A cornerstone laying ceremony for Changqing School was held on Nov. 2, 2012 at Mount Wutai area, one of China’s well-known Buddhist sanctuaries in the northeastern part of Shanxi Province. It is a noticeable event as the school is named after the Chinese monk who has donated almost 13 million yuan (about 2 million US dollars) to the project.

Changqing Lama, Abbot of the Wuye Temple (also known as Wanfo Temple), donated 13 million yuan (about 2 million US dollars) to the education charity during an event called the Religious Charity Week, which took place in September 2012.

Manager of the Mount Wutai scenic area said there are two central schools established by Wutai County, and another 15 created by local villages. However, the number of classrooms is still far from enough. Moreover, the poor infrastructure and limited resources also severely restrict the development of education. Realizing the importance of education and the graveness of the situation, the Buddhists at Mount Wutai then decided to host a charity event to help the region out of its dilemma.

The Changqing School project will be better equipped and expected to be completed in Aug. 2014, covering 21,000 sq m and featuring enough space to school 1200 students. The overall undertaking is set to cost roughly 39 million yuan (about 6 million US dollars).

The local administration of Mount Wutai Scenic Area invested eight million yuan (about 1.3 million US dollars) in land requisition and planning alone. The rest of the items were entirely patronized by the monks of Mount Wutai, particularly Changqing Lama.

Changqing Lama, born in Shanxi Province in the1930s, became a monk at the age of seven. Later, he joined the People’s Liberation Army and had been enlisted for the Korea War. He once had a family but returned to temple as the policy changed. He believes doing good deeds is a very important spiritual practice in the life of any true Buddhist.

(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Gong Yingchun. )

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