Religious Text Production and Identity Formation in China, 17th to 21st Centuries

这个项目是基于现代（1600-1900）和当代（1900年后）中国世界宗教文本的大量生产，这些文本现在大部分是可用的，但尚未被探索。在过去的二十年里，通过大量的再版收藏，以及全球各地的图书馆对它们的收藏进行数字化，数以万计的中国帝国晚期和现代印刷的宗教书籍已经变得可用，但到目前为止，它们只是在有限的程度上被学者们用作主要来源。这种文本生产至今仍有增无减，尽管是在截然不同的政治、社会和技术环境中。数字文本生产和传播对这些文本文化的影响几乎没有开始研究。本项目使用了广泛的宗教文本定义：它不仅包括由佛教徒、道家、儒家和其他宗教人士撰写或编辑的教义、圣徒和仪式材料，还包括与任何机构无关但广泛流传的其他类型，例如：道德书籍；关于神、英雄和奇迹的故事；修养手册;而且，自19世纪后期以来，期刊和新媒体。这些文本涉及社会和文化生活的各个方面，是文化价值观和世界观产生的主要因素。我们现在有一个工具来识别和记录这些文献：https://crta.info/wiki/Main_Page，一个国际合作项目，其中两个pi是核心创始人。这个基于维基百科的开放访问数据库绘制了所有中国宗教文本：合作者输入的数据每天都在增长。我们现在正处于利用它来产生知识的阶段；具体来说，本项目将使用它来理解这些文献的轮廓、内容和对社会的影响。为此，我们需要更全面地了解通过印刷和数字材料宣传其世界观和身份的各种宗教团体和传统。我们的基本研究问题是：现代和当代的中国文本是如何定义宗教身份和从属关系的（道教、佛教、儒家、宗派和各种主名术语），以及这些身份从1600年到现在是如何演变和相互联系的？该项目的研究计划包括一个合作方面（CRTA）和分配给每个项目参与者（两名pi，一名博士后和一名博士生）的四项任务。法国团队将专注于帝国时代晚期的历史方面和宗教文本的制作，而德国团队将专注于当代的数字制作，但由于在这两种背景下都发现了如此多的文本和思想，他们将密切合作。这种合作也需要回答从印刷时代到数字时代宗教身份形成的文本连续性和创新的核心问题。

This project is based on the massive production of religious texts in the modern (1600-1900) and contemporary (post-1900) Chinese world, which is now largely available but unexplored. Tens of thousands of religious books printed in late imperial and modern China have become available over the last twenty years through voluminous collections of reprints, as well as through libraries around the globe digitizing their collections, but they have so far have been employed as primary sources by scholars to a limited extent only. This textual production continues unabated in the present, albeit in vastly different political, social, and technological settings. The impact of digital text production and dissemination on these textual cultures has barely been begun to be studied. This project uses a broad definition of religious texts: it includes not only doctrinal, hagiographical, and ritual material written or edited by Buddhists, Daoists, Confucians, and other religious figures, but also other genres that are not associated with any institution, yet circulate widely, such as: morality books; stories about gods, heroes, and miracles; self-cultivation manuals; and, since the late 19th century, periodicals and new media. These texts deal with all aspects of social and cultural life and are a major element in the production of cultural values and worldviews. We now have a tool for identifying and documenting this literature: https://crta.info/wiki/Main_Page, an international collaborative project, in which the two PIs are core founders. This wiki-based open-access database maps all Chinese religious texts: data input by collaborators is growing daily. We are now at the stage of using it for producing knowledge; specifically, the present project will use it to understand the contours, contents, and impact on society of this literature. To that end, we need a more comprehensive understanding of the various religious groups and traditions advocating their worldview and identity through printed and digital material. Our fundamental research question is: How do the modern and contemporary Chinese texts define religious identities and affiliations (Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, sectarian, and various emic terms) and how do these identities evolve and relate to each other between 1600 and the present? The research programme of the project comprises a collaborative aspect (CRTA) and four tasks assigned to each of the project participants (the two PIs, one postdoc, and one doctoral student). The French team will focus on historical aspects and the production of religious texts in late imperial times, while the German team will focus on the contemporary digital production, but because so many texts and ideas are found in both contexts, they will work closely together. This cooperation is also needed to answer central questions of textual continuity and innovation in religious identity formation from the age of print to the digital age.