November 2009

From November 20 to 23, the Franco-Japanese Japarchi network of researchers on architecture have met in Kyoto for a research workshop on a lexicon of Japanese architectural terms. The meetings has been held at the Kansai Franco- Japanese Institute on November 20, and then have moved to Kyoto Technological University (Kyoto kogeiseni daigaku) for November 21 to 23.

- Japan, Kyoto, 7 November 2009

On November 7, at 2 p.m., Benoît Jacquet has described the activities of the EFEO and the ECAF on the occasion of the annual colloquium on The Internationalization of regional studies (Chikyuken no kokusaika) held by the Japan Consortium for Area Studies (JCAS) at the Center for Integrated Area Studies (CIAS) of Kyoto University.

- Japan, Kyoto, 27 October 2009

On October 27 (at 3 p.m.), the seminar on relations between modern Japan and foreign cultures at the beginning of the globalization era (Ibunka sesshoku to kindai Nihon. Dôjidai wo ikita hitobito no kiroku), organized by the EFEO and the ISEAS, has taken place at the Humane Sciences Research Institute (Jinbun kagaku kenkyûjo) of Kyoto University.

- Japan, Kyoto, 23 October 2009

On October 23 (beginning at 11 a.m.), the monthly Buddhism seminar led by Iyanaga Nobumi has taken place in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute under the auspices of the EFEO and ISEAS Centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 22 October 2009

On 22 October (at 6:00 p.m.), Steven Trenson, a post-doctoral researcher at Kyoto University and the EPHE, has given a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO / ISEAS) on

Divination Board Rituals in Medieval Japan:
From the Perspective of Rain Prayers in Shingon Buddhism

Speaker: Steven Trenson
Discussant: Iyanaga Nobumi

In Japanese medieval religion there existed Tantric rituals in which the divination board of Chinese origin (called shikiban) was used as a kind of mandala with important cosmic symbolism. On the central axis of these mandalas, around which the heaven-plate revolved above the earth-plate of the diviner’s board, one Buddhist deity was depicted or visualized. In this talk several types of “board rituals” (shikihō) will be introduced, and their characteristics and origins discussed. With regard to their historical development, special emphasis will be laid on the Tantric rain ritual of the Shingon school. As it will be illustrated, although in this ritual the divination board was not used, its inner and outer structure showed aspects reminiscent of a board cosmogram. Shingon speculation on the rain ritual and dragon cult thus offers a major clue for understanding the nature of board rituals.

Steven Trenson is a JSPS research fellow at Kyoto University and postdoctoral candidate at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He has also already received a PhD from the Department of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University. His past research involved Tantric rain rituals and dragon cults of the Shingon school in medieval Japan. His major articles include "Une analyse critique de l'histoire du Shōugyōhō et du Kujakukyōhō: rites ésotériques de la pluie dans le Japon de l'époque de Heian" (Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 13, 2003) and "Daigoji ni okeru kiu no kakuritsu to Seiryōjin shinkō wo megutte" (forthcoming in a volume on Japanese medieval religion to be published by Hōzōkan). He is currently working on the influence of the dragon cult on board rituals and on the doctrine of Miwaryū-Shintō.

Iyanaga Nobumi is an independent researcher specializing in the study of Buddhist mythology, with a special interest in the religious culture of medieval Japan. Currently he holds a research contract at the Tokyo centre of the Ecole Française d'Extrême Orient.

- Japan, Kyoto, 30 July 2009

On July 30 (at 6:00 p.m.), Jun’ichi Isomae, associate professor of Religious Studies at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, has given a lecture in the Kyoto Lectures series (EFEO/ISEAS) on

Negotiating with Others:
Considering the Case of Japanese Studies

In contemporary intellectual life the representation of others remains a primary issue, especially ever since the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism. Said pointed out the violence of representing other cultures as "exotic or savage". How to encounter others is a serious question even when we systematically study other cultures. For a couple of decades postcolonial studies have criticized the notion of "purity" in referring to any cultural identity by appealing to the concept "hybridity". In just the same way Japanese studies cannot exist separately from this politics of representation, including the positionality of any individual scholar him/herself. At root the problem of representation is an ethical issue. Through the case of Japanese studies this talk would consider what kind of the process functions when we represent others or are represented to others. This examination consequently leads to the fundamental question, who are “others”? Japanese studies may offer a clue to reconsider this problem.

