elise anne devido - taiwan’s buddhist nuns

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Taiwan’s Buddhist NunsElise Anne DeVido



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aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns



aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns

Elise Anne DeVido



Published by State University o New York Press, Albany

© 2010 State University o New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States o America

No part o this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoeverwithout written permission. No part o this book may be stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted in any orm or by any means including electronic,electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior permission in writing o the publisher.

For in ormation, contact State University o New York Press, Albany, NYwww.sunypress.edu

Production by Kelli W. LeRouxMarketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeVido, Elise Anne. aiwan’s Buddhist nuns / Elise Anne Devido. p. cm. Includes bibliographical re erences and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-3147-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-3148-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Buddhist nuns— aiwan. 2. Women in Buddhism— aiwan. I. itle.

BQ6160. 28D48 2010 294.3'657—dc22 2009034300

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1



For Robert, Diane, Judith, and Philip



Contents

List o Maps and Illustrations ix

Pre ace xi

Credits and Acknowledgments xiii

Note on Romanizations and Names xv

Introduction 1

Chapter 1Te In nite Worlds o aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns 7

Chapter 2An Audience with Master Zhengyan 29

Chapter 3“Project Hope”: Te Ciji Compassion-Relie Foundation’sPost-‘9.21 Earthquake’ School Reconstruction Plan in aiwan 49

Chapter 4Te Women o Ciji: Nuns, Laypeople, and the Bodhisattva Guanyin 63

Chapter 5 Jueshu renhua—“Cultivating Buddhist Leaders, AwakeningHumanity’s Essence through Education”: Te Nuns o Luminary Buddhist Institute 79

vii



viii Contents

Chapter 6“Buddhism or the Human Realm” and Women 93

ConclusionBuddhism, Women, and Civil Society in aiwan 111

Notes 119

Glossary o Selected Chinese Characters 159

Bibliography 163

Index 181



List o Maps and Illustrations

Map 1 Map o aiwan and Nearby Countries xvi

Map 2 Map o aiwan xvii

Figure 1.1 Statue o Guanyin 11

Figure 1.2 Master Hiuwan writing the Chinese character or “Buddha” 20

Figure 2.1 Master Zhengyan 30

Figure 2.2 Still Toughts Abode, Hualian 32

Figure 2.3 Still Toughts Hall, Hualian 35

Figure 2.4 Master Zhengyan helping the poor in aiwan 44

Figure 3.1 Sheliao Primary School, Nantou County 53

Figure 4.1 Master Zhengyan and the rst Commissioners in aipei 64

Figure 5.1 Master Wu Yin and her disciples during the Vassa (Rains-Retreat) Ceremony at Buddha Hall, Luminary emple 80

Figure 6.1 Master Chao Hwei at anti-nuclear rally 102

Figure 6.2 Master Chao Hwei 103

Figure 6.3 Nuns o the Hongshi Institute at rally to save the Lo Sheng Leprosarium 104

ix



Pre ace

Tis book began as a research project at the aipei Ricci Institute or ChineseStudies, and I offer my heart elt thanks to the Ricci’s Academic DirectorBenoît Vermander or his support and guidance, and also to the Institute oMissiology Missio, e.V. (Aachen, Germany) or providing generous unding.I am especially grate ul to Nancy Ellegate, Allison B. Lee, and Rebecca Searlo the State University o New York Press or their patience and encourage-ment throughout the publishing process. Without Nicola Tackeray’s com-puter expertise, the book could not have been nished. I also thank the twoanonymous reviewers o my manuscript or their many insight ul suggestions

or improvement; I ear, however, that the book alls ar short o the review-ers’ high expectations.

It is impossible to adequately thank the ollowing riends and scholarswho kindly shared their time and expertise with me, and without whomI could not have completed this book. I am indebted to (in alphabeticalorder): Marcus Bingenheimer, Christie Yu-ling Chang, Chen Kuo-chuan,Wei-yi Cheng, the Ciji organization’s nuns and lay-members, Ding Min,Greg Epp, Vincent Goossaert, Beata Grant, Karen Shu-ch’ing Huang, JiangCanteng, Charles B. Jones, Norman A. Kutcher, André Laliberté, Yuzhen Li,Lin Mei-Rong, Jun’an Liu, Lu Hwei-syin, Mi Gao, my colleagues at the N NUDepartment o History, David Schak, Shi Mingjia, Shi Zhengyan, Shi Zi an,Shi Zinai, Shi Huiyan, Shih Heng Ching, Shih Chao Hwei and the nuns o

the Hongshi Institute, Shih Wu Yin and the nuns o the Luminary Institute,the aipei Ricci Institute, Nicola Tackeray, ing Jen-Chieh, Karma Lekshesomo, Dominique yl, Benoît Vermander, Wang Fansen, Yo Hsiang Chou,

and Yü Chün- ang.I would like to especially thank Jammy and Ian Lee or their constant

guidance and support and also my wonder ul students Han-chieh Chen, Snow-ting Liu, I-Chiao Wang, and Peter Fan-i Yang or their invaluable assistanceand unwavering humor and riendship over the years. I dedicate this bookto my parents, sister, and son: “ Alpha et omega estis!”

xi



xii Pre ace

Any errors o act or judgment in this book are my responsibility andI welcome suggestions or improvement. Undertaking this study has been a

rare learning experience and an inspirational journey, ever since the begin-ning years ago, when I sought re uge in a small Buddhist temple on a cliffabove the sea where the sound o the bell and the drum and the warmth omany red candles vanquished the raw winter dark.



Credits and Acknowledgments

Map o aiwan, permission granted by Chen Kuo-chuanMap o aiwan and Nearby Countries, permission granted by Chen Kuo-chuan

Statue o Guanyin, by Elise A. DeVidoMaster Hiuwan writing the character or “Buddha,” permission granted by

Shih JenlangMaster Zhengyan, permission granted by the Ciji FoundationStill Toughts Abode, Hualian, by Elise A. DeVidoStill Toughts Hall, Hualian, permission granted by Elizabeth ZielinskaMaster Zhengyan helping the poor in aiwan, permission granted by the

Ciji FoundationSheliao Primary School, Nantou County, by Elise A. DeVidoMaster Zhengyan and the rst Commissioners in aipei, permission granted

by the Ciji FoundationMaster Wu Yin and her disciples during the Vassa (Rains-Retreat) Ceremony at

Buddha Hall, Luminary emple, permission granted by Shih Wu YinMaster Chao Hwei at antinuclear rally, permission granted by Shih Chao

HweiMaster Chao Hwei, permission granted by Shih Chao HweiNuns o the Hongshi Institute at rally to save the Lo Sheng Leprosarium,

permission granted by Shih Chao HweiEarlier orms o Chapter 1 appeared in theaipei Ricci Bulletin 3, 1999–2000:

79–89, and in Karma Lekshe somo, ed.Buddhist Women and Social Justice NY: SUNY Press, 2004: 219–231.An earlier orm o Chapter 2 was published in DeVido and Vermander, eds.,

Creeds, Rites, and Videotapes: Narrating Religious Experience in East Asia. aipei: aipei Ricci Institute, 2004: 75–103.

An earlier orm o Chapter 3 was published in Chinese, “Xiwang gongcheng:Fojiao Ciji jijinhui 9.21 zaiqu xuexiao chongjian gongzuo,” [ProjectHope: Ciji’s Post-9.21 Earthquake School Reconstruction Plan] in Lin,

ing, and Chan, eds. 2004: 439–460.

xiii



xiv Credits and Acknowledgments

An earlier orm o Chapter 6 was published as “Mapping the rajectories oEngaged Buddhism romz China to aiwan and Vietnam” inOut o the

Shadows: Socially Engaged Buddhist Women, edited by Karma Lekshesomo. New Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, India Books Centre, 2006:261–281.

Master Zhengyan (Figure 2.1), Master Zhengyan helping the Poor (Figure 2.4),and Master Zhengyan and First Commissioners (Figure 4.1), Copyright2009, Buddhist Compassion Relie zu Chi Foundation o the Republico China, a.k.a. Buddhist Compassion Relie zu Chi Foundation. AllRights Reserved.



Note onRomanizations and Names

As a rule, this book uses theHanyu pinyin romanization system or Chineseterms and names, except or certain well-known names and places (suchas Chiang Kai-shek and aipei) with an alternative romanization providedwhen help ul, such as Jilong (Keelung), but retains the romanization stylespre erred by Shih Chao Hwei, Chern Meei-Hwa, and Lu Hwei-Syin, orexample. As or the proli c scholar Jiang Canteng, I have seen at least ourdifferent romanizations o his name, and I have taken the liberty to use theHanyu pinyin version.Pai sey!

Tis book uses both Sanskrit and Pāli terms according to the source

quoted.Te real names o in ormants in this book are used with their permis-sion; in other cases, names are omitted upon their request.

A glossary o selected Chinese characters begins on page 159.

xv



Map 1. Map o aiwan and Nearby Countries (Chen Kuo-chuan)



Map 2. Map o aiwan (Chen Kuo-chuan)



Introduction

In 1995 I came to aiwan expecting I would revise my doctoral dissertationon the pre-1949 Communist movement in China. However, my employ-ment brought me in contact with aiwan’s religious landscape: rst, as astudy-abroad program director arranging eld trips or oreign students in

aiwan, and then, as a research associate with the aipei Ricci Institute orChinese Studies. I learned that since the 1980s, aiwan has experienced areligious revival, not only within the popular religious sphere, but also withininstitutionalized Buddhism. In particular, it intrigued me that aiwan has thehighest number o Buddhist nuns in the world and also a greater proportionrelative to monks, a situation in monastic Buddhism unlike any other onearth.1 O the total number o nuns and monks ordained since 1953, nuns

constitute about 75 percent o this cleric population, based on estimatingannual ordination records rom the years 1953–1987 and 1988–1998.2 Tetotal number o nuns ordained rom 1953–1987 was 7,078, while the numbero nuns ordained rom 1988 to 1998 was 4,819.3 Except or the year 1961,the number o emale ordination candidates surpassed male candidates at

aiwan’s triple altar ordination ceremonies rom 1953–1987 by two or threetimes the number; afer 1987, this trend continued. While there are no precisestatistics available about monks and nuns in aiwan, it is estimated that thereare around 15,000 nuns active in aiwan at present.4

Why do Buddhism and the li e o a celibate religious monastic appeal

to so many women in a society noted or its strong amily bonds, as well as ashrewd pragmatism and an unabashed materialist outlook? Tis phenomenonis especially noteworthy because many people in aiwan are not offi cially andregularly affi liated with a ormal, organized religion, be it Buddhism, Daoism,Christianity, Islam, or syncretic sects and New Age religions. Rather, they mayundertake certain rituals and celebrate on various holidays according to theChinese almanac. Besides the rituals o ancestor worship, routine petitions tothe gods and goddesses include praying or success in examinations, health,wealth, to beget sons, or protection against accidents and harm, and exorcism

1



2 aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns

o malevolent spirits. At the very least, most aiwanese will duly carry outtraditional uneral and mourning rituals.5

Yet, though precise numbers are unclear, aiwan has seen a dramaticupward trend over the past twenty- ve years in numbers o Buddhist believ-ers and Buddhist organizations in aiwan.6 Te implications o the “Buddhistrenaissance” in aiwan, and in particular the contributions made by nuns,are pro ound. Not only will aiwanese institutionalized Buddhism continueto trans orm and stimulate world Buddhism, but this Buddhist renaissance,through its notable contributions to charitable and philanthropic causes, secularand religious education, publishing, mass media, the arts, environmentalism,animal rights, opposition to nuclear power, and disaster relie , also plays acrucial role in the construction o a civil society in post-authoritarian aiwan.

Finally, the preponderance o women, both monastic and lay, in these devel-opments is at once a product o accelerated socioeconomic change in aiwansince the 1970s, and a orce that is creating more diverse li e opportunitiesand choices or women in aiwan. How the phenomenon o aiwan’s Buddhistnuns is linked to eminism is a complex question. As I undertook researchabout aiwan’s Buddhist nuns, I realized that this topic is inseparable romlarger issues regarding women, gender, and civil society in aiwan, as wellas the history o modern Chinese and global Buddhism.

Only in recent years have scholars begun to study aiwan’s Buddhistnuns as a discrete topic.7 Tere are also works that discuss nuns in the context

o temple histories; thevinaya (monastic rules or monks and nuns) stud-ies; or biographies o nuns,8 while other works mention nuns as peripheralto the general history o Buddhism in aiwan.9 Although aiwan’s nuns andlaywomen are the subjects o numerous essays and several doctoral disserta-tions,10 this is the rst monograph in English devoted to the phenomenon owomen in aiwan’s Buddhism.11 Re ecting my training in modern Chinesehistory, this book is primarily a historical study, though I also draw uponscholarship in Buddhist studies, anthropology, and sociology. In addition towritten sources, this study also utilizes in ormation gleaned rom interviews,

eld trips, and participation in Buddhist study camps, supplemented by mypersonal observations rom living nearly hal o my li e in aiwan.

Tis inquiry is not a comprehensive history o Buddhist women or Bud-dhist nuns in aiwan, but, ocusing on the post-1949 period and the recentdecades o Buddhist revival in aiwan, centers on three questions:

1. How have women shaped aiwan’s Buddhism? 2. How has Buddhism shaped the role and identity o aiwanese

women? 3. How are Buddhist women shaping the uture o aiwanese

society?



3Introduction

When speaking o “Buddhist women in aiwan,” I include both nunsand laywomen. As the nun Yikong points out, laywomen supporters, many

o whom have “taken re uge” and ollow the ve precepts, have contributedinvaluably to the development o aiwan’s Buddhism, whether volunteering incountless ways with daily temple operations and activities, or as laydharma teachers,12 not to mention their monetary support o temples and masters.I regret, however, that this study does not offer personal or ethnographicportraits o laywomen and nuns as individuals or communities. “Te act[is] that nuns are the majority in aiwan’ssangha and their high quality andnumerous achievements make aiwan’s Buddhism ourish. But behind this‘brightness,’ it is very diffi cult to know what the nuns’ lives at varioussangha communities are really like and how the li e experiences o eachsangha are

woven . . .” unless you live with a Buddhist community or an extended periodand even then, nuns, like any person, may never reveal their real eelingsand thoughts.13

Chapter Outline

Chapter 1 presents brie historical overviews o Buddhist women in Chinaand aiwan, explores the various reasons or the ourishing o the nuns’order in aiwan, and illustrates the diversity among nuns in contemporary

aiwan. Tis chapter also points out some problems or urther research inthe historiography o Qing-era Buddhism in aiwan and nuns in Qing-eraChina and aiwan.

Chapter 2 ocuses on Zhengyan, arguably the most amous nun inaiwan. Over the past orty years Zhengyan has, together with her nuns and

vast numbers o lay disciples, created what some sources claim is the largestnon-governmental organization (NGO) in aiwan, the Buddhist Compas-sion-Relie Foundation (Ciji), which has made important contributions inthe elds o charity, medicine, education, and culture.14 Tis chapter, basedin part on the author’s participant-observer experiences with the Ciji ( zuChi) organization, suggests a number o reasons why the Ciji organization

has met with such astounding success.Chapter 3 is the rst study in English on “Project Hope”: Ciji’s projecto rebuilding o fy public schools destroyed or damaged in the earthquakeo September 21, 1999. Afer describing the special characteristics o “ProjectHope,” this chapter explores the implications o Ciji’s ultimate goal to createa “new aiwan civilization,” as well as the question o religious organizations’involvement in public schools.

Chapter 4 discusses the women o Ciji, including the nuns, variousgroupings o lay disciples, and the Bodhisattva Guanyin, who is the maininspiration or Zhengyan and her missions. Tis chapter will show how “the




women o Ciji” have promoted the ideal o Buddhist compassion as theworld-saving “Bodhisattva as mother,” with great success. It also addresses

the questions: How and to what extent does Ciji empower women and whatdoes this reveal about aiwanese women and aiwanese society? And, CanCiji’s calls or a eminization o aiwan’s society through Ciji’s interpretationo Buddhism be a long-term solution to aiwan’s discontents?

Important as the Ciji organization is, there are many other thrivinggroups o Buddhist women in aiwan. Chapter 5 introduces the nuns oLuminary Buddhist Institute based in southern aiwan, whose primary mis-sion is training nuns asdharma masters and scholars, and offering classesin Buddhism to the public. Tis chapter gives the history o Luminary andexplains the content and purpose o their education and cultural missions,

as well as discusses Luminary’s social wel are projects, one involving post-earthquake reconstruction, and another, classes to help “ oreign brides” romSoutheast Asia. A look at the Luminary Buddhist Institute will reveal thesenuns’ multilayered and at times contradictory outlook toward gender identity,gender roles, empowerment o women, and eminism, and proves an instruc-tive comparison with the women o Ciji.

Chapter 6 explores the links between “Buddhism or the Human Realm”and women. Te Buddhist renaissance in aiwan has been greatly inspiredby the philosophy o “Buddhism or the Human Realm,”Renjian ojiao,developed by the twentieth century re ormist monks, aixu (1890–1947)

and Yinshun (1906–2005).15

Afer giving a historical overview o Buddhismor the Human Realm rom its origin in China and its evolution in aiwan,the chapter compares and contrasts Buddhism or the Human Realm withglobal variations o “Engaged Buddhism.” Te chapter also examines the ques-tions: Is Buddhism or the Human Realm especially supportive o Buddhistwomen, nuns, and laywomen, and thus would help explain the predominanceo women in aiwanese Buddhism? And, does being a “socially-engaged”Buddhist necessarily entail working or women’s rights and gender equality,including advocating or the nuns’ order? Central to a discussion about thelinks amongrenjian ojiao, Buddhist social activism, and gender equality arethe crucial contributions made by Chao Hwei and her Hongshi Institute, aspecial ocus o this chapter.

Te Conclusion attempts to answer the ocalizing questions posed inthe Introduction: How have women shaped aiwan’s Buddhism and howare aiwan’s Buddhist women participating in the global Buddhist women’smovement? How has Buddhism shaped the role and identity o aiwanesewomen? How have aiwan’s Buddhist women ound spiritual, pro essional, andsocial liberation? How are Buddhist women shaping the uture o aiwanesesociety, especially, how and to what extent are aiwan’s Buddhist organizations



5Introduction

contributing to civil society in aiwan? Finally, in what ways are aiwan’sBuddhist nuns unique in the world?

I hope that this book, despite its shortcomings, will encourage uturestudies on women in aiwan’s Buddhism rom all historical periods, includingdetailed studies o individual nuns and their monasteries, and urther illuminatehow Buddhist women in aiwan are transmitting and invigorating or uturegenerations the world’s oldest and continuousbhikkhunī sangha tradition.



Chapter 1

Te In nite Worlds o aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns1

Oral and written sources ofen describe aiwan as thetiankong (literally,heaven, or sky) or Buddhist nuns.2 I translate this term as “in nite worlds”

or two reasons. First, to indicate that aiwan is a ree and open space orBuddhist nuns’ development, in stark contrast with China where the nuns are“utterly dependent on [the] patrilineal political hierarchy”3 o the Communistparty-state and its Buddhist Association.

aiwan’s developed economy and open civil society have directly acilitatedthe rapid development o Buddhism and the nuns’ order in recent decades.Furthermore, since the end o martial law in 1987, there has been no central

Buddhist or government authority in aiwan, as in China or in other Buddhistcountries, controlling ordinations and directing or coordinating the activitieso Buddhist monasteries, temples, lay associations, and so orth. Li Yuzhenargues that even at the height o the Buddhist Association o the Republico China (BAROC)’s in uence in aiwan rom 1949 to 1987, though it aloneadministered the ordination system during that time and supposedly haddirect access to the Nationalist party-state power structure and its resources,BAROC never completely unctioned as a central ecclesiastic authority. Tus,she writes: “In order to understand the consequent vitality o aiwanese nunsafer the 1970s, it is important or us to remember this decentralized structure

in aiwanese Buddhism,”4

in which temples and monasteries are independent,sel -administered, and must nd their own means o nancial support.Second, “in nite worlds” connotes the great variety among Buddhist nuns

in aiwan, to be illustrated later in this chapter. Signi cant differences existwithin each monastic community (according to monastic generation, amilyand educational background, talents, and temperament), not to mention thedifferences among monasteries, due to the ree and decentralized environ-ment mentioned above. Also, in aiwan there are monasteries composedonly o nuns, or only o monks, as well as mixed-sangha communities.5 Te

aiwanese model o the mixed-sex sangha, where monks and nuns worship

7




and work on the same premises, is not ound in the orthodox Chinese Bud-dhist tradition, nor is a mixed-sex sangha ound anywhere else in Asia. Tis

unusual arrangement evolved out o special historical circumstances that willbe related below.

Reconstructing aiwan’s Buddhist History:Problems and Prospects

Scholars in aiwan have belatedly begun research on Qing-era Buddhistinstitutional history in aiwan, having previously ocused on twentieth-cen-tury developments, especially the post-1949 period and the recent decades o

Buddhist revival in aiwan. However, Buddhist institutions and practices havebeen an integral part o aiwan history since the early Chinese settlemento the island. Tere is a record o Chinese immigration to aiwan at least

rom the ourteenth century, and subsequent peaks in immigration occurredaround the all o the Ming dynasty in 1644 and also around 1661 with thearrival o anti-Qing military leader Zheng Cheng’gong. Te Zheng amilyruled aiwan or twenty-two years rom 1661, the year Zheng Cheng’gongexpelled the Dutch colonists rom aiwan, until 1683, when Qing authoritiesoccupied aiwan and designated it as a pre ecture o Fujian province. TeChinese immigrants brought with them their deities such as the Bodhisattva o

compassion, Guanyin; the “goddess o the sea,” Mazu; and the “Royal Lords,”wangye, deities capable o preventing plagues and calamities. Qing sourcesnote that during the “Zheng period,” government and local gentry establishedthree Buddhist temples in the ainan area, and Qing records mention thepresence o a ew Buddhist monks sent rom China.6 Te “Zheng period” wasalso known or its “six eminent Buddhist teachers,” including one laywoman,a member o the ousted Ming royal amily.7

In Fu-Ch’üan Hs’ing’s estimation o the Qing historical records, the Qingera “. . . was a period o prosperity or aiwanese Buddhism” due to politicaland economic support rom the government authorities, literati, merchants,and the populace.8 Te aiwan County Gazetteer o 1720 notes the existenceo six Buddhist temples in ainan and ainan County, including one GuangciAn, possibly a nunnery.9 Tereafer, Buddhist temples were also built in aipei,Jilong (Keelung), and Xinzhu (Hsinchu), such as Dizang An (1757). Govern-ment offi cials and literati ounded some temples, and merchants oundedothers; donations by non-elite lay believers were crucial, as always.10

Chinese and aiwanese Buddhist circles maintained constant interactionrom the Zheng period on (1661–1683).11 emples such as Kaiyuan emple

(1689) in ainan and Longshan emple in aipei (1740), or example, were“branch” temples named or their “root” temples in China. Kaiyuan emple,supported and unded by offi cials and literati, was the largest Buddhist temple



9Te In nite Worlds o aiwan’s Buddhist Nuns

in aiwan during the Qing dynasty and was one o ainan’s “ ve great mon-asteries o the Qing,” including Zhuxi emple, Mituo emple, Fahua emple,

and Longhu Yan.12

Chinese temples sent monks to aiwan to serve as abbots,and potential ordinands in aiwan traveled to Fujian (especially, Gushan’sYongquan emple) or to Xiamen to become ormally ordained and returnedto aiwan to the temple where they had been tonsured, or were assigned toother temples in aiwan.13

An in-depth history o Qing-era Buddhist personnel and institutions inaiwan is beyond the scope o this book. At the least, however, we should note

the discrepancy between the overall positive impression o Qing-era Buddhismin aiwan offered by Hs’ing (1983) and Shi Huiyan (1996, 1999) with otherstatements about the “weak condition” o Buddhism in the “wild rontier”

o aiwan: “Chinese and Japanese scholars are unanimous in their negativeassessment o the state o Buddhism in aiwan in the period between . . . ZhengCheng’gong and the cessation o aiwan to Japan in 1895.”14 Based on sourcespublished in the 1970s, Jones writes that “monks in aiwan . . . were ew innumber and or the most part not o high quality; . . . (t)he monastic establish-ment contained a ew virtuous monks and not a ew charlatans. . . .”15

Tis derogatory attitude toward aiwan’s pre-twentieth-century Buddhistpersonnel and institutions is a recurrent strain ound in Japanese colonial-erasources (which dismiss aiwan’s monastics and laypeople as “ignorant” and“superstitious”), Nationalist government documents, and some contemporary

works. A book o 1995 edited by a monk in aiwan bluntly claimed that romthe seventeenth century to 1895, “ ormally-ordained monastics were ew;Buddhism in aiwan was a mostly strange and bizarre kind.”16

However, the more nuanced works o Hs’ing (1983), Kan (1999), and ShiHuiyan (1996, 1999), based on a wide range o sources rom various periodsin the Qing, portray the continuous growth and development o Buddhistinstitutions in aiwan as spreading out rom ainan and important urbanareas. Additionally, Vincent Goossaert argues that it is not tenable to arguethat aiwan’s Buddhism was “weak” because it lacked a monastic ordinationcenter.17 In China, large wealthy monasteries, especially those that traditionallyheld ordination ceremonies, were ound only in a ew provinces. Further-more, as o 1900, “ ‘Buddhism’ [in terms o practice] was totally integratedwith ‘Chinese popular religion’ ” so that to call the extant syncretic practicesheterodox, bizarre, or superstitious is to employ the critical rhetoric o Bud-dhist modernizers.18 Tus, we should note that the above-mentioned criticalassessments re ect the biases o Japanese colonial and Nationalist “modern-izing” authorities intent on trans orming and co-opting Buddhist institutionsand practices in aiwan, in tandem with the agenda o Chinese Buddhistre ormers, who sought to separate “Buddhism,” centered on the learningand propagation o selected Buddhistsūtras, rom “superstitious devotionalpractices.”19 At any rate, to reach substantive conclusions about the state o




aiwan’s monastics and Buddhist institutions o the Qing period will requiremore evidence and more research regarding the numbers and background o

monastics, the relations between temples and ruling elites, and varying localcultic and liturgical needs and practices.

