Mt. Lingyin Culture International Symposium (“灵隐山” 文化国际论坛) was held on October 16, 2021 at Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, China. More than fifty scholars attended the symposium and presented their studies on Hangzhou Buddhist Culture, including Dr. Albert Welter, head of the Department of East Asian Studies, and Dr. Jinhui Wu, a research fellow and event coordinator for the Center for Buddhist studies.
Dr. Albert Welter’s paper titled “The East Asian Dharma: Hangzhou as Center of East Asian Buddhism” discussed how the Hangzhou region was transformed into a facsimile of an Indian Buddhist land, whose spiritual power rivalled and surpassed that of the original. Dr. Jinhui Wu’s paper discussed the study and transformation of Hangzhou Buddhist culture in contemporary North America, using the case of the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project at the Center for Buddhist Studies at The University of Arizona, especially the compilation of the Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture which will be published in a year or two.