Dear Friends in Dharma, Happy New Year!
Thanks to your support and encouragement, CBETA is about to embark on its 28th year of digitizing the Buddhist canon. Looking back on 2025, we continued to advance the digitization and long-term preservation of Buddhist texts with steady and solid steps. Building upon our existing foundation, we gradually accumulated concrete results that are verifiable and usable.
In 2025, we have expanded the content of our Buddhist text database while deepening foundational projects such as text collation, revision, and modern punctuation. Simultaneously, we have cautiously integrated new technologies into our operational workflows, aiming to enhance overall processing efficiency and user experience without compromising textual quality or scholarly reliability.
Building upon these efforts, CBETA also brought relevant research findings into international academic exchange forums in 2025. In October of that year, CBETA organized a paper session titled “Reimagining Buddhist Scholarship with Artificial Intelligence” at the PNC (Pacific Neighborhood Consortium) international academic conference, hosted by Academia Sinica and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (Viện Hàn lâm Khoa học xã hội Việt Nam). Multiple papers were presented, sharing practical experiences and research outcomes on AI-assisted Buddhist scripture interpretation, digitization workflows, and research applications. Through this international conference, CBETA not only reviewed its practical progress in integrating AI into Buddhist text projects but also exchanged experiences with researchers from diverse countries and disciplines. This further confirmed that artificial intelligence has become a pivotal issue in contemporary Buddhist studies and digital humanities development.
Below is a brief overview of CBETA’s major achievements in 2025 for our Friends in Dharma.
I. Continued Accumulation of Buddhist Canon Data with Tangible Results
By the end of 2025, the CBETA Electronic Buddhist Canon had accumulated 4,868 Buddhist texts (21,955 fascicles), totaling over 220 million characters. In 2025 alone, 22 new Buddhist texts (141 fascicles) were added (see Appendix 1 for details), further expanding the database’s depth and breadth. Behind these figures lies extensive scanning, proofreading, annotation, and organization work to ensure the texts are preserved in a stable and long-term usable format.
Furthermore, in June 2025, CBETA obtained digitalization authorization for The Complete Works of Venerable Yen Pei and immediately commenced digitization efforts. Related outcomes have been progressively completed and made publicly available. Venerable Yen Pei was a key disciple of Master Taixu, representing a significant lineage in post-war Chinese Buddhist thought and education. His writings extensively cover commentaries on sutras, vinaya texts, and treatises, as well as Dharma propagation manuscripts. The digitization and inclusion of his works provide crucial and reliable foundational materials for researching 20th-century Buddhist development.
II. Advancing Modern Punctuation in Sutras to Enhance Readability and Teaching Applications
CBETA continues advancing modern punctuation for Buddhist texts, adapting scriptures to contemporary reading habits without altering original content, thereby enhancing their suitability for teaching and research. This year, tangible progress in adding and expanding modern punctuation has been made in texts such as the Taishō Tripiṭaka, Jiaxing Canon, and Manji Zokuzōkyō (see Appendix II). This work clarifies the structural organization of scripture passages and facilitates smoother semantic comprehension.
III. Reader System and Website Updates for Enhanced Usability
CBETA continues optimizing the Reader system. The standalone Mac version of CBReader now features more flexible full-text search capabilities, allowing queries based on catalog entries or previous search results, and supporting search-within-text functionality for specific texts. The Windows version now features a convenient Toolbox. This tool not only connects to numerous online dictionaries, Buddhist scripture catalogs, and Taishō Canon image archives but also facilitates easier access to various AI platforms and academic research tools. Additionally, the CBETA official website underwent a major redesign in June 2025, featuring a clearer information architecture and multilingual support.
IV. Integration of Artificial Intelligence Technology to Enhance Buddhist Text Processing and Retrieval Efficiency
Artificial intelligence represents a significant new element in CBETA’s 2025 initiatives. We have already implemented it across multiple operational phases, including OCR recognition, modern punctuation, and the testing and operation of semantic search tools. In September, we invited the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology to host an OCR workshop at CBETA. For workflows like modern punctuation, CBETA employs a collaborative model where “AI generates drafts, and humans review and finalize”. Additionally, CBETA Online’s AI-powered semantic search (CBETA Semantic Search, CBSS) (Beta version) launched in 2025.