Buddhist Women in aiwan During the Qing Period

Tanks to the efforts undertaken by a ew scholars in aiwan in recent years,we can sketch out a broad outline o Buddhist women’s diverse practices inQing-era aiwan (17th c.–1895). During this period, women in aiwan wereexcluded rom the Con ucian public sphere, nor could they train or serve as

Daoist priests, though they could become spirit mediums, some involved withspirit-writing connected with “phoenix halls.”20 Numerous women participatedin the popular religious sects called thezhaijiao, “vegetarian religions,” whose

ollowers kept a partial or total vegetarian diet, and were devoted to worshipo Guanyin, or to the Eternal Mother , wusheng laomu.21 aiwan’szhaijiao sects had both male and emale members, but the Japanese colonial govern-ment noted “the presence o a large number o emalezhaijiao members,22 as was also the case in rural Guangdong at the turn o the century.23 Onecould practicezhaijiao without “leaving home,” however, entering azhaijiao order might offer young women a temporary or permanent alternative to an

arranged marriage, or widows a re uge rom oppressive amilies.In aiwan, evidence orzhaijiao practice dates back to at least theseventeenth century, and the sects’ relationship to institutional Buddhismis complex. Scholars like opley and Jiang ocus on the sectarian nature othe zhaijiao distinct rom Buddhism, with their own “. . . independent texts,patriarchal lineage, initiation rituals, ecclesiastical hierarchy, and institutions.”24 In Li Yuzhen’s analysis,zhaijiao and the varieties o emale practitioners in

aiwan are more use ully studied together with institutional Buddhism andshe suggests the ollowing typology (excluding here the priests and nunsbelonging to Japanese sects in aiwan):25

Te emale non-celibate ollowers ozhaijiao who lived at homebut worshipped at Vegetarian Halls.

Te emale celibate members ozhaijiao living in amilyzhaitangor at community caitang . Many zhaitang were built by pious

amilies; several amous and wealthy lineages in aiwan includingthe Banqiao Lim amily; the Xinzhu Zheng amily; and the Wu engLim amily and other amilies builtzhaitang or their unmarrieddaughters to live and practice in, and sometimes administer. Some




all- emalezhaitang were headed by a emale26 but manyzhaitang were led by a male priest,caigong, with his wi e re erred to as

caipo. Depending on the type ozhaitang , property and leadershippositions were o ten inheritable, whether within amilies ortransmitted rom master to disciple.

Non-ordained vegetarian women,caigu or zhaigu, residing atprivate Buddhist Halls, otang , or at Mountain Buddhist Nunneriesassociated with the temples on the Guanyin pilgrimage routes in

aiwan. Along with Mount Putuo off the Zhejiang coast, aiwan hasor centuries been a major pilgrimage center or Guanyin devotees

(Figure 1.1). One amous site or Guanyin worship is Longshanemple ounded in aipei, 1740, but in addition to the many urban

temples dedicated to Guanyin, pilgrims traveled outside cities toGuanyin temples called yansi, located at the border between localsettled communities and the mountain “wilderness.”27

Finally, we come to the category o Buddhist nuns affi liated with ChineseBuddhist institutions such as osi, chansi, and chanyuan.

Figure 1.1. Statue o Guanyin (Elise A. DeVido)




Te Enigma o Nuns in Qing aiwan

Te ew scholars who have studied this issue have great aith in the supposedeffi cacy o Qing religious laws, as well as the accuracy o Japanese colonialoffi cials’ ndings. First, there is the mantra that “Qing law o 1764 orbadewomen under orty years old to enter Buddhist nunneries.”28 But these scholars,like Jiang Canteng or example, do not elaborate upon where and how such alaw was effective, given the huge geographical expanse o the Qing empire.

However, in undertaking his path-breaking project to map Chinese “reli-gious” and “clerical” geography in late Imperial times, Vincent Goossaert has

ound much material on Qing-era emale registered and unregistered clergy(Buddhist and Daoist), and doubts that either Qing laws or Con ucian anti-

clerical literature met with great success in preventing women rom joiningreligious orders. He has ound that in some regions o China there were largenumbers o nunneries; urthermore, many emale clerics were employed asmanagers in local temples.29 Tere ore, it may be premature to in er, as JiangCanteng and Charles B. Jones do, that Qing laws success ully barred women

rom becoming nuns in aiwan.30 Second, scholars place much weight on a report on religion in aiwan

published in March 1919 by the Japanese colonial government that claimedthere were no ordained nuns in aiwan, “onlyzhaigu.”31 However, this is anoffi cial report on the state o religion in aiwan rom the Japanese perspective,

and urthermore it is not a comprehensive history o Buddhist practices andemale religious in aiwan. What appeared to be true to the Japanese colonialgovernment as o March 1919 should not be presumed as the situation obtain-ing fy, one hundred, or two hundred years previously in aiwan.

Te enigma o nuns in Qing-era aiwan deserves a separate and ullstudy, and regrettably can only be hinted at here, in two examples. One istaken rom a local gazetteer rst published in 1720 by ainan offi cial ChenWenda:

Monks and nuns (sengni) are o the populace (min) but they are

heterodox. Yet they have not been abolished in all the past dynas-ties because they take care o widows, widowers, orphans, peoplewithout means o support, and com ort them in their sorrow when

acing sickness and death. In aiwan, many monks are handsomeyoung men; they chew betel nut and watch dramas in open-airtheaters. Te old nuns (laoni) raise teenage boys and girls to betheir disciples. Tis greatly offends the harmony o heaven andearth and is deleterious to the people’s customs.32

Te local offi cial in ainan who wrote this passage in the early eighteenthcentury is ambivalent aboutsengni: though praising them or their compas-




sion and social wel are contributions throughout history, he still characterizesthem as “heterodox.” He casually mentions the precept-breaking behavior o

the “handsome young monks,” but directly criticizes “old nuns” or violatingCon ucian norms regarding segregation o the sexes.Another brie allusion to nuns dates rom 1811. In that year, local offi cials

in ainan seized a temple dedicated to the Daoist immortal Lu Dongbin andrenamed it the Yinxin Academy(Yinxin shuyuan).Te offi cials’ excuse orseizing this property was that the nuns(biqiuni) residing there had “violatedtemple regulations(qing’gui).” No urther explanation is given, except that oneo the accounts, the “Education Record” section, calls this temple a “WhiteLotus Vegetarian Hall,” suggesting sectarian and thus prohibited religiousactivity. It cannot be ascertained rom these two accounts exactly what type

o Buddhist practices the nuns were engaging in, “White Lotus” or otherwise,and the sectarian accusation seems a pretext or offi cial con scation o templeproperty.33 But it is worth noting that the term used here is notzhaigu, butbiqiuni, though their ordination status cannot be con rmed.

During the Qing period, monks rom aiwan regularly travelled toFujian to be ordained; perhaps they brought their sisters or mothers to beordained as well.34 Another possibility is that “. . . Chinese monasteries run-ning ordination altars allowed women to mail in an ordination ee and gainan ordination certi cate without attending the ordination in person,” called jijie, mail-in ordination,35 but it is yet unclear how many aiwanese women

religious did this.36

Records once held by Qing-era Buddhist temples in aiwan are lost orincomplete, partly because the Japanese colonial authorities “. . . destroyedmany temple and meeting-hall records and historical documents . . .” duringtheir rule.37 Further research in this area would necessitate the combing othe historical records, i they still exist, rom ordination centers in Fujian,Xiamen, etc., to nd possible mention o nuns rom aiwan. But even withouta determination o how many nuns in aiwan be ore 191938 received ormalordination, it would still be valuable to know more about the lives and practiceso theni and biqiuni o the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries so eetinglymentioned in the sources above.

Buddhist Women during theJapanese Colonial Period, 1895–1945

Te Japanese colonial authorities propagated State Shintō and acilitated thedevelopment o “eight schools and twelve sects o Japanese Buddhism” in ai-wan, with Sōtō and Rinzai Zen and the rue Pure Land sects predominating.39 Japanese Buddhist sects, especially Sōtō Zen, eventually seized control over mosto thezhaijiao sects.40 However, monks such as Jueli, Shanhui, Benyuan, and




Yongding endeavored to sustain and develop Chinese Buddhism in aiwan,even as they cooperated with Japanese colonial and Buddhist authorities.41 Con-

tinuing aiwan’s long tradition o Buddhist exchanges with China, Shanhui orexample invited Buddhist monks rom China to teach in aiwan, such as thehead o the Buddhist Association o the ROC, Yuanying, and amed Buddhistre ormer aixu; and monks rom aiwan studied at aixu’s Min’nan BuddhistInstitute. aiwan’s monks also organized the rst ordinations held on the island:Kaiyuan emple held the rst ordination ceremony in aiwan or monks in1917 (at which aixu offi ciated) and or nuns in 1919; ordinations continuedat different temples until 1942.42 Not surprisingly, given aiwan’s large numbero emale Buddhist practitioners, in the ordinations o 1924, 1934, and 1940,

emale ordinands outnumbered male by a large margin.43

Jueli in particular is noted or his efforts to educate and train Buddhistwomen by holding public classes and ounding the Fayun Women’s ResearchInstitute and our nunneries.44 Te three largest nunneries in the Japaneseperiod were Longhu An in Dagang, ounded by the monk Yongding in 1908;Pilu Chan emple in Houli, ounded by Jueli in 1928; and Yuantong Chan

emple, ounded by Jueli’s disciple, the nun Miaoqing, in 1927 in aipeiCounty. A number o nuns rom these temples become important personnelin post-war Buddhist circles in aiwan.45

Furthermore, the monk Jueli accompanied his nun disciple Miaoqing(1901–1956) to Yongquan emple in Fujian to receive ull ordination (year

unknown), and Miaoqing thereafer lectured on thedharma to women atFayun emple and Longshan emple, both headed by Jueli.46 Another o Jueli’snun disciples Miaoxiu (1875–1952) was also ordained at Yongquan emple,year unknown,47 and Shanhui’s disciple Deqin (1888–1961) went there tostudy Buddhism in 1935.48 However Jueli, or one, had to endure criticismby conservatives or his support o nuns and Buddhist women.49

As or aiwanese women’s options within Japanese Buddhism, somewomen were ordained as Rinzai nuns. Te Japanese authorities in aiwanprovided some opportunities or women’s Buddhist education and occupationaltraining,50 but the Japanese set quotas avorable to aiwanese men seekingBuddhist education; and only men could be ordained as priests, with ullritual, administrative, and nancial powers.51 A number o aiwanese women

rom wealthy amilies studied in Japan and some became important bridgesbetween the pre- and post-1949 Buddhist traditions in aiwan.52

Te Flourishing o the Nuns’ Order afer 1949

Afer the de eat o the Nationalist government in China in 1949, Buddhistmonks, mainly rom Jiangsu and Zhejiang, sought re uge in aiwan.53 Tough




among these were some monks well-known in China, they were not neces-sarily welcomed and assisted in aiwan. Most did not speak aiwanese and

many were turned away rom aiwanese temples onto the streets to end orthemselves. Due to the chaotic and dangerous conditions o the transitionrom Japanese to Chinese rule and the subsequent anti-Communist campaigns,

these monks ofen proselytized in secret, necessarily moving rom temple totemple. Unless they enjoyed direct Nationalist government political protection,they risked harassment and arrest.

Monks rom China such as Baisheng (1904–1989), Cihang (1893–1954),Yinshun (1906–2005), and Xingyun (b. 1927) undamentally depended upon

aiwan’s native Buddhist women or day-to-day survival. Nuns active rom 1945to the 1980s were great pioneers, such as Yuanrong, ianyi, Ciguan, Cihui,

Daxin, Xiuguan, Xiuhui, Ruxue, Miaoqing, and others. Tese nuns were thebridge between the Japanese period o Buddhism and the re-establishment oChinese institutional Buddhism, working with monks rom China, buildingtemples and Buddhist institutes, translating monks’dharma talks into aiwan-ese, teaching thedharma, transmitting the ormal precepts, and cultivatingnew generations o nuns. However, they de erred to the monk-centered systemand did not, or could not, gain public credit or their hard work.54

Tus, the drastic sociopolitical changes afer 1949 had different repercus-sions or male and emale Buddhists. Te incoming Buddhist authorities weredetermined to “cleanse” aiwanese Buddhism o its “heterodox” characteristics

such as married male priests, non-tonsured nuns, and non-vegetarian prac-tices, and to establish in aiwan what they recognized as Orthodox ChineseBuddhism. In the process, BAROC and their allies clashed with the Japanesemarried priests and aiwanese monks, with their own lineages and localnetworks, with struggles, some to the death, over leadership and property.55 But to manyzhaigu and nuns ordained during the Japanese era, acceptingthe authority o BAROC and becoming tonsured and ully-ordained by thisorganization represented a promotion in status, and could lead to positionsin temple administration and ordination plat orms,56 though the “price” wasto acquiesce to the authority o male monks rom China.57

Tere are a number o reasons why the nuns’ order ourished in aiwanafer 1949. Monk leaders in aiwan aced what they believed was a “crisis,”even signalling “mo a,” the end o thedharma:58 Women outnumbered menin aiwanese Buddhism, as evidenced by numbers ozhaigu and in numberso candidates at ordination altars. Monks arriving rom China were surprisedby the large numbers ozhaigu entering Buddhist institutes or study; the largenumbers o zhaigu becoming nuns; and the long-standing aiwanese custom omale and emale Buddhist practitioners living and/or worshipping together atthe same temple; and some suggested that the BAROC restrict these develop-ments.59 According to the Chinese monk Dongchu in 1950, “. . . Tere are more




than two thousand Buddhist monks, nuns, andzhaijiao women in aiwan; (thenumber o monks is less than one-tenth o the nuns). Less than ten percent

o them ever directly received the real [sic] Buddhist education.”60

urning to “skill ul means,” some monks realized the necessity odeveloping the nuns’ order, and over time, came to emphasize the Buddhistteachings on equality and have invested time and resources in Buddhistwomen’s education and training, while, relatively speaking, in comparison withthe situation in other Buddhist countries, they have muted other teachingsregarding emale pollution, emale de ciencies, and emale karmic burdens

ound in Buddhist literature.61

“Instead o complaining about the decrease o monks, Ven. Baishengencouraged Chinese monks to ordain and educate aiwanese nuns in order

to maintain the Buddhist heritage in this period o transmission and waitor an increase o monks in the uture.”62 For example, Baisheng (a leadingmonk who served as BAROC president several times) sponsored nuns toattend summer study retreats and together with nuns, Baisheng ounded theChinese Buddhist ripit.aka Institute, while Yinshun established the FuyanBuddhist Institute or Women, Cihang ounded the Maitreya Inner Hall, andXingyun ounded the Shoushan Buddhist Institute.63

Asserting that “Buddhist women should lead Buddhist women,”64 Baisheng realized the need or more emale instructors and masters at ordi-nation plat orms to attend to the many emale candidates at ordination.65 As

so many women sought ordination, Baisheng encouraged training o bothnun ritual masters to teach the correct body postures or monastics, and nunordination masters to ask the proper questions o emale ordinands.

Baisheng may not have oreseen what the ultimate result o his promotiono nuns as ritual and ordination masters together with his strict propagationo thevinaya would be: nuns working or the re-establishment o the dualordination system. Li Yuzhen argues that the phenomenon o dual ordination,which “had been absent rom the Chinese Buddhist tradition or centuries,”is another reason or the strength o the nuns’ order in aiwan in recentdecades,66 but took several decades o struggle to establish. Te learned andexperienced nun Yuanrong (1905–1969) held an ordination or nuns at theMt. East Chan nunnery in 1957 that was boycotted by nearly all monks. ButBaisheng encouraged the Hong Kong nun Foying to produce an Annotation othe Bhikkhunī Vinaya in 1961, which Baisheng used to train nuns, and Foyinghersel became a popular lecturer at aiwan’s nunneries.67 At the urging onuns, Baisheng held the rst dual ordination at Linji emple, aipei, in 1970without much incident; but Yuanrong’s disciple nun ianyi (1924–1980) metwith great censure and controversy when she took charge o abhikkhunīordi-nation at the Longhu Nunnery in 1976.68 Except or Baisheng, the other maleordination masters quit, but junior monks lled their places on the ordination




plat orm; Xingyun and his nun disciple Yikong participated as well. Manynunneries sent their novices to be ordained, and afer many obstacles, the

1976 ordination was success ully carried out and marked a breakthrough ordual ordination in aiwan. Since the 1980s, aiwan Buddhists have regularlyheld dual ordinations in aiwan and abroad.

In addition to empowering nuns through their training as ritual andordination masters, gaining invaluable administration and leadership experi-ence, “(t)he process o dual ordination entails the transmission o the lineage

rom seniorbhikkhunīs to novices, con rming a sense o shared identity andcommitment among women rom generation to generation.”69

Yet another aspect conducive to development o the nuns’ order inaiwan was the leading monk Yinshun’s emphasis on the doctrines in Bud-

dhism that advocated gender equality:Buddhism has made no distinction between men and women in

aith, correct practice, wisdom . . . Women and men, both andalike, can practice the Way and reach liberation . . . Women arewise and strong, and at the same time not in erior.70

Signi cantly, in March 1965 leading masters Yinshun and Shengyanagreed that aiwan’s Buddhists need not “overly stress” the Eight SpecialRules that historically kept nuns in an in erior and subservient position to

monks, and instead, aiwan’s Buddhists should stress Buddhist teachings on“equality.”71

However, not all Buddhists in the post-war era were so pragmatic andopen-minded as to encourage the nuns’ order, and the Buddhist leadership stillworried about how to recruit new monks. In the mid-1960s, Japanese scholarFujiyoshi Jikai, upon visiting aiwanese temples, wondered i an overly lax or

awed ordination process was the reason or the “strange” phenomenon omore nuns than monks in aiwan. In response, a writer using the pen name“Chun Lei” wrote a scathing article entitled “ aiwan’s Buddhism Tat’s Lost ItsBrightness.” Without considering at all women’s religious belie or any otherpositive motivation on the part o women, without taking into account anyother special characteristics o aiwan’s religious history, the author points theblame at two reasons: First, the prevalence o “adopted daughters” ( yangnu)in aiwan, and second, the unrestrained and awed ordination process,which basically unctions as “a nun-manu acturing place”; a meal-ticket tradeexchange; a market. He re uses to explain more about aiwan’s yangnu (orprecisely how yangnu and awed ordination processes are related) saying that yangnu is “too big a topic,” but i we read between the lines, he implies thatmany adopted daughters, once grown up, are unable to nd a job or marryso become nuns as a means o survival.72




Te author claims that at aiwan’s ordination ceremonies anyone isaccepted, without asking motivation, personal background, or education level.

“Such a ‘manu acturing-place,’zhizao suo, produces monastics who only seekdonations and build temples, become abbots/abbesses, accept disciples, andchat about myths; these monastics are abnormal outgrowths, excrescences,completely useless to the world. . . . Te act that nuns are numerous doesnot mean Buddhism is thriving; proo o progress in Buddhism is high-quality monks.”73

“Chun Lei” obviously holds ugly biases against women and Buddhistwomen. While the larger issue o whether aiwan’s ordinations in the 1950s–60swere lax or irregular cannot be explored here, it suffi ces to say that respectedmonks such as Ven. Shengyan and others also were concerned about the

ordination processes and insuffi cient education resources and acilities to trainmonks and nuns.74 But to single out Buddhist women or censure is un airand inaccurate. Many ordination candidates were indeedzhaijiao women, butdemobilized soldiers came as well. Some ordination candidates, both maleand emale, were in act illiterate or minimally educated, some were very oldand looking or ood and shelter, others not sound in body or mind,75 but weare not told precise statistics or details. Furthermore, being illiterate did nothinder the monk Ven. Guangqin (1892–1986) rom becoming a amous PureLand/Chan master in aiwan, who taught several generations o monastic andlay disciples.76 Chinese Buddhist history was lled with examples o illustrious

male and emale Buddhists who may have been poorly educated or “illiterate,”yet still had knowledge o Buddhist scriptures through oral transmission, notto mention possessing great insight and wisdom.

Still, the post-war Buddhist leadership in aiwan continually stroveto attract young men to become monks in a society offering men manychoices or success ul secular career: a society in which sons were, as ever,expected to provide their parents with grandsons and li e-long economicsupport. Furthermore, in aiwan, unlike the general situation in Tailand ormany ibetan Buddhist communities, other religious “economies o merit”competed with the Buddhist one in garnering male resources and talents.77 Probably the most success ul conduit to recruit young monastics was throughthe Buddhist campus movement, thedazhuan xue o yundong . Following thepractice o Catholic and Protestant proselytizing methods among aiwan’syoung people, rom the late 1950s Buddhist monastics and women and meno Buddhist lay organizations such as the Lotus Societies began to establishstudy groups and scholarships in vocational schools, high schools, and universities, and issued popular publications and tapes o instructional lectures,Buddhist sūtras, prayers, and songs, etc.78

Te layman Zhou Xuande (1899–1988) was a major leader in the Bud-dhist campus movement, starting in 1958. Zhou, like many Buddhist revivalists




protégés (and prodigies) is Ven. Yi a. Born in 1960, she became a nun in

1979, received a law degree rom National aiwan University, and her doc-torate rom Yale University. She teaches at Boston University and is closelyinvolved with Foguangshan’s University o the West; her areas o expertiseinclude history o Chinese Buddhism,vinaya studies, women’s equality inBuddhism, and inter aith dialogue.

Another nun with perseverance and creative vision is Liaoyi (b.circa 1960) o the Lingjiu Mountain monastery, ounded by the Chan monk Xindao.Liaoyi is the main orce behind the planning and operation o the Museumo World Religions (2001) in aipei County; this museum is the rst o itskind in the world.

Subsequent chapters in this book will ocus on Zhengyan (b. 1937 inaiwan) and Chao Hwei (b. 1957 in Myanmar). Zhengyan leads the large,

international Ciji Buddhist Compassion Relie Foundation. Although over thepast decades Zhengyan has cultivated a small core o nun disciples, the CijiFoundation ocuses on the philanthropic activities undertaken by its numerouslay- ollowers. Chao Hwei is an inde atigable academic and social activist; sheis among the ew sel -proclaimed Buddhist eminists in aiwan.

Yet Jiang Canteng reminds us o the varieties o aiwanese nuns andtemples besides the above-mentioned “star nuns” and nuns rom international,high pro le and resource-rich temples.84 Women may choose to join one o

Figure 1.2. Master Hiuwan writing the Chinese character or “Buddha” (Shih Jenlang)




numerous smaller monasteries situated in or outside major cities. Tese mon-asteries may concentrate on per orming Buddhist uneral rituals and holding

periodic public ceremonies to “alleviate disasters and pray or blessings,” oroffer services such as columbaria pagodas (to store the ashes and bones othe deceased). One o the many examples o such a small-scale temple is theBenyuan emple in Kaohsiung city.85 Tis group o six nuns, who chose to join this temple rather others in their area, is devoted to the Dizang (Earth-

reasury) Bodhisattva who made a vow not to rest until all suffering soulsin hell are reed. Tey ocus on iantai Chan practice and offer classes onmeditation, sign language, and English to the local community.

Li Yuzhen mentions two other nuns, both with advanced education,devoted to Dizang. One nun, Dijiao, amed or her talents as a spiritual

medium able to communicate with ghosts, has ounded a nunnery and vemeditation halls in aiwan and six branches abroad. Another nun, Jingding,among her many achievements has ounded several nunneries anddharma halls, helped Ven. Hiuwan build Hua an University, and developed a walkingmeditation practice.86

Monastics leading an ascetic and eremitic li e centered on meditationare rare in contemporary aiwan, but the nun Fuhui o Miaoli was one suchexample. Fuhui became amous or her miraculous healing and exorcisticpowers; and her small temple is still a popular site, even afer her death in1985, or pilgrims seeking cures through the Great Compassion water blessed

by Fuhui.87

Other types o nuns include:

Independent nun: As mentioned above, National aiwan Universitypro essor o philosophyemerita Ven. Heng Ching is anindependent nun not affi liated with any temple and has devotedher li e to teaching and scholarship. Another independent nun isVen. Rongzhen. Borncirca 1957 into a poor sherman’s amily,she was unable to attain much education until she became anun at Ven. Chao Hwei’s Hongshi Institute in aoyuan. Battlingill health, she lives by hersel in a small Buddhist shrine in aPingdong (Pingtung) County village, holding Buddhist classesand ministering to her neighbors who ace serious problemswith unemployment and alcoholism.88

Nun with charitable lay oundation but no nun disciples: Lianchan(b. circa 1960 in ainan) ounded the Wuyan Association orthe Protection o the Blind to teach the sight-impaired li e-skills and Buddhism. Lianchan is a practitioner o Chineseand ibetan Buddhism, is a calligrapher, and is editing a seriesentitled Biographies o aiwanese Nuns.89




struct the history o Buddhist nuns must be aware o the tendency towardidealization in religious biographies, as well as be skeptical o the stereotypes

and slander ound in anti-clerical literature.91

With this caveat in mind, somemain points known about the history o the Chinesebhikkhunī sangha canbe summarized as ollows. While the earliest re erence to Buddhism in Chinadates rom 65 AD,92 the rst monastery or monks is said to have appearedin the second century, and the earliest known nunnery was ounded in the

ourth century. Tese early nuns had received ordination rom monks only.93 In the fh century, delegations o nuns rom Sri Lanka enabled the lineageo ullbhikkhunīordination to be established in China, and thereafer, nuns’communities grew apace, with some nunneries supporting hundreds o resi-dent nuns.94

Biographies o monks throughout Chinese history abound, ollowingthe example o Huijiao’sGaoseng zhuan, Lives o Eminent Monks, publishedin 530 AD. For nuns, however, the sole equivalent account in the pre-modernperiod is theBiqiuni zhuan, Lives o the Nuns, (517), written by the monkBaochang, who describes the lives o sixty- ve eminent nuns rom the ourthto sixth centuries, o varying ages and marital statuses but rom mostly eliteand learned amily backgrounds. Among these nuns were ascetics, contempla-tives, teachers, and administrators, as well as examples o nuns undertakingsel -immolation as an offering to the Buddha and to all sentient beings.95

In response to the Con ucian critique that to “leave home,”chujia, vio-

lated the strictures o lial piety and thus subverted the social order, Buddhistsanswered that, on the contrary, becoming a monastic is “the ultimate act olial piety,” or by undertaking prayers, rituals, and good works, one could help

one’s parents attain a better rebirth or even reedom rom cycle o rebirth.96 Lives o the Nuns recounts, or example, that An Lingshou wanted to becomea nun but “. . . her parents opposed this decision and criticized her as sel shand un lial.” Lingshou responded by saying: “I am setting mysel to cultivatethe Way exactly because I want to ree all living beings rom suffering. Howmuch more, then, do I want to deliver my parents rom human orm!”97

In recent decades, the pioneering research by Li, Levering, Hsieh, andGrant has documented or the ang, Song, Ming, and early Qing periodsmany examples o emaledharma masters and abbesses with lay and monasticdisciples; some o these nuns had power ul connections to imperial and lite-rati circles. Tese scholars have illuminated a long tradition o Chinese nunsrenowned or their teaching, institution-building, literary accomplishments,ascetic practices, and charity works.98

