When Buddhism arrived in China it met a well-established civilization with entrenched ideologies and cultural values. The resulting cultural dialogue gave rise to unique forms of Buddhism, differing greatly from those in India. These contextualized and culturalized forms of Chinese Buddhism are the subjects of Dr. Welter’s research.

Dr. Welter is particularly interested in the social, institutional, and ideological aspects of Buddhism, and how it adapted to Chinese culture, a process known as sinification. He principally studies Chinese Buddhism of the 10th and 11th centuries, a period of momentous change in Chinese culture. His work is focused between two successful “golden ages”: the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, and the cultural dialogue between Buddhism and other Chinese traditions. “There were forces of conflict and repression, as cultural values and Confucian based fundamentalism were seen to be threatened, but there were also very receptive tendencies to accept Buddhism as a domesticated religion, says Welter. It was a period of great growth in commerce, wealth and population, with an upsurge of literacy, giving rise to new artistic and literary forms.

While his research does not include modern China, Dr. Welter is interested in exploring the continuities of Chinese culture past and present. This has led him to consider new aspects of the intellectual world of Chinese people today. He finds the cultural dialogue and debate occurring in contemporary China reminiscent of earlier times, and although the country remains highly secularized, Buddhism is seeing resurgence, as are other religions. “China has never been a monoculture in ideology, and so multicultural debate is not new. What is most significant is the Chinese are now reading their own history and have better access to their cultural legacies which had been denied for decades,” states Welter. “The government is encouraging people to look at historical doctrines such as Confucianism, which is now legitimate and available, though interpretations still tend to be circumscribed by government agendas.”

In the future Dr. Welter hopes to extend his studies to explore diversity and human rights in China, with an aim toward understanding the lack of meaningful dialogue that often takes place on this issue.

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