Albert Welter

Biography

Albert Welter

Department of East Asian Studies

University of Arizona

1512 E First Street, Learning Services Building

Tucson, Arizona, 85721-0105

awelter@email.arizona.edu

           

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

2021-present     Editorial Board, International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture

2020-present     Chief Co-Editor, Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies

2013-present     Professor and Head, Department of East Asian Studies

                        Associate Director, School of International Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Arizona

2013-present     Associate Director, School of International Languages, Literatures & Cultures (SILL), University of Arizona

2011-2013        Professor and Chair, Department of Religion & Culture

Director, Program in East Asian Languages & Cultures,

University of Winnipeg.

2003-2010        Professor and Acting Chair (6 months per year), Department of Religion & Culture, University of Winnipeg.

1996-2003        Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Winnipeg.

1990-1996        Assistant Professor, Joint Appointment, Departments of History and Religious Studies, North Central College (Naperville, Illinois).

 

COURTESY APPOINTMENTS 

2019-present     Vice-Chair, International Confucian Association 国际儒学联合会

2017-present     Honorary Professor, Hangzhou Academy of Social Sciences 杭州社会科学院

2013-present     Adjunct Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Classics, University of Arizona

2013-2016        Adjunct Professor, Department of Religion & Culture, University of Winnipeg

 

RESEARCH APPOINTMENTS

2022                 Numata Research Fellow, Research Center for Buddhist Cultures in Asia, Ryūkoku University (Kyoto, Japan). Summer.

2019                 Tianzhu Visiting Professor, Centre for Buddhist Studies, Ghent University (Belgium).

2006-2007        Visiting Professor, Renmin University 人民大学,  Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Religious Theory (Beijing, China).

1999                 Research Associate, Institute of Oriental Studies 東洋文化研究所, Tokyo University (Japan).

1989-1990        Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University (Canada).

1987-1989        Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Buddhist Studies Department, Komazawa University 駒沢大学 (Tokyo, Japan).

 

EDUCTIONAL BACKGROUND

6/1987              Ph.D. Religious Studies, McMaster University

                        Comp Exams: East Asian Buddhism, Indian Buddhism, and Western Religious Thought

9/84-6/85          Fudan University 复旦大学, Shanghai.

                                    Field: Chinese Philosophy (dissertation research)

1/80-12/82        Komazawa University 駒沢大学, Tokyo.

Field: Zen Buddhism (dissertation research)

6/1978              M.A. Religious Studies, McMaster University

9/74-6/76          University of Oregon

                                    Post-baccalaureate study, Fields: Education (certification) & Asian Studies

9/70-6/74          B.Sc. Political Science, Oregon State University

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Books and Special Journal Issues

2023 The Future of China’s Past: Reflections on the Meaning of China’s Rise. Chinese Philosophy and Culture series (Roger Ames, ed.). Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press 174 and xi pages.

 

2022   A Tale of Two Stūpas: Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in Hangzhou China. New York: Oxford University Press; 228 and viii pages.

 

2022   Approaches to Chan, Sŏn, and Zen Studies: Chinese Chan Buddhism and It’s Spread throughout East Asia. Co-edited with Steven Heine and Jin Y. Park. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 462 and xiv pages.

 

2022 The Role of Hangzhou in the Spread of East Asian Buddhism. Guest Editor, Special Issue of the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture, Volume 32, Number 1. Academy of Buddhist Studies, Dongguk University (Seoul, Korea). 107 pages.

 

2018     The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation of Zanning and his Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Order in China (Da Song Seng shilue 大宋僧史略). Amherst, New York: Cambria Press. 705 and xvii pages.

 

2017     Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan, co-edited with Jeffrey Newmark. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press. 259 and ix pages.

 

2011    Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission within the Scriptures. New York: Oxford University Press: 381 and x pages.

 

2008    The Linji lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy: The Development of Chan’s Records of Sayings Literature. New York: Oxford University Press: 236 and xvi pages.

 

2006     Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press: 322 and xii pages.

 

1993     The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou and the Wan-shan t’ung-kuei chi. Asian Thought and Culture Series, no. 13. New York, Bonn, et.al.: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.: 266 and xiii pages (revised doctoral dissertation).

