The “Venerable Master Hsing Yun Digital Humanities” platform (hereafter “the platform”) is built on three core components: “Venerable Master Hsing Yun Digital Archives,” Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Dharma Propagation Map,” and “Seeking the Dharma.” It brings together the Venerable Master’s writings and manuscripts, audiovisual materials, artifacts, and other resources, serving the purposes of preservation, research, learning, and outreach.
Alongside the launch, a forum titled “Buddhist Textual Archives and Intelligent Research in the AI Era” was held. It brought together representatives from Buddhist, technology, business, and education circles to discuss the significance and future of the platform.
The event drew a distinguished audience. In addition to local government leaders and representatives of the National Central Library, about 500 guests attended, including Fo Guang Shan benefactors, members of the Buddha’s Light International Association, and representatives from public libraries, education, culture, and other sectors.
Remarks from the Organizers: The Platform Is a Treasury of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Wisdom
President Chao Han-Chieh of Fo Guang University noted that the day fell on the autumnal equinox, when day and night are equal in length, just as Venerable Master Hsing Yun stressed the balance of wisdom and compassion. The purpose of everyone’s support for founding the university, he said, is to “impart wisdom to self” while compassionately “bequeath a university to society.” He thanked Professor Tseng Shu-Hsien, Director of the Venerable Master Hsing Yun Digital Humanities Research and Development Center, for establishing the platform at Fo Guang University, keeping the Venerable Master’s wisdom at the university so it can then be shared with the world.
Most Venerable Hsin Bau, Head Abbot of Fo Guang Shan, praised the platform as “a treasury of wisdom” that preserves the wisdom and compassion Venerable Master Hsing Yun left to the world. Fo Guang Shan’s long-standing digitization work, combined with the latest AI technology, allows people around the world to connect heart-to-heart with Venerable Master and carries the Dharma to every corner of the world. He also thanked the many benefactors who, following “one teacher, one path” and remaining true to their initial aspiration, have supported the platform, generating boundless merit.
Professor Tseng Shu-Hsien, Director of the Center, presented the platform’s archival achievements, development progress, and website structure. Based at Convention Lodge at Fo Guang Shan, the Center works in collaboration with various Fo Guang Shan departments and Fo Guang University. Building the platform is the Center’s core mission. It aims to realize the many functions and public value of the historical materials, including propagating the Dharma, supporting academic research, curation, and cultural and creative applications, and it is expected to have wide influence. Because Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s life touched the political world and many different Buddhist schools, the platform’s significance extends beyond Buddhism. She also thanked Venerable Tzu Hui, Chairperson of Fo Guang University, for her support and guidance.
Remarks from Guest Representatives: The Platform Carries On Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Spirit
Speaking on behalf of the guests, James Y. Chao, Lay Dharma Lecturer of Buddha’s Light International Association, General Representative of Devotees at the Fo Guang Ancestral Temple Dajue Temple, and Chairman of Westlake Corporation, noted that businesses invest hundreds of millions in building platforms, and such projects depend on experienced leadership to guide teams in adapting nimbly to rapid technological change. Mr. Chao also praised many of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s pioneering initiatives as leading even by international standards. For example, the publication and public release of the monumental Encyclopedia of Buddhist Art, and the visitor-friendly management of the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, have both been highly regarded by American academia and the museum community. The launch of this platform, he said, will continue this fine tradition.
Loretta H. Yang, founder of Liuligongfang, said she attended the event as a disciple of the Venerable Master Hsing Yun. Recalling how Venerable Master once gave her confidence, she pointed out that what is most precious about Venerable Master is not only his artifacts and writings, but the spirit of the “Three Acts of Goodness and Four Givings.” The platform’s importance lies not only in preserving historical materials, but in showing the world that the Humanistic Buddhism as advocated by Venerable Master Hsing Yun was truly put into practice in the world. By combining the latest digital technology, the platform allows the spirit carried by Venerable Master’s legacy to keep entering modern life, passing on the lamp without end, so that future generations can continue to draw confidence and hope from the Dharma.
Forum: “Buddhist Textual Archives and Intelligent Research in the AI Era”
Following the platform’s launch, the forum “Buddhist Textual Archives and Intelligent Research in the AI Era” was held. Moderated by Director Tseng Shu-Hsien, it featured four panelists, in order: Venerable Ru Chang, Ke Hao-Ren, James Y. Chao, and Chao Han-Chieh.
Venerable Ru Chang: Buddhist Literature and Cultural Preservation
Venerable Ru Chang, Executive Director of the Fo Guang Shan Foundation for Buddhist Culture and Education and Director of the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, cited the stone[inscribed] canon carved at Yunju Temple from the Sui dynasty onward, which protected the Buddhist scriptures from destruction through successive dynasties. The platform, she said, embodies the same concern, combining advanced technology to preserve Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s artifacts for the long term.