V. Outreach and Exchange, Making Achievements Visible and Usable
In 2025, CBETA continued to introduce the usage and research potential of the Digital Buddhist Canon through lectures, online tutorials, and audiovisual content. CBETA also progressively disclosed information regarding its canon collection planning, publishing a list of texts awaiting inclusion on its official website and social media platforms.
VI. Specific Progress in Database Scale and Structure
Based on 2025 statistics, CBETA has achieved significant growth in the number of texts, fascicles, and characters. Concurrently, CBETA Online has accumulated 1.89 million users across 198 countries, demonstrating the database’s widespread application.
VII. Continuous Accumulation of Revision and Collation Databases, Establishing a Trustworthy Foundation for Academic Citation
The Textual Revision and Verification Database represents a crucial long-term effort by CBETA. Any textual revisions, textual variant adjustments, or necessary modifications are documented with clear records, enabling users to trace the rationale for changes. By the end of 2025, this database had accumulated 48,304 entries, tightly linked to the textual data.
In the new year, we will continue with the same committed pace to maintain data quality and prudently advance the application of new technologies. We sincerely thank all Friends in Dharma for your enduring support and invite you to continue following and utilizing CBETA.
Wishing you peace and blessings in the New Year!
Respectfully,
Bhikshu Huimin (Guo Minfang)
Chairman, CBETA Foundation
January 1, 2026
附件一：CBETA 2025 年新收錄典籍清單
Appendix I: List of Newly Included Texts in 2025
2025.R1
► CBETA 選集 / CBETA Selected Collection（共 1 部 1 卷）
- CC006n0006 佛說大乘無量壽莊嚴清淨平等覺經會集(1卷)【民國 夏蓮居集】
2025.R2
► 佛教大藏經 / Fojiao Canon（共 3 部 70 卷）
- G114-118n2302 (跨冊) 佛學名相彙解(68卷)【明 沙門寂照編】
- G157n2600 始終心要義記(1卷)【民國 倓虛述】
- G160n2619 宗喀巴大師傳(1卷)【民國 張建木述】
2025.R3
► 演培法師全集 / The Complete Collected Works of Venerable Yen Pei（共 13 部 51 卷）
- YP00na001 演培長老傳略(1卷)【演培法師全集出版委員會】
- YP00na002 演培法師全集．出版緣起(1卷)【演培法師全集出版委員會】
- YP00na003 演培法師全集．序文(1卷)【演培法師全集出版委員會】
- YP01n0001 金剛般若波羅密經講記(4卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP01n0002 金剛經概要(1卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP01n0003 金光明經空品講記(4卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP02n0004 般若波羅密多心經講記(3卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP02n0005 般若波羅密多心經講記(10卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP02n0006 心經十二講(12卷)【日本高神覺昇著 民國 釋演培．關凱圖合譯】
- YP03n0007 佛說十善業道經講記(4卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP03n0008 佛說八大人覺經講記(1卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP03n0009 大寶積妙慧童女經講記(4卷)【民國 釋演培著】
- YP04n0010 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經講記(5卷)【民國 釋演培著】
► 佛教大藏經 / Fojiao Canon（共 3 部 70 卷）
- G151n2559 十二門論講話(1卷)【民國 慈航述】
G155n2589 法寶壇經解義(2卷)【民國 許聖可著】 - G155n2590 六祖大師法寶壇經箋註(13卷)【民國 丁福保註】
- G157n2594 修習止觀坐禪法要講述(1卷)【民國 寶靜述】
- G157n2601 天台傳佛心印記註釋要(2卷)【民國 倓虛釋要】
附件二：2025 年新增新式標點 ＆ AI 自動標點清單
Appendix II: List of Newly Added Modern and AI-Assisted Punctuation in 2025
2025.R1
► 新增新式標點（人工校讀）共 64 部 374 卷
- 大正藏（7 部 59 卷）
- 嘉興藏（56 部 314 卷）
- 卍續藏（1 部 1 卷）
► 新增 AI自動標點共 187 部 490 卷
2025.R2
► 新增新式標點（人工校讀）共 108 部 274 卷
- 嘉興藏 (56 部 183 卷)
- 卍續藏 (52 部 91 卷)
► 新增AI自動標點共 575 部 1903 卷
2025.R3
► 新增新式標點（人工校讀）共 108 部413 卷
- 卍續藏 (108 部 413 卷)
► 新增AI自動標點共 215 部 1341 卷
詳細清單請參考 2025 R1, R2, R3 更新記錄。
For a detailed list, please refer to the 2025 R1, R2, and R3 Update Records.
