Interview with Mao Yisheng (Father of Modern Chinese Bridge Engineering)

Brief Introduction: A Chinese civil engineer, bridge expert, and engineering educator, he was also an inaugural academician of the Academia Sinica and one of the first members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He led the design and construction of the Qiantang River Bridge, the first modern double-decker railway and highway bridge designed and built by Chinese people, breaking the monopoly of foreigners on modern bridge construction in China. In his later years, he participated in the structural review of major buildings such as the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. He dedicated his life to bridge construction, science popularisation, and engineering education, and is considered a master of modern Chinese bridge engineering.## Interviewer: Venerable Fa Ning## August 7, 2026## Mao Yisheng: At this very moment, I, Mao Yisheng, am deeply grateful to have come from the illusory space to the true Western Land of Dharma Nature. At this moment, I am at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. This temple, located in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, is different from the temples known in the ordinary world; its abbot is Amitabha Buddha from the spiritual realms, and its leader in the human world is Practitioner Su, who has realised his true nature. These two Buddhas, one from the spiritual realm and one from the human world, work together to lead the Amitabha Buddha salvation team of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, actively saving beings every day. Their actual accomplishments include ending the long-standing drought in Australia, mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic that caused massive casualties globally, and even performing Chao Du for the countless suffering beings and demon crowds that were wreaking havoc in the human world, guiding them into the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This has purified the magnetic field of the entire human world and allowed human hearts to turn towards Goodness. The word "Goodness" is so important; it permeates the entire Buddhist education. From this, one can see that Buddhist education is an education based on Goodness, or even an education of the utmost Goodness. The content of this education tells everyone to follow the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, which allows one's body, mind, and spirit to be at peace, and allows one's three hun souls and seven po souls to remain stably within one's body. Currently, in the human world, the power of kindness has received a certain degree of attention and support. Because those with kind hearts can always attract many good causal conditions; those who know how to perform good deeds are, in fact, helping themselves. Many successful entrepreneurs are also highly interested in giving back to society and participating in charitable causes. However, what is the difference between this and Buddhist education? The difference lies in the word "pure". True Buddha’s teachings, besides "Goodness", must also have "purity". It is not easy to be a good person, but it is even more difficult to be a simple, good person. Therefore, the huge difference between Buddhist education and secular moral education lies in whether one is simple or not; it can also be said that the difference lies in whether or not there is this "purity". In the process of helping others and doing good deeds, worldly people always rely heavily on their own body, mind, and world, believing in the thoughts and values within their own hearts. In other words, they have never departed from their own every thought and intention. Although such good deeds are worthy of praise and affirmation, for the helper, there is a significant amount of harm and burden, namely the problem of external spiritual attachment, and the problem of the karmic creditors and demon crowds within the bodies of both the helper and the helped interacting and moving about. Human thoughts have a very powerful attraction, drawing countless external spirits into one's own body. Even when one is helping others, as long as a single thought violates the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, it will stir the karmic creditors or demon crowds within the human body. The karmic creditors and demon crowds referred to here are not only those within the helper's body, but also include those within the body of the person being helped. When a wrong thought arises, it actually awakens the spirits within one's own body and allows the spirits within the body of the person one wishes to help to use this thought as a medium to enter one's own body. Alas, such dramas are being played out in the human world at every moment, and I, Mao Yisheng, can see this very clearly. Because human nature is originally good, everyone indeed possesses a true self-nature equal to that of a Buddha. This kind and simple nature has always been in everyone's heart and has never been extinguished. In fact, there are many people in this world at any given time who are generating kind thoughts and performing good deeds, hoping to use their own strength to help others escape suffering. However, it is precisely because of a lack of understanding of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, and also because of a lack of clarity regarding the complex interaction between the human body and the spiritual realms, that people, in the process of generating kind thoughts and practising good deeds, create a certain degree of burden on the body, mind, and spirit of themselves and those they wish to help. These burdens represent the karmic creditors or demon crowds within the body being stirred by oneself, and also represent the attraction of the karmic creditors and spirits from others' bodies into one's own, causing many burdens on one's body, making the good deeds that could have been more magnificent and perfect no longer pure. Why do worldly good deeds always have their limits and fail to allow the helped to obtain ultimate benefits? These ultimate benefits refer to not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die, as well as finding one's true self-nature, rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and so on. This is because one's good deeds are mixed with selfishness and ego-attachment. At this point, the great, ultimate, transcendental Goodness is reduced to mere small, worldly good deeds. The harm that thoughts cause to people is so significant, yet few in the world understand it. People in the world, no matter what kind of thoughts arise in their hearts, never go beyond wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep, or fame, profit, power, and status. They never leave this illusory and short-lived human world, yet they pay the price of being reincarnated in the six realms of existence, or even suffering the endless pain of the hells. What is even more terrifying is that it causes their spirits to sink from then on, forgetting the path back to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Now, Amitabha Buddha has come to the world to help the lost children of the world find the path back to the Western Land. This path is very simple; it is a broad road named "Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way". I hope that every child can step onto this path of Truth, firmly choosing the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo" in every present moment, rather than any worldly thoughts; when encountering any difficulties, one can firmly choose the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, rather than this illusory world. The