IV. Grand Master Huen-Yuan leads Weixinism to integrate different nations and ethnic groups.

1. Actively moving toward the source; Promoting Chinese culture; Encouraging ethnic solidarity.

(3). Build temples for the Three Great Chinese Ancestors, solidify the national union, and pray together for Cross-Strait and worldwide peace.

Ancestor worship is an important religious practice that has persisted from the remote past to the present day for the Chinese people. Ancient Chinese society formed an ethnic ideology and the spirit of clan laws based on four behaviors, including shouldering filial duties, loving siblings, being loyal, and being obedient (孝、悌、貞、順). Honorable religious rituals also help solidify the faith of paying reverence to the ancestors. Hence, establishing ancestral shrines and temples strengthens ethical consciousness, prolongs the clan's lifeline, and intensifies people's emotional bond to the nation. Caring for parents is the origin of Chinese morality as well as the essence of Chinese culture. The thought of filial piety is peace thought. It has sustained the survival of the Chinese clans exist for a long period of time, while spreading Chinese culture worldwide. Therefore, Grand Master Huen-Yuan explains, “If the world desires peace, we must pacify the spirits of our ancestors. Then they will look after their descendents. And universal peace shall happen.”

Since ancient times, the Chinese people have been holding ceremonies to pay reverence to heaven, the earth and the ancestors. All practices in the ancestral shrines and temples work to trace the origin. They signify the dialogue and harmony between human beings and the transcendence as well as the inheritance through Dharma of excellent ethnic spirits. They are the basis of peace. To pay respect to this custom, in 2002, Grand Master Huen-Yuan consecrated the Yellow Emperor Palace Hall (黃帝殿) on Chao Mountain and began constructing Chi You Shrine (蚩尤祠) and Yan Emperor Temple (炎帝廟) on Fan Mountain. Both mountains are situated at the cradle of Chinese civilization in Zhuolu, Hebei Province, China. These establishments foster a sense of belonging for Chinese descendents, bring Chinese offspring in unison, and facilitate their working on world peace together. The construction projects of Yellow Emperor Palace Hall, Chi You Shrine, and Yan Emperor Temple were enormous and required massive funding. But Master Huen-Yuan was compassionate. First, he built Yellow Emperor Palace Hall to honor this great ancestor as the earliest leader of the Chinese people. Second, he settled the earliest agricultural and medicine ancestor, Yan Emperor, in Yan Emperor Temple. Finally, he founded Chi You Shrine for the industrial pioneer Chi You. He genuinely expected that after the settlement of our three great Chinese ancestors, they would give blessings to their Chinese progeny and look after Cross-Strait (Taiwan-China) peace as well as world peace.

Grand Master Huen-Yuan commented, “Invisible culture and Dharma can be built up through tangible establishments. In this way, they will become a wonder for all sentient beings and a shelter for offspring. Therefore, the foundation has to be solid…. There is a grand platform in front of Yellow Emperor Palace Hall on Chao Mountain, which is built for Chinese today to worship their ancestors. It is the lighthouse of Chinese culture. Its architecture is topped by heaven and stands firmly atop the earth. It merges into the universe, making heaven and earth part of its hall…. The spirit of our old ancestor, the Yellow Emperor, is in our heart, and will remain with us, and the world, forever…. I pray for the blessing and protection from holy spirits of our three great ancestors. Please make this place the home of the souls of the Chinese clan.” On November 8th, 2003, the foundation stone laying ceremony of Chi You Shrine took place. Master Huen-Yuan instructed, “We, the offspring of the Three Great Ancestors, are proud to install the Chi You Shrine on a piece of Pure Land. All Chinese sons and daughters should come and worship here together. Let our souls resume their original faces, as bright as the sun. I pray for the cooperation between Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. We will work together, heart to heart, hand in hand, and march towards a luminous world peace.”

He also remarked, “To establish Chi You Shrine is to comfort the ancestral spirits and the common people’s heart. This is what we do in our shrines, temples and other religious sites. The purpose in founding Chi You Shrine is to create a sense of belonging for the descendents of Chi You.” On September 9th, 2004 (lunar calendar), Chi You’s idol was formally settled in the shrine. Master Huen-Yuan therefore instructed, “Chi You Shrine is settled on Chi You Mountain, also named Fu Mountain. His presence shall inspire the unity of all Chinese and help trace each one of us back to the origin. It will resolve conflicts between Chinese sons and daughters, and fulfill everyone’s heartfelt wish…” He also stated, “The resentments of the three great ancestors over the last five thousand years are like dark clouds. Now the days are beautiful again. It indicates that the calamities and sorrows of the past five thousand years have faded away. Now the sun and the moon are shining together. It means that most disharmonies, disobedience to Dharma, conflicts, arguments, and selfishness in the past are being resolved .... The past is past. We shall cherish our valuable lives and place importance on the Chinese future, nowadays, and present integration. We shall create universal harmony together.”

On May 7th, 2006 (lunar calendar), Grand Master Huen-Yuan led his disciples to the Yan Emperor Temple and discussed about how to further expand construction. He remarked, “The expansion of Yan Emperor Temple in the future is based on our intent to create the Pure Land. We will conserve all original heritages, such as historical monuments, architecture, and objects so that villagers and the common people can feel at ease and have a sense of belonging. We inheritors of our Chinese ancestors should work in solidarity, express our wishes to the three great ancestors, and pray for their blessings in order that our wisdom may grow and prosper for thousands more years. The Yan Emperor Temple and its location at Banquan will be united as one. We are all a family. Let's nurture our minds together and develop the culture passed down from our ancestors together. In addition, we summon all Chinese offspring in Taiwan to send their blessings and support in order to express our sincerity as an outstanding ethnic clan. Let us expand construction of the Yan Emperor Temple and pray for timely wind and rain, for national prosperity and security, and, last but not least, for world peace.” Since 2002, Grand Master Huen-Yuan has made tremendous efforts traveling between Mainland China and Taiwan to raise the funds necessary to build Yellow Emperor Palace Hall, Chi You Shrine and Yan Emperor Temple. He contributes enormously to the prolongation of the Chinese bloodline and the permanent development of Three Great Chinese Ancestor Civilization.