In 1939, the monk Zhenhua (1908–1947, an artist and scholar romZhenjiang, Jiangsu) published a sequel to Baochang’sLives o the Nuns thatincludes the biographies o 248 nuns rom the ang-Song, Ming, Qing,and Republican periods.99 It is particularly important to note that Zhenhua

ound records pertaining to eighty-six nuns rom various periods and regions




during the Qing dynasty, records which help ll the glaring gap regardingthe lives and practices o nuns during this period.100 Tese nuns were devout

practitioners o Chan and/or Chan/Pure Land traditions, and a number othem spent years in sealed con nement (biguan).101 Zhenhua describes nunswhose outstanding Buddhist practice attracted nun and lay disciples; somewere memorialized by Con ucian elites and some lef yulu (discourse records),many were skilled poets as well.102

Contrary to Con ucian moralists’ generalization o nunneries as “re ugeso last resort” and nuns as social outcasts, these nuns’ socioeconomic andeducational backgrounds varied: Like nuns in previous dynasties, some hailed

rom Imperial amilies; some were raised in Buddhist amilies and were sentto nunneries as children; some joined nunneries as young women with their

parents’ blessing (sometimes sisters and/or cousins joined together); somebecame nuns to avoid arranged marriages; and some were widows.Te twenty-seven Republican biographies o nuns included in Zhenhua’s

book relate details about the nuns’ amily backgrounds, the nuns’ place oordination and their interactions with monks, local offi cials and laypeople,and their pilgrimages throughout China, ibet, and abroad.103 Again, Zhenhuaportrays the nuns as active agents engaged in study, teaching and writing,building nunneries, institutes, and lay associations, and organizing charitymissions; and as exemplary practitioners, whether chanting, meditating, orundertaking ascetic practices. Zhenhua’s work awaits a ull and detailed analysis

that will, in particular, shed light on the lives and works o Buddhist nunsduring the Qing and Republican periods.104

In aiwan, despite its long tradition o Buddhist andzhaijiao womenand the contributions o the post-war pioneering generation, nuns were, untilthe 1980s, ofen stereotyped as illiterate, poor, and as social outcasts.105 But LiYuzhen’s study points out that some nuns came rom wealthy amilies and/or

amous Buddhist amilies. Furthermore, Li inquired into the cases o womenaged 20 to 30 years becoming nuns be ore the 1980s and ound that contraryto popular stereotype o these women as being un lial, sel sh, and “ eeingmarriage,” the young women had in act sacri ced education and marriageopportunities to take actory or other jobs to support their amilies, widowedmothers, and younger siblings, especially younger brothers, and only afer manyyears o carrying out arduous amilial duties did they become nuns.106

Many nuns grew up in amilies who worshipped Guanyin, the Bodhi-sattva o compassion or the Eternal Mother,Wusheng laomu, a millenariandeity. Some had grandmothers or other older emale relatives who were nuns,or mothers who, when young, were thwarted rom being nuns.107 Death orsickness o a parent or relative also in uenced some young people towardBuddhism and the monastic path.108 For many nuns, the point o entry intothe orthodox Buddhist world was participation in Buddhist study groups in




vocational schools, high schools, and universities.109 Young women engagedin the study o arts and sciences, business, computer science, or vocational

training hope to pursue more intensive study o Buddhism as a means osel -cultivation, toward the goal o enlightenment. Many nuns told me thatlearning about Buddhist doctrines and practices was opening a door to anentirely new world o spiritual development that had been completely absent

rom the aiwan education system.As these young women move rom the secure and highly-protected

harbor o the aiwanese amily and educational system into the world, theyofen grapple with questions involving identity, amily, and relationships. Ven.Jianduan became a nun at age twenty- our not due, as many people in aiwanassumed o Buddhist nuns, to an unhappy amily li e, setbacks in a romantic

relationship, or unsuccess ul studies. She recounts that her childhood was very happy, and she grew up with parents who treated their daughters andson equally; she never knew about “gender discrimination” until she reachedcollege. But even as a child she realized that all human relationships eventu-ally must end, and each o us must ace the act o being alone and relyingon onesel . During her rst year o college, Jianduan learned about the li eo the Buddha and realized that thedharma taught the way to live li e and

nd happiness in and by onesel . Besides caring about one’s amily, is there away to be concerned with other things? So in college she assiduously studiedBuddhism and upon reading Buddhist teachings on li e’s impermanence, was

deeply moved, pondering, What do I want? What do I really want to accom-plish in this li e? How can I make my dreams become reality?110 At this juncture, young women, as Jianduan did, may consider enter-

ing monastic li e, but must pass through the intensive, multi-step process oobservation, examination, and evaluation necessary to reach the novitiatestage.111 Some young women drawn to the possibility o the monastic li ealready possess skills in the areas o counseling, medicine, and children’seducation. Others are teachers who eel that they have reached a limit inthe signi cance and effectiveness o their pedagogy, and nd in Buddhismunmatched spiritual and philosophical inspiration. Still others consider careersin academia, publishing, communications, the arts, social work, adult orcommunity education, or active social service, all o which are possible by joining one or another monastic community, each de ned by an emphasison its own particular missions. Another eature that may attract a woman tomonastic li e is that monasteries ofen sponsor the graduate studies or theirnuns in aiwan or abroad. For some women, this may represent their onlychance to obtain advanced degrees.

O course, it is not necessary to become a nun to develop one’s individual career or spiritual path; one can remain a lay practitioner o Buddhism.Tere ore, the purpose o the pre-novitiate and novitiate screening process




In act, the ourishing o the nuns’ order in aiwan developed parallelto, not in coordination with, eminist movements in aiwan or abroad. Nuns

see themselves as working or the good o aiwanese society as a whole, notespecially or women’s rights. Nuns say that they built the nuns’ order throughhard work and sacri ce, without the aid o eminist theory or praxis.122 Manywomen interviewed or this book believe that women’s progress in aiwanover recent decades is the “natural result” o aiwan’s overall “progressivedevelopment,” rather than acknowledge the eminist movement’s contributions.Similarly, one theme that Li Yuzhen stresses in her dissertation is that thepriority o aiwan’s nuns’ struggle over the years has been to legitimize theirmonastic identity without openly challenging patriarchal society.

Conclusion

It would take a separate book or two to satis actorily treat all the topicsaddressed in this chapter. Much research is still necessary to excavate thehistories o three topics in particular: Buddhism in Qing aiwan, nuns inQing and Republican China, and nuns and other Buddhist women in pre-1949 aiwan. Tis chapter devoted many pages to a historical review in orderto show how the nuns’ order in contemporary aiwan is revitalizing the longtradition o Chinese nuns teaching, writing, and meditating, building institu-

tions, and undertaking ascetic practices and charitable works. However, wemust also point out a number o modern developments that are special toaiwan’s Buddhism: unprecedented support by monks or the education and

career promotion o nuns (beginning in the Japanese colonial period); nuns’empowerment through the dual ordination system; leading monks’ stress onthe doctrines o equality in Buddhism; a lax attitude toward observance othe “Eight Special Rules”; a weak (and afer 1987, decentralized) Buddhistauthority structure; a high degree o religious reedom; the “Buddhist cam-pus movement” to recruit young monks and nuns; and aiwan’s Buddhists’ valorization o “ eminine” and “maternal” traits.

Tese a orementioned eatures, in tandem with a developed economy,helped create a Buddhist environment in which a variety o nuns could pros-per, including the nun Zhengyan and her Buddhist Ciji Compassion-RelieFoundation. We now turn to a discussion o Zhengyan, because she is theonly nun heading one o the major Buddhist organizations in contemporary

aiwan (the Foguangshan, Fagushan, and Zhongtai Chan organizations areled by monks born in China), and because Zhengyan’s teachings and practiceembody what it means to be Buddhist and emale or thousands o womenin aiwan.



Chapter 2

An Audience with Master Zhengyan1

Shi Zhengyan has been compared with Mother eresa and Albert Schweitzer,and her ollowers consider her to be the Bodhisattva Guanyin incarnate, aloving, patient, and kind mother, and a benevolent and wise teacher (Figure2.1). Since 1966, Shi Zhengyan has led the Ciji Compassion-Relie Foundation(Fojiao ciji gongde hui), Ciji or short, an international NGO with a board olay trustees claimed by some sources to be the largest civil organization in

aiwan.2 Worldwide membership numbers over ve million members, withbranches all over aiwan and in over twenty countries.3 Ciji is primarily alay organization whose missions include charity and disaster relie , medicalcare and research (including hospitals and the rst bone marrow bank in

aiwan), an education system ( rom kindergarten to graduate school and amedical school), culture ( V stations, videos, magazines, books, ca és), andenvironmental protection.4

How did Zhengyan, “an unknown girl, a weak woman, a common nun,”as phrased in the Ciji promotional literature, gain such a ervent lay ollowingand come to build this stupendous philanthropic and medical organization?O all the major Buddhist organizations in aiwan, Ciji is unique in that itsMaster is both native aiwanese and a nun. Te story o Zhengyan and Cijiis an indispensable part o the answer to the question, “how have womenshaped aiwan’s Buddhism?”5

In order to gain rsthand in ormation, I made several visits to the Ciji

headquarters in Hualian and also participated in a three-day camp or theCiji eachers’ Association held there. Te eachers’ Association is one o the various subgroups within Ciji, including the youth group and the entrepre-neurs’ group, that hold periodic camps and “retreats” at the Ciji headquarters.Te Ciji’s eachers’ Association was ounded in 1992 and has developed itsown pedagogy, with a series o textbooks, a V program, a journal, camps,and workshops.

Te purpose o the Ciji eachers’ AssociationStill Toughts camp wasto enable teachers rom colleges and universities to learn more about Ciji and

29




Zhengyan’s core text,Still Toughts (Jingsi yu) and incorporate it into theirteaching “in order to cultivate young people and thus build a healthier, morepeace ul and stable society.” Zhengyan derived the titleStill Toughts rom apassage in theWuliangyi jing (Sūtra on Immeasurable Meanings), a avoritesūtra o Zhengyan’s on the Bodhisattva path o practicing compassion andthe cultivation o bodhicitta in ourselves and or the bene t o all sentientbeings. She explains this passage as ollows:

‘Still Toughts,’ as the term suggests, is to maintain a peace-ul mind in any situation and to walk into the mundane world

with a tranquil mind. Born into this world, we cannot detachourselves rom all the worldly affairs. However, affairs do notgo as expected in this world. Tere ore, we should deal with theconstantly changing world by sticking to our principles whilekeeping a tranquil mind.6

Still Toughts’popularity lies in how it presents central Buddhist and Con-ucian teachings in simple language. Ciji has promoted Buddhist teachings

Figure 2.1. Master Zhengyan (Ciji Foundation)



31An Audience with Master Zhengyan

skill ully blended with amiliar Con ucian values like lial piety, social har-mony, ul llment o one’s social roles, respect or authority, and the belie

that individual moral recti cation leads to recti cation o the amily, society,and nation.7 Still Toughts also offers practical and pithy advice on how toace and overcome challenges in love and riendship, marriage and the amily,

the workplace, and various problems o modern li e. Tough other Buddhistmasters in aiwan like Hiuwan and Xingyun have also promoted a Buddhistand Con ucian “ethical-religious synthesis” or laypeople,Still Toughts hasbecome a best-selling book in the commercial market, and the “Still ToughtsPedagogy” materials have been used in the public schools since 1992.8

Notes rom “Still Toughts Camp,” April 1–3, 2000Te registration ee or the camp was N $2500 (about US $80) and includedlodging and meals. Ciji provided us with the unisex uni orm or members othe Ciji eachers’ Association: White trousers, blue polo shirt, and a sturdynavy-blue book bag embossed with the eachers’ Association logo o threebodhi leaves nestled within lotus leaves shaped like two hands with palmsupward. Also included was a reusable mess kit in a blue drawstring bag, atote bag or shoes, and a Ciji belt and blue hair-ribbon, and a gray pajamaout t. According to the in ormation sheet:

We’re sure that this will be a sweet and ul lling spiritual journeyor you . . .

Te daily schedule . . . is probably quite different than whatyou’re used to, so please bear up, and joy ully try it out. We’resure that the care o the nuns and other ull-time people atCiji, as well as the intimacy, affection, and enthusiasm o allthe Sisters and Brothers will bring you joy like being bathed byspring winds.

At the ‘Still Toughts Abode,’ your days marked by thesounds o the evening drums and morning bells, you can learnwhat a ‘disciplined li e’ is.9 (Figure 2.2, next page)

Te eachers’ Association divides its membership into our major geo-graphical areas with a leader or each; upon arrival at the aipei Station, par-ticipants rom northern aiwan were divided urther into small groups each ledby a “Mama” or “Baba,” an experienced Ciji commissioner. Te next three dayswere spent under the watch ul eye and rm thumb o our respective “mother”




or “ ather,” who made sure the participants adhered to the camp’s schedule oevents and maintained the proper protocol and group spirit o Ciji.

From the start, Ciji members stressed to newcomers the importanceo a group identity as “Ciji people,” rst, regarding appearance: One’s shirt is

ully buttoned to the collar, hair brushed and tied back with a blue ribbon,shoe-laces tied evenly, book-bag ully zipped and hanging straight rom rightshoulder.10 “Te Shangren expects us to be neat and tidy.”11 Te retreat alsotaught participants about basic “Buddhist etiquette” while walking, sitting,and eating, but Ciji goes urther, with its own “code” regarding articulationo words and emotions.12

During the train trip to Hualian the group passed the time with sel -introductions, and participated in group songs, clapping games, and sign-language practice. Te schedule planned or the next three days was ull andwide-ranging, and despite the early rising time, there was no time allotted orafernoon rest, unusual or aiwan group activities. However, this was ullyin keeping with Zhengyan’s calls or sel -discipline and sel -abnegation, parto the Bodhisattva vow. “Te meaning o rest should merely mean anotherway o doing work.”13

Figure 2.2. Still Tought Abode, Hualian (Elise A. DeVido)




Still Toughts Camp for eaching Professionals: Schedule of Events

Saturday, April 1 Sunday, April 2 Monday, April 3

5:30–6 am Morning bell 3:50–4:20 am Arise to the sound o the wooden clapper 6:00–6:40 Break ast 4:20–5:40 Walk in the garden at

dawn; attend morning worship service

6:40 Assemble in Corridor 5:50–6:45 Break ast and clean-up 7:00–10:00 our o the Ciji 6:45–8:20 Morning meeting or school system rom Ciji Volunteers kindergarten through

college; our o hospital and 8:20–8:50 our o the Still medical school complex Toughts Abode, the “Heart o Ciji” and the earliest extant architecture o the Ciji complex 9:00–10:15 A lecture on how to help students handle male- emale inter-relations, given by a school counselor 10:20–11:50 Lecture by a 10:30–11:40 “Te Content and nun on the etiquette and Praxis o Ven. Zhengyan’sStill

attitudes proper or Ciji Toughts ,” given by a senior Ciji members member 12 Noon–1:00 pm Lunch 11:50–1:30 pm Lunch and rest at Still Toughts Abode 1:00–1:30 Return to Lecture 1:30–2:00 Group rehearsal or the halls Closing Ceremony 1:30–2:10 Historical 2:00–4:00 Closing Ceremony Overview o Ciji Organization, given by a nun 2:20–3:30 “Great Love Has No National Borders:” Lecture on Ciji’s international relie work by its layman director

Bodhisattvaclouds congregate

rom alldirections . . .

3:00–4:30“Construction oHope”: Lecture byprominent aiwaneseengineer on the Cijimission to redesignand rebuild fyschools destroyed inthe earthquake oSept. 21, 1999

continued on next page




Upon arrival at the elegantStill Toughts Hall in Hualian (Figure 2.3),teachers rom all over aiwan met together: some long-time Ciji members,some neophytes, sixty-three in all. New arrivals ran the gauntlet betweentwo rows o student and adult Ciji volunteers who enthusiastically sang and

Still Toughts Camp for eaching Professionals: Schedule of Events (con’t.)

Saturday, April 1 Sunday, April 2 Monday, April 3

3:40–5:40 Audience with 4:00– Joy ully return home . . . Master Zhengyan

6:00–7:00 Dinner

7:00–20:50 Small group discussion

9:00–9:30Still Toughts time 9:30 Lights out

4:50–6:30 our othe “Still ToughtsWisdom andLove Exhibition,”a gallery ophotos and textillustrating thescope o Ciji’s ourmajor missions in

aiwan and abroad:

Charity; MedicalCare and Research;Education; Culture.Also in ormationabout Ciji’s BloodMarrow Bank,internationaldisaster relie work,environmentalprotection work,community volunteer services,

and post-earthquake relieand reconstruction6:30–7:50 Dinnerand bath7:50–9:10 “CulturalImpression”:Lecture on thepotential o massmedia and theInternet in the 21stcentury and howthis can bene tCiji’s missions9:10–10:00 Small-group discussions10:30 Lights out




clapped their hands. It is important to note that throughout the three days anaudio-visual crew was present to document the entire proceedings includinglectures, small group meetings, tours o grounds and acilities, meals, even inthe hallway outside our dorm rooms as we settled in. Continuous “Omito o”chants, set to “easy-listening” style orchestration, played in the background inpublic areas, and all meeting rooms and other public spaces were equippedwith V screens o various sizes not only to present videos and CDs but alsoto simultaneously broadcast the camp proceedings. Tus, the “Ciji experience”exists in three levels o narration:

Each person’s individual experience, obliged to be verbally sharedwith others

Te live, on-going recording by the audio-visual crew

Each person’s viewing o the live recording on the V screens

Te above three experiences were then compressed into one, in the orm o theoffi cial videotape that was shown in its entirety at the closing ceremony. Suchaudio-visual overload, this intensive recording and broadcasting o events, is

Figure 2.3. Still Toughts Hall, Hualian (Elizabeth Zielinska)




tongue” is the Southern Min dialect. Her tone was like a teacher or parentaffectionately and patiently exhorting a younger child. For example, she asked

quasi-rhetorical questions to which we all responded “Right!” or “Wrong!”Her light, high voice has a polyvalent timbre, like alternating sunlight andshadows as clouds pass overhead.18

Based on my impression o this single occasion, I would not characterizeher, as do her ollowers, as primarily conveying great expression o mother’s-love. I saw her sincerely pleasant but reserved, a person with an incisive mindtempered by a wry and light humor. Here is the authority o a matriarch, orbetter, a patriarch, like a traditional high offi cial wielding the power o the penand the word, her utterances evoking the orce o both ethics and law.19

Afer Zhengyan nished her lecture, audience members went to the

ront o the room, stood to the lef o Zhengyan, and asked questions, raisedissues o common interest, or shared personal testimony o their aith inZhengyan and in the Ciji organization.20 Both she and another nun besideher took copious notes.

In tears, with broken voices, women and men gave testimonials, similarto both Christian and Sōka Gakkai testimonials:21

(A woman): Trough Ciji I discovered not only the true meaningo li e and love but I also discovered mysel as well.

(A woman): Every time I come back to the Still Toughts Abode,I can’t stop crying with happiness, because I eel like I’ve reallyreturned home, this is my spiritual home. I’m crying rom themoment I get here to the time I get back to aipei!

(A man): I always thought that I was a good enough person. Iworked hard and did my best to help people out. But you know, Inever had the time to take care o my own parents! Ten when Iread the passage inStill Toughts that says: “Li e is short . . . thereare two things that cannot wait: Ful lling lial piety and doinggood deeds . . .” how deeply I regretted my bad attitude, and eltso guilty! . . . Now I know just how wise theShangren is!

(A man): I know they say “Men can’t cry” but here at Ciji, I do,because we are all a big amily.22

Te teachers met with Master Zhengyan again at the camp’s closingceremony. Kneeling on the oor cushions, each participant held a red votivecandle, handmade by the nuns, in a small glass candleholder shaped like alotus ower. Row by row, hands piously clasped as i preparing to receive




communion, we stood up and proceeded to the ront where Zhengyan bestowedon each teacher a certi cate o achievement. In addition, each small team

had its group portrait taken with theShangren. Te teachers also received alaminated photo o Zhengyan giving a lecture; a pale-green, glow-in-the-darkprayer bead bracelet with one bead embossed with a sepia photo o the youngZhengyan, her best-known portrait; and bookmarks with quotations romStillToughts . Tus ended the camp, and all participants went their separate ways,“looking orward to meeting again, according to affi nity,” yuan en.

In sum, this Still Toughts camp did not explore the topics o equanimityand insight/wisdom o theSūtra on Immeasurable Meanings. Nor did this retreatencourage ree discussion about teaching Zhengyan’sStill Toughts, criticaldebates on Buddhism, or on any topic. Te main purpose o this, as other Ciji

retreats, is to initiate the participant, through choreographed manipulations othe emotions and strict discipline o the body, into Zhengyan’s interpretationo Buddhism, the Ciji organization’s activities, and Ciji’s group identity.23 It isclaimed that at Ciji, like a circle, “all people are equal, there is no hierarchyo who’s above, below, ahead, behind, high, low,”24 and Ciji’s lay and monasticmembers indeed represent many different places, education and amily, andclass backgrounds, etc. Or in another metaphor, the different subgroups oCiji are like one wave afer the other, relying on each other to maintain asurge orce.25 Yet, C. Julia Huang devotes three chapters o her dissertationto discussion o the hierarchical structure and consciousness o the Ciji orga-

nization, where access to various retreats at the Ciji headquarters is gradedrom “general-entry” to “exclusive,” according to one’s depth o commitmentand experience as a Ciji volunteer.26 Claims and belie s in egalitarianism atCiji notwithstanding, the group is in act a clear pyramid-shaped hierarchywith Master Zhengyan at the top.27

Charisma

On the train returning to aipei, the group tone was subdued: most simplywent limp and collapsed into their seats with atigue, retreated back into theirselves, the sel that had been clamped down or several days. Few people inthe world possess the willpower and charisma o Zhengyan, which has enabledher, though described as “small, rail, weakened by bouts o serious illnessand rom ceaseless over-work,” to lead the Ciji organization to carry out itstremendous philanthropic accomplishments. One image rom the camp expe-rience illustrates this well: At the start o the candle-lighting ceremony, theyoung laywoman in charge was unable to operate the large butane lighter tolight the rst candle, causing a slight awkward delay. Zhengyan hersel stepped

orward, seized the lighter and ignited the candle in one ell swoop. Tat one




grace ul yet orce ul action declared that “the candle shall be lit . . . NOW.” Andthe ame passed rom person to person down the rows until the Guanyin

Hall was aglow with golden silence. C. Julia Huang writes, “. . . Zhengyan is not only the spiritual gure butalso the ultimate decision-maker o the Ciji umbrella organization. Te powero her charismatic authority is exercised at every level o Ciji. . . .”28 Religiousleaders by de nition should possess strong will and clear vision, and radiatecharisma to attract and keep disciples and lay- ollowers. As one Ciji memberwondered: How is it that theShangren, by uttering just one sentence, canmotivate so many people?29 We approach the answer i we can articulate theparticular charisma o Zhengyan. Mircea Eliade’s entry describes charismaas “a gif o grace, a spiritual gif with special endowments,” as well as being

blessed with “. . . power o leadership or authority” but this description begs thequestion. Max Weber is more help ul as he notes that charisma is mani estedthrough an interactive process between leader and ollowers; it is a success ulsocial relationship based on shared values. Marc Bloch describes the charismao les rois thaumaturges, kings with “the royal touch” as “the collective ideas[o the people] and the individual ambitions [o these kings] blended into akind o psychological complex [that] led the kings o France and England toclaim this wonder-working power, and their subjects to recognize it.” How-ever, neither Weber nor Bloch elaborates upon how such an individual leadsa growing institution over an extended period o time.

Te charisma o Zhengyan lies in a power ul and ortuitous amalga-mation, her will to achieve her particular vision o Buddhism that happenedto mesh with the sociocultural background o her ollowers and the sagao the aiwan Miracle. It is rst necessary, however, to know something oZhengyan’s early years, her amily background, and the circumstances thatled her to become a Buddhist nun.

Narratives o Zhengyan’s Early Li e

Many o Zhengyan’s contemporaries had similar childhood experiences withillness and death and grew up in ar poorer households, yet the choices Zheng-yan made in response to her experiences were extraordinary. Te many worksin English and Chinese about Zhengyan paint a similar portrait o her earlyyears; my purpose here is not to repeat well-known details but to examineher early li e to nd the source o the spirit and will working through her,still un olding through the ever-growing Ciji enterprise.

Wang Jinyun was born in Qingshui, aichung County in 1937. Herpaternal uncle and his wi e adopted her when she was an in ant and movedto Fengyuan; her coming “brought luck” to the childless couple as they




subsequently had sons o their own.30 Wang Jinyun grew up amiliar withthe countryside around the town o Fengyuan, although her adoptive parents

were not armers but owned various properties and managed movie theatersin the region. Allusions to the li e and landscape o rural aiwan predominatein Zhengyan’s speeches and writings.

Te offi cial accounts say nothing about Jinyun’s daily li e such as school-ing or relations with her extended amily and riends. She rst “becameaware o the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s compassion” during American air raidso Japanese-occupied aiwan: She noticed people in the bomb shelter aroundher praying to Guanyin “to throw the bombs into the sea.”31

As is ofen the case with hagiographies, early signs o unusual spiri-tual gifs are claimed. “Ever since she was young, Jinyun liked to engage in

deep contemplation, asking questions such as where does li e come rom,and where do people go when they die? In between li e and death, what dopeople live or?”32 Several biographies o Zhengyan mention the epiphanicpower o three health crises involving her brother, mother, and ather, andZhengyan’s exemplary action as lial daughter and compassionate sister. Ataround age ten, Jinyun looked afer her brother while he lay in the hospital

or eight months with a serious illness and she “admired the spirit o thedoctors and nurses in saving the patients.”33 When she was feen (someaccounts say twelve) years old:

. . . her mother had stomach ulcers and needed an operation. Atthat time operations were very risky. Out o lial piety or hermother, Jinyun . . . vowed to dispel calamities or her mother andprayed to the Bodhisattva Guanyin . . . ‘I, Jinyun, am willing toshorten my own li e by twelve years.’ Perhaps the heavens andthe earth were actually moved by her lial piety, or her mother’sdisease gradually and miraculously disappeared. Jinyun, ull ogratitude, became a vegetarian.”34

Afer nishing middle school ( ew girls o her generation attended highschool) Wang Jinyun as eldest child and daughter was obliged to help her am-ily at home and with the movie theater business. Li Yuzhen adds that becauseJinyun’s stepmother was weakened by successive childbirths, Jinyun took onmany o her mothers’ duties or the amily.35 When Jinyun was twenty, her

ather suffered a stroke and died the next day. Tis sudden death o her ather,who had always been strong and healthy, was “a major blow to [her]. . . . Shebegan to search or a place to take re uge, seeking the origin and boundarieso li e, looking or the answers to the riddle o impermanence.”36 Acting in thecapacity o both ather and mother o the amily, she rst put amily mattersinto order as best she could or her mother and our younger brothers and




then began a several-years’ journey into the wilderness o central and easternaiwan.37 During this journey, she experienced a number o epiphanies that

all (except a period o solitary meditation) involved pivotal encounters withwomen (her rst Buddhist teacher and other nuns, devout laywomen, an illaboriginal woman, and three Catholic nuns) and men (her second Buddhistteacher, layman Xu Zongming; and her teacher Yinshun, the distinguishedBuddhist scholar and propagator o Buddhism or the Human Realm).

