Workshop Divination and the Strange
Workshop „Divination and the Strange in Pre- and Early Modern East Asia and Europe“, October 27-28, 2015. Records describing events perceived as anomalies (occurrence of monsters, strange births, bodily deformities, gender transformations, demonic possessions, encounters with ghosts and spirits) appear in both East Asian and European written sources. In China, for example, testimonies regarding such strange phenomena were often included in official histories, leading to the development of a special literary genre, known as zhiguai 志怪 (records of the strange). Yet, these materials typically have been treated by scholars as amusing anecdotes that gave expression to the literary brilliance of their authors. Consequently, scholarly attention has focused primarily on the literary aspects of these records, and sometimes on the social implications of the described events, while the realms of prediction, divination, and fate have remained in the shadows. This workshop will assess “the strange” in relation to divinatory practices and their corresponding worldviews, and thereby provide new perspectives on the customs and beliefs common in pre- and early modern East Asia and Europe.