Dr. Waifang Xu, a professor in the School of Urban Culture at South China Normal University, joined the Center for Buddhist Studies as a visiting scholar in the academic year 2018 to 2019. Prof. Xu received his PhD degree of Chinese classical literature from Fudan University in China in 2003. His research interests include Chinese classical literature, Chinese literary theory, Song Buddhism, and literati in Guangdong, with emphasis on the famous Song scholar, Su Shi 蘇軾(1037-1101). He has published multiple academic articles and books on Song literature and religious thoughts in the literary works of Su Shi and others. During his time at UA, Prof. Xu plans to work on a project titled “Su Shi’s Buddhist and Taoist thoughts and his influence in Southeast Asia,” which aims to examine how Buddhism and Daoism influenced Su Shi’s literary works and the impact of Su’s works in Southeast Asia with the settlement of Chinese emigration there. Prof. Xu will deliver a lecture on his project at UA in the future.