From February 6 to February 9, 2008 in St. Petersburg at the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science of St. Petersburg.GU hosted the international conference "The Fifth Torchinov Readings", dedicated to the memory of E. A. Torchinov (1956-2003), an outstanding sinologist, religious scholar, Buddhist scholar, and historian of Chinese philosophy and culture, organized by the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies of the East of St. Petersburg State University. It was attended by 115 participants from 32 cities and nine countries: Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Japan, and the DPRK.

At the plenary session, the organizers of the conference made speeches. Pakhomov, A.V. Paribok, K. Y. Solonin, They noted the growing role of the Torchinov Readings in the scientific world and the special importance of this conference as an opportunity to prove themselves for young specialists not only from Russia, but also from countries near and far abroad.

The main research subjects of the conference participants were various aspects and new methodological developments in religious and Oriental studies. The conference was held in ten sections: "Indology", "Ancient Near and Middle East", "Biblical Studies and Judaism", "Christian East", "Buddhology and Tibetology", "East and West", "East in Russia", "Methodological problems of Religious Studies", "Sinology", " Japanese Studies, Korean studies and Vietnamese studies".

Section reports Indologiya it can be divided into two thematic groups:

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1. Reports on philosophy and mythology in ancient and medieval India - E. N. Anikeeva (RUDN University), E. A. Desnitskaya (St. Petersburg State University), N. A. Panaeva (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences), D. V. Kanakov (MSU), S. P. Kemeneva (Yekaterinburg), T. G. Skorokhodova (Penza State Pedagogical University. un-t), V. B. Sokol (Tyumen State Institute of World Economy, Management and Law), E. V. Burlutskaya (Rostov-on-Don).

2. Reports on the history and culture of ancient and medieval India - T. P. Selivanova (St. Petersburg State University), K. A. Demichev (Lower. Novgorod), T. V. Kartashova (Saratov).

In the section "The Ancient Near and Middle East", combined with the section "Middle and Middle East " 15 reports were read, which were divided into the following areas::

1. History and culture of the Ancient, Near and Middle East - A. V. Osintsev (Yekaterinburg), M. V. Shevchenko (Yaroslavl), T. G. Tumanyan (St. Petersburg State University), A. I. Matochkina (St. Petersburg State University), E. M. Rodionova (St. Petersburg State University), M. V. Mints (St. Petersburg), I. A. Fedorova (St. Petersburg), O. A. Yarosh (Kiev), Sh. S. Kamoliddin (Tashkent), D. S. Bugaev (St. Petersburg State University).

2. Culture of nomadic peoples of Central Asia - V. Y. Kryukova (St. Petersburg), N. I. Osmonova (Bishkek).

3. The position of Islam in the modern world - O. V. Dobrodum (Odessa).

The discussions at the sections discussed both the problems of studying the history and culture of Middle Eastern states, and the position of their main religion - Islam in the modern world. The report aroused particular interest and lively discussion N. A. Dobronravina (St. Petersburg State University) "Brazilian Islam in the context of globalization", which examines the little-studied issue of the situation of the Muslim diaspora in Latin America.

On the section "Buddhology and Tibetology" 15 reports were read in the following areas::

1. Buddhist Philosophy - S. D. Sebastian (India), M. Y. Orenburg (MSU).

2. Tibetan Buddhism - V. E. Turin (St. Petersburg State University), A. M. Alekseev-Apraksin (St. Petersburg State University), M. Slobodnik (Slovakia).

3. Japanese Buddhism - I. V. Bezrukov (St. Petersburg State University) "Nishida Kitaro's Buddhist Interpretation of the Concept of Non-Existence as a basis for Criticism of the Western Philosophical Tradition", R. Muller (Germany) "Zen Buddhism in Modern Philosophy", B. I. Djindjolia (Tver) "The concept of faith in the teachings of D. T. Suzuki".

In the course of the section, methodological problems of studying Buddhist philosophy in various areas of Buddhism were discussed. A. V. Paribok conducted a study of the classification of various branches of Buddhism according to the text of the Brahmajalasutra. T. G. Khmurkin (Moscow State University) showed how mathematical calculations described in the Buddhist philosophical treatise "Abhidharmakosha" influenced the formation of modern mathematics.

A lively discussion was caused by reports on Tibetan Buddhism. J. Grela (Poland) investigated the concept of "light" in traditional Tibetan beliefs. Dmitriev In his report "The practice of consciousness Transference in Tibetan Buddhism according to sadhanas of various schools", he reviewed little-studied tantric meditation practices in Tibetan Buddhism.

Reports on Japanese Buddhism were heard with great interest: E. S. Lepekhova (IVE RAS) - on the inclusion of certain Confucian categories in medieval Japanese Buddhism by analyzing the image of a "noble husband" in the Tendai and Shingon Buddhist schools; M. V. Bobkova (MSU) - on the problem of continuity of traditions in Japanese Buddhism on the example of the influence of the Tendai school on the philosophy of Zen Buddhism; R. Muller and B. I. Djindjolia - on the role of Zen Buddhism in the modern world.

The report should be highlighted separately L. Belki (Czech Republic), which traces the history of photographs of Buryat datsans of the early XX century, made by Czech prisoners of war on the territory of Buryatia during the First World War.

In the section "Japanese Studies, Korean Studies and Vietnamese Studies" the largest number of reports was devoted to the history and culture of Japan.

A. I. Motrokhov (Kharkov) in the report "The Pearl in the system of ancient beliefs of the Japanese (on the example of the songs"Manyoshu") "showed the features of ancient Japanese folklore and poetry.

