EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 9 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 103 Soffel Christian (Universität Trier) Daoxue Confucians and the Notion of “Soul-Consciousness” (ling 靈 ) Key words: Song Dynasty, Daoxue Confucianism, Zhu Xi, Soul Concepts, Consciousness The Song dynasty daoxue scholars have intensively discussed central topics of metaphysics. Aside from the well-known theories on “principle” (li 理 ) and “material force” (qi 氣 ), alternate concepts can be found as well. For example, the notion of “soul” (ling 靈 ) appears several times in Zhu Xi’s writings in a very prominent position, e. g. at the beginnings of the Daxue zhangju 大學章句 and of his preface to the Zhongyong zhangju 中庸章句 , in both cases in the form of the linguistic unit xuling 虚靈 . Nevertheless, it has hardly been ever been the focus of a scholarly discussion. It is straightforward to see that the expression xuling has Daoist and Buddhist connotations, as it appears in medieval Chinese sources from these schools. Its exact meaning, however is much more difficult to grasp. My paper investigates the general usage of the terms ling and xuling in the Song dynasty by using material from Confucian literati within and without the daoxue community. I shall demonstrate that in the Confucian context these words are closely tied to the perceptions of the virtue attached to the heavens. It also connects to the “mind/heart” (xin 心 ) and the traditional Chinese soul concepts (hun 魂 and po 魄 ). In many cases ling can simply be interpreted as “consciousness”, but oftentimes it acts as a dynamic entity, relating one’s own feelings to the constant changes of the universe. Additionally I shall demonstrate, how the interpretation of Zhu Xi and his major disciples was challenged by their contemporar- ies, which has spurred intense discussions, continuing well into the Ming dynasty. Starostina Aglaia (School of the Actual Researches in Humanities (RANEPA)) Traces of Hairy Maiden Cult in Baoding Area Key words: folklore, Daoism, demonology, Hebei, biji The story of Hairy Maiden has been known in China from the time of Han dynasty. Tales about encoun- ters with the HM seem to combine the motifs of the search for immortality, the damsel in distress and the magic reminiscences of the past. HM kept reappearing in Chinese literature and folklore, first as the Qin (or Han) court lady, then as a goddess (Jade Lady), a servant to a cruel rich man and, at last, as Xi-er, a daughter of a poor peasant. She can appear as a beautiful girl, or a queer hairy creature, or an old woman in ragged clothes. The motif of HM is included into Eberhard’s index It can be safely supposed that the origin of the HM's image lies somewhere in the notion of Albasti or Almas,the hairy women living in wild, known to Turkic and Mongolian people. Incorporated into the Daoist pantheon, she found her way back to the folklore. The collectors of lore and authors of biji brought her image to the literature tradition anew. Thus, the image of the HM migrated from the peasants to literati and back. She can be viewed as a goddess, a demon, an immortal or just a servant girl. In course of past three years, some interviews were conducted in Baoding area with the aim to retrieve possible traces of the story. It is known that the variations of story existed during 1940s in the area; by now, it seems quite forgotten there. However, a Cave of Immortal Fairy does exist in the area of Tangxian; locals sometimes go there to pray for good luck; and there is a story about a person who met the Immortal lady in the mountains and spent some hours there, playing chess with her. The informant from Zhengding told us about the belief, according to which some time ago some villagers encountered in the mountains a friendly hairy creature, endowed with supernatural abilities. It seems reasonable to continue this line of research in the hope of finding more information on the traces of the old cult of HM. Storozhuk Alexander (St. Petersburg State University) Mahakala in Chinese Folksy Religion Key words: Mahakala, Buddhism, folksy beliefs, tantrism, traditional literature Mahakala, one of the most prominent Dharma Defenders of Buddhist Tantra, has been transformed in some local branches of Chinese folksy beliefs into one of the important heavenly supervisors.