Cheng Yen or Shih Cheng Yen (Chinese: 證嚴法師, 釋證嚴; pinyin: Zhèngyán Fǎshī; Wade–Giles: Chêng4 Yen2 Fa3-shih1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chèng-giâm Hoat-su;[a] born Chin-Yun Wong; 14 May 1937)[1][2] is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni), teacher, and philanthropist. She is the founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation,[3] ordinarily referred to as Tzu Chi, a Buddhist humanitarian organization based in Taiwan. In the West, she is sometimes referred to as the "Mother Teresa of Asia".[4][3][5][6][7][8][9]
Cheng Yen was born in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. She developed an interest in Buddhism as a young adult, ordaining as a Buddhist nun in 1963 under the well known proponent of humanistic Buddhism, master Yin Shun. After an encounter with a poor woman who had a miscarriage, and a conversation with Catholic nuns who talked about the various charity work of the Catholic Church, Cheng Yen founded the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1966 as a Buddhist humanitarian organization. The organization began as a group of thirty housewives who saved money for needy families. Tzu Chi gradually grew in popularity and expanded its services over time to include medical, environmental, and disaster relief work, eventually becoming one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world, and the largest Buddhist organization in Taiwan.
Cheng Yen is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the development of modern Taiwanese Buddhism. In Taiwan, she is popularly referred to and is the last surviving of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Taiwanese Buddhism, along with her contemporaries Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain, Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan and Wei Chueh of Chung Tai Shan.[10][11][12]
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^"Master Cheng Yen". Tzu Chi Singapore. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
^"慈濟快報 Tzu Chi Express (English Version)". community.tzuchi.net. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
^ ab"Biography of Dharma Master Cheng Yen". Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
^Tribune, Norma Libman Special to the (4 September 1994). "Tiny Buddhist Master Serves Taiwan, Needy of the World". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
^Mowe, Sam (12 August 2010). "Diane Wolkstein on Dharma Master Cheng Yen". Tricycle. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010.
^"Founder of Tzu Chi Receives Rotary International Hono". religion.vn. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
^Chen, Shu-Ching Jean (12 April 2010). "Sister of Charity". Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
^"The 2011 Time 100 Poll". Time. 4 April 2011. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
^O'Neill, Mark (17 May 2010). Tzu Chi: Serving with Compassion. John Wiley & Sons. p. 9. ISBN 9780470825679. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
^"Come to Taiwan, Return with good memories". Info.taiwan.net.tw. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
^Shuai, J. J.; Chen, H. C.; Chang, C. H. (1 December 2010). "Visualization of the Taiwaness Buddhism web based on social network analysis". 2010 International Computer Symposium (ICS2010). pp. 187–191. doi:10.1109/COMPSYM.2010.5685523. ISBN 978-1-4244-7639-8. S2CID 18858823.
^Abeynayake, Oliver; Tilakaratne, Asanga (1 January 2011). 2600 Years of Sambuddhatva: Global Journey of Awakening. Ministry of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs, Government of Sri Lanka. p. 282. ISBN 9789559349334. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
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Buddhism, along with his contemporaries: Master Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain, Master ChengYen of Tzu Chi and Master Wei Chueh of Chung Tai Shan. Hsing...
of Life Studies 24/7 in 2012, Jane Goodall in 2014, and Dharma Master ChengYen for humanitarian work in Malaysia through the Tzu Chi Foundation. Some...
traditions emerged in the 1960s, based their teaching on Ch'an practices. ChengYen (born 1937), a Buddhist nun, founded the Tzu Chi Foundation as a charity...
Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan Sheng-yen*, Buddhist scholarly writer and founder of Dharma Drum Mountain Order ChengYen, founder of Tzu Chi Yifa, writer...
(6 ft 4 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 31 – (1993-01-07)7 January 1993 TSU G 2 Liu Cheng-Yen 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 72 kg (159 lb) 22 – (2001-07-08)8 July 2001 I-Shou...
content. The channel is religious by nature and it teaches dharma under ChengYen's guidance. The channel's stance is that people are good by default as...
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office of the premier of the Republic of China. Vice presidents Chen Cheng, Yen Chia-kan, and Lien Chan all served as premier concurrently as vice president...
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Peter Yarrow (born 1938) – American singer-songwriter, anti-war activist ChengYen (born 1937) – Taiwanese Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni) and founder of Tzu Chi...
movement that was established in 1966 by the Taiwanese bhikkuni Master ChengYen. Tzu Chi Singapore was founded in 1993 and headquartered at Elias Road...
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