Foyin diantai 佛音電台

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Fóyīn diàntái 佛音電台 (Buddha's Voice Radio), callsign XMHB, was the first Buddhist radio station in China (and possibly the world).

On June 8, 1933, Shēnbào 申報 reported that the Buddhist Association of China 中國佛教會 planned to establish a radio station in Shànghǎi 上海. The project was led by local laypeople such as Shī Shěngzhī 施省之, Wáng Yìtíng 王一亭, Wén Lántíng 聞蘭亭 and others. The planned station would have a power of 500 watts, enough to broadcast to the whole of China, and apart from broadcasting essential teachings of Buddhism, it would also report news from local branches of the association.

Fóyīn diàntái 佛音電台 (Buddha's Voice Radio) was officially registered on June 21, 1933, broadcasting at 980 kilocycles. The nightly broadcasts that comprised this station's primary activity were transmitted from the headquarters of the Buddhist Pure Karma Society 佛教淨業社 at the Enlightenment Garden 覺園. Broadcasts were made up of liturgical chants, modern Buddhist songs (often drawn from Hóngyī's 弘一 Qīngliáng Song Collection 清涼歌集), dharma talks, and other things.

A broadcast schedule from July 1937 runs from 7:00 AM to 10:45 PM, and includes chants of the Huáyán Sūtra 華嚴經, educational programs, music and plays, medical information, and stories.

The radio was shut down by Japanese forces in 1940.

References

  • Tarocco, Francesca. The Cultural Practices of Modern Chinese Buddhism: Attuning the Dharma. New York: Routledge, 2007. Pp. 129-130.
  • Welch, Holmes. The Buddhist Revival in China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968. Pp. 76-77.
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