The first phase of the “Venerable Master Hsing Yun Digital Humanities Platform Construction” project has been successfully completed and accepted. This phase’s achievements include the prototype of the thematic website, preliminary designs for both front-end and back-end archival systems, organization of itinerary and news materials, digitization of nearly 90,000 image files, establishment of metadata cataloging formats for various data types, and the setup of scanning workstations, among other significant accomplishments.

Since signing a five-year cooperation contract with SYSTEX Corporation on July 31, 2024, five months of collaborative effort have brought the first phase to successful completion. The three comprehensive reports submitted by the contractor meticulously document the progress and outcomes of all work components. Reading through these substantial reports, we feel deeply grateful for the full support from monastics and staff of various Fo Guang Shan departments, as well as the dedicated efforts of our Center.

During project implementation, considerable time was invested in requirement confirmation, specification development, and workflow discussions, gradually building consensus and mutual understanding. We extend special gratitude to the monastics and staff from various Fo Guang Shan departments for their wholehearted assistance in data organization, verification, and quality control, enabling the smooth advancement of the first phase. Moving forward, the project will continue to deepen system construction and website design while further promoting digitization work. Additionally, monastics from various departments will undertake the important responsibility of metadata cataloging, ensuring precise and appropriate data attribute descriptions. This will establish a solid foundation for subsequent data retrieval, management, and analysis, comprehensively recording and preserving Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Dharma propagation achievements in a richer and more complete manner, facilitating researchers’ access.

Furthermore, the technology contractor serves as a crucial partner in project advancement. We thank the engineers, graphic designers, and digitization personnel from SYSTEX Corporation, whose professionalism and dedication have laid an excellent foundation for the project. Through the collaboration and coordination of the first phase, we believe the second phase will proceed even more smoothly, reaching new heights in the long-term development of the Venerable Master Hsing Yun Digital Humanities platform.