Taipei, March 5 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian decorated a Buddhist elder, Ying Shun, in Taiping, Taichung County, central Taiwan, Friday.
In a brief ceremony, the president decorated the 99-year-old elder with the Order of Propitious Clouds with Grand Cordon to honor his contribution to society.
Born in Haining County, Zhejian province in 1906, Elder Ying Shun converted to Buddhism in 1930 and devoted himself to the studies of Buddhist theory.
He moved to Taiwan in 1953 to promote Buddhism, urge his followers to live out Buddhism in their daily live, and has been lauded as the most knowledgeable Chinese Buddhist master after Hsuan Chang, a Buddhist master who lived from A.D.602 to A.D.664.