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Research Blogs
Blogs and essays explaining key terms, historical background, and also some tech issues.
The Institutional History of Daoyuan (道院)
Daoyuan (道院) was a major new religious organization of the Republican period, emerging around 1921 in Jinan (濟南), Shandong province. Its name might suggest an ordinary Daoist temple, but its actual configuration was more complex: it was a m...
The History of Fuji (扶乩)
Fuji (扶乩), also written as 扶箕 or 扶鸾 (fuluan, "supporting the phoenix"), is commonly translated as "spirit writing," but that rendering loses a great deal of detail. It is not simply about "writing": it is a practice that establishes connect...
The Development of the Red Swastika Society (世界紅卍字會)
The World Red Swastika Society (世界紅卍字會) is the most important public charitable organization within the Daoyuan (道院) system. When modern readers see the character 卍, they may immediately think of twentieth century European fascism. But in t...
The Spirit-Writing Publications of Daoyuan (道院)
Daoyuan's spirit writing (扶乩, fuji) did not only take place at the altar. What gave it a lasting historical impact was the fact that the texts produced through fuji were recorded, compiled, edited, printed, and circulated. In other words, D...