Ven. Dao An was a Buddhist philosopher and practitioner who emphasized penitence. He had written millions of words throughout his life and exercised inspiring and benchmark influence on the development of Buddhism in Taiwan, especially having broad and profound influence on inheriting the past and ushering the future regarding the enterprise of Buddhist educational and cultural affairs. Ven. Dao An had numerous achievements throughout his life and was the pioneer and leading force of Taiwanese Buddhist cultural enterprises after the Second World War. His viewpoint regarding education could be found in his essays. He often lectured in various universities and founded college Buddhism seminars. He also founded Ci Hang High School and Songshan Temple. He dedicated himself to the cultural diffusion of Buddhism, founded “Shizihou Monthly” and “Shizihou Series”, hosted the Taiwan Buddhist Scripture Publishing Institute, published the “Pure Land Book Series”, and printed many copies of Buddhist scriptures for distribution. Under the economic hardships and conservative social environment, it was a great accomplishment and difficult feat for Ven. Dao An to establish and start up Buddhism Sangha education regarding the academic research, culture and history of Buddhism. Although some of his enterprises failed to start or continue, this essay intends to restore history to understand Ven. Dao An’s contribution to Buddhism and the society. Without the dedication of Ven. Dao An, the educational and cultural enterprises of Buddhism would not be as well-developed and thriving as today.
