Chinese Taoist Culture 2025-07-14 09:46

From July 11th to 14th, the "International Academic Symposium on Quanzhen Daoism and Chinese Society" was held in Rizhao, Shandong Province. This conference was organized by the Confucianism High Institute of Shandong University and the Quanzhen Daoism Research Center of Hong Kong Qingsong Temple. It was hosted by the Editorial Departments of "Quanzhen Daoism Research" and "Exotic Daoism Studies". The theme of the conference was "Quanzhen Daoism and Chinese Society", with six sub-topics including "Quanzhen Daoism and Chinese Politics", "Quanzhen Daoism and Chinese Literature", "Research on the History and Literature of Quanzhen Daoism", "Research on the Internal Alchemy and Spiritual Philosophy of Quanzhen Daoism", "Regional Quanzhen Daoism Research", and "Academic Research on Overseas Quanzhen Daoism".

On the morning of July 11th, the conference held its opening ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Professor Zhao Weidong from the Confucian Studies High Institute of Shandong University. Professor Liu Zuoguo from the Vice Minister of Humanities and Social Sciences of Shandong University, Mr. Zhou He-lai, the general secretary of Hong Kong Qingsong Temple, and Professor Zhu Yueli, a representative of the Chinese Taoist Academy, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony successively.

In his speech, Professor Liu Zuoguo first extended a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to all the experts and scholars present on behalf of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of Shandong University. Then, he introduced to the attending experts and scholars the history and current situation of the development of humanities at Shandong University. In particular, he mentioned that Shandong University has always attached great importance to the study of Taoism and has provided strong support in terms of the introduction of Taoist talents and the establishment of Taoist research projects. Currently, there are over 10 scholars at Shandong University specializing in Taoist studies, and they have a wide influence in the field of Taoist studies, representing a force that cannot be ignored. In the future, Shandong University will continue to work together with all the experts and scholars to make due contributions to promoting the Sinicization of Taoist studies.

Mr. Zhou and Mr. Lai pointed out in their speeches that since Mr. Hou Baoyuan began, the Hong Kong Qingsong Temple has been consistently supporting academic research on Taoism in the mainland. It has established academic series such as "Taoism Translation Series", "Quanzhen Studies", and "Hong Kong Taoist Academy Series", supported academic periodicals such as "Research on Taoist Culture", "Quanzhen Studies", and "Foreign Taoist Studies", funded the collection, organization, and publication of "Collection of Taoist Inscriptions from Shandong" and "Collection of Taoist Inscriptions from Shanxi", and also supported the holding of international academic conferences. Currently, the Qingsong Temple supports two regular academic conferences. One is the "International Symposium on Quanzhen Taoism" in cooperation with Shandong University, and the other is the "International Symposium on Quanzhen Taoism and Laozi Studies" in cooperation with Central China Normal University. Today, we are very pleased to see that the "International Academic Symposium on Quanzhen Taoism and Chinese Society" was successfully held. This is the seventh international symposium on Quanzhen Taoism that we have jointly held with Professor Zhao Weidong. There will be the eighth, ninth, and tenth symposiums in the future. We will continue to cooperate. We hope that all the experts and scholars attending the symposium can continue to support the holding of the international symposium on Quanzhen Taoism and support the various undertakings of the Hong Kong Qingsong Temple. Together, we can contribute to the promotion of Taoist academic research.

In his speech, Professor Zhu Yu-li expressed his gratitude to Hong Kong Qingsongguan for its support of the academic research of Taoism in the mainland, and paid high tribute to Mr. Hou Baoyuan's far-sightedness. He pointed out that the growth of many experts and scholars present here had all received support and assistance from Hong Kong Qingsongguan. This kind act of Hong Kong Qingsongguan, for promoting the development of Taoist academic endeavors, can be regarded as an indelible contribution and will surely leave a significant mark in the future history of Taoist academic research. At the same time, Professor Zhu also hopes that Hong Kong Qingsongguan can continue to carry forward Mr. Hou Baoyuan's great initiative and work together with scholars from home and abroad to promote the continuous development of Taoism, especially the academic research of Quanzhen Taoism.

After the opening ceremony, there were speeches at the conference. The event was chaired by Professor Fan Guangchun from the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, and commented by Professor Zhang Guangbao from Peking University. Subsequently, Mr. Zhu Yueli from the Chinese Taoist Academy, Professor Sun Yiping from Nanjing University, Professor Zhang Zehong from Sichuan University, and Professor Su Depu from International Christian University in Japan delivered their speeches.

Over the next two days, 60 experts and scholars from home and abroad will present 10 academic reports in two groups. This international academic symposium has a notable feature: scholars of the old, middle-aged and young generations are all present together. There are senior scholars such as Zhu Yueli, Sun Yiping, Fan Guangchun, Zhang Zehong, Wang Chenfa, Zhang Guangbao, Liu Xun, Su Depu, Kato Kanae, Liu Guosheng, Wu Guangzheng, Liu Yongming, Bai Ruixiang, as well as middle-aged and young academic leaders such as Ding Changchun, Zhu Zhanyan, Yu Guoqing, Pan Cunjuan, Gao Yeqing, Liu Kangle, Huang Yongchang, Zhang Yan, and a large number of young academic talents. All of them jointly conduct academic discussions around the theme of "Taoism of Complete Truth and Chinese Society". What is particularly gratifying is that the main force of paper publication at this conference are young scholars. Among the 54 papers received at the conference, nearly 40 were written by young scholars. The senior professors mainly evaluated the papers of young scholars, which not only benefits the academic growth of young scholars but also cultivates a reserve force for the research of Taoism.

As pointed out by Mr. Zhou and Mr. Lai in their speeches, this conference is the seventh international academic symposium themed on the Taoist religion of the Complete True School, jointly held by Hong Kong Qingsong Temple and Professor Zhao Weidong. This series of international academic conferences is held every two years, with one theme each time. Currently, it has become an important academic platform for the study of the Complete True School Taoism both domestically and internationally, and has made significant contributions to promoting the development and innovation of the Complete True School Taoist studies. (Photo by Li Fengsen)