 

Articles and Book Chapters (Invited/ Peer Reviewed):

Submitted “Harm in the Name of Dharma: Altruistic Violence in Wuyue.” Jin Y. Park, ed., Buddhism and Non-violence.
 
Submitted “Tianxia with Liberal Democratic Characteristics? (Precedents for a Cultural Renaissance based on inclusive engagements),” Tianxia III Conference, Formulating a Minimalist Morality for a Planetary Geopolitical Order: Alternative Cultural Perspectives.
 
“Two Visions of Chan Enlightenment: ‘A Special Transmission Outside the Teachings’ and “Harmony between Chan and the Teachings’”. In Chinese Philosophy and its Thinkers: From Ancient Times to the Present Day (UK: Bloomsbury). Sinicization of Buddhism: from Tiantai to Chan in Volume Two (Imperial Thought since the Introduction of Buddhism). 
 
Accepted “The Gong’an Tradition in the Gateless Barrier as a ‘Special Transmission Outside the Teaching’”. In Readings of The Gateless Barrier. Jimmy Yu. Ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
 
In Press. “Secularizing the Sacred? Wang Yucheng’s Biography of Buddhist Master Zanning.” Festchrift in honor of Phyllis Granoff, From Jetavāna to Jerusalem: Sacred Biography in Asian Perspectives and Beyond. Jinhua Chen. Ed. Singapore: World Scholastic Publishers. 175-201.
 
In Press “Zen Master as Construction Entrepreneur and Preserver of Dharma: Eisai’s experience of Song Dynasty Chan in the Hangzhou Region.” In Jean-Noël Robert, Ishii Seijun, and Chao Zhang, eds. Song-Dynasty Chan: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on an East Asian Buddhist Tradition. Paris: Editions Collège de France, Bibliothèque de l'Institut des hautes études japonaises. 31 manuscript pages.
 
2023 “Doctrinal Engagements and Disengagements: Yongming Yanshou and His Legacies.” How Zen Became Chan: Pre-modern and Modern Representations of a Transnational East Asian Buddhist Tradition. Journal of Chan Buddhism 3 (2023) 1–33. brill.com/chbu
 
“Text and Image in Wuyue: An Investigation of King Qian Chu’s Printing of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra,” In A Forest of Knowledge: A Collection of Essays on Texts and Images in Celebration of Professor Koichi Shinohara’s Eightieth Birthday. Jinhua Chen. Ed. Singapore: World Scholastic Publishers. 388-411.
 
2022 “The Hangzhou Region and the Spread of East Asian Buddhism.” In Approaches to Chan, Sŏn, and Zen Studies: Chinese Chan Buddhism and Its Spread throughout East Asia. Co-edited with Steven Heine and Jin Y. Park. State University of New York Press. 35-67.
 
2022 “Borderland Complexes and Translocations: How a Japanese Tendai Monk Discovered Chan/Zen Buddhism in an Indian Buddhist Homeland in the Hangzhou Region.” In Jing Yue, Jinhua Chen and Song Wang, eds., Chinese Transformation of Buddhism & Crossborder Transmission of Buddhism: Pan-Asian Spread of Tiantai/Ch’ŏnt’ai/Tendai Texts, Ideas and Practices and Its Position in East Asian Society, Series on Famed Mountains and Great Temples III. Singapore: World Scholastic Publishers, 2022. 525-563. Also appeared in Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies, 4, No. 2 (2021): 497-534.
 
2022 “Reimagining the Dharma: Yanshou, Daoyuan, and Zanning on the Three Pillars of Buddhism.” In Albert Welter. Ed. The Role of Hangzhou in the Spread of East Asian Buddhism. Special Issue of the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture, Volume 32, Number 1: 21-50.
 
2022 “Introduction.” In Albert Welter. Ed. The Role of Hangzhou in the Spread of East Asian Buddhism. Special Issue of the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture, Volume 32, Number 1: 5-17.
 
2022 “Making and Marking Buddhist Sacred Space: Wuyue Buddhism and Its Influence in the Song Dynasty,”In Jiang Wu, ed., The Formation of Regional Religious Systems (RRS) in Greater China. London: Routledge. 35-57.
 