Jun’ichi Isomae is associate professor of Religious Studies at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. He received his master’s degree from the University of Tokyo in the Department of Religious Studies. His major work has involved the perception of the concept “religion” in modern Japan in the wake of Westernization. His forthcoming books include Japanese Mythology: Hermeneutics on Scripture in English and Kiki to Kōkogaku in Japanese (Kiki and Archeology: Nostalgia for the Archaic). Currently he is interested in the sense of nostalgia for historical origins and the representation of others in historical imagination.

Discussant: Timothy Fitzgerald is Reader in Religion at the University of Sterling. He is the author of The Ideology of Religious Studies (2000), and, most recently, of Discourse on Civility and Barbarity: a critical history of religion and related categories (2007).

- Japan, Kyoto, 2 July 2009

On July 2 (1:30 – 2:30 p.m.), Benoît Jacquet has given a lecture (in Japanese) on the topic

Gendai no me de mita Nihon kenchiku

[Modern observations on Japanese architecture] at the Kinjô gakuin University in Osaka.

- Japan, Kyoto, Seika University, 26-29 June 2009

From June 26 to 29 the Kyoto Center, in collaboration with various American and European universities, has organized the colloquium on Architecture and Phenomenology to be held at Kyoto’s Seika University.

- Japan, Kyoto, 26 June 2009

The monthly seminar on Buddhism directed by Iyanaga Nobumi has taken place on Friday, June 26 (beginning at 11 a.m.) in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute in colleaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS centers.

- Japon, Kyoto, 25 June 2009

On 25 June at 6 p.m., Max Moerman, Professor at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, Columbia University, has given a lecture in the series  Kyoto Lectures (EFEO/ISEAS) on

Demonology and Eroticism :
Cartography and the Japanese Buddhist Imagination

The demonic female, an object of male anxiety and desire, has long been a stock character in Japanese Buddhist literature. It is also one that occupied specific locations in the history of Japanese cartography: Rasetsukoku, a dreaded island of female cannibals, and Nyōgogashima, a fabled isle of erotic fantasy. This presentation traces the appearance of these legendary realms of female isolation in tale literature, sutra illustration, popular fiction, and Japanese cartography from the 12th through the 19th century. By analyzing the persistence and transformation of these sites on maps of Japan, this presentation examines how the construction of Japanese identity relies on the mapping of the marginal. In doing so, it argues for the centrality of Buddhism to Japan’s cartographic tradition and the importance of cartography in Japanese visual culture.

D. Max Moerman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, Columbia University. His recent publications include Localizing Paradise: Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan (Harvard, 2005); “The Archeology of Anxiety: An Underground History of Heian Religion” in Centers and Peripheries in Heian Japan (Hawaii, 2007); “Dying Like the Buddha: Intervisuality and the Cultic Image,” Impressions: The Journal of the Japanese Art Society of America 28 (2007-2008); and Geographies of the Imagination: Buddhist Cosmology and the Japanese World Map, 1364-1865 (Harvard, forthcoming).

Discussant: Sherry Fowler is Associate Professor of Japanese Art History at University of Kansas. She is author of Murōji: Rearranging Art and History at a Japanese Buddhist Temple (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2005) and various articles on Japanese Buddhist art.

This lecture has been held at the Institute for Research in Humanities (IRH), Kyoto University (seminar room, 1st floor).

- Japan, Kyoto, 8 June 2009

On June 8 (at 3:00 p.m.), Silvio Vita, Giulio Bertolli, and Andrew Elliot have taken part in a debate on the voyage of Charles Longfellow to Japan as part of the seminar on the relations between modern Japan and foreign cultures at the beginning of the opening to the outside world (Ibunka sesshoku to kindai Nihon. Dôjidai wo ikita hitobito no kiroku) organized by the EFEO and the ISEAS at the Institute for Research in the Humane Sciences (Jinbun kagaku kenkyûjo) of Kyoto University.

