The compilation of the Fo Guang Buddhist canon started in 1977, initiated by Master Hsing Yun’s dream of publishing a Buddhist Canon that is easily understandable by ordinary people. Master Hsing Yun used sixteen divisions for the canon: Agama 阿含, Prajnaparamita 般若, Chan 禪, Pure Land 淨土, Lotus 法華, Avatamsaka 華嚴, Yogacara 唯識, Guhya 祕密, Sravaka 聲聞, Vinaya 律, Jataka 本緣, Biography 史傳, Images and Sculptures 圖像, Ritual 儀誌, Literature and Arts 藝文, and Miscellaneous 雜藏. The Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Canon Editorial Committee has also adopted a method called “yishu lishu 以疏隸書,” clarifying the text by using its commentaries in order to understand the later development of the text in history. It is Master Hsing Yun’s hope that the Fo Guang Buddhist canon can play a helpful role in the development of humanistic Buddhism.
