Project Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Lackner
Research Fellow: Dr. Tommaso Previato
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences “Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective” (CAS-E), supported by a grant from Templeton Religion Trust, awarded via the Program in the Study of Mysticism (PRISM) at Tampere University.
Esoteric knowledge is notoriously difficult to define, even more so in Islamicate China, where much remains untranslated, leaving a significant gap in the field of comparative mysticism. Aiming to bridge this gap, the project will shed light on processes of knowledge transmission and reception, with particular attention to networks of (i) scholars associated with Han kitāb literature (i.e., Sufi-inspired neo-Confucian texts), and (ii) confraternities known as menhuan (“saintly lineages”). It will explore the textual production of Sino-Muslim authors from these two streams, providing interdisciplinary readers with access to sources of Sinophone Islam that reflect the transcultural nature of the above networks and confraternities. The focus lies on (i) esoteric modes of expression across multiple languages (Perso-Arabic and Chinese) and traditions (Daoism and Buddhism), (ii) the indigenization of mystical beliefs and practices, and (iii) genealogies linking China with the broader Muslim world. Framed around the conceptual overlaps between mysticism and esotericism, the project will develop a model of relationality that accounts for the practitioner’s unification with God, transmission from a spiritual master, and participation in community rituals.
