ICS Lecture: David Mozina, "The Efficacy of Rage in Chinese Religion"

The Institute for Chinese Studies, Center for Historical Research, and Center for the Study of Religion present: 

"The Efficacy of Rage in Chinese Religion"

David Mozina
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies

Abstract: Rage is often thought of as difficult to control, as something that wells up and foments instability and violence both public and private. The history of religions is replete with episodes in which holy wrath has led to riots, revolutions, melees, and massacres. But rage has also been imagined as productive, even essential, for deeply spiritual pursuits. This presentation explores how rage has been a crucial aspect of Daoist liturgy as practiced in China today and yesterday. It examines how rage, while still remaining dangerous and potentially self-destructive, has been a catalyst forming a deep connection between human and divine and so providing efficacy in rituals designed to protect and heal. Download the PDF flyer here.

David J. Mozina, Ph.D., studies living Daoist and Buddhist ritual traditions in rural south China, and their roots in the liturgical vibrancy of the eleventh through early fifteenth centuries. He is the author of Knotting the Banner: Ritual and Relationship in Daoist Practice (Hawai‘i, 2021) and of numerous articles, several of which appear in the Journal of Chinese Religions, Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie, and Daoism: Religion, History, and Society. He is currently working on a book manuscript about Daoist dealings with the Fengdu underworld from the thirteenth century on.