Curatorial Overview of Fo Guang Shan Commemorative Exhibition:

60 Years of Passing the Lamp, Honoring a 100-Year Legacy

                                                                                 Venerable Ru Chang | Chief Curator, 27 Domestic and Overseas Branches of the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery 

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Fo Guang Shan and the centenary of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s birth, the Fo Guang Shan Religious Affairs Board designated the series of major events in 2025 under the theme "60 Years of Passing the Lamp, Honoring a 100-Year Legacy." In response to this theme, the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Headquarters curated this exhibition as a major exhibition for its global branches in 2026.

As this exhibition is intended for the wider society and is not limited to Fo Guang Shan’s internal community, it is titled "Fo Guang Shan Commemorative Exhibition: 60 Years of Passing the Lamp, Honoring a 100-Year Legacy (1967-2026)." The title highlights the relationships among time, space, and the human world, allowing visitors to immediately recognize the exhibition’s two central focuses: Venerable Master Hsing Yun and Fo Guang Shan. The exhibition’s overall curatorial structure and narrative are developed from this foundation. 

The exhibition is organized into five thematic sections: "Foreword," "Ten Decades of Venerable Master Hsing Yun," "Fo Guang Shan’s Four Objectives," "Global Distribution Map of Fo Guang Shan," and the concluding section "Peace and Happiness Shine upon the Five Continents." Multimedia and interactive installations are integrated throughout the exhibition, including the video Ten Decades of Venerable Master Hsing Yun produced by Beautiful Life Television (BLTV); a projection area for the Chronicle of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Life; the "Prayer Tree" interactive installation inspired by the Venerable Master’s Dharma words; "Taking a Photo with Venerable Master Hsing Yun"; "With One Seal, the Lamp Is Transmitted; A Hundred Years of a Shared Journey—Color-Blocked Commemorative Postcards"; a "Spring Couplet Rubbing Area"; a "Writing Spring Couplets Year After Year Photo Area"; and "A Message to Venerable Master Hsing Yun." In addition to presentation at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery branches, the materials will be provided to Fo Guang Shan temples worldwide without galleries, with content adjusted to local venue size. 

The first section serves as the exhibition entrance hall. Upon entering, visitors first see the words "For the sake of Buddhism." The text quotes a passage from the chronology in the Complete Works of Venerable Master Hsing Yun describing a scene in 1967, a busload of devotees arrived at a barren mountain, and the passengers were unwilling to disembark. At that moment, the Venerable Master reflected: "I stepped off the bus alone and walked a slow circuit around the hill. After reflecting for a long while, I said to myself with firm conviction: I must come here and establish this mountain!"…Looking back over my life, I cannot claim to have harbored any grand aspiration. I would not dare take on so weighty a mission as reviving Buddhism or bringing benefit to all under heaven. Yet from the moment I left home to become a monk, the one thought that has never left my heart is simply this: "for the sake of Buddhism."

These few words serve as a powerful preface, clearly revealing the Venerable Master’s initial aspiration in founding Fo Guang Shan. Next to this are the lyrics of "The Song of Fo Guang Shan" written by the Venerable Master, which depict the scenery and spirit of Fo Guang Shan while also expressing his ideals, vision, aspirations, and grand vows for Buddhism. Through this preface, visitors quickly gain an initial understanding of the causes and conditions behind the founding of Fo Guang Shan. The entrance hall also includes prefaces by the Most Venerable Hsin Bau and the art gallery, offering a concise overview of the exhibition.

The second section, titled "Ten Decades of Venerable Master Hsing Yun," guides visitors in learning about the Venerable Master. In Buddhist Affinities Across 100 Years, published in 2013, the Venerable Master divided his life from birth onward into ten decades, spanning eight major decades such as "A Life of Learning," "A Life of Itinerant Learning," and "A Life of Literature." The ninth and tenth decades were later supplemented by his disciples. To provide visitors with different ways of viewing the content and to avoid excessive reading, this section incorporates audiovisual presentations of the ten decades and projections of the Venerable Master’s chronology. In this way, the limited exhibition space is extended through digital media, transforming static content into a dynamic experience. This not only gives visitors a deeper and broader understanding of the Venerable Master but also shows through excerpts from his chronology that everything he did throughout his life was for Dharma propagation—everything was "for the sake of Buddhism."

After visitors have gained a basic understanding of the Venerable Master, the third section, "Fo Guang Shan’s Four Objectives," introduces Fo Guang Shan from four perspectives. The section begins with a passage from the Venerable Master’s How to Be a Fo Guang Member: "Many Buddha’s Light members gather at Fo Guang Shan, and not a foolish gathering! We have the ideal of promoting Buddhism, and we have the aspiration to benefit society. We know that the future wisdom-life of Buddhism is entirely entrusted to the work of the Dharma. Educational, cultural, and charitable endeavors that promote Buddhism are all skilful means for spreading the teachings."  

