President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) were among the thousands of people who gathered in Kaohsiung yesterday for the funeral of Buddhist master Hsing Yun (星雲法師), the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist organization.
Hsing Yun, who died on Feb. 5 at the age of 95, founded Fo Guang Shan as a monastery in 1967 and gradually grew it into an international religious organization with influence in education, charity and the media.
Police had anticipated that about 30,000 people would attend the event, many of whom ended up watching the proceedings on large screens set up outside Fo Guang Shan’s Cloud Dwelling Building, where the funeral took place.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
During the ceremony, which began at 9am, Tsai awarded Hsing Yun with a posthumous presidential citation in recognition of his “far-reaching impact and contributions to the state, society and religious life” of Taiwan.
Other political figures attending the event included Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌).
An attendee who gave her name as Lee (李) said she had taken the day off work to pay her respects to the late religious leader, whom she admired for his “contributions to society and efforts to bring people closer to Buddhism.”
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Hsing Yun’s funeral also included a procession around the Fo Guang Shan grounds, during which many of his followers pressed their palms together, knelt or prostrated themselves as the vessel containing his body passed.
Following the funeral, Hsing Yun’s remains were scheduled to be taken to Tainan’s Dasian Temple (大仙寺) for cremation and interred at Fo Guang Shan’s Wanshou Garden.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS