PROFESSOR DR. K.M. SCHIPPER SUCCEEDS PROFESSOR ZšRCHER

As of October 1993, Professor Dr. K.M. Schipper occupies the Chair in Chinese
History at the Sinological Institute, Leiden University. Professor Schipper
has spent most of his academic career in France and Taiwan. He graduated from
the Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes (Paris) in both Chinese
language (1958) and Japanese language (1960). He obtained two doctorates: the
first  with a dissertation entitled: Han Wou-ti nei-tchouan: la vie intime de
l'empereur Wou des Han; the second on the basis of a collection of
publications on the theme: "Taoism and Chinese Folk Religion" with honours
(TrŠs honorable, … l'unanimit‚ du jury). Since 1972, Professor Schipper has
held the Chair in Chinese Religions at the Sorbonne (Paris) and since 1973 he
has served as the Director of the Documentation Centre for Taoism of the same
university. He still holds these positions in addition to this duties at
Leiden. 

Professor Schipper is best known for the discovery of the Taoist liturgy. From
1962 to 1972, Professor Schipper resided in Taiwan as a Visiting Fellow of the
Academia Sinica and carried out research on Taoist liturgy. His interest
advanced to the extent that he apprenticed himself to a Taoist master and
became one himself in 1966. His research into Taoism, which has spanned many
years, has resulted in an inventarisation of the Taoist canon and the
publication of The Taoist canon. A critical and analytical bibliography of all
works contained in the tao-tsang of the Ming Dynasty (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, forthcoming).
In the near future, Professor Schipper hopes to establish a close co-operation
between the Sinological Institute in Leiden and the Documentation Centre for
Taoism of the Sorbonne (Paris) with the initiation of a project entitled
"Peking as a holy city: liturgical structures of state and society". This
project aims to focus on the religious character of the guilds and
corporations (hang), societies and unions (hui) in Peking before 1949. These
associations had functions in all aspects of society: the organization of
trade, education, public security, welfare, and culture. They often built
their own temples and co-operated closely with the imperial court. Research
which this project entails should combine various disciplines and include
field work as well as the study of source material.