Asian Studies Seminar Series: Zhaokun Xin In brief Date - 4 December 2024Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Dr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester)Title - Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan About the eventThe notion of karmic retribution extensively informs the composition of 'Xingshi yinyuan zhuan' (Marriage as Retribution, Awakening the World), a seventeenth century work that features abundant episodes infused with the furies of husband-tormenting shrews. This talk explores anger’s entanglements with karmic retribution in this work in reference to Buddhist teachings on the emotion.Largely coinciding with those around which the Song dynasty collectanea 'Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign' organises its tales on karmic retribution, the Buddhist sutras mentioned in the 'Xingshi' consistently adopt an absolutist stance against anger. In contrast, the 'Xingshi' provides an extensive narrative space that foregrounds the emotion’s instrumentality in enacting and embodying karmic retribution. The work realises retributive justice by destabilizing family structure through the shrews’ outburst of rage that immediately follows matrimonial occasions.Moreover, the shrews’ anger embodies karmic retribution by exerting corporeal impacts both on themselves and the male characters. If the emotion materializes into such varied forms as cannibalistic, castrating, and penetrating violence against the male body, the shrews’ anger also triggers that of the supernatural or animalistic other, ultimately impinging on the shrews’ own body in a self-oriented manner. As such, anger serves as an emotional agent that enacts and embodies karmic retribution, as presented in the 'Xingshi'.About the speakerZhaokun Xin is Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester. His research is rooted in late imperial Chinese literature and draws on the fields of affect and gender studies, ritual theory, and medical humanities.His current book project seizes on the emotion of anger to explore the discursive reconfiguration of emotional norms in late imperial Chinese literature. He is also broadly interested in translation studies and Sino-Japanese literary exchanges.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. No registration is required, simply turn up on the day.Are you interested in studying with us?We are the only university in Scotland to offer full undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in both Chinese and Japanese, as well as postgraduate programmes in Korean Studies and East Asian Studies. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Dec 04 2024 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Zhaokun Xin An in-person seminar by Dr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester) titled 'Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan'. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square
Asian Studies Seminar Series: Zhaokun Xin In brief Date - 4 December 2024Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Dr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester)Title - Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan About the eventThe notion of karmic retribution extensively informs the composition of 'Xingshi yinyuan zhuan' (Marriage as Retribution, Awakening the World), a seventeenth century work that features abundant episodes infused with the furies of husband-tormenting shrews. This talk explores anger’s entanglements with karmic retribution in this work in reference to Buddhist teachings on the emotion.Largely coinciding with those around which the Song dynasty collectanea 'Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign' organises its tales on karmic retribution, the Buddhist sutras mentioned in the 'Xingshi' consistently adopt an absolutist stance against anger. In contrast, the 'Xingshi' provides an extensive narrative space that foregrounds the emotion’s instrumentality in enacting and embodying karmic retribution. The work realises retributive justice by destabilizing family structure through the shrews’ outburst of rage that immediately follows matrimonial occasions.Moreover, the shrews’ anger embodies karmic retribution by exerting corporeal impacts both on themselves and the male characters. If the emotion materializes into such varied forms as cannibalistic, castrating, and penetrating violence against the male body, the shrews’ anger also triggers that of the supernatural or animalistic other, ultimately impinging on the shrews’ own body in a self-oriented manner. As such, anger serves as an emotional agent that enacts and embodies karmic retribution, as presented in the 'Xingshi'.About the speakerZhaokun Xin is Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester. His research is rooted in late imperial Chinese literature and draws on the fields of affect and gender studies, ritual theory, and medical humanities.His current book project seizes on the emotion of anger to explore the discursive reconfiguration of emotional norms in late imperial Chinese literature. He is also broadly interested in translation studies and Sino-Japanese literary exchanges.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. No registration is required, simply turn up on the day.Are you interested in studying with us?We are the only university in Scotland to offer full undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in both Chinese and Japanese, as well as postgraduate programmes in Korean Studies and East Asian Studies. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Dec 04 2024 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Zhaokun Xin An in-person seminar by Dr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester) titled 'Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan'. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square
Dec 04 2024 16.00 - 18.00 Asian Studies Seminar Series: Zhaokun Xin An in-person seminar by Dr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester) titled 'Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan'.