Te Journey: A Series o Epiphanies

Te journey into the wilderness, whether o Jesus, the early Church Fathers

and Holy Men, Chinese eremites, or Mao on his Long March, invests thetraveler with the spiritual capital and legitimacy upon which he or she willdraw in the uture. Te traveler not only survives the trials but emerges vic-torious, diminished in body but uller in energies to accomplish the projectsto come. Over several years o spiritual cultivation Jinyun decided to becomea nun; visualized her interpretation o Buddhism’s essence; and ormed inher mind the vehicle to realize her Bodhisattva vows: the ounding o Cijiorganization in 1966.

Afer the death o her ather, Jinyun sought out Ven. Xiudao, head othe nearby Ciyun emple or solace and spiritual guidance. Jinyun had grown

up in the aiwanese religious landscape, amiliar with the popular worshipo Guanyin, the Eternal Mother, and Mazu, but had not studied Buddhistscriptures: Tese were not yet published or distribution at large in aiwan.Ven. Xiudao, one o a small number o aiwanese nuns who had studiedZen Buddhism in Japan, became Jinyun’s rst teacher.38 According to ChenHuijian’s biography o Zhengyan, Ven. Xiudao and Jinyun had the ollowingexchange that in uenced her decision to become a nun:

Jinyun asked, what kind o woman is happy?

Xiudao answered: A woman who can carry a ood basket.

Jinyun thought: but I do that everyday, why aren’t I happy?She then thought: what i a woman could be like a man anddo great things or the world?

Here is one account o the moment when Jinyun decided to becomea nun:

When she was twenty- our years old, at the crossroads o summerand autumn, she passed by the paddy eld o [Ciyun] monastery




and saw two Buddhist nuns harvesting rice. Acquainted with them,Jinyun joined them in their work. Te rice plants moved, oating

in the wind like a verse spoken or her. As she was cutting the riceplant, she gained an understanding, instantly attaining an awaken-ing. At that moment, she elt really happy, as i all the secrets othe heavens were revealed in her heart. Te sun was beginning toset, and their harvesting work came to an end. It was time to saygood-bye. Suddenly, the young nun asked her: “Do you want tocome with us?” Jinyun was not surprised by this sudden question,because she had already made up her mind. “Yes, now. Let’s gonow.” Another nun, a little older than Jinyun, took her hand, andwith her eyes shining brightly, asked: “Are you ree rom obstruc-

tions?” She nodded her head. “Free rom obstructions.” At the trainstation, the nuns asked: “Shall we go north? Or south?” [Jinyun]answered, “Te direction o the rst train that comes is the direc-tion that we go. All in harmony with conditions.”39

Master Xiudao and Wang Jinyun traveled to temples in aichung andKaohsiung, then settled or a time in a small village called Luye, near aidong.40 Tey led an ascetic li e in a small temple dedicated to the Eternal Motherand survived by gathering wild vegetables and ruits and gleanings such aspeanuts and yams. At one point Jinyun helped out a neighbor named Mrs.

Zhou Jinru by drawing water or her at dawn and dusk. Mrs. Zhou asked herin to dinner and was impressed by the unusual resolve o this young woman.As winter approached, Mrs. Zhou was concerned about Jinyun’s health andsewed or her a light blue dress and a warm quilt. But be ore she had thechance to give them to Jinyun, she discovered that Jinyun and Ven. Xiudaohad lef the area to go to other temples in Lanshan, Zhiben, and Hualian.Mrs. Zhou was worried, or the terrain in these areas was dangerous. She

aced the mountains and prayed to the Eternal Mother to protect these youngreligious devotees.41

Jinyun was a stranger to Hualian but received help rom a devout Bud-dhist couple, Mr. and Mrs. Xu Zongming whom she met at Dongjing emple.Mr. Xu was well-versed in Buddhist scriptures and Jinyun asked him to beher second teacher. Jinyun took the tonsure hersel but still needed to receivethe offi cial nun’s precepts. She traveled all the way to Linji emple in aipeibut was rejected because she had broken with precedent and lacked an offi cialtonsure master. However, afer a chance encounter with the esteemed monkYinshun, she became his disciple, and Zhengyan, the name he bestowed uponher, could offi cially receive the precepts.

At age twenty-six Zhengyan returned to Hualian and continued herspiritual cultivation mainly based at Puming emple. She quickly gained




nun disciples and lay- ollowers through her public lectures on theEarthreasury and Lotus Sūtras. She declined several offers to become the head

o temples elsewhere; rather, she and her ollowers remained in Hualian andsupported themselves through arming and handicrafs, neither seeking almsnor accepting offerings.42

Te Candle Samādhi

Afer she was ordained, Zhengyan lived alone or about six months as anascetic, intensely studying theLotus Sūtra. One night while studying bycandlelight Zhengyan had her great ocalizing vision as she contemplated the

ame. Tis vision epitomizes her cosmology and has animated all her actionsand decisions since that moment:

A candle cannot burn without a wick. Even i there were a wick,it must be burned to be meaning ul. Te lighted candle producestears o wax, but it is better than not being burned at all. Whena wax tear rolls down the candle, it is immediately stopped by alayer o thin membrane, just as in the heavens and earth there is akind o consoling power, which is like skin. o prove this kind opower, she burned her right shoulder with incense as an offering

to the Buddhas. In the instant that the skin was burned, there wasimmediately a coolness that covered the wound, which is reallya soothing skin. In the Southern Min dialect, when children arehurt, the mother would say: Come, Mother will console you . . . Tesuffering o birth and death is actually like a alling candle tear. Itis like being hurt, but suddenly there is also consolation.43

In Buddhism and in the Chinese holistic conception o body and heart,suffering comprises both the physical and mental. o Zhengyan, Buddhistcompassion, universal and unconditional, is akin to the “consoling powercontained in the heavens and earth.” Perhaps at that time, Zhengyan envi-sioned that, though li e is precarious as a ragile membrane, compassion canheal the suffering and make the broken whole, individual energy passing

orward like a chain reaction, or like the transmission o a candle ame toone’s neighbor.44

wo other encounters in 1966 con rmed Zhengyan’s intuition that her vocation lay in medicine and charity work. On a visit to a Fenglin clinicshe was shocked to see a pool o blood on the oor and was told that anaboriginal woman had hemorrhaged rom a miscarriage. Although our menhad carried her across the mountains or eight hours to reach the clinic, she




was re used medical care because her amily could not afford the ees. Teutter disregard or human li e shown by the callous clinic personnel made

Zhengyan dizzy with pain; she vowed to work to improve the state o healthcare in eastern aiwan.45 Upon her return to Hualian, three Catholic nunscalled upon Zhengyan. In the course o their conversation, the nuns queried:Tough the central tenet o Buddhism is compassion, how have Buddhistscontributed to society, such as building schools and hospitals? At that time,Zhengyan could not answer them.

Hereto ore, Zhengyan had thought that she and her disciples wouldollow a traditional Buddhist li e o contemplation, shunning ame and or-

tune , taoming, taoli. But she reasoned that vast potential energies o Buddhistcompassion could best be realized with strong organization and unding, or

without it, compassion remains but an abstraction, and thus she ounded theCiji Compassion-Relie Foundation in 1966.46 (Figure 2.4)

Figure 2.4. Master Zhengyan helping the poor in aiwan (Ciji Foundation)




Ciji as Contrapuntal Narratives

Part o comprehending the charisma o Zhengyan emanates rom her multi ac-eted sel : at once a woman with a personal background similar to that o manyaiwanese, and at once a woman o unique and seemingly supernatural will

and talents. O all the large-scale Buddhist organizations in aiwan, Zhengyanis the only leader who is a woman and a aiwanese; urthermore, her uencyin the Southern Min dialect attracted many grassroots supporters.47

Putting together visual and aural evidence rom offi cial Ciji literature,rom camp lectures and in-depth tours o grounds, acilities, schools, and

medical complex, “the Ciji experience” communicates a number o simultane-ous narratives, at once in tension, at once in harmony, the polyvalent sum o

which creates a power ul web that reaches back and orth across times andspaces to draw supporters in, now at this point, now at that point.

Te Past Is Always with Us

Te past was bitter and poor, any aiwanese over orty can relate to this eitherdirectly or indirectly. And although there are many kinds o poor and sufferingways o li e in both urban and rural areas, the classic archetype in aiwan isthe agricultural laborer, in particular the rice armer, working exhaustively tosurvive, relieved only by amilial mutual aid. Although Zhengyan in act was

raised in a middle-class business amily, she and her earliest ollowers grewup amiliar with this milieu, and most importantly, the ounding and earlygrowth o the Ciji organization was undertaken in a sel -reliant manner.

Te story o the early years o Ciji is repeatedly told in the offi cialliterature; in old sepia and black and white photo exhibits at the Hualianheadquarters; in the display o arti acts at the Still Toughts Abode romthe past such as kitchen utensils, agricultural tools, and implements involvedin the nuns’ handicrafs labor. Yet this is not only a museum o historicalrepresentations, it is still a working space or nuns who still produce health

oods to sustain the nuns’ livelihood.48

Tis narrative communicates the message that no degree o post-1980s parvenu material wealth and success can erase one’s past, and urthermore, asone prevails over poverty and suffering, one gains great virtue and strength.Te visitor also senses nostalgia or the merits o “traditional agrarian society,”the Good Earth, the “Pure Land” abundant with “sincere and rich human

eelings,” where supposedly all knew and helped each other. Te Ciji orga-nization expressly tries to re-create this “big amily” and “local community”Gemutlichkeit both at the Hualian headquarters and also in Ciji’s communityservice volunteer groups. Upon completion o camps such as the one describedabove, one is directed to join the “big Ciji amily” by working with the local




chapter and encouraged to return to Hualian ofen, to your “spiritual home,”49 or respite and rejuvenation rom what Ciji members see as a chaotic, pol-

luted, cold, urban world.Te Pure Land Is Now

Simultaneously, through the Ciji literature and Web site, rom the exhibitionentitled “Te Still Toughts Wisdom and Great Love Gallery,” and throughoutthe imposing and modern acilities o the entire Hualian complex runs thepulse o modernity and the Chinese re ormist “Buddhism or this world.” Cijicritiques the alienation, sel shness, and excessive materialism o modernity,but does not reject its instruments in order to realize the exhortations o

Zhengyan’s master Yinshun, “At all times do everything or Buddhism, every-thing or sentient beings” and to ocus on “Here . . . now . . . this person,” andbuild a Pure Land on earth.

Te “ aiwan Miracle,” One Step at a ime

Te popular phrase yibu, yijiaoyin (one step, one ootprint) is ofen used todescribe how the aiwanese people built aiwan into a developed nation,through sel -reliance, rugality, and sel -sacri ce (without mention o govern-ment policies); and Ciji borrows this trope to characterize its own rise and

development. Ciji re ects Zhengyan who re ects aiwan and its people, atonce weak and strong, marginalized yet obliged to adapt to the challengeso globalization. Additionally, the “ aiwan Miracle” provided Ciji with mate-rial and human resources to realize Zhengyan’s Bodhisattva’s vows; yet toachieve this “miracle” aiwan has undergone rapid economic, social, andpolitical change, and aces an uncertain political and economic uture. Outo this “desert,” aiwanese rom a variety o social groups have come to Cijiand submit to the group’s rules and regimen in their search or a parent, ateacher, an authoritative text and leader, and or answers to diffi cult existentialquestions, or consolation and love.50 At the same time, Ciji members, likemany laypeople in Chinese history be ore them, believe that doing good worksaccrues merit or onesel , one’s amily, and one’s community, and doing sosatis es both Buddhist and Con ucian expectations o what a good personshould be.51

But Ciji radically differs rom other Buddhist laygroups in the globalscale o its missions and its particular global consciousness. A working sketchby the artist ang Hui shows the Buddha, with the ace o Zhengyan, standingbehind the Earth, gazing down, as i healing the globe with her touch.52 TeCiji members’ Bodhisattva vows were greatly tested on September 21, 1999,when a major earthquake occurred in Central aiwan. In “Project Hope,” to




which we now turn, Zhengyan took on the responsibility o not only provid-ing relie , but also rebuilding fy public schools, due to, as Zhengyan put it,

the anguish that she elt as she viewed not only the pain and suffering o theearthquake victims, but also the ravaged, “wounded” landscape itsel .53



Chapter 3

“Project Hope”Te Ciji Compassion-Relie Foundation’s

Post-‘9.21 Earthquake’ School Reconstruction Planin aiwan1

Excellent works are available on the nature and structure o the Ciji organiza-tion, about Zhengyan’s charisma, about Ciji’s achievements in charity, relie ,and provision o medical care, and about emotions and gender in the Cijiorganization.2 Tis chapter studies Ciji’s “Project Hope” (1999–2002), a planto rebuild fy schools destroyed by the earthquake o September 21 1999,in order to explore certain questions raised by Project Hope’s ultimate goalo creating a “New aiwan Civilization.”3

Te “9.21” earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, with 2,444dead, 8,700 wounded, and 100,000 homeless. Many buildings were damagedor destroyed, including 1,759 schools in the central region o aiwan: Teepicentre was located in the town o Jiji.4 Te Ministry o Education andMinistry o the Interior, pushed and guided by private groups such as theHumanistic Education Foundation, the Organization o Urban Re’s, the NewHomeland Foundation, and aiwan University’s Graduate Institute o Buildingand Planning, launched the “New School Campus Movement,” to rebuild 293schools in Miaoli County, aichung County and City; Nantou County; ainanCounty and City, Yunlin County, Zhanghua County; Jiayi County and City,

aipei County, and aoyuan County.5

Te government commissioned theprivate sector to rebuild 108 o these schools, o which fy were completedby the Ciji Foundation, in aichung, Nantou, and Jiayi Counties.6

Ciji’s project, called “Project Hope,” Xiwang gongcheng , began in Novem-ber 1999 and involved over twenty architects, some o whom are natives othe stricken areas. Even though many o these and other pro essionals and volunteers donated their services, materials, and time to this project, overallcosts still amounted to over US $312 million.7 As o September 2002, allProject Hope schools were completed and open or classes.8

49




Tis chapter examines the distinguishing characteristics o Project Hopeand its ultimate aim o creating a “new aiwan civilization”: a Buddhist-Con u-

cian-Green synthesis, where men are civilized, women are gentle, and childrenare quiescent; a aiwan “re ned and cultured,” purged o “superstition” and“bad habits,” yet also rmly rooted in local soil.

But will all parties involved in Project Hope schools, most o whomare not Ciji members, continue to promote and develop Ciji’s ideals? Howand to what extent will the Ciji organization directly in uence local publiceducation and does this violate the issue o “principle o neutrality on schoolcampuses” as expressed in national law? Moreover, are concerns raised in

aiwan about the increasing involvement o religious organizations in publicschools, or does pragmatism (alleged lack o public unds, shortage o social

wel are pro essionals, the ree social bene ts gained) take precedence in theabove-mentioned questions? In act, or the past fy years in aiwan, thegovernment has gladly entrusted wel are and charity responsibilities to theprivate sector’s religious and non-religious groups.9 However, this instance odelegating such a large public works task, and rebuilding public schools, atthat, to the private sector is unprecedented in aiwan.10

Finally this chapter also seeks to clari y Project Hope’s use o theterm “humanism,” a key term in Project Hope expressed in the term yi renwei ben, “to consider humans as the core or oundation.” According to theBuddhist modernizer aixu, yi ren wei ben is a term with roots in ancient

Greece, but is especially associated with post-Enlightenment modernity in theWest.11 Although Ciji uses the phrase yi ren wei ben, Ciji’s humanism is notderived rom Western philosophical sources, nor rom the humanistic psy-chology o Abraham Maslow, as is the case o aiwan’s Humanistic EducationFoundation (Renben jiaoyu jijinhui).12 Ciji’s use o yi ren wei ben is derived

rom aixu’srenjian ojiao, “Buddhism or this world,” or “Buddhism or thehuman realm,” or aixu strove to emphasize and express, in modern orms,Buddhism’s inherent tendency to consider humans as the oundation, whileat the same time aiming to liberate all sentient beings.13 In addition, ProjectHope places a particularly strong emphasis on Con ucian humanism. In theCon ucian social order, the individual cannot live outside a web o socialrelations, and acts according to one’s position and standing in amily andsociety; the gentleman cultivates himsel in order to serve as a moral exampleand lead others.14 Ciji is a Buddhist organization that skill ully promulgatesbenevolence, compassion, lial piety, propriety, harmony, and the moldingpower o education as “traditional ethical values,” amiliar and acceptable tomany people in aiwan, whether they are Buddhist or not; and this is onereason or Ciji’s success.

In sum, “Project Hope” comprises progressive goals such as amilycommunity engagement in schools and education, developing environmen-



51“Project Hope”

tal awareness, and community building, while at the same time, in contrastwith the Humanistic Education Foundation promotes Con ucian humanism,

encourages strict standards o behavior or men, women, and children, andtraditional ideas about education. Be ore we can consider these issues urther,we must examine the larger context in which “Project Hope” arose.

“Project Hope” as Part o the“New School Campus Movement”

First, a ew words about the Ministry o Education’s school reconstructionplan, called the “Te New School Campus Movement,” which was in ormed

by recent trends promoted by the government, schools, and NGOs in aiwanand abroad, such as education re orm, community revitalization, strengthen-ing local identity, etc.15

Besides Ciji, other groups such as aiwan’s media corporations; ai-wan Electric Company; Formosa Plastics; Xinguang Insurance Corporation;Evergreen Shipping Corporation; the Red Cross; the International LionsAssociation; and Foguangshan, also “adopted” schools to pay and arrange orschools’ reconstruction. According to the Ministry o Education, out o thetotal 293 schools that were rebuilt, the private sector took responsibility or108 schools; local governments, 122 schools;16 the Ministry o the Interior,

41 schools; and the Ministry o Education’s contracted company, the YaxinConstruction Company, 22 schools. Japan’s public and private sectors alsohelped with the initial disaster relie and also with schools’ re-designing andrebuilding.17

It should be noted that the Ministry o Education, the architects, andCiji shared similar ideas about prioritizing sa ety, durability, and sustainabledevelopment; that schools should act as community centers or li e-longlearning; that education is an interactive process among schools, the parents’associations, and the community; and also shared the hope that rebuild-ing schools could stimulate the larger project o community renaissance.18 Te ideal was or schools and communities to create local exhibition halls,museums, music centers, and memorial sites— or schools to unction alsoas cultural, social, and athletic centers or the local community. In addition,the new schools’ designs endeavored to preserve the original trees, plants,and landscaping, and i possible, integrate the extant architecture, like a gateor wall. Te New School Campus Movement did not merely aim to rebuildschool buildings, but to re-envision and trans orm the content and processo education rom traditional textbook- and teacher-centered education to alocale-centered comprehensive education, created and carried out in concertby the schools, amilies, local community, and the local education department.




How and to what extent the new schools will carry out these re orm policiesand ideas varies greatly, and depends on the teachers, administrators, and

parents.19

As several Project Hope school administrators phrased it:shang you zhengce, xia you duice; i.e., the locale will deal in their own way withgovernment policies issued rom above.

Te Special Characteristics o Project Hope

Project Hope’s schools comprise a major part o the New School CampusMovement, but are also a plat orm to promote Ciji’s own Mission o Education.Although Ciji became amous through its achievements in charity and relie

work, in recent years Ciji has also invested much energy and many resources ineducation, based on Zhengyan’s Con ucian conviction that a sound educationis the oundation or amilies’ well-being and or a harmonious society. Besidesmedical and nursing schools, Ciji has constructed an entire education system

rom kindergarten through graduate school at their Hualian headquarters, aswell as developed teaching plans and materials based on Zhengyan’s work,Still Toughts. Ciji’s Project Hope design claims to have its own distinctive“vocabulary,” yuhui, and “spirit,” jingshen, its own education ideals, and itsown plans or long-term social reconstruction, distinct rom, and at times, atodds with, the program o the Humanistic Education oundation and other

advocates or education re orm in aiwan.“Ciji Vocabulary,” “Ciji Spirit”

Te Still Toughts Abode and Still Toughts Hall at the Ciji headquarters werethe models or the Project Hope Schools20 (see Figures 2.3 and 2.4), althoughthere is still is a degree o variation among the schools.21 Zhengyan requiredthe architects and engineers o Project Hope to “build to last a millennium . . . .”All structures were built with steel-rein orced concrete, yet each school wasdesigned to be aesthetically pleasing, according to the taste o Zhengyan: “It’snot only to build a sturdy structure that will last 1,000 years but also createan artistic work that surges rom the earth.”22 Zhengyan stipulated the coloro the schools, including the roo , to be light gray 23 to provide students witha quiet and calm learning environment. Also, the outside walls were plasteredwith high-grade, nely-washed pebbles; this entailed extra time, negotiation,and expense, according to one study.24

Like Ciji’s Still Toughts Abode and Still Toughts Hall in Hualian,many o the schools eature a traditional Chinese vertically- ared roo , a shapethat to the Ciji group symbolizesren (person), to connote Ciji’s promulgationo Buddhism in the human realm and Con ucian humanism (Figure 3.1).Ceilings are high, corridors and stairways are wide, and the broad balco-




nies offer vistas looking out to both the landscaped campus and the distantscenery. Te oors are designed to be non-slip and the school acilities are

handicapped-accessible. Te design is intended to give people a spacious andopen eeling.25 In He You eng’s opinion, “. . . as or the notion o space, [thisdesign] . . . leans towards Buddhist traditions, that is, digni ed, austere, neat,the spatial structure has a strong sense o proportion and is well-grounded.Tis orm makes people eel peace ul and stable.”26

But this could just as well be a description o a Con ucian temple. ProjectHope, as does Ciji in general, purports to promote Con ucian moral ideals:Cultivate onesel and also create a re ned campus; cultivate morals, quality,good taste . . . take the right path . . . stress sel -cultivation and education askey to stable and healthy amily and society.27 Zhengyan believes “educationmust have its roots in childhood: one must make up one’s mind to becomea gentleman. Te gentleman’s heart is broad, he has compassion, he under-stands gratitude, and he ollows the rules. o become a gentleman one mustdiligently study, respect your teachers, and be lial to your parents.”28 Teseare traditional Chinese educational values, echoed by a ormer principal atYanping Primary School who wrote that he expects that the new school’sdesign will create a study atmosphere that will make teachers and students“re ned and elegant” and will make good citizens who are polite, maintainorder, are neat and clean, studious, and love others.29

But to Luo Rong, schools designed like Ciji’s Still Toughts Hall, withits “Still Toughts” message, may become “imprisoning,” and may clamp down

Figure 3.1. Sheliao Primary School, Nantou County (Elise A. DeVido)




students’ personality development. She adds that the schools’ all-gray colorscheme, intended to convey a calm, digni ed, and quiet air, lacks the vitality

and liveliness associated with developing children.30

Her point becomes clearwhen one views the other schools o the New School Campus Movement,built with wood, brick, stone, and tiles, and using an array o lively colorsand textures, some incorporating Southern Min, Hakka, or aboriginal styles,re ecting the local history, economy, and ecology traditions o their locales.Xitou’s Neihu Primary School, or example, was designed like a Japanesetraditional inn in the woods; not a ew schools look like private homes, vacation villas, or summer camps. Many o the new schools have spurredtourism in their areas.

But the Ciji organization proceeds in its own orbit, with its own missions

to accomplish. Unlike most religious or charitable organizations, Ciji has itsown pro essional construction department and an architectural committee,with speci c ideological goals that they are determined to attain.31 One othe architects involved in Project Hope elt pressured to keep to Ciji’s astwork-pace and strict timetable, and still meet their requirements about spaceallocations, school sa ety, and “educational ideals.” He had to alter his originalplans to t Ciji’s “vocabulary” and “spirit,” which is, in a word, exempli edby Ciji’s Still Toughts Abode; but he diplomatically claimed he did not mindchanging his design, since “Ciji’s ideas are very meaning ul.”32

Another architect who rebuilt Project Hope schools elt he did have less

reedom to design, choose materials, and so orth than he usually enjoys, orseveral reasons. He elt, rst, that there was a consensus in the Ciji organizationthat Zhengyan’s ideal is the Still Toughts Abode style and that Ciji memberswished to please her; and, second, that all parties involved were under greatpressure to complete the schools or the 2002 academic year. For this architect,meeting the deadline took priority over his design reedom, since he couldbasically accept Ciji’s aesthetics and philosophy. However, he added that, inhis personal opinion, Buddhists should not adhere so closely to one “ orm” or“vocabulary” or “group identity”; this seems to contradict Buddhist teachingson non-sel , non-duality, and non-attachment or equanimity.33

Luo Rong queried: “What does Ciji mean by putting up gray, grand, andimposing ‘Still Toughts Halls’ all over Central aiwan, and encouraging theteaching o Still Toughts in the schools?”34 She did not venture answers, butas this chapter argues throughout, Project Hope is one way through whichZhengyan and Ciji hope to realize their vision o a new aiwan civilization.

