The Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism (FGSIHB), founded by the Taiwan-headquartered international Buddhist organization and monastic order Fo Guang Shan, marked a significant milestone in Buddhist studies on 30 July with the launch of the beta release of the English Digital Edition of the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism (FGDB). The online event brought together a panel of five eminent Buddhist studies scholars and nearly 200 participants from 20 countries and regions.
“The Fo Guang Dictionary has been a cornerstone in the study and understanding of Buddhist terminology and concepts in the Chinese-speaking world since its first publication in 1988,” said FGDB English Translation Project Director Ven. Miao Guang. “The English version of the Fo Guang Dictionary is not just a translation; it is a bridge that connects the rich heritage of Chinese Buddhist literature with the global community.”
The two-hour event on 30 July included a series of panels featuring renowned Buddhist scholars, including: Dr. Lewis R. Lancaster, Emeritus Professor of the Department of East Asian Languages from the University of California, Berkeley, and Executive Academic Advisor of the FGDB English Translation Project; Dr. Robert Buswell, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, who has experience compiling two Buddhist encyclopedic dictionaries; Dr. Charles Muller, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo and creator of the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism; Dr. Jiang Wu, Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona; and Dr. Marcus Bingenheimer, Associate Professor of Religion at Temple University.
“First conceived in 2014, the translation project has convened over a hundred volunteers to date,” FGSIHB said in an announcement shared with BDG. “This ambitious project aims to translate the monumental Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism, first published in 1989 through Ven. Master Hsing Yun’s vision of creating a reference source to help Buddhists to read canonical texts. Since its initial publication, this colossal text has been one of the most widely utilized Buddhist reference sources in Chinese.
“The beta version, now accessible online, features 5,000 headwords—approximately 15 per cent of the complete dictionary. It offers a user-friendly interface with search capabilities and hyperlinked entries. The full dictionary, spanning 32,000 entries, is scheduled for digital release in July 2025, with a printed edition following in July 2026.”
In her introduction to the launch event, Ven. Miao Guang extended an invitation to potential contributors and collaborators to join the project. “Your input will be instrumental in ensuring the accuracy, usability, and overall quality of the final product,” she noted.
Dr. Lancaster traced the history of the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism, from Fo Guang Shan founder Master Hsing Yun’s earliest conceptions of the project to its present-day achievements: “Ven. Master Hsing Yun has accomplished what no other Chinese leader had imagined. He made a global movement and reformed Chinese Buddhism.”
Dr. Muller described Fo Guang Shan’s involvement in creating digital tools for Buddhism over several decades, beginning with digitizing the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism in the 1990s and hosting the Electronic Buddhist Texts Initiative summit in 1996, and expressed optimism about the decades-long compilation of the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism and its decade-long translation. “Once [the English-language FGDB] is fully online, it will be substantially used, and we can have confidence in the fact that we are gaining accurate and substantial information,” he remarked.
Dr. Wu, co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Hangzhou Buddhist Culture, drawing from studies on the data used in Buddhist studies, emphasized the primacy of the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism as a comprehensive and well-rounded source: “The FGDB is very comprehensive and non-sectarian. It is very balanced in time and space—it covers doctrinal topics, Buddhist organizations, monasteries, people, arts, and more.”
FGDB English Translation Project Editor Ven. Zhi Yue gave a demonstration of the new dictionary’s online interface, highlighting important features such as linked headwords and scholarly references: “The FGDB never has standalone entries,” she said. “Everything is connected to everything else.”
Ven. Zhi Yue concluded her demonstration by extending an open invitation to Buddhist scholars and potential contributors to help bring the translation project to completion.
Fo Guang Shan was founded in Taiwan in 1967 as a Buddhist monastic order by the renowned monk and teacher Master Hsing Yun (1927–2023). The organization now has an international network of Buddhist temples and communities. By promoting the philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism, which focuses on integrating engaged Buddhist practices into everyday life, Fo Guang Shan has been recognized for its efforts to modernize Chinese Mahayana Buddhism and for operating one of the largest charity organizations in Taiwan, which carries out charitable and humanitarian work across the world. Master Hsing Yun has previously stated that he views Fo Guang Shan as an “amalgam of all Eight Schools of Chinese Buddhism.”
Ven. Hsing Yun is popularly known in Taiwan as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Buddhism, the others being: Master Cheng Yen of Tzu Chi; Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain; and Master Wei Chueh, founder of Chung Tai Shan. These four global Buddhist orders, correspondingly known as the “Four Great Mountains,” have grown to become among the most influential Chinese Buddhist organizations in the world.
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