Wang Hao-te
|colspan=2 align=center style="border-top:1px solid #ccd2d9"|Wang Hao Te |align=right|Known in English as:||Wang Hao Te |align=right|Chinese:||王好德 |align=right|Wade-Giles:||Wang Hao-te |align=right|Chinese:||王 |align=right style="border-top:1px solid #ccd2d9"|Given||style="border-top:1px solid #ccd2d9"|names |align=right| ||Haode (好德) |align=right|Courtesy name :||Gaoshan (高山) |align=right|Pseudonym :||Gaoshan Yuren (高山愚人)
'Wang Hao-te' (1921–1999) was the founder of the Maitreya Great Tao religion (Chinese: 彌勒大道; pinyin: Mílè Dà Dào), which is based in Hsin Chu,Taiwan. According to Taiwan's survey in 2004 this religion has 1000,000 members and 2000 temples all over the world. Wang was born in 1921, the 28th day of the 7th lunar month (August 31, 1921) in a small village called Zhang Gu in Shandong province in China. He went to Taiwan when he was 17 years old during the 2nd War time and he was introduced to the religion "I-Kuan Tao" in 1948 by chance. He was a hardworking, well loved and down to earth talented young man and he was the only person appointed to take care of Sun Su Zhen or "Shi Mu" 師母 when he was 23 years old, the great mistress of I-Kuan Tao for 11 years until her death in 1975, 4th of April.
In 1987, Wang set up the Providence Maitreya Buddha Institute (Chinese: 天恩彌勒佛院; pinyin: Tiān'ēn Mílè Fó Yuàn) in Hsin Chu, Taiwan to continue "Shi Mu's unfinished mission". Wang went on to spread the mission and vision of the religion that was enpowered and entrusted by Shi Mu to him without any delaying in his living years. Unfortunately, Wang died of CO2 poisoning on the Christmas day in 1999 incidently by his dearest and beloved students during his mission to Chiang Mai, Thailand; left his only daughter "Wu Xian" who was born on the 4th of April and has been left alone in Singapore. Wu Xian has been carrying on her father's footsteps which based on his teachings, actions and thoughts. The TRUE "Maitreya Great Tao" led by Wang has had a large number of followers across more than sixty countries all over the world for the past sixty over years.
The present chosen leaders of the Maitreya Great Tao's goals and objectives are to build a bronze statue of Laughing Buddha in Hsin Chu, with a height of 72 m. To remind everyone not to underestimate and/ or to neglect the power of nature, green environment that could bring happiness, joy in our daily life as well as to improve on our spiritual believe too. Their years of efforts, participations and contributions in Tao and to society are acknowledged and well recognised by their students and followers after the Great Great grandmaster Wang's departure.
[edit] Sources
- Clart, Philip. 2000. Opening the Wilderness for the Way of Heaven: A Chinese New Religion in the Greater Vancouver Area. Journal of Chinese Religions 28: 127-144
- Soo, Khin Wah. 1997. A Study of the Yiguan Dao (Unity Sect) and its Development in Peninsular Malaysia. Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia.
- 台灣地區宗教簡介: 彌勒大道 Introduction to religions in the Taiwan territory: Maitreya Great Tao, Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Republic of China. 2001. Accessed February 7, 2006.
