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
