A grand ceremony was held in Beijing on December 21, 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Buddhist Academy (CBA) and lay the foundations of its new campus. Liu Yandong, Vice Chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), attended the event.

Liu said at the conference that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council pay close attention to the development of religious schools and the training of religious professionals. She stressed that the education of young and middle-aged clerics should be further improved as a pressing strategic task. She called for departments concerned to assist religious organizations in nurturing young and middle-aged clerics who are patriotic, law-abiding and high achieving in religious studies in a planned way, to foster a new generation of religious leaders that love the country and their religions.

She said the CBA should be highly aware of the historical task it shoulders, adhere to the correct mission and direction of education, constantly raise the political awareness of its Buddhist students, make every effort to help further their Buddhist studies, earnestly improve their moral standards and build the academy into a base for training Buddhist professionals, carrying out theoretical research on Buddhism and conducting cultural exchange programs in this field. She hopes that the academy will take its 50th anniversary and the foundation laying of its new campus as an opportunity to step up its development. At the same time, she urged it to do a good job in designing, constructing and administering the new campus in the spirit of making it the best Buddhist academy in China.

Yicheng, President of the Buddhist Association of China and the CBA, said the CBA was created according to a major decision made by venerable Buddhist pioneers to foster Buddhist clerics in light of the future. Charged with the sacred obligation to promote Buddhism and carry on its wisdom, it is evidence of the great importance the CPC and the Chinese Government have attached to Buddhist education, he said. He continued that its establishment opened a new chapter in the history of Buddhism in China. He also said he was eager to see the academy to rank among the leading Buddhist academies in the world with its unremitting efforts.

Ye Xiaowen, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said he hoped the Buddhists uphold the maxim of “taking discipline as one's master” and make positive contributions to promoting social harmony. He added that he expected the construction of CBA's new campus would get into full swing in 2007.

The CBA, China's top Buddhist educational institution, was established in 1956 under the patronage of the Buddhist Association of China. Prior to Yicheng, Shes-rab Rgyamtsho, Fazun and Zhao Puchu served as its president. Over the past 50 years, the academy has turned out a large number of patriotic clerics dedicated to Buddhism with a good command of the religion. They have become the backbone of Buddhist associations at various levels, Buddhist schools and temples in China.

The new campus of the CBA is located in Tanzhe Temple in Mentougou District in the western suburbs of Beijing. The project is part of a Central Government-sponsored program to improve the working and student learning conditions of national religious organizations and some religious schools. Construction of the new campus is scheduled to be started mid 2007 and finished before the opening of the 2008 Olympics. Over 400 people, including councilors and executive councilors of the Buddhist Association of China, students, teachers and alumni of the CBA, were present at the ceremony.

(China.org.cn)