Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia

Buddhism is a religion or philosophy based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha

The Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia was developed for self-education in Chinese Buddhism and Buddhism overall. Initially, the Encyclopedia's environment will be in two languages - Chinese Mandarin and English, the two most spoken languages of our world, and will provide a platform for international cooperation between academics, monastics and lay Buddhists.

The author and main organizer of Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia is Vello Vaartnou. He developed the concept for the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia (CBE) for many years before beginning the web page. The CBE project was officially started in December, 2012, when Vaartnou presented the idea of a Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia to the ECAI conference at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

The purposes of the CBE are to:

• provide all with Internet access a comprehensive collection of Buddhist literature
• gather all available existing digitized materials, review them, categorize them and post them online
• collaborate globally with relevant universities, monasteries, institutions, libraries, museums and individuals
• digitize materials that are currently in written form only
• preserve traditional forms of Buddhist learning and culture
• use the advantages of modern and future technology to develop different forms of Buddhist education
• create a international team of specialists interested in those topics, who will collaborate in person and online

Although the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia emphasizes different forms of Chinese Buddhism, it does not exclude any traditions, views or materials, which are not directly related to China. An academic approach will provide the opportunity to handle the materials and information scientifically, making them easily accessible for modern people, and creating the opportunity for future generations to continue building on the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia platform. Each published article will have an academic prologue. In case of traditional Buddhist texts, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Mongolian terminology will be used. The meanings of the terminology will be explained in Chinese and English.

A key function for the CBE is cultural preservation. In these rapidly changing times, where computers and the internet pose a great threat to traditional forms of Buddhist learning, it is necessary to gather all available materials, translate them and digitize them. It is also important to the founders that well-educated, senior Buddhist monastics to be involved in the project. They will help ensure the Buddhist view and essence of the materials presented will not lose their religious value, and that published materials will not insult anyone’s religious beliefs or values. Followers of different traditions are also to be included, so that representatives of different traditions can express their views as well. Naturally, the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia project also has a strong interest in using available technologies to put various individuals and organizations across the globe in touch with one another, to digitize all forms of Buddhist teachings. According to the Buddhist practice in some traditions, there are texts that should never be published. The committee of the project should be aware of such conditions and never breach them. It is important for the Encyclopedia team to stay independent from any personal, political, or religious views. The working collective for the encyclopedia will have the same condition; they are to work independently of any personal or third party opinions.

Join Us

Translators - our everyday work and communications are multi lingual, especially in terms of Chinese and English. We are seeking for more people whose mother tongue would be English or Chinese and could help us with proofreading and translating letters and text materials.

We also need to translate and develop the idea of Buddhist Encyclopedia in different languages, therefore we welcome all people who are interested to be involved and master any other languages besides Mandarin and English.

Editors - the work that we have to do is enormous. We are looking for more English or Chinese speaking editors. Currently, the role of an editor is to search and post more articles. Usually every editor has his/her own research subject.

Advisers - we are seeking for more highly educated Buddhist disciples, academics, scholars or any other individuals ororganizations, who can contribute to the development of the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia.

Organizations - universities, schools, temples, monasteries, government departments, libraries, archives, museums, etc. are all welcome to propose any useful forms of cooperation

Sponsors - we need additional funds to increase the staff, buy equipment, books and conduct the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia project. You DONATIONS are most welcome.

For any request of information, please contact us on info (at)chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com

Donations

The Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia is a self funded activity with no official sponsors. Financial support is needed for hiring more staff, equipment and activities. We also accept donations like books, art and other materials, which can benefit the development of the Encyclopedia. All support is much appreciated. Still being in a early stage of development, the Encyclopedia project has a long vision. A thousand miles journey starts with a single step. For those who can afford and want to support, please MAKE A DONATION