Ciji’s “Green” Philosophy

A “green” philosophy, one that stresses conservation and a sustainable typeo development, is another basic principle o Project Hope, so the school




communities strive to conserve water and other resources, sort and recyclewaste, and recycle rainwater or use in restrooms. Te buildings were designed

to exploit natural light and good air circulation to avoid extra lightingand air conditioning, and tried to eliminate or minimize sources o noisepollution.35

Also, much attention was paid to the landscaping and protection o thenatural topography and ecology o each school’s campus; the plans tried toprotect rare species and old trees on the campus, and as much as possiblepromote outdoor education and build multipurpose outdoor amphitheatersand stages.36

Since the 1980s, spurred by aiwan’s environmental movement, Ciji haspromoted environmental awareness, recycling, and conservation to a greater

extent than the other major Buddhist groups in aiwan. Some statements oZhengyan recall an “Earth-as-Gaia” philosophy articulated in the works o JamesLovelock ([1995], 2000), Fritjo Capra (1997), and Anna Primavesi (2000), whohold that the earth is a living and breathing organism.37 For the new millen-nium, Zhengyan believes the Buddha’s mission is to save our Mother Earthand each o us must wash the earth clean and puri y human hearts.38

As a Buddhist and a believer in Chinese correlative cosmology, in her view many natural disasters are in act man-made, not only due to humanabuse o the environment but also rom humanity’s “accumulated negativekarma” and general human moral depravity which upsets cosmological har-

mony. She believes in the Buddhist notion o the apocalyptic potential orhuman renewal: Major disasters will awaken a ew humans to repent, whocan rebuild civilization. Moreover, Zhengyan believes that there is a directconnection between the turn o the new century and the great number odisasters occurring around the world; she claims that the world is now in theBuddhist period o “decline,” akin to the Biblical apocalypse.39 At the sametime, she exhorts that we can and must do all to protect and restore the globalenvironment: Humans must learn to peace ully coexist with nature to slowthe current pace toward world destruction.40

One o the stated goals o Project Hope was to help restore “the localpeople’s way o li e” while carrying out long-term conservation efforts. However,Zhengyan does not name or criticize the speci c causes o massive erosion in

aiwan such as non-sustainable construction and development projects, or over-cultivation o betel nut trees and other cash crops in mountain areas, which isofen the “local people’s way o li e.”41 Absent rom Zhengyan’s sermons overallis any speci c critique o the structural causes o environmental degradationsuch as government support o boundless industrial development or agrantdisregard o pollution and construction regulations. On the contrary, Zhengyanbelieves social and global change will occur most meaning ully by cultivat-ing individual morality, sel -restraint, and the powers o empathy. Drawing




rom theBook o Ritesand the Analects, Zhengyan (and Ciji) promotes the“keji uli movement”: Overcome one’s desires and revive courtesy, not only

to reduce one’s needs and consumption habits but to shape harmonious tieso mutual respect among people.42

“Re ned and Cultured,” Purged o “Superstition and Bad Habits . . .”

Furthermore, Ciji urged all involved in Project Hope to be “rational,” orgetabout engshui and choosing auspicious days, etc.43 Here Zhengyan expressedthe stance o renjian ojiao as it developed around the time o the New Cul-ture Movement in early twentieth-century China: “Superstition is the way oghosts and spirits and is not the way o true Buddhism . . . Buddhism is not

only a religious aith but even more is concerned with the improvement oli e and the promotion o science.”44

And the Ciji organization wants to purge the aiwanese o their “badhabits” (“waste” o materials and resources; littered working conditions; betel-nut chewing, spitting, smoking, drinking, coarse or “aggressive” language).Purging “superstitions” and “bad habits” echoes the exhortations o various“New Culture Movements” in modern Chinese history such as the May Fourthactivists’ call to “purge the accumulated poisons in traditional Chinese culture,”or Chiang Kai-shek’s “New Li e Movement,” or Mao Zedong’s slogan “separatethe gold rom the dross in Chinese culture.”

Ciji’s series o books on the Project Hope Schools included testimonieso success in “re orming” and “re ning” the (primarily male) constructionworkers, how “they too can learn manners and civilization” . . . learn signlanguage and songs . . . be gentle and compassionate . . . “hands that are strongas steel can also be gentle.” Some workers claim that due to the ameliorativein uence o Still Toughts, they ended their habits o smoking, drinking,betel-nut chewing, swearing, and explosive tempers. During my visit to schoolsites with the Ciji eachers’ Association, we met one such “converted” workerwho designed his own “holy cards” decorated with a photo o Zhengyanout o gratitude to her. It is not known how numerous or permanent theseconversions were. But Zhengyan ceaselessly promotes a certain de nition o“culture” among her Ciji members as well as among the construction workers:“clean, quiet, no drinking, smoking, or chewing betel-nut.”45

O course intoxicants, anger, and harm ul speech contravene Bud-dhist principles, but here also is a clash o class cultures, as Ciji attemptedto “civilize the coarse and hard sun-darkened workers,” recalling the his-torical example o nineteenth-century middle-class Christian re ormers whohoped “to uplif” workers and immigrants in Britain and America. Toughsocial re ormers may have elt compassion or these people, they were alsodetermined to eradicate such behavior such as “loudly and rudely eating,




drinking and making love” in public areas. Te re ormers thus betrayedtheir psychological and social anxiety, to clearly place themselves in a higher

class, and especially in the American case, to demarcate themselves rom a“lower class” some had only too recently “escaped.”46 Robert Weller has alsocompared Ciji members with nineteenth-century Christian social re ormersand ound that both hailed primarily rom urban new middle classes, andboth aced societies undergoing rapid and unsettling economic and politicalchange. Con ronted with such change, both groups expressed their ears asthe danger o losing “traditional community and amily values” (as i thereever existed one clear set).47

Again like their nineteenth-century predecessors, Ciji volunteers involvedwith the Project Hope school reconstruction project acted as benevolent author-

ity gures. Both male and emale members made requent, even daily, visitsto each work site, and provided material and moral support to the workers(rest stations, periodic snacks, group spirit activities) but also demanded on-site adherence to sa ety and high quality construction, while at the same timethey expected orderliness, recycling o re use, a high degree o effi ciency, andadherence to work schedules. Zhengyan, her vice executive director Lin Biyu,Ciji’s architectural committee, and various Ciji volunteer groups consistentlymonitored the progress at all sites to ensure that the spirit and letter o theoriginal designs were carried out.48

Besides Class Bias, Ciji Promotes raditional Feminine IdealsCiji hopes not only to civilize males but also to temper emales: to re neand sofen the so-called aiwan Superwoman,aiwan nuqiangren. Tis termofen re ers to a career woman who may or may not take on each and everyduty expected o a “wi e-and-mother,” including valet to husband, tutor and“homework coach” or the children, amily nurse, amily cook and maid,

amily secretary, amily accountant, and caretaker o elders on both sides othe amily. o undertake so many roles, aiwanese women must be strongand able to express their opinions. Butnuqiangren is usually used pejorativelyto criticize an “over-opinionated,” “aggressive,” “strong,” and by deduction,“un eminine” woman.49

While visiting Project Hope’s Fengdong Middle School, our teachers’group was entertained with a hand-puppet skit centered around this topic:“. . . She was a Superwoman who struck ear and trembling into people’s hearts,but now, because she’s experienced the Enlightened Love o Ciji, she’s beentrans ormed into a sof and gentle bird, a little bird who relies on others . . . thusher relations with amily and riends are more harmonious and happier thanbe ore. . . .” Visitors to the school handled the puppets while the male pup-peteer, a Ciji volunteer, delivered lively voice narration, acting our different




roles. Tis skit evinced laughter rom the audience, but laughter can conveyuneasiness or skepticism as well as signi y revelation and affi rmation.

oward a New aiwan Civilization?

Project Hope’s missions to promote community engagement in schools andeducation, as well as active concern or the environment, promise great bene tsto aiwanese society. eachers, students, and parents actively participated in various ways during the planning and construction o Project Hope schools;and Ciji volunteers provided material and moral support (rest stations, snacks,group activities) to the workers, did the post-construction landscaping at

some schools, organized und-raising events such as charity auctions and eamarkets, and organized cultural and recreational activities in the schools andor the local communities. According to Yao aishan’s study o Project Hope,

Ciji’s activities during the construction process reduced the gap between Ciji,the schools, and parents, and “the in ectious power” and “cohesive power” othe Ciji volunteers inspired and mobilized teachers, administrators, and parentsto stand up and take a more active role in their local schools.50

But Project Hope raises important questions about Ciji’s aim o long-term sociocultural re orm. Although promoting recycling and environmentalprotection is commendable, Ciji’s “New aiwan Civilization” aims to replace

aiwan culture’s pluralistic, color ul, and boisterous characteristics, as wellas democratic dissent and debate, with a quiet and obedient collectivecon ormity.51

Furthermore, to what extent does the Ciji organization continue itsinvolvement in public schools and do teachers and administrators teachStillToughts in their classrooms? During “ amily activities” on the weekend, Cijimembers teach the “Lesson on Giving Tanks,” a central tenet o Ciji culture,and explore this as a theme to be practiced at home, at school, and in thecommunity. Furthermore, Fugui Primary School, along with other ProjectHope schools, sets aside time or students to readStill Toughts to cultivate agrate ul heart.52 A number o schools have posted quotations rom Zhengyan’sStill Toughts in classrooms—along the corridors and in the bathroom—andstudents copied them into their notebooks. o teachers and administrators,the Still Toughts curriculum teaches “ethical values” and “wisdom or dailyli e.” Parents and teachers view this as a wholesome character-building activ-ity, not religious proselytizing, even though, over the course o Project Hope,teachers, administrators, and parents did become Ciji members.53

A ormer principal o Jiji Middle School, in gratitude to Ciji, had theschool’s Counseling Room decorated with a picture o the Buddha and asmaller photo o Zhengyan, and some teachers involved in student counsel-




ing at the Middle School are Ciji members. Is this religious proselytizing, orsimply psychological and moral guidance? A teacher at Jiji Primary School

told me Ciji promotes concern about humanity and inspires students to “dogood,” and these are ideals welcomed by aiwan’s society. Or to cite anotherexample, Yanping Primary School has a large concrete multi unctionalstructure shaped like the Buddha’s Hand or children to clamber upon andslide down; it also unctions as a stage. A ormer principal wrote that the“Buddha’s Hand” not only makes students very happy but also can cultivatean enlightened mind in the teachers and great compassion in the students’hearts, to become a school that can sow the seeds o great compassion. TeBuddha Hand “. . . is a welcoming hand, a hand o great compassion, a com-

orting and accepting hand.”54

In yet another example, the Foguangshan Buddhist group unded therebuilding o Zhongke Primary School; the building uses red bricks andwood, and the design is supposed to represent a Hakka style o architecture.Interestingly, next to a wooden shrine (donated by local merchants) dedicatedto Con ucius, there is a statue o Guanyin put up by the school in gratitudeto Foguangshan and also to remind students to count their blessings andbe grate ul.55

Te question is, do these cases violate the principle o “neutrality” stipu-lated in Article Six o the “Basic Education Law o the Republic o China”which prohibits proselytizing by religious or political groups on public school

campuses?56

In act, Ciji has promotedStill Toughts programs in aiwan’spublic schools since 1992, be ore the promulgation o Article Six in 1999.57 Academic studies on teachingStill Toughts in aiwan’s public schools do notdiscuss the legal issues involved but, instead, affi rm these programs’ pedagogi-cal effi cacy, approach to teaching moral values, etc.58

So ar, there is little, i any, open debate in aiwan about promotingStillToughts in the public schools. Perhaps the ollowing actors render legalisticreservations pedantic and irrelevant:

• Te aiwan government’s alleged shortage o reconstructionunds

• Te indisputable act o positive bene ts gained by all

• Te current trend in aiwan to implement curricula like “Li eStudies” (courses exploring bioethics and counseling) and“Comprehensive Education” (education o mind, body, heart),which Christian and Buddhist groups have helped develop.59

• Te current trend in education policy toward a ‘school-basedcurriculum’ that avors the initiative and authority o the




Open criticism o Ciji in any aspect is rare in aiwan, other than that“Ciji absorbs too many donations and resources.”65 Still, why do so many people

support Ciji? Chapter 2 suggested a number o reasons, but the next chapterwill probe why Ciji’s interpretation o Buddhism, with particular re erence toits set o gender ideals, attracts so many women and men.



Chapter 4

Te Women o CijiNuns, Laypeople, and the Bodhisattva Guanyin

As we saw in Chapter 2, Zhengyan emanates an androgynous multi acetedpersonality: Buddhist master, visionary, mother, patriarch, commander-in-chie . In her youth she struggled with her mother and her amily, rejectedthe roles o wi e and mother, wandered in the wilderness o eastern aiwan,and became a Buddhist nun. In all these acts, Zhengyan was a rebel, yet shebecame amous as a champion o traditional Con ucian ideals o the primacyo the patriarchal amily, lial piety, and “women-as-mothers” through herparticular interpretation o Buddhism.

From the 1960s to 1990, the Ciji organization grew primarily due tothe efforts o Zhengyan, her nuns, Ciji’s volunteer emale devotees, and aselect group o emale commissioners, major donors o time, skills, andmoney (Figure 4.1, next page). Men have always participated as volunteers,then as members o the Compassion Faith Corps ounded in 1990, and ascommissioners. In addition to its volunteer orces, Ciji also employs emaleand male pro essionals in the elds o medicine, medical technology, comput-ers, education, media, publishing, engineering, and architecture. In 2004 theCiji organization upgraded the male aith corps to the same organizationallevel as the (mostly emale) commissioners.1 Although male participation isimportant and growing in Ciji2 this chapter argues that Ciji’s reinterpreta-tion and propagation o so-called “ eminine values” was and continues to beintegral to its mission and worldview. Tere are numerous women’s groups,Buddhist groups, NGOs, and social wel are groups, but Ciji is the largest andmost amous o these in aiwan.

Lu Hwei-syin (1998; 2000a,b); Huang and Weller (1998); Robert Weller(1999); and Yang and Zhang (2004a) argue that one reason or Ciji’s phe-nomenal success is that Ciji empowers women, as Ciji membership developswomen’s identities and potentials. “Empowerment” is a term prevalent incurrent academic and popular discourse, but what does it actually mean orwomen, particularly Buddhist women, in aiwan?3 How and to what extent

63




does Ciji empower women, and what does this reveal about aiwanese womenand aiwanese society?

In order to explore these questions, this chapter discusses the ollowingcategories o “Te Women o Ciji.” Te rst section introduces Zhengyan’snuns and her expectations o them to becomeda zhang u, “great men,” and

notes how different this expectation is rom the Woman-Mother-Bodhisattvaideal she demands o lay supporters. Te second section makes the point thatwhile Ciji as a lay organization shares certain aspects with traditional lay-groups in Chinese and aiwanese history, Ciji’s members comprise volunteerand pro essional women and men o diverse backgrounds, and the contentand scope o Ciji missions is unparalleled in Chinese Buddhist history.

Te third section highlights another important “woman” o Ciji, theGuanyin Bodhisattva. (See Figure 1.1.) Ciji has success ully exploited thesymbolism o the popular cult o Guanyin/Miaoshan to a greater extent thanother Buddhist masters in aiwan and Ciji’s valorization o “ eminine” and“maternal” virtues makes a striking comparison to the circumscribed and/ornegative view o the same values in ibetan and Teravādin traditions. Howdoes Ciji’s interpretation o a modern Guanyin both empower and delimitwomen?

Te chapter concludes that Ciji does not challenge or subvert traditionalideas about women’s nature and roles, but has extended women’s so-callednurturing and healing roles rom home to society, and in the process hasconvinced many aiwanese to empathize with and assist people beyond theirimmediate social circles o amily and riends. Tis is a pro ound example osocial trans ormation or aiwan, as was the case historically in China: “It

Figure 4.1. Master Zhengyan and the rst Commissioners in aipei(Ciji Foundation)



65Te Women o Ciji

is widely held that an important legacy o Buddhism in Chinese society wasthat it ostered a ‘universalistic ethics’vis-à-vis Con ucian amilism and led

to a great increase in charitable activities.”4

Such a social trans ormation, this large-scale mobilization o citizens toundertake compassionate acts to relieve suffering, is an achievement seeminglybeyond reproach, but in doing so, the Ciji organization has taken or grantedand reproduced essentialist notions o gender,5 though at the same time, otherwomen and men in aiwan are working assiduously to promote gender equalityin education, law, political representation, and career opportunity. For howmuch longer can Ciji draw rom the well o gender essentialism o aiwansociety? Is Ciji’s vision o Bodhisattva-as-mother reactionary or revolution-ary? o attempt to answer these questions, it is necessary to rst discuss the

women closest to Zhengyan, her nun disciples.

Te Nuns o the Still Toughts Abode

A noteworthy Buddhist nun or monk usually attracts and cultivates a groupo like-minded monastic disciples and establishes a distinctive temple com-munity and legacy. However, not much is known about Zhengyan’s nuns:Ciji offi cial publications and academic studies o Ciji barely mention them.6 Tere are about 140 nuns affi liated with the Still Toughts Abode, the heart

o Ciji’s Hualian headquarters. Te nuns, ranging in age rom twenty-one toover seventy (average age 45 to 50), are the core support group,houdun, andthe orce o stability or the entire Ciji organization.

With lay members ar outnumbering the nuns, it is mostly laypeople (volunteers and paid pro essionals) carrying out the Cijimissions o charity, medicine, education, and culture. Tough nunsalso participate in these missions, their main role is to ollow thespirit and letter and traditional ethics, protect the roots [o Ciji]and play the role o transmitters o traditional concepts; in the endit is the Master, through her deeds, who is leading everyone.7

Ciji sources ofen compare Ciji to a tree, in this way: Ciji is a tree that hasgrown tall and broad due to the dedication and willpower o Master Zheng-yan; Ciji’s roots are the nuns and permanent residents o the Still ToughtsAbode, while its branches and leaves are Ciji’s lay-members: all are tightlybound together as one.8

Zhengyan began her enterprise in 1966 with a close-knit group o nuns.9 Tey evidently dedicated themselves to Zhengyan heart and soul, and togetherthey lived through several arduous years arming and making handicrafs by




day and studying at night by candlelight. At times they had nothing to eatbut soy sauce and rice; at night, mice ran around the room as “the sisters”

attempted to sleep huddled together on two tatami mats, sharing two quilts.Zhengyan built “sororal ties” with her rst disciples and the rst generationo thirty lay disciples, as Robert Weller aptly phrased it,10 but more thansisters, these women became comrades bonded through shared experienceso triumph over suffering and hardship.

According to Charles B. Jones’ interpretation, “. . . the Still ToughtsAbode is very small and does not serve as the main symbol o the organiza-tion; that role is reserved to the white marble hospital buildings.”11 On thecontrary, I argue that the primary role o Ciji’s nuns, both in practice andsymbolically, is protector o the roots o Ciji Buddhist spirit and mission and

I agree with C. Julia Huang that the Still Toughts Abode is the heart andhome o the Ciji organization.12

Li e at the Still Toughts Abode

Te ounding and early growth o the Ciji organization was undertaken strictlyin a sel -reliant manner, expressly not relying on lay offerings, by keeping a

rugal li estyle, growing their own ood, and also making and selling a vari-ety o hand-made or sel -cultivated items over the years such as sweaters,

gloves, diapers, circuit breakers, chrysanthemums, pottery, plastic owers,bean powder, and candles.New nuns at the Still Toughts Abode ollow the li e and work style

originally ashioned by Zhengyan and her rst ve or six nuns. Tis is ali estyle o sel -reliance based on a passage rom ang dynasty Chan masterBaizhang: “A day o no work means a day without eating.”13 Following a dailyschedule similar to other Chinese monasteries, the sound o the wooden clapperwakens the nuns at 3:50 a.m., then bell and drums summon all to morningservice. Next is preparing break ast or all residents and guests. Daily indoorand outdoor chores ollow, including tending the garden and making theirown organic ertilizer. Other nuns attend to guests, manage the bookstore,lead tours o Still Toughts Abode, answer the phone, take messages, and eldinquiries about Buddhism, Zhengyan, and the Ciji enterprise.

As or production work, the nuns produce bean and barley powder(sold as health oods). As they have since the beginning, the nuns rely uponthis work to cover their daily expenses: All donations to the Ciji organizationgo to Ciji’s missions, not to Zhengyan or her nun disciples.14 All monaster-ies do early morning chores not only out o necessity but as part o theirBuddhist practice, and many grow ruits and vegetables; but to Ciji thistradition o sel -reliant production is inherently virtuous, it carries centralmoral authority, it is a symbolic capital und, which Zhengyan and her nuns



67Te Women o Ciji

draw rom and constantly re er back to in their daily routines at the StillToughts Abode. 15

In an article describing the resident nuns o Ciji, most o the photoshighlight the nuns engaged in physical labor as gardeners o the Ciji spirit.16 Tis is in contrast with other all-nun groups such as the Luminary emple inJiayi whose Master, Wu Yin, has ocused on training nuns, and has developeda complete pedagogical system toward this end (see Chapter 5). Likewise, Ven.Hiuwan’s Lotus Buddhist Ashram trains nuns and is affi liated with Hua anUniversity, the rst university ounded by a monastic to be recognized bythe Ministry o Education. Foguangshan monastery has trained nuns at theirBuddhist Institute since 1967 and has run a separate institute or monks since1985. Ciji has a school system open to the public comprising each level o

schooling, rom kindergarten to graduate school, but no Buddhist instituteto train the nuns.In the early days o Ciji, Zhengyan led her disciples in Buddhist studies,

in keeping with the Chan Buddhist idealchaogeng, yedu [ arm in the morning,study at night], but in recent years, all uesday and Wednesday evenings areset aside or study, hearing guest lecturers, and in orming the nuns on theprogress o Ciji’s missions as well as news and developments in aiwan andaround the world. One nun who has been with Zhengyan or over a decadesaid that she and her Master have not said much to each other, rather, thather Master teaches thedharma primarily not through lectures but rom the

example o her actions.A potential novitiate rst would have to ully identi y with the missionsand orientation o Ciji. In the case o Ven. Deni, she had already heard twoother amous Buddhist masters in aiwan lecture on thedharma, but stilldidn’t understand the essence o Buddhism until she came into contact withCiji. While serving as a Ciji volunteer in aichung, she was greatly inspiredby the dedication and sel essness, strong will, and down-to-earth attitude othe housewi e volunteers, who aced all kinds o diffi culties to carry out theBodhisattva vow.17

Some nuns, like Ven. Deni, had been Ciji volunteers, some had beenin the Youth Corps, and some have mothers and athers who are active Ciji volunteers. Zhengyan pre ers that candidates have some work experience be oredeciding to become a novitiate at Ciji. Novitiates spend a varying number oyears participating in all aspects o li e and work at the Still Toughts Abode;Zhengyan decides who is suitable to be tonsured. Tis group must pass throughanother two-year observation period be ore Zhengyan nally decides whocan be ully ordained. Candidates at Ciji, as is standard in Buddhism, mustobtain parental approval be ore becoming ordained, and Zhengyan pre ersthat parents attend the ordination ceremony.18

According to their talents and experiences, some Ciji nuns work withthe Ciji’s missions o charity, medical care, education, and culture, and utilize



69Te Women o Ciji

that Chan Buddhists believe crucial to attain enlightenment.23 Levering, Hsieh,and Grant have shown that in Chan Buddhist texts rom the Song onward,

male Buddhist writers “saw” and praised outstanding and enlightened emalelaywomen and nuns asda zhang u, a development in Buddhist discourse thattransmitted mixed messages to women then and now. On the one hand, suchtexts, in contrast to misogynist passages in other Buddhist literature, arguedthat women were capable o study and enlightenment equal to men, and relatedmany cases o esteemed nuns teaching laypeople, named indharma lineages,and managing their own monastic affairs. Yet Levering concludes that ChanBuddhism’s “. . . rhetoric o equality cannot stand up against the rhetoric omasculine heroism, when the latter is supported by gender distinctions so‘real’ to the culture and remain unambiguous.”24

Androcentric or not, theda zhang u ideal greatly appealed to Zhengyan,through which she could realize her youth ul aspiration: “What i a womancould be like a man and do great things or the world?”25 Ciji nuns De u andDeni stated that to become a monastic is to accept a great mission: to “doyour part in the amily o the Buddha,”chengdan rulai jiaye.26 According toVen. De u, becoming ada zhang u is not actually becoming male, nor is it aneutralizing o nuns’ emaleness, but it is mani esting “male” characteristicssuch as bravery, as opposed to “ emale” characteristics such as sofness. obecome a monastic, she says, is to bear any burden, and donate one’s heartand all bodily powers to society. o Ven. Deni, theda zhang u is a gentleman,

with a good moral character; his word is his honor and he is broad-minded,as opposed to “ emale” tendencies toward jealousy, narrow-heartedness, gos-siping, obsessing, and antasizing.27

Dwelling on the obvious gender-neutral and/or androcentric eaturesshared by monks and nuns regarding clothing, the tonsure, deportment, andso on can lead to the hasty conclusion that aiwan’s nuns have “suppressedtheir emininity” and/or have “transcended gender.”28 But urther researchis needed to ascertain to what degree Ciji’s nuns (or other nuns in aiwan)identi y with the masculineda zhang u role relative to other aspects o theiridentity such as “ aiwanese emale” or “pro essional religious.”29 Contradictoryidentities are not necessarily problematic: Wenjie Qin shows convincingly ornuns in China that they can “. . . make strategic use o their gender ambigu-ity;” which “. . . contains a liberating and empowering potential,” as they makeuse o their eminine, masculine, and “neutral” characteristics according tonecessity and circumstance.30

In sum, the nuns o the Still Toughts Abode are important symboli-cally or the Ciji myth and are invaluable to Zhengyan, personally, to thedaily operation o the Still Toughts Abode, and in the many activities o theCiji Foundation in aiwan and overseas. However, in terms o membershipand the ocus o its missions, Ciji is primarily a lay organization. Te next




section there ore will discuss Ciji’s lay-members and how, through them, Cijiis eminizing and by implication “civilizing” the public sphere.

Te Lay Members

Ciji originally gained renown as a women’s Buddhist charity organization,built up rom the 1960s by Zhengyan, her nun disciples, and Ciji’s women volunteers. In various times and places in Chinese history Buddhist mon-asteries sheltered victims o disaster; aided orphans, widows, the old, poor,sick and hungry; provided interest- ree loans; and helped bury the dead.31 As is well documented, a laywomen’s Buddhist group undertaking charity

also has historical precedent. Daniel Overmyer and Barend J. ter Haar haveshown that “. . . many women assumed active leadership roles in Sung layBuddhist societies and post-Sung popular religious sects.”32 Laywomen in theSong and Yuan dynasties “. . . carried out their Buddhist activities parallel to,but not subordinated under, the organized Sangha. Tey per ormed gooddeeds or society as well as ritual activities such as chanting sūtras. . . .”33 Inlate Imperial China (1550–1900), the animosity and censure voiced by Neo-Con ucian moralists and some monks did not stop the public participation bygreat numbers o women in lay Buddhism when “. . . nuns became a amiliarsight in the houses, and there was no lack o women in the mushrooming

lay associations that organized such activities assūtra chanting, temple visits,and pilgrimages.”34 In pre-1950s aiwan, many women participated inzhaijiiao sects and some all- emalezhaitangwere headed by a woman.35 But generallyspeaking, these traditional groups were more likely led by monks or localmale elites than by nuns or laywomen, and the content and scope o theircharitable and philanthropic missions cannot compare to the missions o amodern organization like Ciji.

By the mid-1990s, Ciji had developed ar beyond a traditional laywomen’sBuddhist group and was no longer only “a group o middle-aged aiwanesehousewives” doing good works. It had become “. . . instead a microcosm omultiple social statuses in aiwan” with other subgroups such as the male

aith corps, the teachers’ association, the college students’ youth corps, theentrepreneurs’ club, and the police club.36 Tese groups orm the highly vis-ible “volunteer” ace o Ciji, yet Ciji also hires part-time and ull-time pro-

essionals to work in general operations, medical and educational missions,broadcasting, publishing, public relations, and international relie ; many othese pro essionals are male.

