Conferences

News of the Field / 219 tional Daoist teachings into their theories with a highly beneficial results; on the other hand, phenomenology exerts a direct influence on Western psychological treatments, which in turn led to an interest in Chinese cul‑ ture and ways of thinking as conceptual resources for Western psychol‑ ogy. Phenomenology explores the connections between Daoist thought and Western psychological treatments at the methodological level from humanistic, holistic and practical perspectives. In part two, authors explore the works of Carl Gustav Jung (1875‑ 1961), Abraham Maslow (1908‑1970), and Carl Ranson Rogers (1902‑ 1987), focusing on their association with Daoist thought, how they inte‑ grated and applied Daoist ideas in their theories and how these theories in turn provided inspiration for contemporary Chinese psychological treatment and cultural studies. In part three, the authors link various methods of Western psycho‑ logical treatment with Daoist therapeutic wisdom to deal with a wide range of contemporary mental conditions in China. They also strive to explain the specific practice of “Daoist knowledge treatment” created by the psychologist Yang Deshen. —Lü Xichen and Robin R. Wang Conferences Dreams and East-West Culture 梦与中西文化 Mt. Shizhu 石竹山, Fuqing 福清 (Fujian), October 6‑8, Mt. Shizhu, the detached palace of the immoral He Jiuxian 何九仙, has been a sacred place for dreams since the Southern Song and is known as the “Home of Chinese Dreams.” Many local and popular stories tell about the immortal’s dreams and a variety of related practices are still going on today. Sponsored by the Daoist temple at Mt. Shizhu, the Fujian Center for Religious Studies at Sichuan University, the Center for Daoism and Tra‑ ditional Cultural Studies at Xiamen University, the Fujian Association of Yijing Studies, the Fujian Association of Laozi Studies, this meeting con‑ vened about a hundred scholars who offered presentations interpretat‑ 220 / Journal of Daoist Studies 2 (2009) ing the local dream phenomenon and discussing its historical and cul‑ tural origin. They also examined its cultural characteristics, functions and effi‑ cacy, as well as its connections with internal alchemy and folk culture. Some presentations also made a connection between understanding dreams and Daoism, which acknowledges them as a pertinent experi‑ ence in body cultivation. Some talks showed how dreams embedded the two main Daoist concerns of life and death and can be seen as a way to demonstrate and verify the ultimate Dao. Other scholars explored con‑ nections between dream culture and the teachings of the Yijing, Confu‑ cianism, Buddhism, and Chinese literature. To a lesser degree, partici‑ pants came to analyze dreams from the perpective of modern science, psychology, and physiology. —Zhang Qin and Robin R. Wang UBC Conference on Daoist Studies Vancouver, October 24‑26 Jointly sponsored by the UBC Dean of Arts and the Liu Foundation (and in the presence of its chairman, J. J. Liou), this meeting on Daoism was convened by Edward Slingerland and administered by Jennifer Lundin Ritchie. It brought together approximately twenty scholars in the field— philosophers like Michael Puett, Alan Chan, Harold Roth, Liu Xiaogan, and Lee Yearley; manuscript specialists such as Robin Yates, Scott Cook, Xing Wen, Carine Defoort, Griet Vankerberghen, and Attilio Andreini; Daoist historians including Livia Kohn, Robert Campany, Terry Kleeman, and Paul Crowe; anthropologists such as Erin Kline, Dan Overmyer, and Yen Hsueh‑Cheng; as well as Yijing scholars such as Richard Smith, Ben‑ jamin Ng, and Richard Lynn. Topics ranged accordingly, focusing on the understanding of emo‑ tions, sagehood, and the body in Daoist thought through the evaluation of new textual evidence found in manuscript sources to various issues of Daoist practice both in ancient and contemporary China. A special ses‑ sion was dedicated to the Yijing, not usually part of Daoist discussions but a valuable supplement nonetheless. News of the Field / 221 Papers were posted ahead of time and most sessions were spent in animated discussion. The setting, at the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues on the scenic UBC campus, was comfortable and condu‑ cive to exchanges on all levels, and the participants enjoyed the close connection with others it afforded. There are no plans for publication of a volume; individual papers will appear separately, and some may even be published in this journal...