Albert Welter

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Albert Welter (born 1952) is a scholar of East Asian Buddhism, particularly Chinese Buddhism in the Tang to Song Dynasty transition. From 2013, he has served as Professor and Head of the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Arizona, Tucson, [1] and was formerly Chair of the Department of Religion and Culture at the University of Winnipeg (Canada), where he also initiated the East Asian Languages and Cultures program. [2] Welter's work also encompasses a broader interest in Chinese administrative policies toward Buddhism, including Chinese notions of secularism and their impact on religious beliefs and practices. His work also covers Buddhist interactions with Neo-Confucianism and literati culture. His is currently involved in the Hangzhou Region Buddhist Culture Project, supported by the Khyentse Foundation, in conjunction with Zhejiang University, the Hangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, and the Hangzhou Buddhist Academy. His monograph, A Tale of Two Stūpas: Histories of Hangzhou relic veneration through two of its most enduring monuments, is currently in press (Oxford). Another volume, The Future of China’s Past: Reflections on the Meaning of China’s Rise is under review. He has also received funding from the American Council of Learned Societies (with the support of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation) for an international conference, “Creating the World of Chan/ Sŏn /Zen: Chinese Chan Buddhism and its Spread throughout East Asia.” Dr. Welter's research was supported for many years by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, [3] and is widely regarded as an expert in his area of scholarship. [4]

Significant & Recent publications include:

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The History of Chinese Buddhism begins in the Han Dynasty, when Buddhism first began to arrive via the Silk Road networks. The early period of Chinese Buddhist history saw efforts to propagate Buddhism, establish institutions and translate Buddhist texts into Chinese. The effort was led by non-Chinese missionaries from India and Central Asia like Kumarajiva and Paramartha well as by great Chinese pilgrims and translators like Xuanzang.

References

  1. Pascal Albright (19 February 2018). "UA department of East Asian Studies expands with new Korean minor". Daily Wildcat.
  2. Harold Coward (2014). Fifty Years of Religious Studies in Canada: A Personal Retrospective. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 101. ISBN   978-1771121033.
  3. Steven Heine; Dale S. Wright (2004). The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts. Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN   978-0195150674.
  4. Arvind Sharma; Madhu Khanna (2013). Asian Perspectives on the World's Religions after September 11. ABC-CLIO. p. 254. ISBN   978-0313378973.