Ciji’s changing membership over orty years is like a series o snapshotso the social and economic trans ormations in aiwan over the same timeperiod. It is crucial to highlight the differences in generations, class, and edu-



71Te Women o Ciji

cational background o Ciji’s lay- ollowers. Originally, the backbone o Ciji wascomposed o rural, small-town housewi e volunteers and middle-class urban

housewi e volunteers (but ofen these “housewives” did piece-rate work, wentto market to sell odds and ends, took odd jobs to add to household income,and especially, worked ree o charge in small amily businesses run rom thehome).37 Men could be volunteers and aim to become commissioners. Butin 1990, the Compassion Faith Corps (Cicheng dui) was established or menwho were experienced Ciji volunteers and who were willing to ollow the vebasic Buddhist precepts o no killing, no stealing, no adultery, no lying, andno alcohol, as well as abstain rom drugs, betel-nut chewing, gambling, andplaying the stock market. Furthermore, the Faith Corpsmen are expected tobe lial, sof-spoken, have a gentle expression, abide by traffi c regulations,

and must not participate in politics or social movements.38

Te ollowingdescription speaks volumes:

Te en Precepts are like small wires that support and shape abonsai banyan tree. Tey grow with each Cicheng Faith CorpsMember, recti ying his bad habits and stubborn prejudices . . . Temen are as disciplined as soldiers, yet at the same time they aregentle and modest.39

Despite the men’s “bad habits and stubborn prejudices,” apparently the

women welcomed the in ux, “. . . because all the hard work could be doneby the men. Te male members emphasized organization and discipline andwere strong and vigorous. Because o their participation, Ciji became moreeffi cient and its public image was greatly elevated” and the organization couldattain “the right balance o emale compassion and male wisdom.”40 Te taskso the Faith Corps include night security duty, recycling center volunteering,hospital volunteering, situations involving transportation and traffi c control,and disaster relie .41 Males brought to Ciji new models o organization romthe offi ce, the university, and rom their two-year military service experience,including the terms corps, battalion, company and platoons.42

Since the late 1980s Ciji increasingly called upon the expertise o paidpro essional men and women, as Ciji built its rst hospital and expandedoverseas, established a media enterprise ( V, journals, books), and built acomplete school system rom kindergarten to graduate school at their headquar-ters. Many o these pro essionals are active lay-members; some have lef their

ormer prestigious positions to work ull-time or the Ciji organization.43 Laypeople join Ciji and other modern Buddhist groups in aiwan or

reasons similar to why laypeople supported Buddhism in Chinese history, orexample, to seek guidance regarding soteriological questions, health issues,and personal problems with amily and associates44 and a conviction that



73Te Women o Ciji

enlightened “old women,” were used to praise spiritually-advanced Buddhistpractitioners, both male and emale. Tese stories may also have shaped the

development o a eminine Guanyin in China.49

With the popularization o theLotus Sūtraand Pure Landsūtras inChina, Guanyin became known as a Bodhisattava who could appear in overthirty orms, seven o them emale, promising salvation and granting peti-tions to both men and women.50 Since the twelfh century, a representationo Guanyin as Chinese and emale became popularized via the legend othe Chinese princess Miaoshan, daughter o a king with no sons. Due toher devotion to Buddhist aith, Miaoshan re used an arranged marriage andincurred the wrath o her ather who attempted to kill her. While in theunderworld reeing suffering ghosts, Miaoshan heard that her ather was ill,

as “karmic consequence” or his murder o Miaoshan’s ellow nuns. Miaoshancured him with a medicine made rom her own eyes and hands, mani estingthe ideals o both lial piety and the Bodhisattva.51 Her ather recognizedher and “. . . Miaoshan miraculously grows new eyes and arms, becoming thethousand-eyed and thousand-armed incarnation o Guanyin.”52

Li Yuzhen relates the great popularity o Guanyin/Miaoshan worshipin aiwan at least since the seventeenth century, attested not only by thenumber o temples dedicated to her, but also in the numbers o lay devoteesboth emale and male in thezhaijiao tradition.53 In Chinese Buddhist history,Guanyin/Miaoshan has been revered by both devout Buddhist women who

resisted marriage54

as well as those who, voluntarily or not, remained withinthe amily structure.55 Women prayed to Guanyin to relieve the suffering arisingout o the karmic ate in being born emale: marriage and amily problems,menstruation and childbirth, and duty to bear sons.56

Tis Guanyin/Miaoshan ount is o central importance to Zhengyanand Ciji, to a ar greater extent than to other Buddhist Masters in aiwan.As we saw in the last chapter, Guanyin gured prominently in Zhengyan’searly years and rom the start o her Buddhist vocation in charity, medicine,and relie , Zhengyan dedicated hersel to the ul llment o the Bodhisattva vow to not rest until all are saved. She expects the same dedication rom her

ollowers: “We will become Guanyin’s watch ul eyes and hands, and the worldcan never call us Buddhists a passive group again.”57

Zhengyan’s advice presented in herStill Toughts echo tracts o popu-lar Buddhism such as theBiography o the Guanshiyin Bodhisattva availableat aiwan temples ree or or a donation. Most o this book retells popularlegends about Guanyin dating rom the twelfh century, while the last sectionaddresses contemporary amily and emotional problems. It instructs womenhow to attain personal happiness as well as amily peace and harmony (thetwo are inextricably intertwined) by adjusting and improving their own




attitudes and behavior; the responsibility is one’s own.58 Tis type o populartract, like Zhengyan’sStill Toughts, encourages “right speech” and voicing

one’s gratitude through words and deeds.59

Te advice can be empowering: A woman should take responsi-bility or hersel and create her own happiness through positivewords and thoughts. Or (this) . . . can be understood as calling oraccommodation to an oppressive situation; she should not demandchanges in her amily situation but learn to cope with it.60

In a similar vein, Zhengyan does not advocate divorce as solution orwomen’s marital problems such as a husband’s adultery: “You need to cultivate

a good relationship with your spouse every day. Even i the relationship turnssour, you must take one step backward to accept reality with an open heart.Love the person that your spouse loves, and it will be a great love.”61 “Don’tcall it an affair. You should view it as ate. It is part o your karma. You shouldaccept it bravely. You should keep loving and thanking your husband. He hasgiven you a chance to see that our lives are lled with changes.”62 Womenshould also display in nite patience and compassion with mothers-in-law,without exception.63

And as or household burdens, the solution is the age-old ideal oren,orbearance:

Q: Master, my husband doesn’t want to take care o ouramily. I’m the one who has to look afer the seventeen

people in our household. I can’t take it anymore.A: His amily is also your amily. Your husband does sobecause he knows you are very capable.64 You are not tolerantenough i you regard responsibility as suffering. It’s true thatyou have to look afer seventeen people. But remember thatI must look afer even more people.”65

Yet on the other hand Zhengyan’s mission o realizing compassionthrough active social engagement departs radically rom the style and methodo popular tracts such asSacred Chant o the White-Robed Great Sage Guanyin,which teaches the reader how to chant and to auspiciously arrange incensesticks to attain “ amily happiness,” and describes petitions or divine interven-tion to honor speci c requests like birth o sons, amily members’ health, orpassing examinations.66 Zhengyan goes ar beyond traditional Guanyin wor-ship and mobilizes the previously untapped potential o aiwanese women.Furthermore, Zhengyan promulgates and expects o her ollowers, no matteri emale or male, to mani est through concrete acts certain eminine qualities,



75Te Women o Ciji

seen as assets and strengths that will save the world. “Women’s role attributessuch as kindness, care, modesty, patience, and altruism are uplifed as the

model manner in charity services. Maternal love is heightened to representBuddha’s boundless compassion.”67

Says Zhengyan inStill Toughts: “A loving, merci ul, compassionateheart is the mark o a woman. It is a wi e’s duty to guide her husband in theright direction, and it is a mother’s duty to do things that are bene cial toothers.”68 And, “. . . one o the best things or a woman to have is the glory othe maternal instinct.”69 It is good or a pro essional woman to get ahead inher career, but she should not extinguish the glory o her maternal instinct.Furthermore,

. . . only when a housewi e ul lls a housewi e’s duty will shequali y to become a Buddhist. A good housewi e’s contributionsto her amily and society are enormous. In act, she has threedifferent roles to play in order to become a good Buddhist. First,she must be a good daughter-in-law. She needs to embrace theconcept o lial piety by serving her ather- and mother-in-lawwell . . . Second, she must be a good wi e. She should look aferher husband and help society sweep away pornography . . . Tird,she must be a good mother. She should increase her knowledgein every eld, so that she can become a good teacher and guide

or her children.70

As Con ucian and Buddhist moralists have intoned or centuries, Zheng-yan champions traditional ideas about the eminine and the ideal Chinesewi e, mother, and daughter-in-law.71 Yet when Zhengyan was asked i womenhave more karmic hindrances than men, she answered:

Not necessarily. A woman’s strength will become great i she istruly determined. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is a good example.He ofen came into the world in the emale orm o the Goddesso Mercy. How compassionate a woman’s heart can be! Compassionbreeds wisdom, and you can then help promote the work o savingthe world. A woman should not underestimate hersel .72

It is striking to compare the case o women in Ciji to societies withibetan or Teravādin traditions, where the stress placed on negative emale

traits and emale karmic hindrances ound in Buddhist literature limit oreven prohibit women rom studying thedharma, let alone attaining enlight-enment. In Bhutan, women cannot even touchTangkas. Although ibetan/

antric Buddhism has a long history o amous emale Buddhist teachers




and practitioners, and the tradition o “divine emale gures” likeārā andDākinī seem to convey power ul and liberating potentials or the “ eminine

principle,” in act, the reality or most ibetan Buddhist women is harsh andbleak. “ antric doctrine and imagery may valorize the emale, but antricpractice retains a puritan aversion to impurity. Although some antric doc-trines and iconography appear to reverse the dominance o the male, much

antric ritual practice reasserts difference.”73 Generally speaking, Teravādin and ibetan societies and their male

Buddhist establishments propagate the stereotypes o women as spiritually andintellectually weaker, prey to the waxing and waning o emotions, more pol-luted, more bound than men are to materialsamsāra world due to women’sreproductive role and “natural” inclinations to care or others.74 Te dominating

message is that women can gain merit by supporting monks, by bearing sonswho can become monks, and meanwhile pray to be born again in male orm.75 InTailand, popular Buddhist texts laud women as mothers/nurturers in the literalsocial role o mother and symbolic role o mothers/nurturers o the monks.76 But Tai Buddhist valorization o “mothers” is limited: Tis has not translatedinto support o nuns or organization o strong laywomen associations.

In contrast, as Chapter 1 discusses, over the past ew decades a numbero aiwan’s Buddhist leaders have stressed that the so-called eminine andmotherly virtues o compassion, nurturance, empathy, sel essness, sel -sacri-

ce, reconciliation, and warmth correspond precisely with Buddhist virtues.

In their proselyztizing, aiwan Buddhist masters, including Master Zhengyan,have stressed phrases in the Buddhist tradition that compare the Bodhisattva’scompassion to “a mother loving her child”77 and have drawn upon the his-torical tradition o the emale Guanyin in Chinese Buddhism. Tis to doneto harmonize with and reaffi rm Chinese gender roles and amily norms tobuild a socially engaged Buddhism without overtly disrupting thestatus quo.Zhengyan has propagated Buddhist compassion (cibei) asCiji’s da’ai (great love)to mobilize women “. . . in the name o social utility, to leave the home andextend the bene ts o maternity to society at large”78 without directly chal-lenging patriarchal norms. wo o Zhengyan’s nun disciples con rmed thatcomparing Buddhist compassioncibei to mu’ai (mother’s love) is an exampleo skill ul means, by which Zhengyan communicates with and success ullymobilizes people un amiliar with Buddhist terminology.79

Conclusion: Feminine or Feminist?

Ciji promotes and reproduces an essentialist notion o eminine nature, o theBodhisattva Guanyin synonymous with Mother, as a sel -sacri cing, in nitely

orbearing, compassionate nurturer o others, and in doing so, has mobilized



77Te Women o Ciji

millions o people or good works and promoted a civic and global conscious-ness in aiwan. How should we interpret Ciji’s vision o and or women? Is

it at heart conservative and reactionary, merely an expansion o women’straditional maternal role into the public sphere? Does Ciji’s popularity in actrepresent a backlash against eminism, routinely blamed in many societies orcausing social problems like divorce, neglected and delinquent children, andabandonment o the elderly: in sum, general social chaos? It is probably mostapt to characterize Ciji’s popularity among women and the organization’s powerand in uence in society as in great part due to Zhengyan’s skill ul utilizationo women’s improved social status over the past several decades in aiwan.

Ciji’s vision promotes values similar to those in the “relational emi-nism” predominant in the West be ore the twentieth century that championed

“women’s unction in procreation and nurturing capacities . . . It insisted onwomen’s distinctive contributions in these roles to the broader society. . . .”“Relational eminism” contrasts greatly with liberal eminism that de-empha-sizes sexual differences and gender roles and works to attain human rightsand equal opportunities or women as individuals and citizens.80

Te spirit o relational eminism lives on in today’s eco- eminism andeminist spirituality movements. “Feminine” traits o nurturance, community,

communication, harmony-seeking, valuing relationship, and riendship, oncecriticized as in erior to the “masculine” values that have driven world his-tory and civilization, are now celebrated as eminist values that should be

promoted to save the world rom isolation, aggression, alienation, and lacko communication: indeed, to save the earth, our mother.81

Ciji is certainly not promoting liberal eminism nor women’s issues perse, but rather is dedicated to the universal relie o suffering and “puri cation”o the world, and upholds, i unconsciously, the values o relational eminism.Since many scholars have claimed that Ciji trans orms and empowers women,it behooves us to examine this in more detail. Empowerment is a term liberallyused in social science literature. It is instructive to know the background othis term and understand that “empowerment” is both a process and a goal.82 “In the 1970s, when the concept was rst invoked by women’s organizations,[it] was explicitly used to rame and acilitate the struggle or social justice andwomen’s equality through a trans ormation o economic, social, and politicalstructures at national and international levels.” But in more recent de nitions,“women’s empowerment is assumed to be attainable through different pointso departure, including political mobilisation, consciousness raising, andeducation,” as well as though changing the social and legal institutions thatunderwrite male control and privilege.83

I the women o Ciji are “empowered,” it is on the individual level o“consciousness-raising” and sel -development, as well as through the socialin uence gained through their Ciji collective identity. Te nuns o Ciji,




though unsung, contribute in many ways to the organization’s missions bothin aiwan and overseas, though they have ew i any opportunities to pursue

urther education, unlike nuns o other large Buddhist groups. Ciji lay-mem-bers report how much they learned in the areas o counseling, medicine andhealth care, publishing, media, and organization skills. Ciji gives women andmen opportunities or oreign travel and volunteer experience, cross-culturalexchanges, oreign language training, mass media, and especially, skills inpublic speaking.84

Additionally, as Lu (1998) relates, Ciji women attest that joining Cijibrought them happiness, sel -esteem, and even “rebirth.” “ zu Chi is a newsocial space or them in terms o sel -development and enjoyment o sel -autonomy as a result o carrying out socially visible projects.”85 Sometimes,

Ciji saves women’s lives: One woman attempted suicide seven times due toher husband’s multiple extra-marital affairs and was saved by joining Ciji;while another woman with our daughters endured years o physical andmental abuse rom her husband until she was assisted by the combinedefforts o a women’s domestic violence group, a government social serviceoffi ce, and Ciji.86

In sum, everyone is satis ed. Individuals eel empowered, while Cijimembers contribute huge amounts o time, energy, expertise, and resourcesto aiwan’s society and do not question or critique injustices caused bygovernment, the economy, or the amily. Ciji’s “ ree goods” are welcomed

(except by other competing NGOs) by both patriarchal society and agovernment that encourages religious groups and the private sector to providecharity and medical care services.87

But, like “wires shaping a bonsai tree,” there are limits to empowermentor Ciji women, who, like the men o the Ciji Faith Corps, should be gentle,

modest, sof-spoken, and loyal to Ciji’s collective identity. Will Ciji’s vision othe Bodhisattva-as-mother continue to attract adherents in the next genera-tion, especially among young pro essionals? Until now, Ciji’s perpetuation ostereotypical gender characteristics have bene ted their organization and ai-wan society, but continuing perpetuation o such stereotypes impedes currentand uture efforts by the government and many NGOs to recti y inequalitiesand injustices or girls and women. Is Ciji’s interpretation o Buddhism ando nuns and laywomen’s roles the exception or the norm among other Bud-dhist groups in aiwan? In order to discuss these issues urther, the nextchapter will ocus on the Xiang’guang (Luminary) Buddhist Institute, whichis primarily dedicated to the education o nuns while also engaging in layBuddhist education and social wel are projects.



Chapter 5

Jueshu renhua—“Cultivating Buddhist Leaders,Awakening Humanity’s Essence

through Education”Te Nuns o Luminary Buddhist Institute

As discussed in Chapter 1, though ully-ordained nuns have out-numberedmonks since the 1950s, it was primarily monks who held leadership positionsand gave publicdharma talks during the 1950s–1970s.1 Li Yuzhen reportsthat be ore the 1980s, nuns at many mixed-gender temples in aiwan wereautomatically relegated to kitchen duties and had ew opportunities or studyand givingdharma talks.2

o remedy this state o affairs, the nun Wu Yin (b. 1940) ounded theLuminary Buddhist Institute in 1980 with the express goal o training nunsas spiritual leaders, while propagating thedharma through their missions oeducation, culture, and social service (Figure 5.1, next page). Teir mottois “Vow o Compassion,beiyuan; Actualized Action,lixing ; and Harmony,hehe.”

Tis Institute o around one hundred nuns operates a number o organiza-tions. Te Luminary Buddhist Studies Institute, the Luminary Library, the nuns’main dormitory, and the Luminary emple are located at the headquarters ina rural township outside o Jiayi city in southwest aiwan; but now Luminaryoperates affi liated branches offering courses in Buddhist studies and medita-tion sessions, and other classes and camps or the public (children, youth,and adults) in aipei (Yinyi Institute), Miaoli (Dinghui Institute), aichung(Yanghui Institute), Jiayi (Anhui Institute), Fengshan (Zizhulin Study Center),and aoyuan County (Xiang’guang Shan Chan retreat center).3

In contrast with other Buddhist monasteries and nunneries large orsmall in aiwan, the Luminary Buddhist Institute’s main mission is the train-ing o nuns and lay outreach through education; its ocus is on education and

79




scholarship rather than on the provision o charity or traditional Buddhistservices likesūtra chanting and uneral rites. Te Luminary nuns, many owhom hold post-graduate degrees, are actively engaged in teaching, writing,and publishing, and this has not escaped scholars’ notice.4

Afer an overview o the Luminary Buddhist Institute’s historical back-

ground and a description o their missions, this chapter will also discusstwo o Luminary’s social wel are missions: their post-earthquake reconstruc-tion efforts and their work aiding oreign brides o local aiwanese men.In comparison with Ciji, a look at the Luminary Buddhist Institute offers adifferent perspective rom which to answer the questions: “How have womenshaped aiwan’s Buddhism? How has Buddhism shaped the role and identityo aiwanese women? How are Buddhist women shaping the uture o ai-wan?” I agree with Wei-yi Cheng5 that overall the Luminary phenomenon is

eminist in its outlook and accomplishments, without having used the term“ eminism,” nor allying themselves with aiwan’s eminist movement. Yet thischapter will probe urther into the questions o gender and eminism withregard to the Luminary nuns. Te main “re rain” at Luminary proclaimsequality, “all sentient beings are equal,” “Buddha-nature has no gender,” yetthe nuns are expected to mani est the ideal o the maleda zhang u. At thesame time, they speak o the individual and collective empowerment ( uquan)o women. Teir transmission o Buddhist compassion is not articulated interms o Guanyin or as mother’s love as in Ciji. Yet among the Luminarynuns there persist some essentialist ideas o the eminine and a convictionthat women’s strength lies in difference. Tis androgynous balance has helpedtrans orm aiwan’s Buddhism, aiwan’s women, and aiwan’s society. First,

Figure 5.1. Master Wu Yin and her disciples during the Vassa (Rains-Retreat).Ceremony at Buddha Hall, Luminary emple (Shih Wu Yin)



81Cultivating Buddhist Leaders

aiwanese Buddhism gains well-trained emaledharma masters. Second, atLuminary, aiwan’s women can become well-educated pro essionals, ul lling

both individual spiritual desires as well as expected social responsibilities.Tird, Luminary is trans orming aiwan’s traditional religious landscape, sincelaypeople who become Buddhist might cease to practice popular orms oworship. Finally, through their outreach programs in community educationand their work with other NGOs, Luminary is building the horizontal linksthat are the sinews o civil society.6

Te Luminary Buddhist Institute rose to prominence in aiwan’s Bud-dhist circles with the leadership and vision o Wu Yin, born Chen Xiazhu in1940 in aichung County. Afer graduating rom high school she had hopedto enter college and become a teacher but her mother opposed her, saying,

“Girls become someone’s wi e and wash diapers; it’s useless or urther study.”7

Tereupon in 1957 Wu Yin took the tonsure at Shipu emple in aipei, enteredthe Chinese Buddhist ripit.aka Institute, and in 1959 became ordained as abhikkhunī . Afer graduating rom this Institute in 1960, she continued in thegraduate program there while teaching courses in theweishi (“consciousness-only”) tradition and elementary English.8

Because she wanted to experience daily temple li e, she went to Xing-longjing emple in Kaohsiung to study with the esteemed aiwanese nun

ianyi (1924–1980). ianyi, educated in Japan and a li elong advocate or astrong well-organized nuns’ order in aiwan, had a pro ound in uence on

Wu Yin and many other nuns, as Jianye (1999) relates. ianyi, like Zhengyan’srst teacher Xiudao, belonged to the crucial generation o Japanese-educatedemale Buddhists who bridged two eras: the Japanese era and the post-war era

in which monastics rom China re-established Chinese institutional Buddhismin aiwan.9 ianyi did not leave works o scholarship, but her legacy lies inher experience and example o leading our different temples, teaching thedharma and the bhikkhunī precepts, serving as a senior ordination master(and the rst emale ordination master in aiwan’s history), and cultivating ageneration o aiwanese nuns : “Nuns should rely on themselves, not the laityor monks . . . Nuns should teach and lead nuns . . . Nuns must stand up andlearn how to solve their own problems . . . be sel -reliant. . . .”10 Her discipleShi Conghui recalls that ianyi was, to her nun disciples, the embodimento ada zhang u.11

However, it was at Xinglongjing emple that Wu Yin had an epiphanicexperience. One day when she and the other nuns labored bare oot in therice paddies, she noticed at a nearby Catholic school a group o nuns dressedin white chatting between classes.12 Wu Yin elt devastated and wondereddisconsolately: We are all women religious, why can the Catholic nuns teach,but we Buddhist nuns, although educated, are spending our days doing heavylabor and chanting sūtras at unerals? She hoped that nuns could be more




systematically educated to becomedharma masters, while at the same timelearn how to live communally and manage every aspect o a temple.13 She

envisioned a Buddhist institute whose primary mission was education o nunsand propagation o thedharma to the public, eschewing traditional templeunctions such as provision o uneral services, constructing columbarium

pagodas, and holding large-scale public Buddhist ceremonies “to eliminatedisasters and pray or blessings.”

Her opportunity came in 1979 when her classmate Xinzhi (b. 1939)asked Wu Yin, now a graduate o Chinese Culture University, to help man-age the Xiang’guang emple in a rural township outside o Jiayi. Xiang’guang(Luminary) was Xinzhi’s choice o name or the extant temple with a hundred-year history called Yushanyan, renamed in 1943 as Jinlansi.14 Yushanyan was a

community temple dedicated to Guanyin and became a popular site o publicworship and pilgrimage. But in 1943 an earthquake destroyed the main hall,and not until 1969 did the community begin ull-scale reconstruction work.In 1974 the villagers asked the Buddhist Association o the ROC to send apro essional religious leader to manage the temple, thereupon Xinzhi cameand began a long and delicate diplomatic process o establishing an orthodoxBuddhist institution while allowing local villagers to continue their popular

orms o worship at the site, including sacri cial offerings o pigs, even thoughlegally the Xiang’guang emple lands belong to the Buddhists.15

Despite the challenges o this locale, in 1980 Wu Yin ounded the Lumi-

nary Buddhist Institute and Library.16

In contrast with other large Buddhistorganizations in aiwan that over-emphasize the leadership and charisma otheir ounder and his/her interpretation o Buddhism, Luminary’s inspira-tion is rst the ripit.aka (Buddhist canon), the vinaya (monastic rules) andmeditation techniques.17 Wu Yin wrote, “Te teachings o the Buddha are thesupreme essence o humanity’s wisdom.”18

While Wu Yin holds the chie position o abbot ( angzhang ) andLuminary’s ounding and development re ect her ideals, Luminary’s organi-zational structure and operations are based on modern methods o collectivedecision making, transparency, and accountability.19 While both nuns andlaypeople greatly respect Wu Yin asdharma master, scholar, and administra-tor, there is none o the pomp and circumstance surrounding her person, aswith Zhengyan.

Luminary’s Mission o Education

From the start, Wu Yin’s design was that nuns study and live at the sameinstitution, an institution governed and operated by the nuns themselves. Teselection process at Luminary is more rigorous than other Buddhist institutions




to understand the difference between Buddhism and their amiliar popularreligion. Since 1984 Luminary has developed a three-year curriculum (including

their own teaching materials and pedagogical methods) on Buddhist studiesand its application to daily li e or adults (“puri ying people’s hearts through thedharma”). Luminary also holds camps, classes, and public lectures or polytechnicstudents.28 Luminary sent quali ed graduates rom their adult education classesto teach in youth detention centers rom 1990–1999 and in counseling in pub-lic primary schools rom 1999 to the present.29 Luminary also holds periodicseven-day Chan retreats andsūtra recitation and study retreats.

Mission o Culture

Luminary’s mission o “Culture” includes a publishing house, books, journals,broadcasting, and a research library. Wu Yin is also a major advocate orbhikkhunīordination or Buddhist women in the Teravādin and ibetantraditions. At Bodhgayā India in February 1996, she gave a three-week ses-sion on the vinaya to Western women in the ibetan tradition.30 Wu Yin alsoparticipated in the May 2001 con erence onbhikkhunīordination held withthe ourteenth Dalai Lama in aiwan organized by the Buddhist Associationo the ROC, and the First International Congress on Buddhist Women’s Rolein the Sangha, Hamburg, Germany in July 2007.31

Social Service

Tough their contributions to Buddhism and society via their missions ineducation and culture would be enough to distinguish the Luminary orga-nization, over the years they have also carried out small-scale social serviceprojects such as assistance to local amilies, “adoption” o local parks, andprovision o medical care. o meet the needs o aiwan’s increasingly olderpopulation, Luminary offers courses and lectures on various issues related toaging and end-o -li e counseling.32

Luminary was also involved with post-earthquake local assistanceprojects (September 1999–October 2000). In the immediate afermath o theearthquake, Luminary nuns held uneral services or the dead, brought reliesupplies to victims in aichung County and Miaoli and provided counselingand spiritual support to the survivors in aichung and Nantou Counties. Asa longer-term project, Luminary decided to “adopt” the children o Shigang

ownship whose schools were destroyed in the earthquake and whose parentswere overwhelmed with daily chores and reconstruction work. Luminarynuns and lay volunteers ran a year-long program o study and enrichment




activities or the children and also rebuilt homes in two remote aboriginal villages affected by the earthquake.