- Japan, Kyoto, 24 April 2009

On Friday, April 24 (starting at 10 a.m.) the monthly seminar on Buddhism, led by Iyanaga Nobumi, has taken place in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute in collaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 23 April 2009

On April 23, at 6 p.m., Robert Tierney is Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Visiting Professor at the University of Tsukuba has given a lecture in the series  Kyoto Lectures (EFEO/ISEAS) on

Anthropology and Literature:
The Colonial Journey of Satō Haruo

While Western scholars introduced the science of anthropology to Japan in the 1870s, Japanese scholars quickly “nationalized” this foreign science and brought it to bear on the aboriginal population of Taiwan, which quickly became the first overseas field in which they could work. As a genre of writing about primitive societies, anthropology offered a model that writers of fiction used to explore the cultures of exotic socities. The writer Satō Haruo traveled to Taiwan in 1920 and became acquainted with the anthropologist Mori Ushinosuke. In 1923, Satō wrote Machō (Demon Bird), a short work based on a passage in a book by Mori. The narrator of “Demon Bird” impersonates an anthropologist who is studying an episode of persecution in an unnamed barbarian village. At the same time, the story he tells is an allegory about Japanese persecution of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake. “Demon Bird” is a story that uncovers unexpected links between colony and metropolis. The work is at once a deconstruction of colonial anthropology and an ethnographic critique of the Japanese empire.

Robert Tierney is Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Visiting Professor at the University of Tsukuba. His Tropics of Savagery, a study of Japanese colonial period literature, is forthcoming from the University of California Press.

Discussant:  Nakagawa Shigemi is a Professor at Ritsumeikan University. His principal field of research is Modern and Contemporary Japanese Literature with a special focus on modernity, gender and cultural studies.

This lecture will be held at the Institute for Research in Humanities (IRH), Kyoto University (seminar room, 1st floor).

- Japan, Kyoto, 9-16 April 2009

From April 9 to 16 Benoît Jacquet has been visiting Taiwan where he has participated in the colloquium Whose East Asia? The East Asian Architecture and Urbanism under Occidentalism, at Tainan from April 10 to 13.  On April 10 (at 4:30 p.m.) he has given a talk on

Modern Discourses on Katsura Villa:
The Construction of Japanese Modern Architecture.

- Japan, Kyoto, 3 April 2009

On April 3, at 4 p.m., Benoît Jacquet has presented a talk on 

Les mots et les discours sur la monumentalité japonaise

[Words and discourses on Japanese monumental architecture], as part of the seminar “Dispositifs et notions de la spatialité japonaise” [Systems and concepts shaping Japanese space consciousness] organized by the Franco-Japanese Japarchi consortium at the EHESS, Paris.

- Japan, Kyoto, April 2009

A new seminar is organized by the EFEO and ISEAS at the Institute for Research in the Humane Sciences (Jinbun kagaku kenkyûjo) at Kyoto University, to begin in April. This seminar will take up the relations between modern Japan and foreign cultures at the outset of globalization (Ibunka sesshoku to kindai Nihon. Dôjidai wo ikita hitobito no kiroku).

- Japan, Kyoto, 27 March 2009

The monthly seminar on Buddhism directed by Iyanaga Nobumi has been held on Friday, March 27, at 10:00 a.m., in the meeting room of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute, in collaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS Centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 9 and 23 March 2009

The seminar on impressions of modern Japan drawn from travelers’ accounts (Soto kara mita kindai nihon no kiroku), organized by the EFEO and the ISEAS at the Institute for Research in the Humanities (Jinbunken) at Kyoto University, has taken place on Monday, March 9 and 23, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

- Japan, Kyoto, 7 March 2009

On March 7, at 6 p.m., Nicola Di Cosmo, Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian Studies (School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA) has given a lecture in the series  Kyoto Lectures (EFEO/ISEAS) on

A Contested Legacy:
The Mongol Factor in the Manchu Conquest of China

The victorious Manchus entering Beijing in 1644 had come a long way from their remote abodes beyond the Willow Palisade and the Great Wall. How they managed to conquer China is still a matter of debate, but one element is widely recognized for having critically increased Manchu power, namely, the support they received from allied Mongol peoples. The Mongols gave the Manchus sturdy warriors, valuable material resources, and a trusted cohort of capable leaders that reached the very top of the Qing establishment. Yet the road to acquire Mongol support had been far less smooth than it appears in retrospective. This talk examines various sides of the process that enabled the Manchus to “conquer” the Mongols before the conquest of China. Looking at the political strategies, military confrontations, and legal history in pre-1644 Manchu-Mongol relations, it will illustrate a dimension of the Manchu conquest that is sometime taken for granted, under the assumption that the Mongols joined forces with the Manchus as part of a traditional "nomadic" process of unification. The study presented here is part of a broader effort to reposition the pre-conquest history of the Manchus within various local, regional, and global historical contexts.

