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Conférence de Julia K. MURRAYProfessor Emerita of Art History, East Asian Studies, and Religious Studies University of Wisconsin-MadisonAssociate in Research, Fairbank Center for Chinese StudiesHarvard UniversityVendredi 7 décembre 2018 à 14h30A l’INALCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins 75013 Paris), salle 4.10It is well known that Kongzi / Confucius (551-479 BCE) received sacrifices as part of an official cult that was maintained for centuries by Chinese emperors, officials, and scholars. After his death, a memorial shrine in his hometown of Qufu, Shandong, gradually evolved into large and magnificent temple. Descendants who settled elsewhere sometimes set up altars to worship him as an ancestor, and official rites were performed in temples attached to government schools from the Tang through Qing periods. Apart from these recognized venues for worshiping Confucius, a somewhat anomalous shrine was built at Kongzhai, a formerly rural hamlet that is now part of modern Shanghai. Its patrons claimed that this was the place where the master’s robe and cap had been buried 1000 years after his death. Premised on these alleged and unseen relics, they developed a ritual complex with additional forms of representation, such as a tomb mound, iconic images, and illustrated hagiographies. Despite some fluctuations in local conditions from the 17th to the early 20th century, Kongzhai became a place where scholarly pilgrims could offer sacrifices to the ancient sage and commune with his beneficent presence. Like many sites associated with Confucius, it was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but unlike many others, it has not been restored. In reconstructing the history of Kongzhai, I relate its architectural and artistic features to the material forms of Chinese religious expression more generally and explore the reasons why it may never be rebuilt.AFECLa conférence sera suivie de l’Assemblée Générale de l’AFEC à 16h30L’après-midi sera conclue par un buffet convivial