Tinker, Tailor, Scholar, Spy: Holmes Welch, Buddhism, and the Cold War
Drawing on archival research and oral history, this article examines the career of Holmes Welch (1921-1981). Welch is a towering figure in the study of Buddhism whose trilogy on modern Chinese Buddhism stood as the definitive work on the topic for decades and remains a touchstone today. In many ways...
| Published in: | Journal of global buddhism |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[publisher not identified]
2021
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| In: |
Journal of global buddhism
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Welch, Holmes H. 1924-1981
/ China
/ Buddhism
/ Research
/ East-West conflict
/ Anti-communism
|
| RelBib Classification: | AA Study of religion AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BL Buddhism KBM Asia NCD Political ethics TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Modern Buddhism
B Cold War B Area Studies B Buddhist Studies B China B Welch B Asia Foundation B Holmes B World Fellowship of Buddhists |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Drawing on archival research and oral history, this article examines the career of Holmes Welch (1921-1981). Welch is a towering figure in the study of Buddhism whose trilogy on modern Chinese Buddhism stood as the definitive work on the topic for decades and remains a touchstone today. In many ways, Welch appears ahead of its time. Yet an investigation of Welch’s papers makes clear that his work can only be fully understood in the context of the Cold War, for it was not only shaped by but also served the American struggle against Communism. Welch’s formation as a scholar took place less at Harvard, where he earned a master’s, than Hong Kong, where he served as a political officer in the Foreign Service. Afterward, he continued to write and consult in the service of Cold War objectives into the early 1970s. This intertwining of the academic and the political in his work and career suggests the existence of a "hidden transcript" of Buddhist Studies and the Cold War that merits further investigation. |
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| ISSN: | 1527-6457 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of global buddhism
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5764599 |