Venerable Master Hsing Yun has made great contributions to the promotion of interactions between Taiwan and mainland China; furthermore, he has made distinctive contributions in Dharma propagation, scholastic exchange, philanthropy and so forth. Venerable Master Hsing Yun's thoughts of Humanistic Buddhism, in theory came from Buddhist tradition in China, however his practice are in fact of modern thinking and solicitude. To China, he is a familiar and friendly, yet strange and unusual face. Hence, this paper refers to him as "a familiar stranger." This paper takes the reconstruction of Dajue Temple in Yixing as an example to discuss on the unique role of Venerable Master Hsing Yun in the interaction between Taiwan and mainland China. After the reconstruction of Da Jue Temple, it has a great purifying impact on the culture in the local areas especially gaining recognition in broadcasting Buddhist cultures and purifying human minds. In the process of bringing Humanistic Buddhism to the locals, the originally existing Buddhist tradition and beliefs were awakened, constructed and reinvented. Apart from that, in the interactions with mainland China, as a "familiar stranger" Venerable Master Hsing Yun played the role of an innovator and risk taker. The people in mainland China have welcomed, accepted, respected, even followed Venerable Master Hsing Yun, which indicates that belief traditions show the "superposition" and “construction of new custom” of cultures in those places.