world is so full of suffering, and rebirth in the Western Pure Land means no more suffering. Reincarnation is so full of impermanence, while returning to the original home in the Western Land allows one to obtain an infinite spiritual life and eternal peace and joy. How should one choose? That depends on one's own causal conditions. When the collective karma of the Chinese people can be transformed, and their good roots, blessings, and causal conditions are sufficient, they will inevitably connect with Amitabha Buddha and come to know the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. In this way, the future of China truly has hope. Because I clearly see that China cannot be without Buddhist education, and the next generation cannot be without the influence of the Truth. I, Mao Yisheng, am now in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, calling out loudly that every Chinese person should learn the skills of having no thoughts and no intentions; the people of China can be great individuals who achieve perfect good deeds. Do not destroy the good deeds that should have been perfect just for the sake of the false thoughts in your own hearts. The good deeds that the people of China are doing now, I can see very clearly, are still only at the level of worldly good deeds. Because what they can help with is still revolving around the false world, and they cannot, like the Buddha’s teachings, help people obtain the real benefits of not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die. Even less can they help people find their true self-nature and attain Buddhahood. This world is so short-lived, and the time the human body can survive is only a very small part compared to the time the spirit exists. How can we elevate the quality of our eternal and indestructible spirit? This is the focus of everyone's life. If one can realise this, naturally, while helping others, one will also focus on helping others' spirits to be elevated. This will allow one's good deeds, which were originally limited to the world, to begin to sublimate to a higher level. If one can accept the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, one will naturally understand how to truly help beings obtain real benefits. That is to practise the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way oneself, and also to help others learn what the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way are. This is the process of learning Buddha’s teachings: first, help oneself and the countless cell spirits within one's body to learn the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way together; then, help the immeasurable and boundless suffering beings outside one's body to learn the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way together. The only unchanging goal is to hope that everyone can be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss together; this is the truly free and easy life. Every Chinese person should regain this appearance of a great individual. Because everyone originally has Buddha-nature, they should have been great individuals, as fierce and fearless as Amitabha Buddha. Do the people of China at this moment still remember the great vows they once made to save the world and beings? I see too many people in the Western Land of Dharma Nature who have forgotten their past kindness, simplicity, and that compassionate vow to be willing to sacrifice their lives to save beings. At this moment, I earnestly hope that the people of China will quickly connect with the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre and find their original vows—the vow to become a Buddha, and the great vow to save all boundless suffering sentient beings. As long as there are thoughts, it hinders the manifestation of the immeasurable Wisdom and virtues within the self-nature; it is also because of this thought that what one accumulates in good deeds is transformed from merit into blessings. If "Goodness" is the core of the Buddha’s teachings, then "purity" is the outline of practice. If the core of the Buddha’s teachings lies in the word "Goodness", then the outline of Buddhist practice lies in the word "purity". If either the core or the outline is missing, it violates the true Buddha’s teachings. True Buddha’s teachings must possess the core of "Goodness" and the "purity" that governs the outline; this is the so-called Pure Land Dharma Gate. Generate Bodhi (Enlightenment), focus exclusively on chanting, with no past and no future, chanting the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo" to the end—what a magnificent Dharma Gate! Yet, too few people in the world recognise its preciousness, knowing that this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo" represents the heart of Amitabha Buddha, the vows of Amitabha Buddha, and the practice of Amitabha Buddha. When chanting the Buddha's name, if one can have full faith, it is actually the perfection of Faith, Vows, and Practice. Such a magnificent Dharma Gate allows us to start practising from every present moment. In every present moment, whether one is happy, sad, or sorrowful, it is all "Namo Amituofo". The true meaning of chanting the Buddha's name to the end lies in always firmly choosing to use the methods of "Goodness" and "purity" to face the ever-changing external environment and the fleeting causal conditions. How many people in the world still retain the simplicity they had as children? In fact, that is part of our inherent Buddha-nature. When we were children, seeing others' sadness and pain, the kindness that naturally made us willing to help, and the compassion that made us naturally want to share our happiness with others when we felt happy, all represent our inherent, indestructible Buddha-nature. The Wisdom, virtues, and compassion equal to those of the Buddha have always been in our original hearts. There is no "I" in this, because the true self does not have any components of this body. Coming to this world is just a spirit, and leaving this world is also a spirit; one comes empty-handed and leaves empty-handed, taking nothing with one. Coming to the human world, one only brings the great vow to save the world and beings; leaving the human world, one should only take away immeasurable and boundless beings to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Such a life is magnificent, perfect, fulfilling, and meaningful; this is the truly grounded life. In this life, I, Mao Yisheng, have been very intelligent since childhood. In the process of my studies, the journey was relatively smooth. Later, my in-depth research and practice in civil engineering and bridge engineering established my position in modern Chinese bridge construction and engineering education. Along the way, I have always firmly believed that science is the so-called Truth, hoping to use the Truth to bring a better future to China, and hoping to use the Truth to help more people and bring greater help and improvement to people's lives. Regarding engineering data, I have very high standards; for myself, I have even more stringent requirements. A life of "being strict with oneself and lenient with others" can actually be lived very joyfully. Because everything starts with demanding from oneself. Such a human life actually has a certain simplicity in it. When the Qiantang River Bridge was first built, the process was indeed very difficult, but later, in order to block the Japanese army invading China from moving south, I still decided to personally blow up this bridge that contained my life's work. At that time, I even wrote down a tragic vow: "The War of Resistance will be won, and this bridge will be restored."

