On Sunday, March 2, the Adult Forum will host Bill Stone, (more formally, Dr. William Stone, Professor and Director of Pediatric Research in the Quillen College of Medicine). Bill has spoken to the Forum previously, so regulars will know him as a bright, lively person.
Dr. Stone's talk is on the Buddha's fingerbone. Here's his description:
Hopefully, this talk (“Buddha’s Fingerbone”) with provide a sense of the intense and passionate conflict between Confucianism and Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty. This conflict reached its apex in 819 CE when the poet Han Yu (768–824 CE) composed a vitriolic attack on Buddhism. At the epicenter of this attack is the Famen Temple in China's northwestern Shaanxi Province. Buddha’s fingerbone was enshrined in this temple during the Tang Dynasty. Han Yu, a champion of rationalism, was almost executed for sending a letter to the Chinese Emperor denouncing the elaborate worship of Buddha's fingerbone which he called “a filthy object.” Surprisingly, Buddha's fingerbone was rediscovered by Chinese archaeologists in 1984 near the old Famen Temple. As will be discussed, the events of 819 CE at the Famen Temple still have great relevance to East Tennessee in 2009. Recent evidence suggests, however, that the original title of this talk might have to be changed to “Buddha’s Fingerless Fingerbone.”
As usual, you are warmly welcome to join us at First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton at 9:45.
(I can't wait to hear of the connection between a 9th century Chinese religous struggle and East Tennessee.)
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I enjoyed that. It made a distant part of China seem much more accessible, and Bill did a good job of illustrating how little change has occurred, in terms of superstition, between the Tang Dynasty and today.
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