Source: Office of Social Sciences and Humanities
Written by: Office of Social Sciences and Humanities
Translated by: Li Peiman
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the afternoon of March 27, the signing ceremony of the Sun Yat-sen University Research Center for the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism Culture, jointly established by the CPPCC Yunfu Municipal Committee and the Institute of Comparative Religion of Sun Yat-sen University, was held in Xinxing County, Guangdong. Over 200 people, including Li Ping, Deputy Secretary of SYSU Party Committee; Professor Feng Dawen, Director of Institute of Comparative Religion of SYSU; Huang Dahui, Chairman of the CPPCC Yunfu Municipal Committee; Liang Weihao and Liang Jinbo, Vice Chairmen of the Standing Committee of Yunfu Municipal People’s Congress; and Que Miaoli, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Yunfu Municipal Committee, took part in the signing ceremony.

Chairman Huang Dahui said that the establishment of the Center is a concrete action of Yunfu to implement the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress about constructing cultural inheritance system to promote Chinese excellent traditional culture. He hoped that after the founding of the Center, the government-university-research collaboration will become closer; the researchers will dig into the marrow of the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism culture and build a world-class research center to provide a strong spiritual drive for the catching-up and scientific rise of the whole city.

Deputy secretary Li Ping delivered a speech on behalf of Sun Yat-sen University. She pointed out that, the establishment of the Center is an important measure to publicize and promote the research of the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism culture. It will facilitate SYSU to promote the research of excellent traditional culture, and enable its scientific research and talent advantage to better serve local cultural construction and economic and social development.

Professor Feng Dawen and Vice Chairman Que Miaoli signed the collaboration agreement.

It is learned that, as a joint collaboration project between the CPPCC Yunfu Municipal Committee and the Institute of Comparative Religion of Sun Yat-sen University, the Center is subordinate to the Institute of Comparative Religion of SYSU. Its main tasks are to sort out the complete thought system of the seven schools and five branches of the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism; to apply for provincial and national academic projects; to write a popular book series on the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism culture in combination with the publicity of the Yunfu spirit; to assist Xinxing County to hold forums and national or international seminars on the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism culture; and to make good use of the academic resources in the Institute of Comparative Religion of SYSU to promote provincial and international exchange on the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism culture.