Benoît Vermander

Several of his publications deal with the transformations of the Chinese religious landscape and the way Christianity contributes to them while being affected by the trends that redefine China's self-understanding of its cultural tradition (Shanghai Sacred, 2018; Le Christ Chinois, DDB, 1998; Les mandariniers de la rivière Huai, DDB, 2002; L’Empire sans milieu, DDB, 2010). In the latter book and several articles he analyzes how China's religious revival goes along the redefinition of the traditional Chinese religious psyche and societal forms. He also writes on the spiritual dimension of Chinese ancient philosophy and the way its re-interpretation may enrich today's spiritual quest in interreligious perspective. In Shanghai Sacred, published in collaboration with Liz Hingley and Liang Zhang, he combines the study of Chinese religions in urban settings with the one of the current expressions of Chinese 'civil religions.'

He has highlighted and analyzed the systemic relationship between globalization and the rise of China (La Chine ou le temps retrouvé, les figures de la mondialisation et l’ascension chinoise, Academia-Bruyant, 2008 ). He has enlarged this research to the external and internal factors explaining the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility in China (Corporate Social responsibility in China, World Scientific, 2014).

His research on the effect of globalization on the Chinese local fabric has also given rise to a case-study on Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan (L’Enclos à moutons, Les Indes savantes, 2007). This case-study was linked to an ongoing local developmental project led together with Professor Stevan Harrell, University of Washington, and a group of Yi scholars.

Under the art name Bendu, he also creates works of Chinese painting and calligraphy. He studied under the Sichuanese painter Li Jinyuan. In concert with Li Jinyuan, he held expositions at the Réfectoire des Jacobins (Toulouse, 1996), the European Parliament (Strasbourg, 1996), the National Gallery (Beijing, 1997) and Gallery of Sichuan (Chengdu, 1997). He has held solo exhibitions at Fu Jen University (Taipei, 1993), University of San Francisco (1999), The French Institute in Taipei (2002), Chengdu's Academy of Painting and Calligraphy (2002), Beida Centre (Tainan, 2004), Kwanghua Centre (Hong Kong, 2005), the Tibeto-Mongolian Foundation (Taipei, 2008), Sunbow Gallery (Shanghai, 2008), Xuhui Art Museum (Shanghai, 2014), Open Space Gallery in Shanghai (2017), Ancienne Banque de France in Lens, North of France (2019) and ICICLE Space in Shanghai (2022) amongst various other places. In January 2023, his paintings are featured in a themed exhibition at the bookshop-gallery "Book Maoxiang" in Suzhou. He has published several collections of poems and paintings, in both Taiwan and China.

Benoît Vermander (born 1960), also known as Wei Mingde (Chinese: 魏明德) and Bendu (Chinese: 笨笃), is a French Jesuit, sinologist, political scientist, and painter. He is currently professor of religious sciences at Fudan University, Shanghai, as well as academic director of the Xu-Ricci Dialogue Center within the University. He has been director of the Taipei Ricci Institute from 1996 to 2009 and the editor-in-chief of its electronic magazine erenlai. He is also consultor to the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. He holds a M.Phil in political science from Yale University, a doctorate in the same discipline from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, a Master of Sacred Theology from Fu Jen Catholic University (Taiwan) and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Jesuit Faculties of Philosophy and Theology of Paris (Centre Sevres).