Nanhai Buddhism Academy opens in Sanya

The Sanya-based Nanhai Buddhism Academy started its first-ever semester Saturday with 227 students, including 154 monks, from all around the country.

Students attend the opening ceremony. [Photo by Liu Xiaoli/chinadaily.com.cn]

With five departments and eight majors all relating to Buddhist culture, management, art and architecture, the academy will be run as a four-year school system with Master Monk Yin Shun, vice director of the China Buddhism Association, as its president. It was approved by the National Administration of Religious Affairs in 2014 and construction began in 2016,

Located at the edge of the South China Sea in Hainan province, and surrounded by tropical forest, the academy has wonderful campus views and fresh air. The most famous nearby attraction is the 108–meter high Guanyin Buddha statue, a visual treasure that faces the sea.

"The academy eyes building itself into a world-class institution to attract more international Buddhism scholars and students, improve international exchanges and cooperation and find out solutions to tackle challenges and problems the world is facing through Buddhist wisdom," Yin said at a press conference on Saturday.

About 100 international students will attend the academy later this year.

The academy also will build a digital museum of global Buddhist cultural heritage on the basis of research in partnership with Cambridge University and other international institutes, according to an multiparty agreement signed on the opening day.

The Cambridge Research Institute for Silk Road Studies will be established in the Untied Kingdom by joint effort in the near future, according to the agreement.