EFEO-NPM Talk

Speaker:
Prof. Fabienne Jagou
Associate Professor, French School of Asian Studies (EFEO)

Title:
The Fantastic Journey of a Conch Shell (from the end of the 18th c. to today)

Date:
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 14:00-16:00

Venue:
Creative Center Room, National Palace Museum Southern Branch
No. 888, Gugong Avenue, Taibao City, Chiayi County

Abstract:
The 6th Panchen Lama (1738-1781) visited the Manchu court in Peking for the seventieth birthday of the Qianlong emperor (reign: 1736-1796) in 1780. He granted Qianlong the Mahakala and Cakrasamvara initiations. He came with many gifts and the conch shell he offered to the Manchu Emperor gained a lot of spiritual and political importance at the time and still does today. The use and the fate of this conch shell is what I will talk about.First, I will focus on the conch shell origins, its ritual importance and its supposed powers for Tibetans and for Manchus as well. Then, I will argue about its circulation as the mark of the master-disciple relationship that link the Panchen Lama and the Qianlong Emperor, the importance of the gifts exchanges from Tibet to China and vice versa for religious objects circulation, and the way gifts giving could have been a way for Qianlong to control Tibetan authorities from afar and to show his interest in Tibetan Buddhism.

The talk will be given in English. Registration is not required

 lecture