The Buddhist community in Hong Kong welcomed 2026 with a grand Dharma ceremony, held over several days, for peace in the world and prosperity in the city and China. It ran from 3–5 and 7 January at Kai Tak Sports Park. The event was titled, “Buddhist Grand Blessing Ceremony for World Peace and National Prosperity” (世界和平國泰民安千僧萬眾祈福大法會).
The event objective was described on Ceremony’s website as such: “To mark the New Year, the monastic and lay members of Hong Kong Buddhist community, together with revered monastics and esteemed masters from across the globe, offer the most devout prayers for Buddha’s blessing, for the world peace, and for our nation [sic] stability and prosperity.” (hkgba.com)
The Ceremony was the largest ecumenical Buddhist event Hong Kong has seen in recent years, with an impressive 146 Buddhist organizations (monasteries, practice centers, temples, and so on) lending their support to the Dharma assembly. Each day of the Ceremony unfolded with its own sub-event. 3 January launched the Ceremony with the “Opening Ceremony and Chan, Pure Land, and Tantric Dharma Assembly.” The fourth and fifth saw “The Joy of Chan Chanting” and “Flourishing and Blessings – The Concert of Buddhist Hymns and Chants” respectively.
Today, on 7 January, the Ceremony closed with the most important phase and the namesake of the event: “Hong Kong Buddhist Grand Blessing Ceremony for World Peace and National Prosperity.”
Each sub-event was meticulously conducted and the Grand Blessing Ceremony, held today, was a powerful message, uniting all three Vehicles of Buddhism in Hong Kong and transcending sectarian boundaries. It was a statement of the united and non-sectarian Buddhist affirmation of Chinese patriotism and loyalty to the One Country, Two Systems mode of governance in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It solidified the presence of Buddhism as an essential spiritual cornerstone of the city, one that was best-prepared to throw its moral and religious weight behind One Country, Two Systems. It also ushered in Buddhist rituals conducive to the city’s prosperity and peace on Planet Earth.
The Ceremony was supported by the Hong Kong government, with Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, serving as the chairman of the conference structure. The executive chairs were Ven. Kuan Yun, chairman of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, and entrepreneur Charles Yeung, founder and chairman of Glorious Sun Enterprises Limited and chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.
The sponsoring Buddhist organizations of the Ceremony represented some of the most senior and influential Dharma institutions in the city, which included: Po Lin Monastery, Western Monastery, Tsz Shan Monastery, Tung Lin Kok Yuen, Tung Lum Nien Fah Tong, Lo Hon Buddhist Monastery, Fo Guang Vihara Hong Kong, The Centre for Spiritual Progress to Great Awakening, Pu Xian Hall, Hong Kong Buddhism “This Shore – Other Shore,” and the Dharma Propagation Association.
One of the vice-chairmen of the conference structure, the late Ven. Jingyin, was the former abbot of supporting organization Po Lin Monastery. He departed to the Western Pure Land on 22 December 2025.
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Buddhist Grand Blessing Ceremony for World Peace and National Prosperity