These brief words help dispel the common misconception that Fo Guang Shan is involved in too many activities, while also highlighting the Venerable Master’s core value of "do what is in accordance with Buddha." To ease the sense of heaviness that may arise from the density of space and time, and to enliven the viewing experience, this section also includes the interactive feature "Taking a Photo with Venerable Master Hsing Yun." Life-sized cutouts of the Venerable Master at the ages of thirty, fifty, seventy, and eighty invite visitors to take a photo with him and create a meaningful memory. 

The fourth section is the "Global Distribution Map of Fo Guang Shan." In addition to listing Fo Guang Shan temples across the continents, it also introduces the official establishment of the Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) in Los Angeles, United States, in 1992. Today, BLIA has established associations in more than 170 countries and regions across five continents, making it the largest global Chinese Buddhist organization. Through the global distribution map, the ideal and practice of the Venerable Master—"May the Buddha's light shine universally on the three thousand realms; let the Dharma stream flow across all five continents"—are fully presented. 

The fifth and final section, "Peace and Happiness Shines Upon the Five Continents," brings the imagery back to the Fo Guang Shan Monastery.  It quotes the final verse from the Venerable Master’s An Honest Revelation: "With a heart filled with compassion and vows to save others, my body is like the ocean of the Dharma, unbound; Should you ask what have I achieved in this lifetime? Peace and happiness now shine over the five continents." This highlights that the Humanistic Buddhism promoted by Venerable Master Hsing Yun throughout his life never departed from the supreme Buddhist aim of liberating all sentient beings from suffering and guiding them to lasting happiness.

The exhibition’s overall structure is woven together through these five sections, allowing the narrative to unfold in a clear and orderly way. Beyond the exhibition script described above, the heart of the exhibition lies in the exhibits themselves, which serve as material evidence for the story being told. Because the exhibition centers on Venerable Master Hsing Yun and Fo Guang Shan, the display focuses on cultural artifacts such as the Venerable Master’s robes, alms bowls, ritual implements, ordination certificates, letters, manuscripts, "One-Stroke Calligraphy," and statues of the Venerable Master. The Dharma propagation undertakings developed from the Four Objectives are presented through related achievements, such as publications, newspapers, and special commemorative items. The overall color scheme is based on warm tones, creating a sense of stability and radiant splendor.

The exhibition "60 Years of Passing the Lamp, Honoring a 100-Year Legacy" serves two purposes: first, to celebrate Fo Guang Shan, founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, as it enters its sixtieth year, with the Dharma water of Humanistic Buddhism flowing across all five continents; and second, to commemorate the centenary of the Founding Master’s birth. Although the Venerable Master has passed away, his Dharma body remains ever-present, continuing to lead us forward with courage. For this occasion, the Most Venerable Hsin Bau was specially invited to record a video offering encouragement and blessings. 

The exhibition is being presented across 27 branches worldwide, highlighting Fo Guang Shan’s sustained efforts and influence in spreading the Dharma across five continents. In April 2026, the IBT New Zealand Art Gallery successfully launched the exhibition, featuring four thin silk banners of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s "One-Stroke Calligraphy" suspended in the center of the venue, inscribed with: "Never Forget One’s Initial Aspirations," "A Life With Palms Joined," "Non-Duality of Emptiness and Existence," and "Enlightenment Is in the Present Moment." 

The exhibition also includes a themed area dedicated to the Venerable Master’s centennial life and legacy, a map of Fo Guang Shan’s global distribution, and a photo wall documenting local Dharma propagation achievements. This wall records the twenty-year journey of Fo Guang Shan in New Zealand’s North Island as it has followed the Four Objectives in promoting culture, education, charity, and collective cultivation. It demonstrates how Humanistic Buddhism has taken root in different parts of the world. 

Ten years ago, in 2016, during the 50th anniversary of Fo Guang Shan’s founding, Venerable Master Hsing Yun wrote in "Prospects for the Future of Fo Guang Shan": "Looking back on the founding of Fo Guang Shan, the path was arduous and filled with hardship. Disciples of Fo Guang Shan must remember the tireless efforts of those who came before us. In our cultivations, studies, and careers, we must be diligent, self-aware, and reflective; we must not be lax or arrogant. Both monastics and lay devotees must uphold the spirit that 'Glory goes to the Buddha, success goes to the community, benefit goes to the society, merit goes to the devotees.' For as long as we live, let us dedicate our body and life, selflessly and without attachment to self, to benefit all sentient beings and devote ourselves fully to the propagation of Humanistic Buddhism. Humanistic Buddhism will surely pass its light in all directions and illuminate the great universe." May this exhibition serve as a shared encouragement for all Fo Guang members.