Biography of Venerable Master Hsing Yun

　　Venerable Master Hsing Yun was born in 1927 in Jiangdu, Jiangsu Province, China. At the age of 12, he was tonsured by Venerable Master Zhikai in Qixia Temple, Nanjing, with Dajue Temple in Yixing, Jiangsu, as his ancestral temple. He later became the 48th-generation lineage holder of the Linji Chan school. In 1947, he graduated from Jiaoshan Buddhist College, and also trained at various Chan, Pure Land, and Vinaya monasteries, including Jinshan, Qixia, and others. He received a comprehensive Buddhist education in the lineage, teachings, and Vinaya disciplines. Later on, the Venerable Master was invited to serve as the principal of Baita Elementary School, and also the editor-in-chief of Raging Billows Monthly.

　　In the spring of 1949, the Venerable Master arrived in Taiwan. He served as the editor-in-chief of Human Life Magazine, Buddhism Today Magazine, and Awakening the World.

　　In 1967, the Venerable Master founded the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, with the Four Objectives: to propagate the Dharma through culture; to foster talents through education; to benefit society through charity, and to purify people’s minds through spiritual cultivation. Guided by the principles of Humanistic Buddhism, he went on to establish over three hundred temples worldwide. Additionally, he oversaw the creation of various art galleries, libraries, publishing companies, bookstores, the Merit Times newspaper, and the Cloud and Water Mobile Clinic. Furthermore, he established sixteen Buddhist colleges and founded three high schools and five universities, including the University of the West in the United States, Fo Guang University in Taiwan, Nanhua University in Taiwan, Nan Tien Institute in Australia, and Guang Ming College in the Philippines. Notably, he also established the Institute of Humanistic Buddhism.

　　In 1970, the Venerable Master established Da Ci Children’s Home and the Lanyang Ren Ai Senior Citizen’s Home, providing shelter and care for vulnerable young children, and elderly individuals. He also actively engaged in emergency relief efforts, contributing to the fostering of a welfare society. Then, in 1991, he founded the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) and was elected as the President of the World Headquarters. Under his guidance, the association's mission expanded, symbolized by the saying, “the Buddha’s Light shining over three thousand realms, and the Dharma water flowing continuously through the five continents.”

　　In 1977, the Fo Guang Buddhist Canon, the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism, and the 132-volume Selected Chinese Buddhist Texts in Modern Language were compiled. In 2017, the Complete Works of Venerable Master Hsing Yun was published, comprising 365 volumes with over 30 million words, systematically expounding the ideologies, teachings, theories, and practical outcomes of Humanistic Buddhism.

　　In 2023, the Venerable Master peacefully passed away, his virtuous deeds complete and fulfilled, having reached the age of ninety-seven. He was revered as the Founding Master of the Fo Guang Order, and he left behind this poignant poem:

　　A mind with the compassionate vow to deliver sentient beings,
　　A body like a boat on the Dharma ocean, unbound.
　　Should you ask what I have achieved in this lifetime?
　　Peace and happiness shine upon the five continents.

江蘇江都人，一九二七年生，十二歲禮志開上人為師，祖庭江蘇宜興大覺寺，傳臨濟正宗第四十八世。一九四七年於焦山佛學院畢業，期間曾參學金山、棲霞等禪淨律學諸大叢林，歷經宗下、教下、律下等完整的佛門教育。後應聘為白塔國小校長，主編《怒濤》月刊。
一九四九年春來臺，主編《人生雜誌》、《今日佛教》、《覺世》等佛教刊物。
一九六七年創建佛光山，樹立「以文化弘揚佛法，以教育培養人才，以慈善福利社會，以共修淨化人心」四大弘法宗旨，以「人間佛教」為宗風，先後在世界各地創建三百餘所道場，創辦多所美術館、圖書館、出版社、書局、人間福報、雲水醫院，興辦佛教學院十六所，中學三所，及西來、南華、佛光、南天、光明五所大學，及人間佛教研究院。
一九七Ｏ年後，相繼成立「大慈育幼院」、「仁愛之家」，收容撫育無依之幼童、老人及從事急難救濟等福利社會。一九九一年成立「國際佛光會」，被推為總會會長，實踐「佛光普照三千界，法水長流五大洲」的理想。
一九七七年編纂《佛光大藏經》、《佛光大辭典》，《中國佛教經典寶藏精選白話版》等。二Ｏ一七年出版《星雲大師全集》，共三百六十五冊，三千餘萬字，有系統地闡述人間佛教的思想、學說、理論，以及實踐結果。
二Ｏ二三年，大師住世緣盡，淨業圓滿，享耆壽九十七，被奉為佛光堂上第一代開山祖師，留遺偈：「心懷度眾慈悲願，身似法海不繫舟， 問我一生何所求，平安幸福照五洲」。