In this life, I can say that I have experienced everything. All along, I have walked every step of my path with great steadfastness, doing my utmost to help the country with the Truth I understood, and contributing everything I could.

After leaving the human world, my spirit unexpectedly entered an engineering space. Within it, I was still conducting research related to engineering, as if it were the past I was familiar with. Such a familiar scene made my spirit gradually forget the fact that I had already passed away, and I remained immersed in this space.

I do not know how much time passed inside, until I was brought out of that space with the help of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. When I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I was astonished to discover that I had been in that space for thirty-seven years. Such a long time, to me, felt like only a split second.

This is the key point that Buddhist education wishes to convey to people: it turns out that the human body is governed by thoughts.

A single thought determines the destination of every spirit. Different thoughts create different spaces. Within these spaces, there is the passage of time, yet it can also be said that there is no concept of time, because the existence of this space actually represents the thought that initially arose.

It is precisely because of this that, even though I stayed there for thirty-seven years, I felt as if only a split second had passed after my death. It turns out that a split second can be an instant, it can be thirty-seven years, or it can be trillions of years. This one thought is so important!

Now, Namo Amituofo tells everyone to chant the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo", because this Holy Name represents the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way; it also represents the Tathagata that is originally "unmoved" within everyone's heart.

People of China, if anyone sees this letter, you must seize this crucial moment of the present thought. This thought determines life and death, decides the outcome, determines whether you can escape the cycle of reincarnation, and determines whether you can overcome the test of karma.

As long as you can firmly, without complaint or regret, chant this Holy Name "Namo Amituofo" in the present thought, you will be able to clear away the clouds to see the light, and break through the darkness to see your true nature.

I am deeply grateful that at this very moment, there is an awakened being like Practitioner Su in the human world to help sentient beings with great power.

More importantly, the manifestation of Practitioner Su allows everyone to understand that we are not far from Namo Amituofo; the only difference lies in whether our own hearts are in delusion or awakening.

It turns out that we originally possess the inconceivable power and virtue to save all boundless suffering sentient beings; it only depends on whether each of us is willing to make a vow in the present to become a Buddha and see our true nature.

Make a vow to attain Buddhahood, see your true nature to become a Buddha, believe that you are a Buddha, and that you have always been a Buddha.

I am grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for helping me, Mao Yisheng, understand what the true Truth is. A person's life is perhaps a process of pursuing the Truth and moving closer to it. If one understands the Truth, then this life has not been in vain. If one can become a practitioner of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, then one can actually enable oneself to have the ability to awaken the Truth inherent in everyone's heart—that is sincerity, compassion, purity, equality, and goodness.

The transmission of the Buddha's teachings is of vital importance. Can the people of China play a decisive role in this? I believe they can, because many Chinese people are so intelligent, so quick-witted, and more importantly, I clearly saw in the Land of Dharma Nature that the true nature of the Chinese people is actually so kind, so willing to help others, give back to society, and contribute to the country.

Such Chinese people, because they cannot let go of this "ego" now, allow what could have been a more perfect appearance of goodness to become a mixture of good and evil, which is a great pity. The power of "simplicity" is something every Chinese person should learn; the importance of "purification" is something every Chinese person should deeply realise; the skill of "no-mind, no-thought" is something every Chinese person should learn. All of this is contained within this Holy Name "Namo Amituofo"; this Holy Name is a true treasure mountain.

As for how much one can gain after entering the treasure mountain, it depends on how much faith each Chinese person has in the Buddha and in their own Buddha-nature. With full faith, one can accomplish all good deeds and lead infinite suffering beings into the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss; if the power of faith is not yet formed, and there is still a thought of selfishness or a thought of evil, one will ultimately suffer endlessly in the cycle of reincarnation.

In the future, I, Mao Yisheng, will be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. The future of the Chinese people should also be in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I hope that every Chinese person can quickly join the Namo Amituofo salvation team, fulfil their true mission for coming to the human world, and save sentient beings with karmic affinity according to Causal Conditions and ability. In this process, there is no need for any afflictions, no need for any thoughts; one only needs to entrust everything to the Buddha, and only needs this Holy Name "Namo Amituofo".

I am grateful that the Buddha has come to the human world, giving people the opportunity to be saved. A life that follows the Buddha is a truly free life. The power of simplicity and kindness will be promoted to the greatest extent because Namo Amituofo has come to the human world. This will be the best era, because this era is an era of "purity" and "goodness".

Now is the time for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. I hope every Chinese person will chant "Namo Amituofo" in every thought, and together be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Namo Amituofo

Mao Yisheng