“Writing with the Phoenix Brush” in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region – Recap

In July 2025, CAS-E hosted a delegation from a Taiwanese spirit-writing (fuji 扶乩 or 扶箕) community, organized by ISCSD president and CAS-E director Michael Lackner. The visit represented the first public demonstration of “writing with the Phoenix brush” in Germany, providing scholars and the public with an opportunity to observe this traditional religious practice.

Following an introductory study session at CAS-E, public ceremonies were held on July 4th at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Erlangen and on July 6th at the Katharinensaal in Nuremberg. These events allowed attendees to witness a ritual practice with centuries of historical development in Taiwanese religious traditions.

The ceremonies offered insights into contemporary Taiwanese spiritual culture while facilitating cross-cultural academic exchange. The Phoenix Community’s visit contributed to ongoing scholarly engagement with East Asian spiritual traditions and their modern manifestations.

Brief Retrospective

The Cult of the Phoenix Halls (扶鸞, 扶乩) is perhaps the least known religion of the Chinese-speaking world in the West, despite being the subject of academic research for quite some time. All the more significant, then, was the visit of Yi Cheng Tang (意誠堂) from Kaohsiung, Taiwan – the first public appearance of a Phoenix Hall (鸞堂) in Germany. The ceremonies of this temple community took place both in a church and in a municipal event space. A notably large audience from the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg had the opportunity to experience this religion firsthand.

Prior to the public events, the temple community met with the directors and international guest researchers of the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, which had organized the visit in collaboration with the ISCSD. Scholars from Germany, Canada, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, the UK, Sri Lanka, and the USA had the opportunity to ask questions about the temple’s rituals and religious background, leading to a lively exchange – truly a cultural first encounter in many respects.

The first part of the ceremony (教化, moral education) focused on various spiritual messages, which the Phoenix Hall will publish soon. In the second part (濟世, aid the world), visitors were invited to ask questions that concerned them personally. This segment, too, attracted a large turnout.

The ISCSD considers itself fortunate to have initiated this form of epistemic partnership – between Western scholars and the general public on the one side, and an East Asian religious community on the other – and looks forward to future developments.

Michael Lackner, ISCSD president and CAS-E director

The events were covered by two Taiwanese TV stations, who kindly shared their footage with us. You can find two short newsreels from 新高屏時報 (Kaoping Times) and 民視新聞 (Formosa TV News Network) on YouTube:

民視新聞: 西方教堂內扶鸞！ 高雄意誠堂遠征德國文化交流－民視新聞 (posted July 17, 2025)

新高屏時報: 《大》意誠堂扶鸞團隊 赴德國進行宗教交流 (posted July 22, 2025)