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Review: Taiwan’s Tzu Chi as Engaged Buddhism : Origins, Organization, Appeal and Social Impact - Yu-Shuang Yao

Buddhism in Taiwan has been the subject of a number of remarkable publications in Western languages in the last fifteen years. Some monographs have explored its history and thus the creation of a Taiwanese Buddhism,1 others have addressed particular Buddhist groups and lay association that had been established on the island,2 and a few have focused on the interaction between the main Taiwanese Buddhist organisations and local politics.3 Yao added another important monograph to the field of study of Buddhism in Taiwan. Similarly to Julia C. Huang’s book (2009), Taiwan’s Tzu Chi as Engaged Buddhism assesses the charisma of the founder of Tzu Chi, the nun Zhengyan (b.1937). Then similarly to Laliberté’s book (2004), this monograph considers the social impact of the organisation on local society as well as the cooperation between religious body and government. In contrast to previous studies of Tzu Chi, this volume frames Tzu Chi as a New Religious Movement, and associates it to the New Religious Movements founded previously in Japan and those local to Taiwan. In line with this thesis, Yao translates Ciji gongde hui as Tzu Chi Movement instead of the usual English rendition as Tzu Chi Foundation. The book starts with a summary of the social and political history of Taiwan and then goes into the details of the religious landscape of the island. Yao defines Daoism, the presence of Christianity, the folk religions (that are here called ‘Traditional Religions’), the New Religious Movements established in Taiwan and those of Japanese origins that spread in Taiwan, and finally discusses the situation of Buddhism in Taiwan after the Japanese colonial period, including the increased importance of the laity among the Buddhist community. The second chapter lists sources, theoretical discourses and research methodologies that the author adopted in her work. A valid contribution of this volume is the sociological research around the concept of ‘religious appeal’ that, as Yao argues, has been undervalued in previous studies of religious phenomena. Yao relies on an impressive selection of Taiwanese sources, but fails to consult important Western previous works in the field (such as Jones 1999, Lalibertè 2004 and Madsen 2007). The third chapter covers the life of Zhengyan, founder of Tzu Chi, and the history of the association. To develop both topics Yao uses historical materials, the interviews conducted during her fieldwork, and the media representation of Tzu Chi. Yao makes an important point by underlining that Zhengyan undertook a Buddhist monastic career for “social reasons rather than religious calling” (p. 66), and analyzing Zhengyan’s charisma not only through the lens of Weberian theories but also, and especially, within the frame of Chinese traditional Confucian canons (pp. 68–70). In line with her sociological approach, Yao underlines how the location of the first centre – and now headquarters – of Tzu Chi facilitated the success of the movement (p. 78). The fourth chapter offers interesting insights on Zhengyan’s Buddhism, which also constitute the doctrinal bases of the movement and roots of appeal to its members. According to Yao, Zhengyan has based her preaching on the following key points: the concept of individual and collective karma, the moral value of an active altruism, the importance of maintaining a focus on the present life (and so on family and social responsibilities) more than on the afterlife, the dichotomy sacred/profane and spiritual wealth/secular wealth. Because