International Talks: Yangtze as Actor: Religion, ldentity, and the Rights of Rivers

Lecture:
Yangtze as Actor: Religion, ldentity, and the Rights of Rivers

Do, den 23. April 2026, 18:00-19:30 Uhr

Topic: "My doctoral research on the Yangtze River originated from a comparative curiosity. The Ganges River, revered in Hinduism as the embodiment of the goddess Ganga with purifying and salvific powers, invites the faithful to bathe in its waters. In New Zealand, the Whanganui River is regarded in Mäori tradition as a living ancestor. These worldviews have profoundly influenced modern approaches to river protection, inspiring debates about granting rivers legal personhood. In contrast, the Yangtze often called China's "Mother River" does not appear to carry such explicit religious connotations in contemporary discourse. This contrast led me to several questions: ls there a religious dimension to the Yangtze River? How does the river shape the identities of the communities along its banks? And could the Yangtze, too, be imagined as a legal subject?"

• Xinyue Lau (M.A.) is a PhD student in the Study of Religions at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Originally from China, she completed her Master's degree in Intercultural Theology at the University of Göttingen and the University of Applied Sciences for lntercultural Theology in 2020. Since 2021, her research has focused on human-river relationships along the Yangtze River, with particular attention to its religious and cultural dimensions.

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International Talks

Die International Talks finden in diesem Sommersemester unter dem Titel "Three women – one Mission: Defending rights, democracy & justice on a global stage". Veranstaltet wird die Reihe gemeinschaftlich von der EvH Bochum, der Evangelischen Hochschule Nürnberg, der Evangelischen Hochschule Ludwigsburg, dem Friedensinstitut Freiburg, der Evangelischen Hochschule Freiburg, der Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana, der CVJM Hochschule, der Evangelischen Hochschule Dresden und der Evangelischen Hochschule Berlin.