Meir Shahar
Meir Shahar (Hebrew: מאיר שחר, born in 1959 in Jerusalem, Israel) is a professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University.
After studying at the University of Jerusalem, he studied Chinese in Taipei. He obtained a PhD in Asian languages and civilizations at Harvard University in 1992.
His research interests include the interplay of Chinese religion and Chinese literature, Chinese martial-arts history, Chinese esoteric Buddhism, and the impact of Indian mythology of the Chinese pantheon of divinities.
Books
- Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism. Co-edited with Yael Bentor. Leiden: Brill, 2017.
- India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought. Co-edited with John Kieschnick. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
- Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and his Indian Origins. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008.
- The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts, The University of Hawai'i Press, 2008.
- Chinese translation: Shaolin si: Lishi, zongjiao, yu wushu. Translated by Zhao Dianhong. Beijing: Zongjiao wenhua chubanshe, 2016.
- Portuguese translation: O Mosteiro de Shaolin: Historia, Religiao e as Artes Marciais Chinesas. Translated by Rodrigo Wolff Apolloni and Rodrigo Borges de Faveri. Sao Paulo: Editora Perspectiva, 2011.
- Polish translation: Klasztor Shaolin: Historia, religia i chinskie sztuki walki. Translated by Justyn Hunia. Krakow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, 2011.
- Italian translation: Il Monastero di Shaolin: Storia, religione e arti marziali cinesi. Translated by B. Mottura. Roma: Astrolabio Ubaldini, 2011.
- Monkey and the Magic Gourd (קוף ודלעת הקסמים) (in Hebrew). By Wu Cheng'en. Translated and Adapted by Meir Shahar. Drawings by Noga Zhang Shahar (נגה ג'אנג שחר). Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 2008.
- Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature, Harvard University Asia Center, 1998
- The Chinese Religion (הדת הסינית) (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv: The Broadcast University Series Press, 1998.
- Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China. Co-edited with Robert Weller. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996.
Selected Essays
- "Chinese Religions and Violence." In the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence. Edited by Michael Jerryson, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Margo Kitts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
- "Indian Mythology and the Chinese Imagination: Nezha, Nalakubara, and Krsna." In John Kieschnick and Meir Shahar, editors, India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
- "Religion in the Story of the Stone." In Approaches to Teaching The Story of the Stone (Dream of the Red Chamber). Edited by Andrew Schonebaum and Tina Lu. New York: Modern Language association of America, 2012.
- "Diamond Body: The Origins of Invulnerability in the Chinese Martial Arts." In Perfect Bodies: Sports Medicine and Immortality. Edited by Vivienne Lo. London: British Museum, 2012.
- "Vernacular Fiction and the transmission of the Chinese Pantheon." In Meir Shahar and Robert Weller, eds., Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China. Honolulu: Hawaii University Press. Reprinted in Critical Readings on Religions of China. Edited by Vincent Goossaert. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
- "Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61.2 (December 2001):359-413.
- "Epigraphy, Buddhist Historiography, and Fighting Monks: The Case of the Shaolin Monastery," Asia Major 13.2 (2000): 15-36.
- "The Lingyin si Monkey Disciples and the Origins of Sun Wukong." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 52.1 (June 1992): 193-224.
Selected Reviews
-The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts:
- Henning, Stanley E. “China Review International.” China Review International, vol. 15, no. 3, 2008, pp. 423–430. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23733226.
- Chau, Adam Yuet. “The China Journal.” The China Journal, no. 62, 2009, pp. 151–153. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20648128.
-Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and his Indian Origins.:
- Bryson, Megan. “Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and His Indian Origins.” Journal of Chinese Religions 44.2 (2016): 204–206. Web.
-Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature:
- Wang, Richard. “History of Religions.” History of Religions, vol. 41, no. 3, 2002, pp. 294–297. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3176537.
- Kardos, Michael A. “Asian Folklore Studies.” Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 60, no. 2, 2001, pp. 366–368. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1179071.Copy