Nicola Di Cosmo is the Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian Studies at the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, USA). He is currently in Japan as Visiting Professor at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. His main area of work is the history of the relations between China and Inner Asia from the ancient to the modern era, with special emphasis on the early and late imperial periods. Before joining the Institute for Advanced Study (2003) he has been a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and has taught at Harvard University and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). He is the author of Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (2002); A Documentary History of Manchu-Mongol Relations (1616-1626) (2003); Diary of a Manchu Soldier in Seventeenth-Century China (2006). He has also edited several books. His most recent publication (edited) is Military Culture in Imperial China (January 2009).

- Japan, Kyoto, 27 February 2009

The monthly seminar on Buddhism directed by Iyanaga Nobumi (EFEO Tokyo) will take place on Friday, February 27 (at 10 a.m.) in the meeting room at the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute, in collaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS centers. Further information available from: efeo.kyoto@gmail.com

- Japan, Kyoto, 26 February 2009

On Feburary 26, at 4 p.m., John Strong, professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Bates College, (Lewiston, Maine) has given a lecture in the series  Kyoto Lectures (EFEO/ISEAS) on

Miracles, Mango Trees, and Ladders from Heaven:
Reflections on the Tale of Prince Kala and on the Buddha’s Descent from Trayastriṃśa

Western scholars who are inclined to demythologize the biography of the Buddha have often tended to dismiss the “supernatural” events featured in his traditional lifestory as nothing but pious embellishments. Yet tales of such “miracles” are often revelatory of the developing mindset and preoccupations of the Buddhist community, and deserve our close attention. Among the most important stories about “wonders” worked by theBuddha in Indian Buddhism, is the sequence of tales that starts with the various “miracles” he performs at Śrāvastī, segues into the account of the rains-retreat he spends preaching to his mother in the Trayastriṃśa Heaven, and ends with his descent from that heaven.

This talk will try to elucidate the significance of this sequence of tales, by exploring the ramifications of two simple questions: why does the story of the Buddha’s miracle at Śrāvastī include a tale about King Prasenajit’s brother, Prince Kāla? And why, having gotten up to heaven by supernatural means, does the Buddha need a ladder to come back down.

John Strong has taught at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine (USA) since 1978, and is currently Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies there. Over the years, he has had visiting positions at Chicago, Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford. He is the author of several books, including The Legend of King Aśoka (Princeton, 1983); The Legend and Cult of Upagupta (Princeton, 1991); The Buddha: A Short Biography (OneWorld, 2001); and Relics of the Buddha (Princeton, 2004). He is currently working on traditions about “miracles” performed by the Buddha.

- Japan, Kyoto, 9 and 23 February 2009

The seminar on the perception of modern Japan revealed by travelers’ accounts (Soto kara mita kindai nihon no kiroku), organized by the EFEO and the ISEAS at the Humanities Research Institute (Jinbunken) of Kyoto University, will take place on February 9 and 23 (Mondays), beginning at 10 a.m.

- Japan, Kyoto, 29 January 2009

On January 29, at 6 p.m., Thomas Daniell, architect and associate professor at Kyoto’s Seika University, and researcher at the RMIT Spatial Information Architecture Lab (Melbourne), has given a lecture in the series Kyoto Lectures (EFEO/ISEAS) on the topic

From Far-East to Middle-East:
Revitalizing Metabolism in Architectural and Urban Design

(in English). Benoît Jacquet has commented on the lecture.

The resemblance between Arata Isozaki’s Qatar National Library (Doha, 2000-2) and his Clusters in the Air (Tokyo, 1960-2) project raises a number of issues relevant to regions currently undergoing intense urban development. The form of the library is a deliberate echo of Metabolism, the 1960s Japanese avant-garde movement with which Isozaki was peripherally involved. Responding to the phenomenal economic growth and concomitant urbanization that Japan underwent following the Second World War, the Metabolists advocated building forms that could fluctuate and grow in response to their environments. Although few nominally Metabolist designs were ever built in Japan, the underlying ideology and methodology had a significant influence in other countries, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. This presentation will examine the legacy of Metabolism and some recent attempts to revitalize Metabolist concepts in architectural and urban design.

