School of History, Religions and Philosophies
Dr Nikolas Broy
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Key information
Key information
- Roles
- School of History, Religions and Philosophies Lecturer in Buddhist Studies
- Email address
- nb49@soas.ac.uk
Biography
Nikolas obtained his Dr. phil. in Religious Studies from Leipzig University (Germany) in 2014. He has worked at Leipzig University and Göttingen University in Germany, as well as at Anhui University and Hefei University in China.
Nikolas is primarily interested in the social history of Buddhism in East Asia, especially rituals and religious practices, foodways (vegetarianism), and martial arts and warfare.
He has worked extensively on the social history of religions in China and Taiwan, especially popular sects, Buddhist-inspired traditions, and redemptive societies. His work comprises in-depth historical inquiry and ethnographic fieldwork. After finishing a project about the globalization of the Chinese-Taiwanese religious movement Yiguandao, Nikolas' recent research focuses on the intersection of vegetarianism and religion in modern China.
His first monograph, "Flourishing Fasts. Vegetarian Sects in Late Imperial and Modern Chinese Societies," will be published by Harvard University Asia Center in 2025.
Key publications
- “Care of the Self or Pursuit of a Better World? The Transformation of Vegetarianism in Yiguandao Discourses from the Late Qing Period to the Global COVID-19 Pandemic.” In Twentieth-Century China 49, no. 3 (2024): 233-253.
- “Spiritual Poaching or Authentic Dao? A Transnational Yiguandao Community in Los Angeles Enters the Global Daoist Field.” In Journal of Chinese Religions 52, no.1 (2024): 79-115.
- “Consuming Rice Cakes, Sailing to Salvation: The Taiwanese Longhuapai 龍華派 Initiation Festival and the Question of Buddhist Orientations among the Zhaijiao 齋教 (Vegetarian Sects).” In Minsu quyi 民俗曲藝 (Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore), no. 222 (2023), 135–185
- "Heroic Monks and Villainous Pirates: An Inquiry Into Monastic Buddhist Warfare in Sixteenth-Century China." In Studies in Chinese Religions 8, no. 2 (2022): 185–201.
- "Maitreya’s Garden in the Township: Transnational Religious Spaces of Yiguandao Activists in Urban South Africa.” In China Perspectives, no. 4 (2019): 27–36.; “Martial Monks in Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” In Journal of Chinese Religions 40 (1): 45–89.
Research interests
Chinese Religions; popular sects and redemptive societies; Buddhism and violence; vegetarianism; religion and globalization; sociology of religion
