Papers by Chi Feng 馮馳
Bamboo and Silk, 2023
In the Geling 葛陵 Chu 楚 manuscripts, there are a number of characters usually transcribed as yan 延... more In the Geling 葛陵 Chu 楚 manuscripts, there are a number of characters usually transcribed as yan 延 in published transcriptions. This essay suggests a tentative interpretation of these characters. The first section examines four types of direct transcriptions and their interpretive transcriptions. Then, the essay argues these variations are graphic rather than lexical. In its context, the phrase yan zhong 延鐘 can be translated as “melodic bells,” and the emphasis on melodic bells serves to highlight the high rank of ritual
Conference Presentations by Chi Feng 馮馳
Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, 2019
Asian Studies Graduate Association Conference, Boulder, Colorado, 2021
Western Branch American Oriental Studies Conference
Association for Asian Studies Conference, 2021
Asian Studies Graduate Association Conference, Boulder, Colorado
Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Conference, 2021
the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA) Annual Conference, 2022
In early medieval central Asia, transnational warfare and religions has been two main forces of s... more In early medieval central Asia, transnational warfare and religions has been two main forces of sustained cultural interaction, and they often came together with one another. This article discusses the case of “Biography of Kumārajīva” in which religious appeal justify expansion, but warfare was hidden in this narrative. Kumārajīva (ca. 350-409) was a crucial figure in the transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China. As current scholarship focuses mainly on
his biography or the “historical reality”, this article examines the lens through which we know about his life. “Biography of Kumārajīva” in Gaosengzhuan 高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks) was composed by Huijiao 慧皎 (497-554), an insider from the Chinese Buddhist community. This article reads this biography along with other contemporary accounts including official history and biographies of warlords. By examining the rhetoric devices and sources of its narrative, this article discloses clues of violence in Kumārajīva’s life and discusses how Huijiao, the author, conceals them with prophecies.
It is undeniable that Kumārajīva’s journey and the transmission of Buddhism are closely connected to warfare. It is also true for Huijiao that he juxtaposes Kumārajīva’s life with the timeline of the war. However, in Huijiao’s writing, it is Kumārajīva’s foresight that dominates the warfare narrative. Kumārajīva is never controlled by war; he is instead the purpose of war or a prophet of war. His life is uncontrollable, however, in the sense of karma. His suffering comes
from sexual transgression, which is not his personal will. Through this analysis, we would gain insights about how Buddhist knowledge spread transnationally together with warfare, and how a
Buddhist historian overshadowed this aspect in rhetoric.
Hawaii International Conference on Chinese Studies, 2022
Asian Studies Graduate Association Conference, 2020
69th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, 2020
Talks by Chi Feng 馮馳
10th International Scientific Meeting for Sound and Musical Instrument Studies, 2021
(Lecture-Recital)
Lecture-recital of Jacobs School of Music, University of Indiana, Bloomington, 2023
Through refined figuring techniques, ornamentation in Guqin (the traditional Chinese zither) make... more Through refined figuring techniques, ornamentation in Guqin (the traditional Chinese zither) makes this instrument special among world music. In the lecture-recital, the Guqin player will demonstrate performative skills and notations of ornamentation. With texts from the late 8th century to the early 17th century, the speakers will discuss the moral risk and aesthetic legitimacy of ornamentation in pre-modern philosophy of music.
Ornamentation is an essential quality of Arabic and Middle Eastern Music and is central to the approach of both rhythm and melody. Indeed, a performance of Middle Eastern music without ornamentation would be considered inauthentic. The approach to ornamentation in Middle Eastern drumming is different than in the melodic instruments, but both are crucial to the sound. Arabic and Middle Eastern music is primarily an oral tradition, and there is a central ethos of individuality in musical interpretation. Therefore the notation is intentionally basic, with the expectation that each musician will add the ornamentation that best reflects their deep understanding of the aesthetic qualities of the genre as well as their own unique artistry.
