Centre for East Asian Studies
 

Prof. John Lagerwey

General Information
Title Professor of Chinese Studies
Telephone (852) 2696 1264
Fax (852) 2994 3105
E-mail johnl@cuhk.edu.hk
Address Centre for East Asian Studies
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin , NT, Hong Kong

Education
1992

 Diploma of Habilitation for the direction of doctoral theses, University of Paris-VII (Jussieu)
1975-77 Post-doctoral study of Taoism under professors Max Kaltenmark and Kristofer Schipper, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris-Sorbonne)
1975 Ph.D. Chinese Literature, Harvard University
1967 B.A English Literature, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

Research Interest
His present research focuses on the ethnography of Huizhou (Anhui) and early Chinese religion, especially the period of the Warring States (481-222 BC), when traditional religion went into terminal decline and philosophy emerged. In this, China's "axial age", the shamans and diviners of early religion came under attack and were gradually replaced by cosmology, self-cultivation, and, in the end, the Taoist religion itself. Huizhou was one of the primary merchant and literati centers of late imperial China, but work on it hitherto has given a typically imbalanced picture of its religious practices. The aim of ethnographical work in Huizhou is to achieve a more accurate account of traditional Huizhou society.

Teaching and Research Experience
2006-2009 Co-director with Professor Tam Wai Lun of a project on ¡§Religion and Society in Southeast China¡¨ financed by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. This project is expected to produce six volumes of ethnographic reports on local religion and society in southeast China.
2004- 2006 Co-director of a project on ¡¥¡¥Local Religion and Society in southeast China¡¦¡¦ financed by an Earmarked Grant from the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, together with Professor Tam Wai Lun, (Chinese University of Hong Kong). This project produced seven volumes of ethnographic reports on local religion and society in southeast China.
2004 Invited Professor, Institute of Chinese Studies (CUHK)
2001-2004 Director of a project financed by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation on ¡§Religion, Architecture, and the Economy in Southeast China¡¨, carried out in collaboration with Professor Tam Wai Lun and Ho Puay Peng (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Paul Katz (Academia Sinica, Taiwan), Yang Yanjie (Fujian Academy of Social Sciences), and Liu Jinfeng (Gannan Regional Museum). This project produced seven volumes on the Hakka, village architecture, and local religion in Zhejiang.
2000-present Full Professor, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris-Sorbonne)
1999-2002 Co-director of a project on ¡¥¡¥Religious Festivals in Northern Guangdong¡¦¡¦ financed by an Earmarked Grant from the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong, together with Professor Tam Wai Lun, (Chinese University of Hong Kong). This project produced six volumes on the Hakka.
1996-1998 Director of the EFEO centre at CUHK; Invited Professor, Religion Department, CUHK
1995-1996 Lecturer on the History of Taoism, University of Paris-IV (Sorbonne)
1994-1997 Director of a project financed by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation on ¡§Structure and Dynamics of Chinese Rural Society¡¨. This project was carried out in collaboration with the Academy of Social Sciences of Fujian, Jiaying and Shaoguan universities in Guangdong, and Gannan Normal College in Jiangxi. The project published ten volumes of ethnographic reports on traditional festivals and social organization among the Hakka in southeast China.
1993-1995 Director of the EFEO centre at CUHK; Invited Professor, Religion Department, CUHK 
1992-1993 Invited Professor, History of Taoism, University of Geneva
1991-1993 Lecturer on the History of Taoism, University of Paris-IV (Sorbonne) 
1990-1991 Invited Professor, History of Taoism, University of Geneva
1990 Invited Professor, Anthropology Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
1986-1987 Visiting Scholar, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
1977 Member of the Ecole francaise d¡¦Extreme-Orient (EFEO) and secretary of the Daozang Project

Selected Works
2007 ¡§Evil and its Treatment in Early Taoism,¡¨ Probing the Depths of Evil and Good: Multireligious Views and Case Studies, eds. Jerald D. Gort, Henry Jansen and Hendrik M. Vroom (Currents of Encounter 33), Amsterdam/New York, 73-86.
2007 ¡§The Old Lord¡¦s Scripture for the Chanting of the Commandments,¡¨ Purposes, Means and Convictions? in Daoism: A Berlin Symposium, Florian Reiter, ed. (Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag), 29-56.
2006 ¡§Introduction,¡¨ Tonggu xian de chuantong? jingji yu minsu (Traditional Economy and Customs in Tonggu County) [Traditional Hakka Society Series, ed. John Lagerwey, v. 29-30], eds. Liu Jinfeng and Lai Wenfeng (EFEO, Overseas Chinese Archives of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006), 1-42.
2005 ¡§Zhengyi Registers,¡¨ Institute of Chinese Studies Visiting Professor Lecture Series (I), Journal of Chinese Studies Special Issue (Chinese University of Hong Kong), 35-88.
2005

¡§Introduction,¡¨ Ninghua xian di zongzu, jingji yu minsu (Lineages, the Economy and Customs in Ninghua County)[Traditional Hakka Society Series, ed. par John Lagerwey, v. 23]), ed. Yang Yanjie (EFEO, Overseas Chinese Archives of the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 1-44.
2005 ¡§Introduction,¡¨ Ji¡¦an shi di zongzu, jingji yu wenhua (Lineage, Economy and Culture in Ji¡¦an)[Traditional Hakka Society Series, ed. par John Lagerwey, v. 21]), ed. Liu Jinfeng and Geng Yanpeng (EFEO, Overseas Chinese Archives of the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 1-25.
2005 ¡§Scriptures are the Dregs of the Men of Old: Scripture and Practice in Comparative Perspective,¡¨ in Scripture, Schools and Forms of Practice in Daoism: A Berlin Symposium,¡¨ ed. Poul Andersen & Florian Reiter (Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag), 49-75.
2004 184 articles in The Taoist Canon : A Historical Companion to the Daozang, ed. Kristofer Schipper and Franciscus Verellen (University of Chicago Press)
2004 ¡§Les chercheurs d¡¦immortalite : Dieux, ancetres et Immortels dans la Chine antique,¡¨ La mort et l¡¦immortalite : encyclopedie des savoirs et des croyances, ed. par Frederic Lenoir et Jean-Philippe de Tonnac(Bayard Presses), 137-161.
   
 
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