It is worth comparing Luminary’s project with Ciji’s Project Hope:Besides the obvious difference in scale, the Luminary’s Shigang project didnot aim or over-arching social re orm as does Project Hope. Luminary’s les-son-plans, activities, and guest lecturers did not dictate certain class or genderideals. For example, parenting is presumed to be the responsibility o athersand mothers together, not only mothers. Also there is no preaching o “thethought o Wu Yin,” even no direct proselytizing o Buddhism, through thelesson plans included games and activities that explored expression o love,gratitude, mutual aid, and giving.33 As or the reconstruction in the aboriginal villages, the nuns and other lay groups rebuilt houses and held classes in arts,

crafs, and English. Te nuns realized that serious problems such as land rightsdisputes, unemployment, and dwindling aboriginal population existed be orethe earthquake, and aferward, earthquake areas were vulnerable to landslidesand road washouts. Tus, rebuilding homes is only the rst small step insaving the aborigines and preserving their cultures. Luminary has ongoingcontact with other NGOs specializing in aboriginal issues.34

Classes or Foreign Brides

Since 1990 the numbers o aiwanese men marrying young women romSoutheast Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tailand, Burma, andCambodia) and China have increased to the point that one in every ve mar-riages is between a aiwanese man and a “ oreign bride,” according to themost recent statistics o the Ministry o the Interior.35 Some o the men havediffi culty nding aiwanese wives due to their jobs (truckers, armers, andconstruction workers, or example), advanced age, poverty, or physical handi-caps. Tis social trend involves issues such as whether this constitutes humantraffi cking, the phenomenon o alse marriages to gain aiwan residency, oreven the spectre o emale spies rom China. Also, these women ace seriouslanguage and cultural barriers, abuse and exploitation, social discrimination,and diffi culties in raising bicultural children. Some voices in the media raiseracist, xenophobic, and eugenicist ears about such couples and their children“reducing the quality o the aiwanese population.”36

Eden Social Wel are Foundation spokesman David Lee commented,“What is really needed is more education on the part o the aiwanese men.We need to teach them that the bride is not just something you buy, thatshe is a person, not a thing.”37 Wang Chuan-ping puts it more bluntly: “Many

aiwanese husbands treat their Chinese wives as no more than dispensablebaby-making machines and human punching bags.”38




Five years be ore the government paid attention to needs o oreignbrides, local oundations such as the Meinong Community Advancement

Society in 1995 began Chinese literacy classes or these women. Now privategroups and government agencies offer assistance concerning literacy, culturaladjustment, legal, health, raising children, and employment issues.39

In 1998 during a visit to a medical clinic, Wu Yin met a oreign briderom Indonesia and realized the extent o their language and cultural adjust-

ment problems so she began planning a curriculum or them.40 Due to theearthquake, the oreign brides’ classes were postponed until February 2000;since then, nuns and their emale lay-members o Luminary’s branches insouthern aiwan have held classes in basic Chinese, local culture and cus-toms, and legal issues.

Luminary nun Zichun has been involved with this program since itsinception and believes this has empowered ( uquan) the new immigrant womenin two ways: Te classes not only educate them in Chinese or communication,but also give them an opportunity to interact with other women so that theycan develop their own network outside o their husband’s amilies. Zichunterms this “emancipatory education” ( jie ang jiaoyu) and re ers to these classesas a social movement. She speaks o not only personal empowerment but ocollective empowerment: “We expect, in the empowerment process, programparticipants could start rom sel -empowerment, then would advance to col-lective empowerment and thus change their current situation.”41 However, Wu

Yin con ded to me: What i empowering these women encouraged them torun away? Terein lies the dilemma o empowerment—within are the seedso rebellion. Tough Luminary’s intention is not to encourage runaways andrebellion, Zichun’s belie that collective empowerment, since women canchange the status quo, has advanced beyond Ciji’s moral admonitions toindividual women-as-mothers and may reach beyond the original intent oher master Wu Yin.

Another Luminary nun, Jianxian, points out that in act aiwan is andalways has been an immigrant society and must trans orm its sel -centeredHan Chinese consciousness to a pluralistic and open identity in this age oglobalization. Community education initiatives such as these are one steptoward a more equal, just, and ourishing society.42 Tis kind o argumentis ar more sophisticated and realistic than other proposals to reduce thenumber o oreign brides’ visas in avor o encouraging immigrants with“high education and skills,” or monetary incentives to increase the birthrateamong aiwanese women.

In another article about the goals o adult Buddhist education, Jianxianargues directly that Buddhist education is not only or one’s own growth butshould lead to social action; there should be a collective effort to undertakesocial re orm, to change what is un air and unjust. As a nun she asks hersel ,




How can I link my needs with the needs o society? Humans can create goodconditions or good results, and, does “ultimate liberation” pertain to onesel

only, or is there another meaning, in our modern society?Here, Jianxian is arguing that Buddhists should go beyondshehui guanhuai (concern or society) andshehui canyu (participating in society)to social re orm,shehui gaige, and like her ellow nun Zichun, argues thatBuddhists should con ront what is un air and unjust and undertake socialre orm, a different approach than that o their master Wu Yin.43 Perhaps, thenext generation o Luminary nuns will take the path o activist social re orm,or at the least, establish more links with NGOs and government bodies.

Luminary Nuns and GenderInspired by her master ianyi, Wu Yin chose to stress the messages oequality in Buddhism such as “the Buddha-nature has no gender” and “allsentient beings are equal.” ianyi’s interpreted the deprecatory and misogynistdescriptions o women and women’s nature in the Buddhist scriptures asadmonitions to monks to guard against their own weaknesses, not attacks onwomen as such.44 ianyi was con dent o women’s equal abilities in learningthe dharma and becoming Buddhist masters. In the monastic rules and dur-ing the tonsure ceremony led by one’s master, the termda zhang u is used

repeatedly to describe the trans ormation o an ordinary man or woman, romone’s worldly appearance, world desires and attachments, and worldly rolesas man or woman, to a monastic who rom then on dedicates his or her li eto Buddhist cultivation, shouldering the great responsibility o guardian andpropagator o thedharma.45 Te term da zhang u implies a person o unusualmoral greatness, via Mencius as well (see the discussion in Chapter 4), andis transcendent, o one’s bodily limits and beyond: Nuns and monks vow tobecome adingtian lidi de da zhang u(a great man whose head supports thesky with eet planted on the ground, i.e., independent and indomitable).46

As or compassion, the Luminary speaks primarily o Buddha’s compas-sion or the world47 rather than the Guanyin Bodhisattva’s mother-compassion,as does Ciji, even though Luminary was ounded at Yushanyan, a templededicated to Guanyin.48 In Mahāyāna Buddhism, “insight(prajñā) and compas-sion (karun.ā) are compared to two wings with which one ies to the islando enlightenment” (bodhi).49 Luminary ofen re ers to prajñā; or example, itsChinese equivalenthui appears in three o their institutes’ names.Prajñā in

act is not limited to academic knowledge, but re ers to wisdom and “insight,discriminating knowledge, intuitive apprehension.” Tis is the aculty that icultivated will apprehend the truth o thedharma.50 Luminary’s mission, assummarized in this chapter’s title , jueshu renhua, is two old: the education




and cultivation o nuns asdharma masters and transmission o thedharma via public education. “Packaging” Buddhism as an education process strikes

two chords in modern Chinese society: High social status o well-educatedand pro essional people, and a general consensus that religion should be osocial bene t.

Tat the dharma masters are nuns and now enjoy a high social statusis due in great part to the li etime efforts o monastics such as ianyi andWu Yin. Previously it was diffi cult or women to learn about thedharma at all due to lack o materials and teachers or simply because amily chainsprohibited women’s study. Even i women became nuns in the 1950s throughthe 1970s, they aced the social stereotypes o nuns as uneducated and super-stitious—unwanted spinsters; escaping rom ailed romances; impoverished;

in sum, social rejects.51

During the 1980s wave o young women graduates o polytechnicalschools and colleges becoming Buddhist nuns, voices in aiwan expressedshock and indignation: How and why do these well-educated women give upeverything and become a lonely nun “with only an oil lamp or a companion?”How can they be so un lial to their parents who have sacri ced so much ortheir education? How can they run away rom women’s “natural duties” omarriage and childbearing? How can they waste the great investment societyhas made in them?52 It has taken another twenty years or aiwan’s nuns to

nally enjoy high social status as pro essionals and spiritual leaders and or

society to respect their choice to become nuns, though this choice is justi-ed because the nuns areserving society and humanity.53 It does not meanthat aiwanese people in general consider that becoming a Buddhist nun ormonk is o inherent spiritual worth and merit or onesel or one’s amily, asis the case or monks in Teravādin or ibetan traditions.

Nuns gaining high social status is due not only to the great effortswithin the Buddhist community but was also sped by recent trans orma-tions in aiwanese society and economy. Scholars and Buddhist masters alikenote also that modernization and the end o the martial law period sincethe 1980s have opened up more opportunities and choices within aiwansociety. Women today enjoy the reedom to pursue higher education and acareer.54 When I asked newly-ordained nuns why they chose the monasticli e, a standard answer was that, in this way, they can contribute their time,energy, and talents to ar more people and to society at large, rather thandevote themselves only to husband, children, and in-laws.55

Ven. Jianduan recalls asking her mother:

Are you a happy person? Her mother answered: Yes, my husbandtakes good care o the amily and respects me, you children aresmart and obedient and don’t make me worry . . . Jianduan then




asked: I Father didn’t take care o the amily and the children werebad and made you worry, would you still be a happy person? Her

mother thought a bit and answered: No. Ten Jianduan said: Howstrange! Why can’t I determine my happiness by mysel ? Why isit others who determine whether I’m happy or not?

Te Luminary emple attracted her because o its credo o sel -reliance:Nuns must cultivate and educate themselves, solve their own problems, andcontribute to all aspects o monastic li e, rom studying and givingdharmatalks to cooking and doing repairs. Jianduan pointed out how Luminary

emple differs dramatically rom some o aiwan’s mixed-sangha monaster-ies where in accordance with socialized gender roles, nuns cooked, cleaned,

and poured tea while monks gavedharma talks and did repair work aroundthe monastery.56 One’s rst conclusion is that these nuns asda zhang u, as tonsured

dharma masters in their androgynous robes, have success ully transcendedgender roles, or more precisely, have transcended the physical and sociallimitations o “being emale.” When one sees slightly built aiwanese nuns,in the oppressive heat, cleaning lthy drainage ditches and water towers

lled with slime, slicing lumber with power tools or uel to be used in theirkitchen ovens, or repeatedly lifing the super-sized pots, pans, steamers, andrice cookers in the hot kitchen; or when one sees the signi cant strength,

stamina, and skills needed to play the drums and bells throughout long morn-ing and evening temple services; the skill o nuns driving vans packed withpeople and goods through dusty country lanes and winding mountain trailsand then doing repairs, construction and arm-work, traditional stereotypesabout women as inherently rail, helpless, and permanently requiring maleassistance to survive dissipate like incense smoke.

Yet some nuns retain essentialist notions o the eminine. When I askedwhy there are so many nuns in aiwan, Ven. Mingjia answered that womenare especially suited to undertake the rigorous path o Buddhist studies andtraining due to their patience, endurance, and attention to detail. She addedthat men in aiwan are under more pressure to succeed in their career andcontinue their patriline, so ewer men than women choose the monasticli e. Ven. Wu Yin contended that women by nature are particularly suitedas caregivers, and excel in healing and counseling roles. Furthermore, shestated, women are more suited than men to live in communal groups dueto their sel -effacing and sacri cial nature; and nuns mani est the stead ast,persevering, hardworking character o aiwanese women. Jianxian believesthat “women’s learning traits” o making connections, being concerned, andliking harmony, makes them good students and teachers. According to these

emale masters, nuns’ strength also lies in their difference. As Zhengyan




would agree, “ eminine traits,” or example, warmth, compassion, desire orharmony and peace, patience, endurance, and sacri ce, are claimed to cor-

respond closely to Buddhist ideals. Like the nuns o Fuhu emple on EmeiMountain in Sichuan, Luminary nuns mani est many characteristics: those othe da zhang u; “ eminine” compassion, harmony, and sel -sacri ce; as wellas those o a respected religious pro essional.57

Tere ore, are the Luminary nuns eminist? As Cheng rightly notes, thisterm does not stand out in Luminary publications, nor do the nuns re er tothemselves as eminist.58 Te Luminary nuns are dedicated to training nunsas dharma masters who can help puri y hearts and bring peace and succorto aiwan society. As Buddhist modernizers over several generations haveargued, the goal is to understand the “truedharma” o orthodox Buddhism

as opposed to the “blind and unthinking per ormance” [sic] o petition-ary rituals. Yet during this process, they have cultivated a new generationo well-educated, articulate, and sel -reliant women who enjoy high socialstatus. From an outsider’s perspective, this kind o empowerment is eministand the nuns, like all women in aiwan, whether they acknowledge it or not,bene ted rom the eminist movement’s advancement o women’s sel -aware-ness and rights.59

Yet Luminary did not link up with the aiwan’s eminist movement inthe 1980s because Wu Yin believed in the sel -reliance o Buddhist women,and she did not think a direct con rontational approach would help her cause

at that time.60

However, younger nuns at Luminary are well acquainted witheminist history and theory, and as discussed above, Luminary nuns nowwork to assist oreign brides. Differences in attitudes between the older andyounger generation o nuns are already apparent at Luminary with regard tothe oreign brides’ curriculum: Wu Yin’s impetus to help these women wasto help them carry out their responsibilities as mothers, wives, and caretakerso extended amilies, while her disciple Zichun says that she relates to themas women, seeing this curriculum as part o the larger project o improvingall women’s economic and political positions.61 Luminary in the uture mayestablish more connections with women’s NGOs and government offi cespromoting women’s issues.62

Another reason why Wu Yin took a non-con rontational approach tosocial re orm is because Luminary is inspired by the basic principle thatpuri ying hearts is the way to puri y society: each thedharma to bringpeace and happiness to both individuals and society as a whole.63 On the onehand Wu Yin is not a disciple o Master Yinshun, but was educated at thesenior monk Baisheng’s Chinese Buddhist ripit.aka Institute and later wentto Yushanyan emple (Luminary emple) due to Baisheng’s arrangements.64 Baisheng would also agree with Luminary’s primary mission, that o trainingand cultivatingdharma masters, which he believed is the rst responsibility o




Buddhist monastics.65 However, as we have seen, Luminary also serves soci-ety, endeavoring through propagating thedharma to create a “pure land on

earth . . .” by “taking human beings as the root,” which echoes the orientationo renjian ojiao.66 Indeed, the re ormist ideas o aixu (1890–1947) “deeplystimulated” Wu Yin to undertake her own re orms.67 Wu Yin attended classestaught by Yinshun in 1965 and published the history o Yinshun’s FuyanBuddhist Institute in 1994. Both aixu and Yinshun’s works are included inthe Luminary Buddhist Institute’s curriculum.68

Proponents o renjian ojiao stress that Buddhists serve and work toimprove society. Yet to what degree doesrenjian ojiao challenge the status quo?How and to what extent isrenjian ojiao supportive o nuns and laywomen,and what ideals and roles do the proponents orenjian ojiao prescribe or

Buddhist women? Do socially-engaged Buddhists necessarily work or genderequality in the monastic world and in society at large? Tese are questionsthat the next chapter will explore.



Chapter 6

“Buddhism or the Human Realm”and Women

Every chapter o this book has mentioned “Buddhism or the human realm,”renjian ojiao, the modernized orm o Buddhism rst ormulated in earlytwentieth-century China and promulgated in aiwan by a number o Buddhistgroups.1 Tough certainly not all Buddhists or Buddhist groups in aiwanclaim renjian ojiao affi liation or inspiration, many do so, including the threemain “mountain-tops o Buddhism” in aiwan, as well as the radical activistand eminist nun Chao Hwei. Te Luminary Buddhist Institute also, whilenot expressly ounded as an organization promotingrenjian ojiao, becameone in the course o its development. Tus the question naturally arises: Is

renjian ojiao especially supportive o Buddhist women, nuns and laywomen,and thus would this help to explain the predominance o women in aiwaneseBuddhism?

o answer this question, this chapter will rst give an overview othe development o renjian ojiao and the links with, and differences rom,global Engaged Buddhism.2 Ten the chapter discusses what the ormulatorso renjian ojiao, the monks aixu and Yinshun, wrote about women in Bud-dhism. Does being “socially-engaged” necessarily entail working or women’srights and gender equality, including advocating or the nuns’ order? We havealready discussed Ciji’s neo-traditional views on women and its nuns who

labor anonymously in the shadow o Ciji’s lay behemoth, contrasted with the“quiet eminism” o Luminary Buddhist Institute. Tis chapter will highlightChao Hwei and Shing Kuang, the only Buddhist eminists, and among the

ew activist Buddhists, in aiwan. Do Chao Hwei and Shing Kuang representthe wave o the uture or aiwan’s Buddhism or will they remain the radical vanguard minority?

First, we turn to China in the transnational Buddhist Revival o thenineteenth and twentieth centuries.

93



95“Buddhism or the Human Realm” and Women

Marxism, and o Christianity. It helped to bring about the revivalo interest in Dharmalaksana (Faxiang zong , Consciousness-only

school), the birth o Buddhist scientism, and participation inmodern, Western orms o social wel are.10

Te major gure in the Chinese Buddhist Revival was the monk aixu,born in Zhejiang Province in 1890. His re orm program was orged in the lateQing intellectual environment o debates about religion and the relevance oBuddhism to the modern world, engaged in by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao,Zhang aiyan, Wu Zhihui, Xiong Shili, Cai Yuanpei, Ji Zizhen, and OuyangJian.11 Con ucian scholars, Westernized Chinese intellectuals, and lay Bud-dhists alike immersed themselves in iantai, Faxiang, and Huayan studies,

while some eminent Buddhist monks, like aixu, were “Con ucian exemplarsin thought and behavior.”12

aixu was a modernizer but not a secularizer; he was a restorationist,aiming to reorient Buddhism toward world engagement and ocus more onthe human realm, less on gods and ghosts. aixu ofen lectured on thedharma common to all ve Buddhist vehicles or conveyances o rebirth among humanor spiritually-advanced beings13 while emphasizing that “the most effi caciouspath or those pursuing bodhisattva-hood is not through some celestialrealm or distant pure land. Rather, it takes our common, ordinary experi-ence on this plane as its starting point. . . .”Rensheng , the “human vehicle,”

is homophonous withrensheng , “human li e”: to take the bodhisattva path isto mani est the bodhi-mind and relieve the sufferings o onesel and others,to enlighten onesel and others, in the here and now.14 aixu’s mission wasto promulgate what he believed to be the essence o Chinese Buddhism, “theessence o wisdom and compassion, embodied by the bodhisattva, [which]was or aixu the hope o all sentient beings.”15

Holmes Welch ound the Buddhist revival o the late Qing and earlyRepublic noteworthy or the growth o lay organizations and lay teachers othe dharma; clinics, orphanages, and schools; a radio station in Shanghai;proselytizing in prisons; and the effort to start an ecumenical movement withBuddhists abroad. Also, the modern revival saw Buddhist publishing houses,newspapers, and journals; modernized seminaries or Buddhist monastics; andmodern Buddhist associations. All o the above innovations were directly orindirectly indebted to the vision and re orms o aixu.16

aixu’s political stance is not easily categorized. He came o age duringthe heady years o the 1911 revolution and his riends and colleagues includedrevolutionaries, anarchists, and socialists. At rst he admired socialism becauseit, like Buddhism, he claimed, advocated human equality and social wel are. Heliked socialism’s message “ rom each according to his abilities; to each accord-ing to his needs.”17 Over the course o World War II, he came to believe thatstate-directed capitalism, a limited wel are state such as Roosevelt’s New Deal




government, could curb the excesses o individualism as well as monopoliesand large corporations that exploit national and international markets and

create growing disparities between rich and poor.18

However, or aixu, to “save the world,” political and economic restruc-turing alone was not suffi cient. Using the language typical o the “clash ocivilizations East and West” debates o the rst hal o the twentieth century, hebelieved the Western civilizations were sick, due to their overly individualisticand aggressive orientation ozongwo zhiwu, “ an unrestrained sel , conqueringnature,” leading to imperialism and war. Tough not explaining why, he heldthat other Asian nations (especially Japan who had imitated the West andbecome an imperialist aggressor) cannot offer effective means to deal withthese calamities, and he concludes that Buddhism, together with the Chinese

spirit o keji chongren (overcome the sel , esteem compassion), are the bestremedies or this civilizational sickness.19

Afer 1925, aixu rejected Communism’s call or violent class con ictand over-emphasis on the material and the collective, while neglecting themind, the body, and the individual. His political stance became situated “righto center”20 partly or pragmatic reasons (to obtain political imprimatur orhis plans to re orm and modernize Buddhism, and to proselytize abroad) andpartly or ideological reasons.21

aixu’s relationship with the Nationalists was raught with contradic-tions. aixu liberally borrowed rom Nationalist vocabulary and ideological

categories, and received material support: money, means o transport, useo diplomatic channels and state-related associations abroad. But wheneverthe Nationalists made one o their numerous attempts to con scate templeproperties, then aixu and others publicly opposed the government.22

With the end o World War II and the restoration o the Nationalistgovernment in Nanjing, as aixu and other Buddhists struggled to maintainBuddhist control over property and other interests, aixu articulated his ideao the relation o Buddhists and Buddhist groups to the state, as expressed inthe phrase yizheng bu ganzhi—to participate in political debates is the rightand duty o any citizen in a democracy, but not to hold ormal political offi ce.Tis idea was premised on Sun Yat-sen’s distinction betweenzhiquan, hold-ing political/administration offi ce, andzhengquan, democratic rights o anycitizen including reedom o speech and debate, the right to participate inpublic affairs, i.e., civil society. However, this stance met with opposition romother Buddhist leaders, who pre erred that Buddhists remain “above-politics.”23 Nevertheless, in July 1946 aixu ounded a Buddhist political party, “Awaken-ing the Masses Society,” and was nominated by Bishop Yu Bin to serve as arepresentative to the National Assembly, though aixu was not elected.24

Un ortunately, aixu was unable to ully realize his plans and idealsor Chinese Buddhism; aixu died prematurely rom a stroke in March 1947




and, rom 1948 to 1949, China was engul ed in the chaos o civil war and thecollapse o the central government in Nanjing and its retreat to aiwan.25 A

decade earlier, aixu had already deemed his attempts to inspire “a revolutionin Buddhism” to be a ailure, due to both his own “weaknesses and ailures”as well as the strength o his opponents.26 He was too sel -critical.

Tough the sociopolitical and economic environment o the earlytwentieth century placed severe limits on the Buddhist Revival within China,

aixu spent much time and energy attempting to trans orm Buddhism into aglobal movement that would transcend the limits o nation, political action,and Buddhist school. oward this end, aixu traveled to aiwan, Japan andHong Kong (1917–1925), then to France, England, Belgium, Germany, andthe United States (1928–29), as well as to Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, and

Malaysia (1939–40).27

In Sri Lanka, homeland o the great Buddhist revivalistDharmapāla, aixu spoke at length with the Buddhist scholar G. P. Malalasekeraabout orming a world Buddhist ederation; in 1950 this plan came to ruitionwhen Dr. Malalasekera ounded the World Fellowship o Buddhists.28

aixu did not use the current Chinese term or “globalization,”quan-qiuhua; rather we ndquanqiu as a noun, “the whole world,”shijiehua, “globalization,” andshijie zhuyi, “world-ism.” aixu, a erce Chinese national-ist during World War II, was also a staunch proponent o globalization and“world-ism” as those terms were understood earlier in the twentieth century,especially at the close o the Second World War, when many people hoped that

transnational bodies such as the United Nations could transcend nationalistinterests and con icts and prevent uture wars. But even more undamentally,when aixu spoke oshijiehuaand shijie zhuyi he was re erring to the potentialo Buddhism and the need to propagate Buddhism worldwide. aixu believedthat Buddhism was the one international orce, o all religions, “isms,” andsociopolitical systems that could lead to true one-world-ism, a broad andtolerant worldview, and true world peace.29

Besides being the inspiration or several leading aiwanese Buddhistorganizations (to be discussed later in this chapter) decades afer his death in1947, aixu, unbeknownst to both him and modern Chinese scholars, had agreat in uence upon the Vietnamese Buddhist Revival in the 1920–40s, whichset the stage or Vietnamese Engaged Buddhism in the 1960–70s.30

From aixu to Yinshun

aixu did not live to see the ate o Buddhism in China afer 1949. All reli-gions were strictly controlled by the Communist party-state; Buddhist mon-asteries and monastics suffered under land re orm and counterrevolutionarycampaigns rom 1949–1953, and again in the 1957 anti-Rightist campaign.