Thesis Chapters by Chi Feng 馮馳
This thesis studies three suites of poems with the title “Pacing the Void” (Buxu 步虛), composed by... more This thesis studies three suites of poems with the title “Pacing the Void” (Buxu 步虛), composed by three emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). It outlines the threefold
identity of these three suites: these poems are simultaneously Daoist liturgical hymns, literary
compositions, and state ritual texts.
The first chapter introduces “Pacing the Void” poetry as a sub-genre of Daoist liturgical hymns and as literary compositions from early medieval period to the Song dynasty. It considers this genre as both ritual texts and a developing structure for human authors. The second chapter discusses how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry retained the Daoist features and was employed in the Golden Register Retreat, a Daoist liturgy exclusively for the imperial court. It analyzes the combinations of lyrics in Daoist liturgies before, during, and after the Northern Song Dynasty and concludes that the Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry might be a part of the revised ritual system. The third chapter focuses on “Pacing the Void” poetry as literary compositions. It examines how each “Pacing the Void” suite fits in each emperor’s writing style and religious predilection. It seeks out clues to how the emperors view the function of “Pacing the Void” poetry. The last chapter analyzes how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poems functioned as state ritual texts by considering the public elements and modified pantheon in the poetry and by giving examples of parallel patterns in state ritual texts.
This thesis highlights the threefold identity of these understudied suites. It examines textual sources and religious thought from three aspects. A broader concern is to rethink the interaction between secular and religious power reflected in writings. On the one hand, the analysis of the text leads us to reflect on the employment of religious ritual for political purposes in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the analysis of religious-political background sheds light on how various forces interact to form certain texts.
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Papers by Chi Feng 馮馳
Conference Presentations by Chi Feng 馮馳
his biography or the “historical reality”, this article examines the lens through which we know about his life. “Biography of Kumārajīva” in Gaosengzhuan 高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks) was composed by Huijiao 慧皎 (497-554), an insider from the Chinese Buddhist community. This article reads this biography along with other contemporary accounts including official history and biographies of warlords. By examining the rhetoric devices and sources of its narrative, this article discloses clues of violence in Kumārajīva’s life and discusses how Huijiao, the author, conceals them with prophecies.
It is undeniable that Kumārajīva’s journey and the transmission of Buddhism are closely connected to warfare. It is also true for Huijiao that he juxtaposes Kumārajīva’s life with the timeline of the war. However, in Huijiao’s writing, it is Kumārajīva’s foresight that dominates the warfare narrative. Kumārajīva is never controlled by war; he is instead the purpose of war or a prophet of war. His life is uncontrollable, however, in the sense of karma. His suffering comes
from sexual transgression, which is not his personal will. Through this analysis, we would gain insights about how Buddhist knowledge spread transnationally together with warfare, and how a
Buddhist historian overshadowed this aspect in rhetoric.
Talks by Chi Feng 馮馳
Ornamentation is an essential quality of Arabic and Middle Eastern Music and is central to the approach of both rhythm and melody. Indeed, a performance of Middle Eastern music without ornamentation would be considered inauthentic. The approach to ornamentation in Middle Eastern drumming is different than in the melodic instruments, but both are crucial to the sound. Arabic and Middle Eastern music is primarily an oral tradition, and there is a central ethos of individuality in musical interpretation. Therefore the notation is intentionally basic, with the expectation that each musician will add the ornamentation that best reflects their deep understanding of the aesthetic qualities of the genre as well as their own unique artistry.
Thesis Chapters by Chi Feng 馮馳
identity of these three suites: these poems are simultaneously Daoist liturgical hymns, literary
compositions, and state ritual texts.
