Wang Hao-te (1921–1999) was the founder of the Great Way of Maitreya (), which is based in
Hsinchu
Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inha ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
. According to a survey done in 2004, this religion has 1,000,000 members and 2,000 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, China. He went to Taiwan when he was 17 years old during the Second World War, and he was introduced to
Yiguandao
Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao (),; ko, 일관도, Ilgwando; th, อนุตตรธรรม, . meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way, is a Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in the late 19th century, in Shandong, to become ...
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, the great mistress of Yiguandao, for 11 years until her death on 4 April 1975.
In 1987, Wang set up the Providence Maitreya Buddha Institute () in
Hsinchu
Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inha ...
, Taiwan. Wang died of CO
2 poisoning on Christmas Day in 1999 during his mission to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
See also
*
Yiguandao
Yiguandao / I-Kuan Tao (),; ko, 일관도, Ilgwando; th, อนุตตรธรรม, . meaning the Consistent Way or Persistent Way, is a Chinese salvationist religious sect that emerged in the late 19th century, in Shandong, to become ...
*
Zhang Tian Ran
Zhang Tianran () (8 August 1889 – 29 September 1947) was the eighteenth patriarch as well as the founder of the I-Kuan Tao (Yiguandao) religious sect. He is usually referred to as the ''Father of I-Kuan Tao'', or as ''Shi Zun'' (), meaning t ...
*
Sun Su Zhen Sun Su Chen (孫素真) (16 October 1895 - 23 February 1975) was the 18th matriarch of Yiguandao. She was the successor of Zhang Tianran, Yiguandao's contemporary founder. Sun was also known as ''Ming Shan'' (明善) or ''Hui Ming'' (慧明), her re ...
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.
External links
Maitreya Great Tao websiteThe Life of Wang Hao Te according to his follower
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Hao-te
1921 births
1999 deaths
Chinese religious leaders
Founders of new religious movements
People from Shandong
Yiguandao