Intellectuals on both sides of the strait reminisce about Master Hsing Yun: building a bridge of communication between the two sides of the strait

　　China News Agency, Beijing, February 6th, title: Cultural people on both sides of the strait recall Master Xingyun: Building a bridge of communication between the two sides of the strait

　　Author Liu Shuling Chen Jianxin

　　"What an amazing practitioner." Tian Qing, a professor at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, revealed in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency on the 6th. I admire him very much. No matter what the condition is, everyone faces it peacefully.

　　On February 5th, Master Hsing Yun, the founding patriarch of Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan and the founder of International Buddha Light Association, passed away.

Tian Qing, who has maintained a friendship for many years and was praised by the master for his contribution to cross-strait religious and cultural exchanges, said that everyone has birth, old age, sickness and death, and the master also has a destination, but he still feels reluctant to part with it emotionally.

　　In 1998, Tian Qing went to Taiwan at the invitation of his old friend Lin Gufang, a well-known cultural scholar in Taiwan, to participate in an academic seminar on Buddhist music hosted by Fo Guang Shan. , asked him to personally hand over a letter to Master Xingyun.

　　"When he handed the letter to me, Zhao Pulao once again talked about his evaluation of the master. Zhao Pulao said that Master Xingyun built more than 100 temples all over the world at that time, and he was the only one in the entire history of Chinese Buddhism." Tian Qing believes that the two Buddhist leaders respect each other and have the same philosophy, and he very much hopes that the Buddhist circles on both sides of the strait can communicate better. Unfortunately, before Zhao Pulao passed away in 2000, they did not meet again in Beijing.

　　"I didn't get what I wanted to do, but I understand the heart of Mr. Pu and the heart of Master Xingyun. I just thought about how there is a way to reconnect the Buddhist circles on both sides of the strait." In 2003, Tian Qing had many contacts. A group held the "Exhibition of the Essence of Chinese Buddhist Music and Daoist Music", and specially invited the Fo Guang Shan Fanbai Praise Troupe to perform on the same stage in Beijing and Shanghai.

In Shanghai, Master Hsing Yun's speech about "a small step for Buddhist music exchange is a big step for the common development of Buddhism on both sides of the strait" aroused endless applause from the audience.

　　The following year, with the strong support of all parties, a performance showing the highest level of Buddhist music from the three major Buddhist language families on both sides of the Taiwan Strait came to Taiwan for the first time.

Afterwards, he went to Hong Kong, Macau, the United States and Canada. The monks from both sides of the Taiwan Strait performed in the famous Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles under the name of "Chinese Buddhist Music Performance Troupe", which moved many overseas Chinese and foreign friends.

Tian Qing said that most people don't understand Buddhist music, but because of the master's reputation, the performance achieved such a sensational effect.

　　Tian Qing was invited to Taipei 25 years ago. Lin Gufang, the dean of the Taipei Academy and a well-known cultural scholar, was the director of the Art Research Institute of Fo Guang University at that time, and participated in many important cultural works of Fo Guang Shan.

In an exclusive interview with China News Agency, he said that Fo Guang Shan was the first ashram to set up a "Buddhist song and singing troupe". He brought the Fo Guang Shan Fanbai Praise Troupe into professional theater performances, which reached the extreme and embodies the "integration of Taoism and art". of observation.

　　Lin Gufang specifically mentioned that Fo Guang Shan is a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan that attaches the most importance to culture and respects cultural people.

Moreover, Fo Guang Shan invited experts, scholars, artists and writers from both sides of the strait, especially people from the mainland, which substantially deepened cross-strait exchanges and demonstrated complementary advantages.

　　For example, Fo Guang Shan founded the Fo Guang Yuan Art Museum, and now exhibiting here has become an important qualification for artists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to hold exhibitions; compiled a series of "Chinese Buddhist Classic Treasures Selected Vernacular Edition", a total of 132 volumes, and most of the translators were mainland scholars; Compiled 20 volumes of "World Buddhist Art Illustrated Dictionary", combined with cross-strait religious circles, academic circles, and art circles to make an overall review of Buddhist images.

　　Master Hsing Yun passed away on the traditional Lantern Festival after decades of hard work for cultural exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Tian Qing said that contributing to society, the country, the nation, and mankind is the most important thing I have seen and learned from masters over the years.

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