Lineages of the Literary: Religious Repertoires & the Cultural Revolution

In the aftermath of 20 years of socio-political repression, “the Three Great Scholars after the Cultural Revolution”—Tséten Zhapdrung (1910-1985), Dungkar Lozang Trinlé (1927-1997), and Mugé Samten (1914-1993)—emerged as university professors and Buddhist leaders to ensure the survival and continuation of Tibetan literary culture in China.

For this talk, Nicole will focus on how Mugé Samten and Tséten Zhapdrung adapted the literary genres of spiritual autobiography (rnam thar), songs of realization (mgur), and poetics (snyan ngag) to remember the horrors of the Cultural Revolution as an opportunity to advance spiritually. Their writings challenge us to rethink assumptions about Tibetan Buddhist subjects and moral agency in modern China.

Nicole Willock is Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Old Dominion University, and a 2017 Research Fellow of the ACLS/Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies.

This talk is part of the East Asia Center Fall Lecture Series.