Venerable Master Hsing Yun is a religious leader whose pragmatic approach to religious practice is deeply founded in both the humanities and philosophy. Since his 1949 arrival in Taiwan, his work over the past seven decades has brought the Humanistic Buddhist ideals from the East across all regions of the globe. He has founded close to 300 Fo Guang temples worldwide achieving the new milestone in the modernization of Buddhism.
The sheer act of writing throughout his lifetime has seen publications totaling 30 million Chinese characters. All of which is contained in the The Complete Works of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, an essential collection of his lifetime works. In this collection, he has completed a total of 365 volumes, divided into 12 categories which include poetry, eulogy, prose, novel, biography, thesis, commentary on Buddhist scriptures, among others. This collection is a reflection of the Buddhist faith, practice, and academic research. After its publication in 2017, the collection was widely respected by people from all walks in the three sides of the Taiwan Strait - Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China.
The Complete Works of Venerable Master Hsing Yun can be described as a collection of the author’s insights, his feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness, throughout his lifetime. This study uses the three overt tenets around Humanistic Buddhism to describe the objective of Veneral Master Hsing Yun’s works. From the theoretical construction of the religion, propagation, practice and historical values, and the cultural composition of humanity of the 12 categories of works from this collection, I concluded the key features of the publication to be, firstly, the multi-genre integration of Buddhism and literature, and secondly the convergence of the traditional and modern editorial style.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s reading of the Buddhist teachings through this literary soul has enlivened the inner beauty of Buddhist scripture. The societal value and the contemporary significance of the multiple genres, layout, graphic design, illustrations, and literary styles of this masterpiece has been constructed.