Thomas Daniell is a practicing architect who has been based in Kyoto since the early 1990s. He holds a B.Arch with honors from Victoria University and an M.Eng from Kyoto University. He is currently an Associate Professor at Kyoto Seika University, a Visiting Fellow at the RMIT Spatial Information Architecture Lab, editorial advisor for the Dutch publications Volume and Mark, and was previously on the editorial board of the Architectural Institute of Japan journal. He is author of FOBA: Buildings (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan (Princeton Architectural Press, 2008), and Kyoto Houses (Periplus Publishing, forthcoming).

Benoît Jacquet, architect and historian of architecture, is Maître de conferences at the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient and Visiting Associate Professor at Kyoto University (Institute for Research in Humanities). He is currently the Head of the EFEO Centre in Kyoto.

- Japan, Kyoto, 23 January 2009

The monthly seminar on Buddhism directed by Iyanaga Nobumi has begun on Friday, January 23, at 10 a.m. It will be held in the meeting hall of the Kansai Franco-Japanese Institute in collaboration with the EFEO and ISEAS centers.

- Japan, Kyoto, 19 January 2009

The seminar on the perception of modern Japan as seen through travelers’ accounts (Soto kara mita kindai nihon no kiroku), organized by EFEO and the ISEAS at the Institute for Research in the Humanities (Jinbunken) at Kyoto University, has begun again on Monday, January 19 (10:00 a.m. to noon).

- Korea, Seoul, 4 March 2010

On March 4, at the Seoul French Cultural Center, Élisabeth Chabanol has presented the second of her lectures on the beginnings of diplomatic exchanges between France and Korea (1886-1906), dealing with the Korean presence in France.

- Korea, Seoul, 19 November 2009

On November 19, at the French Cultural Center in Seoul, Élisabeth Chabanol has given a lecture entitled

Le début des échanges entre la France et la Corée (1886-1906)
– partie 1: La présence française en Corée

[The beginning of exchanges between France and Korea (1886-1906) – part 1: The French presence in Korea].

- Korea, Seoul, 4 November 2009

The first lecture organized by the EFEO Center in Seoul, the Cultural Services Division of the French Embassy to Korea, and the Asiatic Research Institute (ARI) of Korea University have been hold on November 4 at the ARI. It will be given by François Bafoil (Professor of Political Science), and have been on the topic

The Cohesion Policy and the Main Issues concerning
the Regional Development in the European Union

- Laos, Vientiane, 28-30 October 2009

As part of a series of lectures organized by the French Embassy in Laos and grouped under the title of Recherche et développement: rencontres franco-laotiennes [Research and development: French-Laotian encounters] (October 28-30), Michel Lorrillard has taken part in a discussion group dedicated to the humane and social sciences, and has lead a workshop dealing with the ancient history of the lower Mekong basin. He has given two lectures, the first on the cults labeled as “Hinduized” in southern Laos in the first millennium, and the second on “New Research on Laos” (presentation of a work published in 2008).
Christine Hawixbrock, visiting scholar at the EFEO, has also presented a lecture on the inventory work she is currently undertaking at the Wat Phu museum and on the archaeological dig that she led this year on the Nong Hua Thong site.

- Myanmar, Yangon, 21 May 2010

Jacques Leider will present a lecture on King Alaungmintaya, founder of the last Burmese dynasty, at the French Cultural Center in Yangon on May 21.

Alaungmintaya (1752-1760), roi et fondateur de dynastie
- enquête sur l’image d’un héros national

[Alaungmintaya (1752-1760), king and founder of a dynasty – an exploration of the image of a national hero].

- Malaisia, Kuala Lumpur, 19 May 2010

On May 19, Daniel Perret will give a lecture at the National University of Malaysia (UKM, Bangi) on the Barus excavations in northern Sumatra as one of the Syarahan Perdana.

- Malaisia, Kuala Lumpur, 20-22 October 2009

On October 20 and 21 the Kuala Lumpur Center has organized, in cooperation with the History Department of the Univerversiti Malay, Kuala Lumpur, a colloquium entitled In Search of Historical Linkages between the Malay World and Indochina.
Daniel Perret has given a talk about studies on the Malay world by the EFEO.
Arlo Griffiths has also participated.

