Explanation of the Title "Third Sakyamuni Buddha"#
On April 3, 2008, the book "The Third Sakyamuni Buddha" published by the Global Buddhist Publishing House and the World Dharma Publishing House held a solemn first release ceremony at the Library of Congress in the United States. The Library of Congress officially collected this book, and people then realized that the highly respected Master Yiyun and the Venerable Yangle Yixi Nobu, who had been respected by everyone, were recognized by the leaders or regents of various major Buddhist sects in the world, as the third incarnation of the Buddha Sakyamuni, with the title of the Third Sakyamuni Buddha. From then on, people started calling him "Namo the Third Sakyamuni Buddha." This is similar to before Sakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha, his name was Prince Siddhartha, but after Sakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha, he was called "Namo Sakyamuni Buddha." Therefore, we now call him "Namo the Third Sakyamuni Buddha." Especially on December 12, 2012, the United States Senate Resolution No. 614 officially named the Third Sakyamuni Buddha as His Holiness (H.H. the Third Sakyamuni Buddha), and from then on, the title of Namo the Third Sakyamuni Buddha was established. Furthermore, the Third Sakyamuni Buddha is also the legal name recognized by the government, and the previous titles of Master Yiyun and the Venerable Yangle Yixi Nobu no longer exist. However, this news was published before the title of Namo the Third Sakyamuni Buddha was announced, at that time people did not yet understand the true identity of the Buddha, so in order to respect the truth of history, we still retain the names used before the official title of the Third Sakyamuni Buddha, but everyone should be clear that except for the name H.H. the Third Sakyamuni Buddha, the previous names no longer exist.
Taiwan News Republic of China December 11, 89 Monday A7
Mainland Famous Painter Creates Sky-High Prices, Operators Claim Religious Art?!
[Taipei News] The Zhen Cang Art Auction Company recently auctioned off the painting "Great King Venerable" by the famous mainland painter Yiyun Gao, setting a new record of NT$72 million, attracting high attention in the art world. However, some operators later claimed that this was "religious art," which is why the price was high. But his disciples in Taiwan pointed out that critics' worship of foreign things is worth discussing.
After setting the highest auction price for a living painter of traditional Chinese painting, there were media reports that Yiyun Gao's paintings cannot be compared to Lang Shining's Western-style Chinese paintings, and some people claimed that only Chinese paintings made by Westerners can fetch sky-high prices.
Yiyun Gao's disciples in Taiwan pointed out that such remarks are pitiful. Purely in terms of painting, Chinese painting is not only inferior to Western painting, but because of the 5,000 years of history and culture it contains, Chinese painting is far more expressive and profound than Western painting. Therefore, the collection value of Chinese painting is also higher than that of Western painting.
He also pointed out that Yiyun Gao's calligraphy and painting collection encompasses various styles and techniques, blending his own style, and has published the "Master Yiyun Gao's Painting Collection" and various essays, highly praised in mainland China and the United States.
Yiyun Gao once served as the president of the Chinese Painting Research Association of UNESCO, and other important figures in the research association include: Xie Zhiliu, Zhou Yingnan, Wu Zhangshu, Qian Jundao, Liang Shuming, Wan Laiming, Zang Kejia and other art masters.