The first chapter introduces “Pacing the Void” poetry as a sub-genre of Daoist liturgical hymns and as literary compositions from early medieval period to the Song dynasty. It considers this genre as both ritual texts and a developing structure for human authors. The second chapter discusses how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry retained the Daoist features and was employed in the Golden Register Retreat, a Daoist liturgy exclusively for the imperial court. It analyzes the combinations of lyrics in Daoist liturgies before, during, and after the Northern Song Dynasty and concludes that the Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry might be a part of the revised ritual system. The third chapter focuses on “Pacing the Void” poetry as literary compositions. It examines how each “Pacing the Void” suite fits in each emperor’s writing style and religious predilection. It seeks out clues to how the emperors view the function of “Pacing the Void” poetry. The last chapter analyzes how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poems functioned as state ritual texts by considering the public elements and modified pantheon in the poetry and by giving examples of parallel patterns in state ritual texts.
This thesis highlights the threefold identity of these understudied suites. It examines textual sources and religious thought from three aspects. A broader concern is to rethink the interaction between secular and religious power reflected in writings. On the one hand, the analysis of the text leads us to reflect on the employment of religious ritual for political purposes in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the analysis of religious-political background sheds light on how various forces interact to form certain texts.
his biography or the “historical reality”, this article examines the lens through which we know about his life. “Biography of Kumārajīva” in Gaosengzhuan 高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks) was composed by Huijiao 慧皎 (497-554), an insider from the Chinese Buddhist community. This article reads this biography along with other contemporary accounts including official history and biographies of warlords. By examining the rhetoric devices and sources of its narrative, this article discloses clues of violence in Kumārajīva’s life and discusses how Huijiao, the author, conceals them with prophecies.
It is undeniable that Kumārajīva’s journey and the transmission of Buddhism are closely connected to warfare. It is also true for Huijiao that he juxtaposes Kumārajīva’s life with the timeline of the war. However, in Huijiao’s writing, it is Kumārajīva’s foresight that dominates the warfare narrative. Kumārajīva is never controlled by war; he is instead the purpose of war or a prophet of war. His life is uncontrollable, however, in the sense of karma. His suffering comes
from sexual transgression, which is not his personal will. Through this analysis, we would gain insights about how Buddhist knowledge spread transnationally together with warfare, and how a
Buddhist historian overshadowed this aspect in rhetoric.
Ornamentation is an essential quality of Arabic and Middle Eastern Music and is central to the approach of both rhythm and melody. Indeed, a performance of Middle Eastern music without ornamentation would be considered inauthentic. The approach to ornamentation in Middle Eastern drumming is different than in the melodic instruments, but both are crucial to the sound. Arabic and Middle Eastern music is primarily an oral tradition, and there is a central ethos of individuality in musical interpretation. Therefore the notation is intentionally basic, with the expectation that each musician will add the ornamentation that best reflects their deep understanding of the aesthetic qualities of the genre as well as their own unique artistry.
identity of these three suites: these poems are simultaneously Daoist liturgical hymns, literary
compositions, and state ritual texts.
The first chapter introduces “Pacing the Void” poetry as a sub-genre of Daoist liturgical hymns and as literary compositions from early medieval period to the Song dynasty. It considers this genre as both ritual texts and a developing structure for human authors. The second chapter discusses how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry retained the Daoist features and was employed in the Golden Register Retreat, a Daoist liturgy exclusively for the imperial court. It analyzes the combinations of lyrics in Daoist liturgies before, during, and after the Northern Song Dynasty and concludes that the Imperial “Pacing the Void” poetry might be a part of the revised ritual system. The third chapter focuses on “Pacing the Void” poetry as literary compositions. It examines how each “Pacing the Void” suite fits in each emperor’s writing style and religious predilection. It seeks out clues to how the emperors view the function of “Pacing the Void” poetry. The last chapter analyzes how the Song Imperial “Pacing the Void” poems functioned as state ritual texts by considering the public elements and modified pantheon in the poetry and by giving examples of parallel patterns in state ritual texts.
This thesis highlights the threefold identity of these understudied suites. It examines textual sources and religious thought from three aspects. A broader concern is to rethink the interaction between secular and religious power reflected in writings. On the one hand, the analysis of the text leads us to reflect on the employment of religious ritual for political purposes in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the analysis of religious-political background sheds light on how various forces interact to form certain texts.