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Yu. V. Osadcha (Kiev) in the report "Traditional Japanese poetics in the treatise "The essence of the novel" Tsubouchi See" noted the influence of medieval literary traditions on the formation of modern Japanese literature. N. Stalker (USA) spoke about the formation of various ikebana schools in post-war Japan and the influence of American propaganda on the spread of ikebana outside Japan. Reports A. A. Krymova (MSU) "The image of the vengeful ghost of Grief in classical literature and modern mass culture of Japan" and V. A. Lebedeva (Kharkiv) "The problem of the Apocalypse in modern Japanese mass culture" genre was studied horror. A lively discussion was caused by the report A. D. Vertovoy (St. Petersburg) "New Religions and Local Christian Movements in Japan: some common features", which highlighted the process of transformation of Christianity in modern Japan under the influence of traditional religions of Shinto and Buddhism.

The section also heard reports on korean studies - Tina Do Kun Lee (US) and V. A. Rubelya (Kiev) and Vietnamese Studies - E. V. Buttercup and V. N. Kolotova (both are St. Petersburg State University).

In the section Sinologiya 12 reports were divided into the following areas::

1. Research on traditional Chinese history and culture - To. Petrosyan (Riga), SV Filonov (Blagoveshchensk), N. N. Repnyakova (Omsk), U. N. Reshetneva (OmSPU), З. Kirkova (Czech Republic), Ya. K. Savitskaya (St. Petersburg).

2. Modern Chinese culture in the context of globalization.

The discussion was caused by reports of the second direction: Yu. M. Serebryannikova (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Main trends in the study of modern Neo-Confucianism in China"; Bank's address (Poland) "Wang Jingzong's works as examples of Critical Art in China"; M. A. Grozy (St. Petersburg State University) "Demon Cults in modern Taiwan. Based on the results of field studies conducted in the summer of 2007."

On the section "East and West " The issues of mutual influence of Eastern and Western philosophy in a general historical context were discussed. Presentations were made by: A. N. Volkova (St. Petersburg), V. Yu. Dimitrov and L. M. Dimitrova (Kiev), A. I. Vedrov (Kiev), T. A. Ponomarev (St. Petersburg), B. I. Zagumennov (St. Petersburg), A. S. Kolesnikov (St. Petersburg State University), N. A. Antipin (St. Petersburg), O. G. Arapov and E. A. Arapova (Moscow).

The current process of cross-cultural exchange between East and West was analyzed in the reports V. B. Malysheva (Samara), A. A. Filatova (Saint Petersburg), O. V. Dorzhigushaeva (Ulan-Ude), A. V. Kondratiev (MSU), S. A. Astashkevich (St. Petersburg State University), Е. Е. Эпштейна (SPbSUEF).

Section "Biblical Studies and Judaism" It brought together researchers from St. Petersburg State University, ISAA at Moscow State University and RSUH. In the reports of V. E. Semyonkov (St. Petersburg State University), Song In Tae (St. Petersburg), M. M. Fisheleva (St. Petersburg State University), M. V. Vogman (ISAA at Moscow State University) considered the problems of interpreting the texts of the Old Testament. A. S. Ivanova (RSUH) in her report "The poetic tradition of the First Academy of Arabs in the interpretation of Judas Abravanel "raised the question of the influence of the Arab educational tradition on some aspects of Jewish spiritual culture. In l. Vikhnovich (St. Petersburg) analyzed Russian-Jewish ethno-confessional relations.

On the section "Christian East " The main topic of discussion was the history of the emergence and development of Middle Eastern Christianity in Syria and Egypt and modern studies of the Christian apocryphal tradition. Reports submitted by: A. P. Kornilov (St. Petersburg State University), I. H. Maksutov (MSU), A. V. Muravyov (IVI RAS, Moscow), VV. Vasilik (St. Petersburg State University), V. M. Lurie (St. Petersburg), S. V. Tarkhanova (Moscow).

Section participants Vostok in Russia they made interesting and informative reports on the influence of various aspects of the Eastern cultural tradition on the classical Russian culture of the XIX-early XX centuries. Reports N. N. Mikhaylyukova (Tula), A. V. Petrukhina (Lipetsk), O. B. Ionaitis (Yekaterinburg) were devoted to the influence of Eastern philosophy on the views and worldview of Russian cultural figures of the XIX century. The display and interpretation of images of the Ancient East in poetry and prose of the Silver Age were analyzed in the reports Yu. Yu. Budnikova (St. Petersburg), V. V. Yemelyanova (St. Petersburg State University), A. V. Sedova (Cherepovets).

Section program "Methodological problems of religious studies" It included 13 reports covering various subjects of the theory and methodology of religious studies.

On the last day of the conference, four round tables were held: "Interreligious dialogue and education", " Cultures of the Near and Middle East: a modern reality-

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interpretation", "Problems of Buddhology", "Problems of dialogue between East and West cultures".

Particularly interesting and productive was the discussion on the problems of Buddhology, during which A.V. Paribok and B. I. Djindjolia proposed new methods for studying and interpreting modern Russian Buddhology.

The conference was actively attended by young researchers who had the opportunity not only to present their reports, but also to hear comments and advice from specialists.

Summing up the conference, S. V. Pakhomov noted the high scientific level of the reports, the successful work of all sections and expressed the wish that the ideas and legacy of E. A. Torchinov will inspire researchers. In conclusion, the organizers of the conference proposed to conduct "Torchinov Readings" in Russian and English as the main working languages of the conference.

The conference showed the relevance of developing a new methodology for studying religious and Oriental studies in the current context of globalization and the aggravation of inter-confessional relations not only in the countries of the East, but also in Europe and America, and the need to develop these studies with the involvement of international scientific cooperation and mutual exchange of experience and scientific information.

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