Venerable Master had a strong awareness of preserving Buddhist cultural artifacts and history. Examples include the Maitreya Buddha Statue Stele, the Great Buddha Commemorative Stele, and the Million-Member Fundraising Campaign Commemorative Wall at Fo Guang Shan. Whenever there was an important building or historical event at Fo Guang Shan, he would erect a stone stele to record it.
Venerable Master completed his testament, “An Honest Revelation—An Open Letter,” in 2013. In 2019 he instructed that the items he left behind be carefully preserved for future generations to use, and directed that the archiving methods be developed in consultation with James Chao and Lydia Chao. Given the enormous volume and wide scope of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s legacy, Fo Guang Shan specially entrusted this archiving project to Professor Tseng Shu-Hsien, former Director-General of the National Central Library, for her professional expertise and international vision.
As Venerable Master said, the development of Buddhism is like a bird’s two wings and depends on cooperation between monastics and lay devotees. Venerable Ru Chang thanked Director Tseng’s team for their dedication and the benefactors for their support in building the archival platform.
President Ke Hao-Ren: From Digital Archives to a Sustainable Knowledge Network
Ke Hao-Ren, President of the Library Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan), pointed out that preserving materials digitally is not simply “making a backup,” and that digitizing files does not by itself guarantee their long-term, complete preservation.
Now that more than 500,000 items related to Venerable Master Hsing Yun have been gathered, the next task is to give each item its own unique identifier, like an ID number, and to link items through their “relationships,” using the same people, places, and events as threads. This will connect the traces of Venerable Master’s Dharma propagation. The platform does not need to build a complete ontology all at once. The most important step is to first establish the network of the most frequently used “relationships.”
James Y. Chao: Digital Humanities and Buddhist Studies
James Chao recalled attending a Catholic elementary school, which taught him the importance of a life rich in spiritual faith. Unlike Christianity, which teaches of a single creator, Buddhism teaches that everyone can become a buddha. This, he said, is what led him to embrace Buddhism.
Many teachings of early Buddhism are preserved in the Pali Tipiṭaka, and Pali scriptures were translated into English and transmitted to the Western world. He expressed hope that Fo Guang Shan could use advanced translation technology to translate the Pali texts directly into Chinese, so that the Buddha’s vivid example of teaching through his own conduct can come alive again in the Chinese Buddhist world.
As the Buddha’s teachings spread from India to China, the doctrines underwent many changes, giving rise to Mahayana Buddhism and eventually Chinese Buddhism. Although scholars have found that the Mahayana teachings were not spoken by the Buddha himself, he argued that since the Dharma is what is taught by the awakened, Mahayana Buddhism is also the word of the Buddha.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun always hoped that Humanistic Buddhism would spread in the West. However, Humanistic Buddhism carries the cultural baggage of Chinese Buddhism, making it harder to spread in the West than the Pali scriptures. Yet in recent years, Tibetan Buddhism, with its distinctly Tibetan character, has become popular in the West. “Chinese Buddhism can go even further than Tibetan Buddhism in Western countries!” he said.
President Chao Han-Chieh: AI and Intelligent Cultural Platforms
Acknowledging today’s concerns about the harmful effects of AI development President Chao Han-Chieh proposed two directions for addressing AI’s negative aspects.
The first direction is reflected in “Seeking the Dharma,” one of the platform’s three core components. Anyone can ask questions of the “AI Venerable Master,” putting AI to use in transforming the world and benefiting people. He hopes the platform will go further and adjust the AI Venerable Master’s tone according to the identity of the person asking.
The second direction is to find ways to reduce the use of computing power, which lowers system costs and allows the platform to run sustainably over the long term. He added that Fo Guang University’s Office of Library and Information is fully supporting the platform’s information security.
Collaboration and Signing
Most Venerable Hsin Bau presented certificates of appreciation to Chiu Pei-lin, Deputy Mayor of Keelung City, and to Mr. and Mrs. Chao Ta-shen and Tai Yu-chin, Advisor to the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, thanking them for generously donating digital files of treasured family images documenting their interactions with Venerable Master Hsing Yun, which enrich the platform’s archival resources.
President Chao Han-Chieh, Venerable Ru Chang, Executive Director of the Fo Guang Shan Foundation for Buddhist Culture and Education, and Weng Chih-Tsung, Acting Director-General of the National Central Library, signed a cooperation agreement on the preservation, development, and joint promotion of digital resources.