Cheng Yen
|
Master Cheng Yen 證嚴 |
|
|---|---|
| Other names | Huizhang |
| Dharma names | Cheng Yen |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Republic of China (Taiwan) |
| Born | Chin-Yun Wong May 11, 1937 Kiyomizu Town, Taikō District, Taichū Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Qingshui, Taichung City, Taiwan) |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Tzu Chi |
| Title | Master |
| Religious career | |
| Teacher | Yin Shun |
(Master) Cheng Yen (Chinese: 證嚴法師; pinyin: Zhèngyán Fǎshī; born 11 May 1937) is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni), teacher, and philanthropist. She has been called the "Mother Teresa of Asia." In 1966, Shih Cheng Yen founded the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, ordinarily referred to as Tzu Chi. Shih Cheng Yen's work in humanitarianism later developed, and to the present the Tzu Chi Foundation has become involved in international programs of disaster relief, bone marrow donation, environmental protection, and community volunteering.
Cheng Yen was born "Chin-Yun Wong" (Chinese: 王錦雲; pinyin: Wáng Jǐnyún) in 1937 in Kiyomizu Town, Taikō District, Taichū Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Qingshui, Taichung City, Taiwan). Her uncle was childless, so she was given to be raised by her aunt and uncle. She had first-hand experience of suffering because she was raised in under Japanese rule during World War II. She witnessed the devastating effects of war and even experienced bombings in Taiwan. These experiences contributed to bringing her to a more complete grasp of what she came to regard as the truth behind the concept of impermanence. In 1945, when she was eight years old, she looked after her sick brother in a hospital for eight months, and so learned more closely about people's pain and helplessness. At the age of 23, her father died suddenly from brain blood vessel disorder that brought about hemorrhaging and stroke. It was in searching for a burial place for him that Cheng Yen first came into close contact with the Buddhist Dharma ideas, associated doctrines, and related ancient scriptures (sutras). After her father's death, Cheng Yen took over managing her father's theaters and became financially responsible for her family.
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