From September 2024 to February 2025, Research Training Group 2833 “East Asian Futures” doctoral student Ming-Feng WU conducted his fieldwork research as part of his dissertation project, based initially in Taiwan and, in the latter half of its duration, in Japan.
In Taiwan, WU participated in the Japanese-to-Chinese Translation Workshop for the “Yogācāra Buddhist Dictionary” at the Department of Buddhist Studies, Fo Guang University from September 2 to 7, 2024. During this intensive summer workshop, he engaged in translating Professor Yokoyama Kōichi’s 橫山紘一 “Yogācāra Buddhist Dictionary” from Japanese into Chinese. Following WU’s private discussion of his dissertation topic, Professor Yi-biau CHEN 陳一標 from Fo Guang University provided valuable feedback, highlighting the importance of considering the Yogācāra school’s refutation of tritemporal existence (三重二世) and dual-aspect temporal (二重一世) perspectives and introducing other faculty members whose research aligns with WU’s project. In a separate private consultation, Professor Cheng-Tsung KAN 阚正宗 from Fo Guang University shared his research experience on Japanese-Taiwanese Buddhism and discussed additional research materials available that are relevant to WU’s study.
On October 17, 2024, WU attended a lecture delivered by Professor Kun-hung HOU 侯坤宏 on Buddhist history research. During this academic presentation, Professor HOU elucidated his exploration of modern and contemporary East Asian Buddhist history, sharing his extensive experiences in archival research and fieldwork investigations. Following the presentation, WU seized the opportunity to consult Professor HOU regarding the relationship between the Kuomintang and Buddhism in the 1920s, as well as inquiring about why certain Buddhist concepts were not commonly employed in Buddhist periodicals of that era.
The following day, joined by fellow doctoral student Pao-wen HUANG, WU participated in a conference at the Academia Sinica in Taipei (a summary of the event by both participants may be found here).
During his fieldwork stay in Japan from November 2024 to February 2025, WU visited Tokyo and Kyoto to conduct research on Sino-Japanese Buddhist interactions in the early 20th century. His research activities were chiefly based out of the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) in Tokyo, a partner institution of the Research Training Group, where he was provided with a working space by Professor Franz WALDENBERGER and Luise KAHLOW from November 11, 2024 to January 12, 2025. Yōko NAGAMINE taught him how to use research materials effectively in DIJ. Torsten Weber shared insights on Pan-Asianism, while Dolf-Alexander NEUHAUS discussed his related research findings.
Ming-Feng WU and DIJ intern Tom DITTRICH (l. to r.) at the DIJ (left) and WU’s workspace card (right) © RUB, Wu
On December 7, WU attended the international conference “Spirit-Writing in Chinese Religion and Society from the Ming-Qing to the Republican Periods”, held at Kokugakuin University’s Shibuya Campus. In a subsequent meeting, Professor Ichiko SHIGA 志賀市子 from Ibaraki Christian University provided insights on Chinese folk religion’s eschatological studies relevant to WU’s research. In a separate consultation, Professor Erik SCHICKETANZ from Kokugakuin University’s Department of Shintō Culture offered WU guidance on dissertation chapter structure and highlighted the significance of the works of Dixian (諦閒, 1858–1932).
During the same month, WU participated in the 4th ISEAP Conference organized by the International Society of East Asian Philosophy at Fukuoka University in Japan on December 14–15. During this international gathering, he gave a presentation titled “Envisioning Future: Modern Chinese Buddhist Intellectuals’ Understanding of Materialism and Emerging Civilization”, which is part of his dissertation project.