- PRC, Beijing, 29 June 2010

The EFEO Center in Beijing is pleased to invite you to cycle of lectures Représentations de l'au-délà : apports de l'archéologie et de l'histoire de l'art. Stéphane Verger (EPHE) will talk about

Le défunt de la grande tombe celtique de Hochdorf
Du chef de famille aristocratique au roi bieheureux

on Twesday 29 June 2010 (Academy of Social Sciences, Institut of Archaeology, 27 Wanfujing, 8th floor., conferences room).

Contacts : Marianne Bujard (EFEO), Alain Thote (EFEO)
Tél. : 64 00 69 99 (bureau).
E-mail : efeo2002@yahoo.com.cn

- PRC, Beijing, 9 March 2010

The EFEO Center in Beijing is pleased to invite you to the lecture given by Prof. Yang Naiji, Histoirian of the Chinese architecture, on: 

  La carte de la ville de Pékin dessinée en 1750 :
 une rencontre des savoirs chinois et occidentaux

on Twesday 9 March 2010 at 9,30 a.m. at the Academy Of sciences, Institute of History of natural sciences, room 137, Chaoyang mennei dajie, 100010 Beijing
(北京市东城区朝内大街137号中国科学院自然科学史研究所大会议室)

Luo Xingbo (Institute of History of natural sciences)
Tel. 64 01 76 35 (bureau).
E-mail : luoxb@ihns.ac.cn
Marianne Bujard (EFEO)
Tel. : 64 00 69 99 (bureau) ;
e-mail : efeo2002@yahoo.com

- PRC, Hong Kong, 25 February 2010

On Thursday, February 25, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Zhang Guangbao, Director of Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Studies, will give a lecture entitled

The development of the genealogic poem of the movement
of Quanzhen of the Ming (1368-1644): an epigraphic study

The lecture is being organized jointly by the Center for Research in Taoist Culture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the EFEO Center in Hong Kong.

- PRC, Hong Kong, 27 February 2009

On Friday, February 27, at the Fung Ying Seen Taoist Cultural Center (FYSK), Lü Pengzhi has presented his new book Tangqian daojiao yishi shigang [A Historical Survey of pre-Tang Taoist Ritual], a work published with the aid of the FYSK to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the FYSK.

The master’s course on Taoist thought given by Lü Pengzhi, Department of Religious and Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has commenced in February.

- PRC, Hong Kong, 27-28 December 2008

On December 27 and 28 Lü Pengzhi has taken part in the Taipei international colloquium The Scriptures and Ritual of Taoism organized by the Religious Studies Institute at Chengchi National University. He has presented a talk entitled

The Heavenly Master ritual of ascending to an altar and pronouncing alliances:
A critical study of Zhengyi fawen falu buyi

- Singapore, Singapore, 1-15 July 2009

Pierre-Yves Manguin has gone to Singapore, from July 1 to 15 where he has given the inaugural lecture in the joint ISEAS-Asian Civilization Museum series entitled

Vaisnavism in Early Southeast Asia

- Singapore, Singapore, 16-18 Feburary 2009

From Feburary 16 to 18, Peter Skilling has attended the Conference on Buddhism across Asia: Networks of material, intellectual, and cultural exchange, organized by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. A member of the organizing committee, he has chaired Plenary Session 1 and Panel 2, on “The Transmission and Translation of Ideas and Texts”.

- Taiwan, Taipei, 24 May - 5 June 2010

Alain Arrault will be in Taipei at the reseau of the Chengchi University (Political Science University) of Taiwan and the Taiwan National Science Council. He will give five lectures and seminars at the National Taiwan University, the National Taiwan Normal University, and the National Chengchi University. The topics of the lectures will deal with the body and its practices as seen through the Dunhuang calendars and Hunan religious statuettes.

- Taiwan, Taipei, 30 March - 2 April 2010

On March 30 and April 2, from 2:20 to 5:00 pm., Patrick Gautier Dalché (CNRS, EPHE) will be living two lectures at the History Department of the National University of Taiwan on the following topics:

Origins, contexts, and uses of medieval cartography

and

The West’s view of the world in the 14th and 15th centuries

as part of the lecture series on Nouvelles perspectives sur l’histoire politique de l’Europe médiévale [New perspectives on the political history of medieval Europe] organized jointly by the History Department of the Taiwanese National University, the EHESS, the EPHE, and with the support of the EFEO Center in Taipei.  

