Francesca Tarocco

現代中國的佛教與科技
Buddhism and Technology in Modern China 

長期以來，佛教研究往往聚焦於經典、教義或制度史。然而，我更關心佛教如何在日常生活中被感知、被聽見、被觀看，以及如何透過不同技術形式持續被重新創造。我的研究結合歷史研究、民族誌、媒介考古學（media archaeology）與環境人文學的方法，探討宗教、科技與生態之間的互動關係,關注佛教如何透過不同媒介技術持續重塑自身。與其將科技視為外在於宗教的工具，我更關心宗教與科技如何共同形成新的感知方式、社群關係與知識流通模式。在這項研究中，我追溯從晚清至當代中國佛教所使用的各種傳播媒介，包括印刷術、報刊、攝影、留聲機、廣播、錄音帶、DVD、微信、直播平台與手機應用程式。我希望理解：當佛法透過新的媒介被傳播時，宗教權威如何被重新組織？信徒又如何透過媒介形成新的修行實踐？

我特別提出「Technologies of Salvation（救度技術）」的概念，指出數位媒介並非只是傳播佛法的工具，而是直接參與了宗教經驗的形成。例如中國僧侶透過微信公眾號、社群平台與影音媒介建立跨地域的信仰網絡，數位空間逐漸成為新的修行與布教場域。我的研究不只是分析宗教內容，而是關注媒介如何改變人們觀看、聆聽、記憶與感受宗教的方式。

Rather than treating technology as an external instrument, I examine the co-production of religion and media. I trace the historical trajectory of Buddhist communication from print culture, newspapers, photography, phonographs, and radio to digital platforms such as WeChat, livestreaming services, and mobile applications. My goal is to understand how technological infrastructures reshape religious authority, religious knowledge, and modes of practice.

A central concept in this work is what I call “technologies of salvation.” Digital media do not merely transmit Buddhist teachings; they actively participate in producing religious experience. Through social media, Buddhist communities create new forms of pious self-fashioning, charismatic authority, and transregional religious networks. Online environments increasingly function as spaces of cultivation, devotion, and community formation. Ultimately, I am interested in how media technologies transform the sensory, affective, and social dimensions of religious life.

亞洲的培育城市
The Cultivated City in Asia

當代亞洲城市正面臨快速都市化、空氣污染、水資源危機與生態失衡，那麼我們是否能從亞洲既有的文化傳統中尋找不同於西方永續發展模式的都市想像？

我與媒介理論學者 Anna Greenspan 提出「Cultivation（培育／修養）」作為核心概念：培育不僅是種植植物，也不只是儒家或佛教所說的修身養性，而是一種連結人、環境、身體與城市的實踐方式。透過研究上海的寺廟、公園、菜園、茶文化、園林傳統以及日常養生實踐，我們試圖理解人們如何透過具體的身體實踐重新建立與自然的關係。這項研究試圖超越將城市視為基礎建設與經濟系統的觀點，而把城市理解為一種由人類、植物、動物、宗教實踐與物質環境共同構成的生命系統。

The project begins from a pressing question: how might Asian cities imagine ecological futures beyond dominant Western models of urban sustainability? In the context of rapid urbanisation, pollution, environmental degradation, and climate uncertainty, we explore whether the concept of cultivation can provide an alternative framework for thinking about urban life.

Together with Anna Greenspan, we think cultivation is not simply agricultural production nor merely moral self-improvement. It is a mode of relational practice connecting bodies, environments, infrastructures, and forms of life. Through research in Shanghai and other Asian urban contexts, we examine gardens, temples, parks, food practices, ecological rituals, and traditions of self-cultivation. We investigate how these practices contribute to alternative understandings of urban ecology and environmental belonging. The project asks how cities can be understood not only as economic or technological systems but also as living assemblages composed of humans, non-human species, religious practices, infrastructures, and ecological relations.