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James A. Benn |
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AnnouncementsSSHRC-sponsored Postdoctoral Fellow in Chinese BuddhismI am delighted to welcome Dr. Dewei (David) Zhang who will be at McMaster University on a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on the making and spread of the printed Chinese Buddhist canon in pre-modern East Asia. I am Dr. Zhang's supervisor. Dr. Zhang holds two PhDs: the first in Chinese Philosophy from Beijing University (1999), the second in East Asian Buddhism from University of British Columbia (2010). His thesis explored Chinese Buddhism and its relation to the political realm during the period 1522 to 1620. His supervisor at UBC was Dr. Jinhua Chen, Canada Research Chair in Chinese Buddhism, whose own PhD is from McMaster. Dr. Zhang also studied in Japan on a BDK Canada Graduate Scholarship. He has published several articles on his research in both English and Chinese. While at McMaster, Dr. Zhang will be undertaking the first systematic study of the history of the printed Chinese Buddhist canon from the social, political, economic, regional, diplomatic, and religious points of view. As the major source of Buddhist exegesis and of doctrine, more than twenty print editions of this canon have been produced and circulated in East Asia since the tenth century. The canon has significantly influenced the liturgy and the life of the Buddhist community and shaped the contours of East Asian culture. Dr. Zhang’s project will explore the production and dissemination of this canon as a profound social activity which involved not only religion but also politics, economics, and culture. The results of this research will be of interest not only to scholars of East Asian Buddhism, but also to those working in other religions, political science, communication studies, book culture, and printing history. Recent videos: James Benn, Department of Religious Studies The Buddhist Arts of Tea in Medieval China
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