- Taiwan, Taipei, 12-15 March 2010

On March 12 and 15, from 2:20 to 5:00 pm., Mathieu Arnoux (EHESS, University of Paris 7) has been delivering two lectures at the History Department of the National University of Taiwan on the following topics:

The role of labor in medieval society.

and

The Frankish world and the Vikings. History of an integration (9th –11th centuries)

These lectures form part of the lecture series on Nouvelles perspectives sur l’histoire politique de l’Europe médiévale [New perspectives on the political history of medieval Europe] organized jointly by the History Department of the Taiwanese National University, the EHESS, the EPHE, and with the support of the EFEO Center in Taipei.  

- Taiwan, Taipei, 29 January 2010

On Friday, January 29, Stephen Lakkis (Taipei College of Theology, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy) has presented, as part of the joint CEFC-EFEO seminar, his work on the role of the Presbyterian Church in the development of the democratic movement in Taiwan during the second half of the 20th century. The seminar has been held at the History and Philology Institute (Room 701), from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m.

- Taiwan, Puli (Taiwan), 25-26 November 2009

At the invitation of Professors Li Kuang-chian and Wang Hung-tai, Luca Gabbiani has been at Jinan University in Puli (Taiwan) on November 25 and 26. On the 25th he has given a lecture in the History Department on new directions in research in Chinese urban history, and on the 26th he has taken part in the course given by Professor Wang Hung-tai.

- Taiwan, Taipei, 9, 11 and 13 November 2009

From November 6 to 13 Charlotte Schmid has been in Taipei as part of the scholarly exchange agreement between the EFEO and the National Palace Museum of Taipei. She has given three lectures there, on November 9, 11, and 13, on the following subjects:

From Rite to Myth: Buffalo-killing Goddesses of India

The Dancing Shiva, cosmic energy and human history

and

Krishna the Flautist, a Tamil enchanter

- Taiwan, Taipei, 12 October 2009

October 12, Pierre-Yves Manguin has given a lecture on

The mountain in the city: Malay and Indochinese variations

as part of the Iéna Lectures (EFEO/Musée Guimet), organized jointly in Taipei by the National Palace Museum, the French Institute in Taipei, and the EFEO Center.

- Taiwan, Taipei, 7 and 9 October 2009

Anne Cheng, (Professor at the Collège de France) has given two lectures at the History and Philology Institute of the Academia Sinica as part of the cycle of lectures Grands sinologues organized jointly by the French Institute in Taipei and the EFEO Center. The October 7 has been on

The problem with the Great Learning:
contemporary debates on the relationship between ethics and politics

and that of October 9 was on

Confucian studies and French sinology: a state of the art

- Taiwan, Taipei, 16 and 18 June 2009

Christophe Pottier has been giving two lectures at the National Palace Museum in Taipei: on June 16 (at 2:30 p.m.) on the topic

From bricks to city in Hariharâlaya:
new considerations on the first Angkorean capital

on June 18 (at 10:30 a.m.) on

Old Myths & New Approaches:
Angkor and its hydraulic territory

- Taiwan, Taipei, 9-10 June 2009

On June 9 and 10 in Taipei, the History Department at Fo Guang University has been the host for an international colloquium on Popular Confucianism and Redemptive Societies. The colloquium is being co-organzied by Fo Guang University, the EFEO Center in Hong Kong, the Center for French studies of Contemporary China, Montreal University, the National University of Singapore, and the Institute for Qing History at Renmin University in China. At this colloquium David Palmer (Professor at Hong Kong University and former director of the EFEO Center in Hong Kong), co-organizer of the colloquium, has given a lecture on

Chinese Redemptive Societies:
Historical Phenomenon or Sociological Category?

- Taiwan, Taipei, 16-17 April 2009

On April 16 and 17, Luca Gabbiani has taken part in the conference on Mapping the Chinese city in the late imperial and modern period  organized by the Modern History Institute of the Academia Sinica. He has chaired one session and has talked on

Mapping Beijing during the Qing and the Republic:
shifting notions of urban knowledge

- Taiwan, Taipei, 24 and 26 March 2009

As part of the lecture series on distinguished Sinologists organized jointly by the EFEO Center in Taipei and the Taipei French Institute, Alain Thote (EPHE) has given two lectures. On March 24 he has talked at the History and Philology Institute on

Origin and Development of the Sword in China

and on March 26, at the National Palace Museum, on

Chinese Pictorial Bronzes from the Fifth Century BC:
Two Cultural Traditions in Perspective.

