We are at a critical point, I think, in the research into spirit writing techniques and

traditions and spirit writing documents and collections from different time periods and

areas. We can now actually start defining it as a field of scholarship, look for continuities

and commonalities, look for networks and knowledge transmission inside and beyond China, uncovering

regional elements, understanding local communities and their goals, discussing and defining

terminology, and trying to make sense of the variety of textual sources that we now increasingly have

access to, better understand how this practice fits into both popular culture but also elite culture,

seeing continuities, differences and adaptations between past and present practices, and finally

possibly attempting an initial history and classification of these sources, typologies,

and current practices. Our center has filled a gap, I think, a lacuna in both the history of science,

the history of knowledge in zoonology, but also for the Europeanists. I mean, we are gaining momentum

as a matter of fact, but it was a lacuna, talking about prediction, talking about what is what we

call rejected knowledge, so to speak, you know. So that was a lacuna. So the significance of this

conference and the significance of the study of spirit writing is a lacuna within the lacuna.

So we sort of compensated in both ways. We have concentrated, we have focused for years now on

more on calculating techniques, you know, fate calculation, the book of changes, things that

basically, you know, are connected or have a close link to all sorts of counting, swanming,

you know, and things like that. This is the part that Cicero would have called or has called

artificial prediction or artificial divination. And on the other hand, you have the natural,

what he calls the natural divination. And that, of course, is something different that is based on

inspiration that results in prophecies, visions, dreams, of course, also. And spirit writing is a

vital part of this kind of prophecy. So spirit writing is a technique. It's a religious technique

that connects a person or more generally a community of people to a specific divinity.

And the community asks possibly for guidance, moral guidance, religious guidance, asks questions,

and then the divinity through the body of the medium responds to the audience. Generally,

there are, there is one or two mediums who are possessed or where the body, the divinity descends

into their bodies and they hold an implement that can have different forms. Sometimes it's a basket

with a stylus attached. Sometimes it's a Y-shaped wooden implement. Sometimes it's a T-shaped

wooden implement. And in all cases, the written part happens through the stylus on a bed of sand.

And then there are a couple of attendants who generally utter the characters that are written

by the medium, of course, inspired by the god or goddess. These characters are then written down

by the, by the attendants uttered out loud and then written down by the attendants.

Later on, historically, these writings were printed through woodblock printing and they were then

published in large collections and then distributed through the lay population and

the distribution part was also part of the religious practice of accruing positive karma.

There are areas in China, in Taiwan, and Hong Kong where this practice is still going on.

Oftentimes, these responses are printed out at the moment or right after the session,

the spirit writing session, and then again distributed to the audience.

So if we look back at the origins of spirit writing, several scholars have identified

a specific practice called the invitation of Zigu as the possible origin of later development

of what we call spirit writing. The invitation of Zigu is a practice that related, that was

centered within the female space, so the inner quarters. It was practiced by women.

Basically, the origin of this practice was the concubine of an official was harassed by the

primary wife of that official. She was killed in the bathroom, in the latrine, and then

she was then worshiped. She started receiving the worship of other women and honored on a specific

date every year, the 15th day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar.

So questions were posed to this divinity, Zigu, and the questions centered again on topics related to

female work, for example, the mulberry leaf production and silk production, basically silk

production, which was a work that pertained to women. However, this initial practice actually

didn't involve any writing. The relationship between the women and the goddess was