2022 “Zen and Japanese Culture: Nativist Influences on Suzuki Daisetsu’s Interpretation of Zen.” In Chinese Culture, Vol. 6, Charles S. Prebish and On-cho Ng (Eds): The Theory and Practice of Zen Buddhism: A Festschrift in honor of Steven Heine. London, U.K.: Springer Nature. 177-205.
 
2021 “Borderland Complexes and Translocations: How a Japanese Tendai Monk Discovered Chan/Zen Buddhism in an Indian Buddhist Homeland in the Hangzhou Region.” Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies2 (2021): 497–534. [Also included in Jing Yue, Jinhua Chen and Song Wang, eds., Chinese Transformation of Buddhism & Crossborder Transmission of Buddhism: Pan-Asian Spread of Tiantai/Ch’ŏnt’ai/Tendai Texts, Ideas and Practices and Its Position in East Asian Society, Series on Famed Mountains and Great Temples III. Singapore: World Scholastic Publishers, 2022. 525-563.].
 
2021 “Literati Chan at the Song Dynasty Court: The Role of Yang Yi in the Creation of Chan Identity.” Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies (2021, 34: 91–159) New Taipei: Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies 中華佛學學報 _第三十四期 _頁 _91–159（民國一百一十年）新北：中華佛學研究所.
 
2021         “Lessons from the Past: Prospects for Confucianism in An Age of Globalization,” The Cross-Cultural Thinkers （跨文化思想家）2021 No. 1: 22-28 (non-peer reviewed).
 
2021          “Confucian Secularism in Theoretical and Historical Perspective,” in Leerom Medovoi and Elizabeth Bentley, Eds., Religion, Secularism, and Political Belonging, Duke University Press. 69-84 (based on “The Sphere of Privilege: Confucian Culture and the Administration of Buddhism and Religion in China,” Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan, London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press).
 
2020 “What is Chan Buddhism: Modern Zen in Chinese Chan Perspective.” Dharma Voice (magazine of Buddhist Association of China) 2020-2 (non-peer reviewed).
 
2020 “The “Resurrection” of Yongming Yanshou in Ming Dynasty China: The Yongming Stūpa at Jingci Monastery.” International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 30, No. 1: 13-38.
 
2020 “The Role of Legalism and Militarism in the Making of Modern China,” The Cross Cultural Thinkers （跨文化思想家）2020 No. 2: 96-110 (non-peer reviewed).
 
2019 “Yulu Formation in Chinese Chan: The Records of Qingyuan Xingsi and Nanyue Huairang.” Journal of Chan Buddhism 1 (Brill): 77-145.
 
2019 “Public Places and Privileged Spaces: Perspectives on the Public Sphere and the Sphere of Privilege in China and the West,” in Peter Hershock and Roger Ames, eds., Philosophies of Place: An Intercultural Dialogue. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press: 195-215 (based on “The Sphere of Privilege: Confucian Culture and the Administration of Buddhism and Religion in China,” Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan, London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press).
 
2019 “Mahākāśyapa in Chan-inspired Traditions,” in Jonathan A. Silk, ed. in chief, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism II: Lives. Leiden and Boston: Brill. 586-590.
 
2017 “The Sphere of Privilege: Confucian Culture and the Administration of Buddhism and Religion in China,”Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan, London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press. 13-42.
 
2017 “The East Asian Public Sphere: Concluding Remarks and Theoretical Considerations.” Albert Welter and Jeffrey Newmark, eds., Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press. 233-250.
 
2017 “Chan Yulu as a Means of Integration Across Culture: Reflections on the Fictional Background to Chan’s Encounter Dialogues.” Victor H. Mair, ed., Buddhist Transformations and Interactions: Essays in Honor of Antonino Forte. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press. 357-400.
 
2017 “Kyōriteki bukkyō to Rinzai zen: sōdai ni okeru bukkyō no saikentō ni mukete”「教理的仏教と臨済禅：宋代における仏教の再検討に向けて」(In Japanese) [Doctrinal Buddhism and Rinzai Zen: Toward a Re-examination of Buddhism in the Song Dynasty], in Zen Bunka Kenkyūjō, ed., Rinzai Roku Kenkyū no Genzai『臨済録』研究の現在 (Rinzairoku kokusai gakkai ronbunshu『臨済録』国際學會論文集Collected Papers of the International Conference on the Record of Linji). Kyoto: Hanazono University. 313-327.
 