- Thailand, Bangkok, 28 January 2010

On January 28 François Lagirarde, head of the Bangkok EFEO Center, has given a lecture at the National Museum of Bangkok (at 10 a.m.) on

Lanna palm-leaf manuscripts: art, archaeology and literature

- Thailand, Bangkok, 11-13 January 2010

From January 11 to 13 Peter Skilling has taken part in the international conference Buddhist Pilgrimage in History and Present Times at the Lumbini International Research Institute (LIRI–Lumbini, Nepal). His presentation has been on

Pilgrimage to the ‘Stone Seat’ (Phra Taen Sila-at)

- Thailand, Bangkok, 20 August 2009

On August 20, at the invitation of the deputy Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Chulalongkorn University in charge of research, François Lagirarde has given a presentation on the history and activities of the EFEO to the instructor-researchers of that university (noon to 2:00 p.m.).

- Thailand, Bangkok, April-Mai 2009

During April and May, Peter Skilling has be serving as a visiting professor at the University of Sydney (as the 2009 University Buddhist Education Foundation Visiting Professor) in the Department of Indian Sub-continental Studies (part of the School of Languages and Cultures). He has given a series of lectures on the topic of

Indian Buddhism: scriptures, writing, councils,
schools, Mahāyāna, and narrative literature

and has also conducted a workshop on Pali inscriptions in Thailand.

- Thailand, Bangkok, 21 April 2009

Peter Skilling has talked, on Tuesday, April 21, on

The Enigma of Si Thep

as part of the Australian Centre for Asian Art and Archaeology Series (in association with the Buddhist Studies Program at the University of Sydney, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., The Refectory, the University of Sydney).

- Thailand, Bangkok, 7 April 2009

On Tuesday, April 7, Peter Skilling has presented a lecture on the topic

Did the Buddha invent Asia? 
Buddhism, Buddhists, and the ‘very idea’ of Asia

as part of the Sydney Ideas Series (6:30 p.m., Seymour Theatre, the University of Sydney).

- Thailand, Bangkok, 21 March 2009

On March 21 Michel Lorrillard has taken part in a conference organized by Silapakorn University (Bangkok). He has presented a paper on the history of writing systems in Laos.

- Thailand, Bangkok, 13 February 2009

New Research on Buddhism and Thai Studies, the First Chulalongkorn‑EFEO Graduate Symposium has been held on the lucky day of Friday, February 13, at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. It is sponsored by the Thai Studies Centre, Faculty of Arts and the Empowering Network of International Thai Studies (ENITS) of Chulalongkorn University in conjunction with the Buddhist Studies Group of the EFEO Center in Bangkok. There has been five student speakers ‑ from France, Ireland (SOAS), and Bangkok.

- Thailand, Bangkok, 6 February 2009

On February 6, Peter Skilling has given a talk entitled

Remarks on Philology and Buddhist Studies,
with Special Reference to German Philology and Manuscript Studies

at the International Symposium Buddhism in German Philosophy and Literature: An Intercultural Dialog at Chulalongkorn University organized by the Centre for European Studies at Chulalongkorn University and the Goethe‑Institut Bangkok in cooperation with the Thailand Research Fund, the Centre for Ethics of Science and Technology, and the Thousand Stars Foundation.

- Thailand, Chiang Mai, 23 July 2009

Anatole Peltier has taken part in the colloquium Les six cents ans du Tripitaka de Tilokarâja [Six hundred years of the Tilokarâja Tripitika] organized by Rajabhat University in Chiang Mai. On July 23 he has talked on the topic

Les manuscrits lao du Tripitaka de la grotte de
Tham Pa Fa à Thakhek, province de Khammouane, Centre-Laos

[Lao Tripitika manuscripts from the Tham Pa Fa cave at Thakhek, Khanmouane Province, Central Laos].

- Vietnam, Hanoi, 4-7 December 2008

At the Third International Conference on Vietnamese Studies, which has run from December 4 to 7 in Hanoi, Olivier Tessier has presented a talk on

L’ouvrage Technique du Peuple Annamite d’Henri Oger
où les prémices de l’anthropologie technique au Nord du Vietnam

[Henri Oger’s book Technique du Peuple Annamite (Technology of the Annamite People), or the premises behind the anthropology of technology in North Vietnam].

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