Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the 48th Patriarch of the Lin-chi (Japanese Rinzai ) line of Ch'an, is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order and its international headquarters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He became a novice monk under Venerable Master Chih K'ai at Ch'i-hsia Shan, a mountain monastery in Nanjing.

He was fully ordained in 1941 and went onto formal monastic training at Ch'I-hsia Vinaya School and Chiao-shan Buddhist College. He has vowed to revitalize Humanistic Buddhism from an early age. In 1949, as Mainland China was enmeshed in civil war, Venerable Master Hsing Yun left his homeland for Taiwan. For nearly a half century the strength of his vow has enabled him to usher in a new era for Humanistic Buddhism. His vision and untiring efforts have influenced Buddhist studies and practices in Taiwan and throughout all five continents