2016 “Confucian Monks and Buddhist Junzi: Zanning’s Da Song sent shilüe and the politics of Buddhist accommodation at the Song court.” In Thomas Jülch, Ed., The Middle Kingdom and the Dharma Wheel: Aspects of the Relationships between the Buddhist Saṃgha and the State in Chinese History. Leiden: Brill: 222-277.
 
2015        “Confucian Secularism in Theoretical and Historical Perspective,” Ruxue: shijie heping yu fazhan 儒學：世界和平与发展［卷四］. Jinian Kongzi yanzhen 2565 zhounian guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 纪念孔子诞辰2565周年学术研讨会论文集International Symposium in Commemoration of the 2565^th Anniversary of Confucius’ Birthday, The 5^thMeeting of the International Confucian Association, Beijing and Qufu, Conference Proceedings, Volume 4, Jiuzhou Press 九州出版社, pp. 295-318.
 
2014         “Fenshu yu rongtong: bijiao shijiao xiade chan yu lixue yulu yanjiu” 分殊与融通：比较视角下的禅与理学语录研究 (In Chinese) [Identity and Difference: Comparative Perspectives on Chan and Neo-Confucian Dialogue Records], in Guoji Ruxue Lianhehui 国际儒学联合会, ed., Guoji Ruxue Yanjiu Wencui国际儒学研究文萃 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe 人民出版社): 215-240.
 
2014 “Chan/Zen Conceptions of Orthodoxy.” Mario Poceski, ed., The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing: 166-184.
 
2013 “Beyond Lineage Orthodoxy: Yongming Yanshou’s Model of Chan as Bodhisattva Cultivation,” Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 26: 1-31.
 
2013 “Contested Identities in Chan/Zen Buddhism: The “Lost” Fragments of Mazu Daoyi in the Zongjing lu,”Dasho Karma Ura and Dendup Chophel, eds., Buddhism Without Borders: Proceedings of the International Conference on Globalized Buddhism (Centre for Bhutan Studies; Bumthang, Bhutan): 268-283.
 
2013         “Between Zen and the Pure Land: Locating Yongming Yanshou’s Model of Chan as Bodhisattva Cultivation,” Sheng Yen yanjiu di si ji 聖嚴研究第四輯 (Studies of Master Sheng yen Vol.4). Sheng Yen jiaoyu jijin hui xueshu yanjiu bu 聖嚴教育基金會學術研究部 (Sheng yen Education Foundation Academic Research): 415-429.
 
2013 “From the Cakravartin Ideal to Realpolitik: Buddhism and Confucianism in the Pre-modern Chinese Context and its Implications for Contemporary Chinese Secular Policy toward Religion.” Asian Perspectives on the World’s Religions after September 11, Arvind Sharma and Madhu Khanna, Eds. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger: 49-67.
 
2012 “Designating the Sacred by the Secular: Honours and Posthumous Titles for Chan Monks in the Zutang jiand the Jingde Chuandeng lu.” James Benn, Jinhua Chen, and James Robson, eds. Images, Relics, and Legends: The Formation and Transformation of Buddhist Sacred Sites, Essays in Honour of Professor Koichi Shinohara. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press: 166-195.
 
2012 “Zen Syncretism: An Examination of Dōgen’s Zen Thought in Light of Yongming Yanshou’s Chan Teaching in the Zongjing lu.” In Dōgen: Historical and Textual Studies. Ed. Steven Heine. New York: Oxford University Press: 167-192 & 256-262 (notes).
 
2011 “From Cakravartin Ideal to Realpolitik: Zanning and the Accommodation of Buddhism to Neo-Confucianism.” Yugyo sasang yeongu  儒教思想研究 44 (2011): 105-128.
 
2010 “Secularizing the Sacred, Sacralizing the Secular: Reflections on the Buddhist Monastic Institution in China.” Saeculum 61/II (2010): 307-330.
 
2010 “Yongming Yanshou: Scholastic as Chan Master.” Zen Masters. Eds. Steven Heine and Dale Wright. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press: 59-89.
 
2008 “Buddhist Rituals for Protecting the Country in Medieval Japan: Myōan Eisai’s ‘Regulations of the Zen School’.” Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Zen Ritual. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press: 113-138 & 304-313 (notes).
 
