workshop on encyclopedia of religions in Taiwan at Fo Guang University

Went very early one morning to Yilan to go to the conference workshopping an English encyclopedia of religions in Taiwan that is in its very early stages! Spent two days at this workshop. Connected through a professor at St. Olaf with Prof. Yushuang at Fo Guang University, which is where the conference was held. Had no idea what I was getting into at all but am very glad I went and I learned a lot. Yilan is beautiful - woke up on train by sea after little sleep.

A very kind smiling man picks me up at the bus station and a funny phD student named Joy is in the back seat. He also has no idea what's going on - he just knows he was told by his supervisor to transcribe the conference.

Yushuang is welcoming and funny - she starts the conference with, 'You all thought you were here to have a good time, but we have lots of work to do, so welcome to hell!'

The first speaker was Gordon Melton who I think I had read before in religion courses. He's rather famous and teaches in Texas and besides directing a lot of religious encyclopedias he is interested in vampirism! And New Religious Movements. Before this group photo was taken in which I am looking somewhere else for some reason he said "Smile purdy!" As the two Americans in the room we were told to talk, and he said he used to go on a yearly retreat at Carleton where he watched ducks on a river.

Melton gives the first talk about methodology and considerations for building an encyclopedia and about the role of reference books in society as a whole. He urged the rest to "conceive of the construction of the encyclopedia as a snapshot of the present states of religion in Taiwan". He talks about how editing is afternoon work, how scholars are notorious procrastinators, and he reminds the room that there's no way to include everything in your first edition of an encyclopedia.

Sometimes little fights broke out in Chinese! But not sure what they were about.

Lots of other speakers follow and talk about their own research or their experience building encyclopedias. I flip through the pages of Yushuang Yao's book, and read that during colonialism, the masses practiced a quasi-Buddhism called Zhai-jiao or the vegetarian religion!

Lectures are on:

- the Hizmet movement in Taiwan, a transnational civil society initiative w/ roots in 1970s Turkey -- not actually a religious effort according to the speaker but instead open to people of all religions. Supports democracy, liberal economy, multiculturalism, nonviolence; inspired by Fethullah Gule. Came to Taiwan 25 years ago

- Buddhism and gender

- Buddhism and environmentalism

- the Buddhist practice of compassionate animal release

- Islam in Taiwan

- Catholicism in Taiwan

- Dharma Drum: focuses on college students and social elites, stresses benefits of Chan meditation in modern life, focus on ethics in modernity

- popular Buddhism.