Tzu Chi

Tzu Chi Foundation

慈濟基金會
Tzu Chi's lotus Logo.
Monastery information
Full name	Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Republic of China
Order	Mahayana
Established	14 May 1966
People
Founder(s)	Cheng Yen
Abbot	Cheng Yen
Site
Location	Hualien, Taiwan
Website	tw.tzuchi.org/en

Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Republic of China (traditional Chinese: 財團法人中華民國佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會; simplified Chinese: 财团法人中华民国佛教慈济慈善事业基金会; pinyin: Fójiào cí jì císhàn shìyè jījīn huì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chû-chè ki-kim-hōe) or Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟), literally "Compassionate Relief", is an international humanitarian and non-governmental organization (NGO) with a worldwide network of volunteers and employees. It has been awarded a special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The Tzu Chi Foundation was founded by Master Cheng Yen, a Taiwanese Bhikkuni, in 1966 as a Buddhist humanitarian organization. The foundation has several sub-organizations such as the Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) and also the Tzu Chi Collegiate Youth Association (Tzu Ching) (慈濟大專青年聯誼會 (慈青)), Tzu Chi volunteers and relief workers are mostly recognizable worldwide by their blue and white uniforms called Chinese: 藍天白雲, lántiān báiyún,( lit. 'blue sky, white clouds'). Cheng Yen is considered to be one of "Four Heavenly Kings" of Taiwanese Buddhism, and Tzu Chi itself is considered to be one of the "Four Great Mountains", or four major Buddhist organizations of Taiwanese Buddhism along with Fo Guang Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, and Chung Tai Shan.

The Tzu Chi Foundation was founded as a charity organization with Buddhist origins by the Buddhist nun Master Cheng Yen on 14 May 1966 in Hualien, Taiwan. She was inspired by her master and mentor, the late Venerable Master Yin Shun (印順導師, Yìn Shùn dǎoshī) a proponent of Humanistic Buddhism, who exhorted her to "work for Buddhism and for all sentient beings". The organisation began with a motto of "instructing the rich and saving the poor" as a group of thirty housewives who donated a small amount of money each day to care for needy families.