2007         “Confucian Monks and Buddho-Confucians: A Reappraisal of Wang Yangming’s Teaching,” Hangug Yangmyeong hakhoe haksuldaehoe nonmunjip 한국양명학회 학술대회 논문집 (Korean Association of Wang Yangming Studies) 4: 53-78.
 
2007 城市社会中的科学与宗教：北美佛教观察 (“Science and Religion in Urban Society: Buddhism in North America”). Science, Faith and Culture 科学，信仰与文化. Eds. Gao Huizhu 高惠珠 and Wang Jianping 王建平. Yinchuan: Ningbo renmin chubanshe.
 
2007 以史為訓：佛儒關係的考察 (“Lessons from the Past? Observations on Relations between Confucianism and Buddhism”). Chinese Culture Research 中国文化研究 2007/1: 13-21 (in Chinese, translation by Cheng Lesong 程乐松译).
 
2007 “Chan and Neo-Confucian Discourse Records (Yulu) in Comparative Perspective.” Shan Chun 单纯, , International Confucian Studies 國際儒學研究 No. 15 (Beijing: Jiuzhou Press 九州出版社): 357-402.
 
2006 “Zen as the Ideology of the Japanese State: Eisai and the Kōzen gokokuron.” Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press: 65-112.
 
2006 “The Formation of the Linji lu: An Examination of the Guangdeng lu/Sijia yulu and Linji Huizhao Chanshi yulu ” Proceedings of the Third Annual Buddhist Studies Conference in Korea, Vol. 3, No. 2: 1161-1183.
 
2004 “Lineage and Context in the Patriarch’s Hall Collection and the Transmission of the Lamp.” Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. The Zen Canon: Understanding the Classic Texts. New York: Oxford University Press: 137-179.
 
2002 “The Problem of Orthodoxy in Zen Buddhism: Yongming Yanshou’s Notion of Zong in the Zongjing lu (Records of the Source Mirror).” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 37-1: 3-18.
 
2000 “Mahâkâśyapa’s Smile: Silent Transmission and the Kung-an (kôan) Tradition,” Steven Heine and Dale Wright, eds. The Kôan: Text and Context in Zen Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press: 75-109.
 
1999 “A Buddhist Response to the Confucian Revival: Tsan-ning and the Debate Over Wen in the Early Sung.”Peter N. Gregory and Daniel Getz, eds. Buddhism in the Sung. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, Kuroda Institute Studies on Buddhism: 21-61.
 
1999 “Promoting Zen for the Protection of the Country: Eisai and the Kôzen gokoku ron.” George Tanabe, ed. Religions of Japan in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Princeton Readings in Religion: 63-70.
 
1998 “Life, Death, and Enlightenment: Buddhist Ethics in a Chinese Context.” Dawne McCance, ed. Religion and Life Ethics. Atlanta: Scholars Press, University of Manitoba Studies in Religion: 67-81.
 
1996 “Buddhist Ritual and the State.” Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed. Religions of China in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, Princeton Readings in Religions): 390-396.
 
1996 “The Disputed Place of “A Special Transmission Outside the Scriptures” in Ch’an,” Chan Magazine, Dharma Drum Publications (published in two installments, Summer & Winter editions); non-peer reviewed.
 
1995 “Zanning and Chan: The Changing Nature of Buddhism in Early Song China.” Journal of Chinese Religions 23: 105-140.
 
1992 “Buddhist Nationalism and the Origins of Zen in Japan: Toward a Reappraisal of Eisai and the Kôzen gokoku ron.” Bernard Hung-Kay Luk, ed. Contacts Between Cultures, Volume 4; Eastern Asia: History and Social Sciences. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press: 356-362.
 
1988 “The Contextual Study of Chinese Buddhist Biographies: The Example of Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975).”Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, eds. Monks and Magicians: Religious Biographies in Asia. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press: 247-268.
 
1988     “Tsan-ning’s Ta-Sung Seng Shih-Lueh and the Foundations of Sung Dynasty Buddhism — The Concept of the Three Teachings as Implements of the Chinese Emperor.” Transactions of the 33rd International Conference of Orientalists in Japan. Tokyo: The Institute of Eastern Culture: 46-64.

Degrees

• Ph.D. Religious Studies
• McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou and the Wan-shan t'ung-kuei chi