Since the winter of 1994, Master Huen-Yuan has led his disciples every spring on an annual pilgrimage to Yunmeng Mountain (Henan Province, China) to worship Weixinism’s first teacher, Wang Chan Lao Zu. He then leads the group to Zhuolu in Hebei Province to pay respect to the three great Chinese ancestors. Through such regular pilgrimages, he hopes that Chinese sons and daughters will even more deeply appreciate their affection for the Chinese clan and the essence of Chinese culture. Between April 8th and 13th, 2008, he led a group of professors from different Taiwanese universities to seek the roots, origin, and source of Dharma in Chinese culture in the City of Eight Trigrams on Yunmeng Mountain, Chao Mountain, Fan Mountain, and in Banquan. In the Yellow Emperor Palace Hall, Master Huen-Yuan stated, “The Yellow Emperor was buried at Chao Mountain. However, it is only the name of a location. In fact, the virtues of the Yellow Emperor are as high as the heavens and one with mountains, rivers and earth. Chao Mountain, the treasured land, is where the Chinese people began to flourish and expand their progeny. While small in terms of geography, it is as vast as the entire universe in terms of its soul. From the viewpoint of the deities, Buddha, and religion, Chao Mountain is endless … boundless.” He also remarked, “Yellow Emperor Palace Hall is not merely a physical entity. It overwhelms everything and fills the Dharmic realm. It inspires phenomena such as a myriad of stars surrounding the moon, the ten thousand rivers tracing to the same origin, and the ten-thousand families paying respect to the same ancestor. This is where the fifteen thousand six-hundred and fifteen Chinese family names sprang. Chinese offspring have to back to their origin here. This is the purpose of tracing the source. I expect that all Chinese sons and daughters will make efforts to propagate this great effort altogether.”

Master Huen-Yuan instructed also, “The Yellow Emperor was buried on Chao Mountain, in a place that resembles Supreme Buddha’s palm. This comfort us Chinese descendents, blesses their prosperity through the generations, and symbolizes the unification of the five major Chinese ethnic groups. It represents the arrival of five types of great fortune. Today, heaven is so compassionate that it brings forth precious rain, which also signifies the transmission of Chinese culture and Dharma. This is a meaningful moment in history. Thus, everyone related to Chinese culture should work on it.” The Master encourages Chinese descendants worldwide to unite, connect, and propagate the Three Great Ancestor Culture. He also teaches them to create real world peace together, as they spring, after all, from the same ancestors and origin. He has said repeatedly, “If the world desires peace, we must pacify the spirits of our ancestors. Only then will they look after their descendents and ensure universal peace.” Therefore, in addition to building temples and shrines in the birthplace of Chinese culture in China, he also installed a shrine at Hsien Fo Temple, the home base of Weixinism, on March 21st, 2006. The temple offers sacrifice and worship to the numerous resentful souls who have perished in the 3,762 wars in all Chinese dynasties since the time of the Three Great Ancestors. By building this shrine, he invited these souls to return to the City of Eight Trigrams on Yunmeng Mountain and resolved their resentments through Dharmic services. After that, he brought them to the Three Great Ancestors' shrine at Zhuolu (Hebei Province) to ensure they rested in peace. He then brought them to Yellow Emperor Palace Hall, Chi You Shrine, and Yan Emperor Temple to complete the ritual and send all suffering ancestors back from where they originated. Master Huen-Yuan said at Chi You Shrine, “I have shouldered the mission of fulfilling a heavenly destiny and orthodoxy lineage for twenty-four years. And today, it is complete. Historical entanglements are not just a recent occurrence. I pray that in the following five thousand years, or even ten thousand years, there shall be no more wars. Our three great ancestors agree in this. Modern people often ignore the need to reconcile. Now I honor the instructions from our teacher Bodhisattva Wang Chan Lao Zu. Using the religious power of our teacher and Buddha’s compassion, here on the Three Great Ancestor’s shrine, I end the resentment of all those souls who have perished in battle, and send them back to where they belong…. So many tragedies, injustices, and disturbances have happened over our Chinese history. It is beyond our abilities to grasp. Today, beneath the bright sun, I pray to the grand heaven and deities to bless and protect all sentient beings and help us find solutions. Let negativity stop. Let historical tragedies cease.”

From April 25th to May 1st, 2006 (lunar calendar), Master Huen-Yuan held the “Pray for Cross-Strait Peace” Dharma Service again in Hsien Fo Temple. He invited the souls of all the victims, perished soldiers and peasants in all the battles fought over five thousand years of Chinese history, and offered them worship and sacrifice on the Lotus Seat in Yunmeng Chamber. The national flags of the Republic of China as well as the People’s Republic of China were put together with the Weixinistic flag in the furnace of the Heavenly Grandfather. Grand Master Huen-Yuan wrote the preamble “Prayers for Cross-Strait Peace” with deep respect. Everyone prayed that the Chinese daughters and sons on both sides could realize Buddha’s benevolence, and that harmony would last forever in the Pure Land. This is a proof here that Grand Master has such a compassionate intention to encourage true world peace and create an earthly paradise.