I possible, monks and nuns ed to Hong Kong or aiwan but as Don Pitt-man relates, some disciples o aixu who remained in China hoped, however

naively (and or pragmatic reasons, to survive under Communism), that the violent changes might lead to long-term re orm in institutional Buddhism,clearing the path to realize aixu’s original blueprint, which included advo-cating a sel -suffi cient monastic economy based on agriculture, commercial,and handicraf production.

aixu’s student Juzan (1908–84) allied with other Buddhists, monasticand lay, to orm the new Chinese Buddhist Association in 1953 and pledgedto help the Communist party-state build a collective economy and rid societyo “superstitions,” Pure Land worship, and popular religion in general; somemonks even argued or a secularization o thesangha, to do away with the

precepts, allow the monastics to marry, eat meat, wear lay dress, etc.31

During the Cultural Revolution 1966–76, all religions were nearly elimi-nated: Buddhist monasteries were destroyed or greatly damaged, propertieswere con scated, monastics were persecuted and orced to return to secularli e. Afer 1979, the atmosphere or the offi cially-controlled religions such asChinese Buddhism ( ibetan Buddhism is another story), Daoism, Islam, andChristianity has improved somewhat.32

Scholars in China are currently interested in aixu and the BuddhistRevival, afer a long period o neglect.33 Chen Zimei writes that the Hebei-basedmonk Jinghui (b. 1933) promotesrenjian ojiao but Jinghui’s is not the main-

stream tradition.34

However, in aiwan, aixu’s student Yinshun (1906–2005) ishighly esteemed or his rationalization o Buddhist doctrine and historiography;applying academic standards to the study o Buddhism,” and articulation othe idea o renjian ojiao, “Buddhism or the Human Realm.”35

“ aixu’s legacy is most clearly visible in aiwan.”36 Te struggle within theBuddhist Association in China in the 1930s and 1940s between traditionalistmonks versus monks who supported aixu in his re ormist efforts continuedafer 1949, via each one’s disciples and their circles in aiwan.37 Yinshun was

aixu’s student, a graduate o one o aixu’s seminaries in China, chie edi-tor o aixu’sComplete Works, and aixu’s biographer. During his long li e,Yinshun produced a large and sophisticated body o scholarship on Buddhism

or the Human Realm, early Indian Buddhism, Madhyamaka studies, andChan. By his own admission, he in no way resembled aixu the organizer,administrator, and internationalist.38

But politics played a crucial in uence on Yinshun’s career in aiwan.Afer 1949 Yinshun lef China or Hong Kong. In hisNew reatise on thePure Land o 1951 Yinshun roundly criticized, rom scriptural, historical,and methodological perspectives, Pure Land practices as reductionist and

ull o errors. Tough his was certainly not the rst critique o Pure Land




Buddhism, it led to great political trouble or Yinshun.39 In 1952 Yinshun lefHong Kong to become abbot o the important Shandao emple in aipei. He

was invited by disciples o aixu in aiwan, who were engaged in a politicalstruggle over the leadership o BAROC and o the uture direction and scopeo Buddhism in aiwan.40

Yinshun became caught in the ray; he was criticized publicly and pri- vately. Tis took place, o course, in the Cold War context o the 1950s, as theNationalist government newly transplanted to aiwan carried out repression othe native aiwanese elite establishment as well as suspected Communist in u-ences. “(S)ome within BAROC even used their in uence with the government tohave certain Nationalist Party offi cials issue a statement that Yinshun’s writingswere in ected with the poison o Communism. . . .”41 Yinshun resigned rom his

post at Shandao temple, wrote a “sel -criticism” asking pardon, and devotedthe rest o his li e to scholarship, monastic education, and publishing.42

Both aixu and Yinshun in their propagation orenjian ojiao are con-sidered to be the major re ormers in twentiety-century Chinese Buddhismbut the theory and practice orenjian ojiao was rst articulated by aixu.43 In 1930, aixu discussed the idea o constructing a Pure Land in the humanrealm in his “ Jianshe renjian jingtulun.”44 Ten, in his 1933 “Zenyang lai jiansherenjian ojiao” [How to establish renjian ojiao], he wrote:45

Renjian ojiao is not a Buddhism in which you leave the human

realm and become a god or ghost, or or everyone to take mo-nastic vows, go to a temple, or become an eremite in the orest.It’s a Buddhism which, in accordance with Buddhist teachings,re orms society, helps humankind to progress, and improves thewhole world.46

As or Yinshun, he wrote that Buddhism should stress “Here, now, thisperson. . . .” He stresses the path o taking the Bodhisattva’s vow, pusa yuan xing, which their students and those inspired by them put into practice asservingsociety , in various orms, in order to create a Pure Land on earth.47 Yinshunagreed with aixu that one taking the Bodhisattva path “should undertakeworks that bene t others . . . that bene t humanity”; this itsel is an intrinsicpart o one’s individual cultivation.48 Te orms o each mission will vary butall should start rom a heart lled with wisdom, compassion, and emptiness,toward the goals o helping others and propagating thedharma.49 But Yinshundid not elaborate upon the details; he did not (like aixu) outline a blueprint

or action or the contemporary Bodhisattva: Te “heirs” o Yinshun madetheir own interpretative and methodological leaps rom Yinshun’s thought toits actualization in aiwan society.50




“Heirs” o aixu and Yinshun: Foguangshan, Ciji,and Dharma Drum Mountain

Some scholars have used the term “Engaged Buddhism” to describe the ori-entation o a number o prominent Buddhist organizations in aiwan becausethey are socially engaged in numerous missions to promote charity, medicalcare, education, environmentalism, and so on.51 Tere is still no complete andprecise account o the evolution o the term “Engaged Buddhism,” thoughscholars conventionally trace its earliest use to Tích Nhâ´t Ha.nh,52 whoadapted Sartre’s term,engagé, in his own way.53 According to my investigation,Vietnamese-language Buddhist periodicals and books o the 1960s, includ-ing those o Tích Nhâ´t Ha.nh, explored the existential ideas o Sartre and

Camus, as well as the activities o Gandhi and his successor Vinoba Bhaveand the IndianSarvodaya rural development movement.54 By 1967 Tích NhâtHa.nh employed the English term “Engaged Buddhism” to describe his manyactivities during Vietnam’s Buddhist Struggle Movement, such as the Schoolo Youth or Social Service, his new Buddhist “Order o Inter-Being,” and hisefforts in peace negotiations abroad.55 Te term “Engaged Buddhism” is alsoused to describe Buddhist sociopolitical movements in modern Sri Lanka,Tailand, and India, and more broadly, the contemporary global phenomenono socially and/or politically engaged Buddhism.

“Some say . . . the distinctive new eature o Engaged Buddhism is tochallenge the present system with a new paradigm o activities and programs,not merely an activity that cleans up social problems without con ronting theirroots” in structural violence.56 However, not all engaged Buddhists openlychallenge the status quo; and all Buddhists, including aixu, Yinshun, andTích Nhâ t Ha.nh would agree that the roots o all outer conditions lie in themind, and through practice and discipline one must rst quell the “poisons”o craving, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and others in order to end bothpersonal and social suffering.

Tis is the approach taken by the leaders o Foguangshan, Ciji, andDharma Drum Mountain. Xingyun, or example, stresses how cultivation owisdom, morality, virtue, and conscience can cure the ills o modern society,rather than through political mobilization or by opposing the political oreconomic status quo.57 In a similar vein, Zhengyan believes that individualand social suffering have primarily moral and spiritual causes. In act, Cijiorganization orbids its nuns, members, and employees rom participating in

ormal politics or sociopolitical activism. “Fighting or the downtrodden andshouting about justice will make the situations [sic] even more complicatedand con used . . . (a) sense o responsibility is more important than a sense o justice.”58 Akin to Foguangshan and Ciji, Dharma Drum aspires to “protectthe spiritual environment, uplif the character o humanity, and build a pure




land on earth.”59 In sum, Foguangshan, Ciji, and Dharma Drum advocate aprocess o peace ul evolution, with emphasis on the individual trans ormation

prerequisite or wider social change.Tus, in contrast with the Engaged Buddhisms o Sri Lanka, Tailand,Vietnam, and India, “[Buddhist leaders in aiwan] have developed neither acomprehensive perspective on political economy nor a detailed social doc-trine.”60 All three groups re rain rom a critique o the larger structural causeso violence, inequality, and waste. Yet, Ciji supporters argue that their approachis in act “radical” and in ull accordance with undamental Buddhist teach-ings, because Zhengyan calls or a total and holistic reorientation in valuesand psychology that aims to eliminate suffering, and thus would trans ormthe individual and society ar beyond what schemes or sociopolitical re orm

could accomplish.61

However, a broader structural critique is not totally absentrom aiwan’s engaged Buddhism, as will be discussed below.

Paradigm Shif?

aiwan’s environmental movement began in the late 1980s and several majorBuddhist groups like Ciji and Dharma Drum Mountain have done good workpromoting environmental awareness. Tis was the rst shif in the paradigm

wheel, according to Jiang Canteng.62

Yet Jiang points out that these Buddhistgroups are inspired by traditional Chinese attitudes ohusheng, xi u (protectli e, lead a rugal li e/not waste resources) and do not criticize the source oenvironmental problems within industry, government policy, capitalism, etc.Jiang categorizes this kind o approach asbiedu: case by case, individual salvation, an approach that assumes the root o social problems lies in curbingdesires within onesel .

Yinshun’s student Shi Chuandao o Miaoxin emple in ainan continuesto shif the paradigm wheel, and in Jiang’s phrase, has progressed to the levelo pudu, universal salvation, as he critiques the collusion o government andbig business. Te message o Chuandao’s writings and lms is break the mytho aiwan’s “Economic Miracle,” and recti y biased government developmentpolicies. Chuandao has called or the passage o laws to end manu acturingo styro oam and plastic, though these are huge enterprises in aiwan, asevidenced by the conglomerate Formosa Plastics. Chuandao has taken to thestreets to oppose construction o the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, as has ChaoHwei (Figure 6.1, next page). Chao Hwei also ounded the “Caring about Li eAssociation” to promote animal protection and animal rights in aiwan (morebelow) or she believes thatrenjian ojiao is not exclusively human-centered;it is or the liberation o all sentient beings.63




Te Post-Yinshun Generation64

In aiwan today, only a ew monastics such as the nun Chao Hwei, her stu-dent Shing Kuang,65 and the monk Chuandao (mentioned above) are radicalactivists.66

Chao Hwei (b. 1957) ounded the Hongshi Buddhist Institute in aoyuanin 1998, though she has been a Buddhist activist since the late 1980s (Figure6.2). She regards her social activism as the “testing ground” or Yinshun’sexhortation to undertake the Bodhisattva’s path in the present world. She isa brilliant debater and lecturer, teaches at several universities, has produced

many books and articles, has hosted innumerable academic con erences andpress con erences, and also is an inde atigable worker or a number o socialcauses. She rst gained public notice as a spokesperson or the positiveportrayal o monastics by the media, especially to counteract the negativestereotypes o nuns previously common in aiwanese society.

Chao Hwei and her colleagues67 have published many books, includingexplications o Yinshun’s works andrenjian ojiao; vinaya studies; and workson Buddhist normative ethics with regard to such issues as organ transplant,surrogate motherhood, abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia, suicide, thedeath penalty, aiwan’s adultery law, human rights, animal rights, environmen-

Figure 6.1. Master Chao Hwei at anti-nuclear rally (Shih Chao Hwei)




tal rights, and aboriginal hunting practices. Chao Hwei has also ounded theResearch Center or Applied Ethics at Hsuan Chuang University, a Buddhistuniversity in aiwan.

Why is Chao Hwei a radical activist, unlike most Buddhists in aiwan?Chao Hwei eels that Buddhists, according to thedharma and also as citizensin a democratic society, have the powers and duty to speak out and act, toprotect the weak and silent, especially animals, and to work or a air and just society (Figure 6.3, next page). “A silent people in a democratic society

is just like empty air.” Te Hongshi Institute’s “Caring about Li e Associa-tion” has tackled the serious problem o stray dogs in aiwan’s cities andthe abuse o laboratory animals and animals in circuses. One o the ruits otheir efforts is the passage o wild animal protection laws and a law to orbidhorseracing in aiwan.

In addition, Chao Hwei and Shing Kuang are the only Buddhist monas-tics that have voiced opposition to the death penalty and have assisted thoseon death row whose sentences are controversial.68 Chao Hwei believes thatthe three major Buddhist groups in aiwan have made great achievementsin charity and relie , education, and culture, but should do more regarding

Figure 6.2. Master Chao Hwei (Shih Chao Hwei)




issues o human rights, animal rights, and environmental protection. Char-ity and relie is not enough to relieve suffering, she asserts, or much o thisarises rom aws in government policy and law, and rom the collusion omoney and power. Tus she believes that non-governmental organizationsin civil society should play crucial roles as watchdogs by analysis, advocacy,and lobbying.69

She says that Buddhists should not sit back, and “. . . cool themselvesin the shade o trees that others planted.” Where were the Buddhists, shewonders, while others took to the streets during the previous decades osocial movements in aiwan? She continues by saying that now aiwan isan open and ree society yet many Buddhists shun social activism, or earo alienating their ollowers and donors.70

Chao Hwei has praised Zhengyan or her achievements in wel are,relie , education, and medical services. But she has also written that charityis a Band-Aid that does not necessarily bring spiritual growth or structuralchange . . . claiming “neutrality” may in act at times contribute to socialproblems and the sum o human suffering.71 “Sometimes the cause o humansuffering is political. What good is going to be accomplished i we eed the

Figure 6.3. Nuns o the Hongshi Institute at rally to savethe Lo Sheng Leprosarium (Shih Chao Hwei)




hungry without addressing the causes o their hunger. . . .”72 In turn, ChaoHwei has been criticized by some Buddhists or her activism. Members o

Ciji, or example, criticized Chao Hwei (a major activist or animal rights inaiwan) or showing a videotape o a pig slaughterhouse, or this would givebad publicity to pig armers, disrupt the economy, and thus disrupt socialharmony in aiwan. “But I [Chao Hwei] think the harmony this person andothers speak o is illusory. From my [Buddhist] perspective eating pork is notonly causing the pig to suffer but also humans . . .Renjian ojiao is not justabout human society, but all living creatures. I want to address the areas oinequality and injustice that affect all beings.”73

She says that aixu inspired her stance regarding politics: Buddhistsshould be concerned with politics but not become directly involved in its

administration, or run or offi ce, etc. Chao Hwei works to raise the public’sconsciousness and lobbies to change laws i necessary. In aiwan’s polarizedpolitical environment, where every issue tends to be reduced to partisan poli-tics, Chao Hwei believes that NGOs (including Buddhist groups) should actlike a “permanent opposition party,” and keep the ocus o debate on criticalissues common to all citizens. Regarding issues such as protecting the dignityand reputation o monastics, environmentalism, human rights, animal rights,and other ethical issues, Chao Hwei has many supporters, both Buddhist andnon-Buddhist. However, the most radical aspect about Chao Hwei and herdisciples is that they are the only sel -proclaimed “Buddhist Feminists” in

aiwan.74

o expose, denounce, and demand change in the patriarchal hier-archy in the Buddhistsangha is to challenge the status quo maintained andreproduced not only by monks but also by nuns themselves.

Chao Hwei and Feminism

Does being “socially-engaged” necessarily entail working or women’s rightsand gender equality, including support o the nuns’ order? Earlier chaptersdiscussed Zhengyan’s neo-traditional views on women’s social roles and herprimary emphasis on mobilizing laywomen rather than education and devel-opment o nuns; moreover, Ciji usually does not work with other Buddhistgroups or NGOs.75

In act, Engaged Buddhists, whether in Asian or Western countries,did not especially highlight Buddhist women’s issues or pay attention toconcerns with the nuns’ order until the 1980s when eminism intersectedwith international Buddhism.76 Te rst International Con erence on Bud-dhist Nuns organized by Karma Lekshe somo at Bodhgayā India in 1987“. . . was the rst Buddhist con erence ever to address the problems acedby Buddhist women . . . Socially-engaged Buddhists need to recognize that




Buddhist women are among the poorest, least educated and most neglectedsectors o society. . . .”77 Out o this historical con erence came the Sākyadhitā

International Association o Buddhist Women, dedicated to promoting thebhikkhunīorder, gender equality in Buddhist institutions, and the wel areand rights o global Buddhist women.

Tough conditions have improved or many Buddhist women in theworld over the past decades, in terms o education, ordination and leader-ship opportunities, and economic and social standing, Santikaro writes thatthe discourse on Engaged Buddhism still mostly involves male voices, despitethe act that “the majority o Buddhists . . . still live in Asia, and are women.And that will be the case or many years to come. Teir lives, their concerns,their actions must not be marginalized just because the textual record on

them is sparse.”78

Te eminism o Chao Hwei and her colleagues derives in part romthe ideas o Master Yinshun’s explication orenjian ojiao, but more romthe modern eminist movement. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, aixuwas a modernizer, ull o “May Fourth” re ormist spirit in many ways, butdid not advocate radical change regarding women in Buddhism and womenin Chinese society, though he supported the modern education o women.His sangha institutional and education re orms were primarily intended ormonks.79 Believing that women have more karmic hindrances than men, aixuencouraged women to remain lay-practitioners and through their traditional

roles as wi e and mother, cultivate Buddhist amilies and good citizens.80

Yethe also envisioned that Buddhist laywomen would study Chinese medicineand proselytize abroad, like Christian medical missionaries; and becomenurses, doctors, kindergarten and primary school teachers, to proselytize inChina as well.81

Yinshun later commented that one o the main reasons why aixu’sBuddhist re orm movement ailed was because aixu underestimated the orceo women in Buddhism; he did not value them or win their support.82 Butcertainly i aixu had lived longer and in stable, peacetime conditions, withaccess to more resources, his re orm plans or monks, nuns, and laypeoplewould have had better chance or success. It is interesting, however, to notethat aixu’s promotion o ibetan Buddhist studies among Chinese Buddhistshelped nurture “. . . the most outstandingbhikkhunīo the contemporary era”in China, Longlian (1909–2006), via aixu’s re ormist colleague Nenghai(1886–1967), Longlian’s master, who pioneered a new Sino- ibetan Buddhisttradition in China.83

When Chinese monks relocated to aiwan in the late 1940s, as men-tioned in Chapter 1, they relied heavily on aiwanese Buddhist women asthey established themselves in a new environment and developed their institu-tions, and were never able change the act that in aiwan, Buddhist women,




both ordained and lay, have always outnumbered men. Master Yinshun inparticular stressed the doctrines in Buddhism that advocate gender equal-

ity. Pragmatic acknowledgment o nuns’ talents, hard work, and devotion toBuddhism may be one reason why Yinshun supported the nuns’ order, inaddition to his broad-mindedness and his intensive inquiry into early Bud-dhist scriptures. He wrote that in Buddhism, there is little to no differencebetween men and women in aith, morality and conduct, and wisdom; andtheir biological and physical differences will not matter much regarding menand women’s quest or enlightenment.84 He also wrote: “For two thousandyears, thedharma has been in the hands o the monks and thus Buddhismcould not mani est its spirit o gender equality, could not support Buddhistwomen, on the contrary it was slanted to male chauvinism, to the point o

scorning and detesting women, saying women cannot be taught thedharma.Tis is truly a distortion o thedharma!”85

In promoting “Buddhist eminism,” Chao Hwei is inspired by Yinshun’segalitarian interpretation o Buddhism but even more by modern eminism inits critique o structural gender inequalities in society and culture, as well as itsmethodologies or activism and change.86 Chao Hwei and her disciples supportefforts by the government and NGO circles to work toward gender equality in

aiwan, and ofen debate and work with eminist groups. Chao Hwei’s 2002Chinese book,Intonation or Tousands o Years: Buddhist Feminist Tought or a New Century, has one section called “Deconstructing Buddhist Male

Chauvinism” and a second section on “Building a Space or Gender Equalityin Buddhism.”87 With their call to “say arewell to tradition,” they have triedto rally Buddhist circles to abolish “the Eight Special Rules” that uphold thesubordination o nuns to monks and to end “Buddhist male chauvinism.” In

act, Chao Hwei rom 1991 had already begun to criticize as “bhikkhu chauvin-ists” several monks in aiwan who had insisted upon nuns’ strict observanceo the Eight Special Rules and who had demanded their nuns to memorizethe “eighty- our ugly gestures o women” listed in the Mahāprajāptī-bhikkhunīsūtra.88 Ten, on March 31, 2001, during the opening ceremony o the SecondAnnual Con erence (organized yearly by Hongshi Institute) on the theoryand praxis related to Yinshun’s works, Chao Hwei, together with seven othermonastics and laypeople, rst read out the Eight Special Rules and then torethem up, declaring that “Mahāprajāptī’s Second Revolution” had begun, andimmediately launched a ull-blown “storm” o controversy.89

But the most surprising reaction came rom Master Yinshun himsel ,who on June 3 responded to the Buddhist Association o the ROC’s earlierletter o “concern.” In his brie letter, Yinshun stated that the Eight SpecialRules were “. . . laid down by the Buddha. I the Eight Special Rules are nolonger compatible with our time and social context, we need the consent o theelders and the resolution passed through a grand council.”90 As Wei-yi Cheng




points out, this reply was used by both supporters and critics o Chao Hwei’smovement. aken at ace value, Yinshun’s statement sounds like a repudiation

o Chao Hwei’s actions; however, his message is ambiguous.In act, since 1945, there had been no consensus regarding whether andhow to uphold the Eight Special Rules; as in many other temple matters, thiswas lef to the discretion o each temple to decide upon. In general, there havebeen three stances in aiwan Buddhist circles: the rst,laissez- aire—neitherabolish them nor orce nuns to observe them;91 the second—strict observanceo the Rules, including those pertaining to the rainy-season retreat; the thirdand most recent—to advocate or the Rules’ abolishment.92 As is well-knownin Buddhist circles, Yinshun had spent a li etime taking a historical andcritical approach to Buddhist texts, including the Eight Special Rules, about

which Yinshun had previously questioned both their historical authenticity“. . . and the necessity to observe the Rules in contemporary contexts.” Tus,the door is open or Chao Hwei and any others to question and criticizeBuddhist texts.93

Chao Hwei’s call to abolish the Eight Special Rules received a mixedresponse: ull and open support rom a minority, and various degrees oopposition rom the majority.94 Te reaction rom many nuns can be sum-marized in this way: Since the nuns’ order is strong and ourishing, thedegree o gender equality is high in aiwan, and in aiwan the “Eight SpecialRules” are not universally observed and have not limited or posed a burden

on nuns’ spiritual cultivation or educational and pro essional development,why sow discord and division in aiwan Buddhist circles?95 According to Cheng Wei-yi’s eldwork ndings, in act “. . . there is a

negotiation between the Eight Special Rules and convenience, the normalsocial code o conducts, and the increasingly gender egalitarian or eministawareness . . . ;”96 nuns o different ages and rom different temples hold a wide variety o opinions regarding the Eight Special Rules. Some see paying hom-age to distinguished monks as signi ying their request to receive the monks’teachings, and is a practice by which nuns can “. . . liberate themselves romboth arrogance and conventional idea o hierarchy.”97 Another nun commentedthat some nuns in aiwan ollow the Eight Special Rules and automaticallybow to or kneel in ront o monks, but she would not, unless she met an oldernun, or i she was receiving a teacher or Chan Master in the Main Hall. Onother occasions and places, upon meeting a monk, she would, at the most, join her palms in greeting.98

However, Chao Hwei cannot accept any kind o rationalization o oraccommodation to the Eight Special Rules, and she insists that the perpetuationo gender inequality in Buddhist institutions cannot be justi ed or compensatedby reiterating the doctrines on spiritual equality in Buddhism.99 Chao Hweiwants nuns to ace the act that the Eight Special Rules perpetuate arrogance




and pretensions to special privileges among monks (who are the minority inaiwan), while continuing tendencies o sel -deprecation and de erence to male

authority among nuns,100

despite the nuns’ numerical supremacy, decades ohard work, study, cultivation, and contributions to aiwan’s Buddhism. Tenun Yikong writes about a “. . . joke in the Buddhist community” describingmonks “as being ‘VIP, middle, and ront,’ re erring to thebhikkhu’s pre er-ence or VIP seats duringdharma unctions and activities;bhikkhussittingin the middle o the ront row when photos are taken, and, walking in ronto others.”101 She might have added that in Buddhist audiences or meditationsessions, laymen ofen are seated in ront o laywomen, due to the traditionalmisogynist belie that women are spiritually and intellectually de cient. oChao Hwei, these are not joking matters; and Jiang Canteng agrees with Chao

Hwei that true gender equality in Buddhism will not be realized without abol-ishment o the Eight Special Rules and that aiwan Buddhists could seize thisopportunity to set a historical precedent or the rest o the Buddhist world.102 Despite the act that nuns have always outnumbered monks in aiwan, theEight Special Rules act like a glass ceiling and ultimately bar them rom topleadership positions in national Buddhist organizations.103

However, though aiwan’s Buddhist monks and nuns have not reacheda consensus, let alone taken urther action regarding the abolition o theEight Special Rules,104 Chao Hwei points out that her movement seems tohave in uenced BAROC to allow nuns or the rst time to serve as standing

board members and Secretary-General, while the aipei Buddhist Associa-tion allowed nuns or the rst time to be elected or board chairperson. Ata November 2001 meeting o BAROC, the board chairman, the senior monkJingliang, invited Chao Hwei to deliver an address “representing nuns,” also anunprecedented event.105 Furthermore, the controversy caused by her movementto abolish the “Eight Special Rules” did not hinder her rom being invitedto lecture on thebhikkhunīprecepts at ordination ceremonies and monasticsummer retreats in aiwan and in China.106 Tus her movement did lead tore orms in the monk-led Buddhist leadership in aiwan, and has orced openthe door to long-needed discussion and debate about the Eight Special Rules,gender equality in Buddhism and aiwan’s Buddhist leadership.

In conclusion, Chao Hwei has trans ormed Yinshun’s “modern Bodhi-sattava” at the service o society, into a social activist, ceaselessly questioningthe status quo, working or structural change, and earless o controversy. Herinspiration is not only rom Buddhism but also the theory and practice oglobal social movements such as human rights, environmentalism, animalrights, and eminism. Her critics may disapprove o her tactics, but no onecan deny the effectiveness o her strategy, which results in actual change.107

Due to her books, lectures, and con erences she is becoming known inHong Kong and China; the Hongshi Institute might nd it bene cial to translate




their publications into oreign languages and establish more connections withlike-minded Engaged Buddhists in Asia and throughout the world.108 aiwan’s

renjian ojiao groups, especially Chao Hwei and her colleagues, could workmore with the International Network o Engaged Buddhists (INEB) oundedby Sulak Sivaraksa o Tailand in 1989.109 High on his list o priorities arehuman rights, social justice, environmentalism, and a critique o consumer-ist society, and he has been censored and jailed or his activism. INEB is aloose non-hierarchal network comprised o a ew, “very small marginalizedBuddhist NGOs and activists.”110 Groups rom aiwan (Foguangshan, Ciji),Korea, and Japan did not send participants to INEB annual meetings untilrecently. Tis was not due to regional (Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia) ordoctrinal differences (Teravāda, Mahāyāna) but to the organization structures

o INEB (small grassroots, marginalized rom the government and nationalsangha establishments). For even the large NGOSarvodaya in Sri Lanka didnot attend INEB meetings until the last ew years.111

Te emergence o engaged Buddhism over the past century, and itsradical activism rom the mid-twentieth century on, is one strand amongmany in contemporary Buddhism practice.112 And within Engaged Buddhistcircles there is no consensus about what degree o engagement de nes one asan engaged Buddhist. Ken Jones distinguishes between two types o EngagedBuddhists as:

“. . . Sof-enders who trust in the ripple effects o one-to-one in u-ence in launching a peace ul society, and the hard-enders who arecommitted, quietly or militantly, to in uence public policy andcreate new institutions.”113

Radical Buddhist activism is new in aiwan; it is unclear whether inthe uture a younger generation o Buddhist women will ollow this path, aswell as stand together and call or the abolition o the Eight Special Rules.Chao Hwei hersel wrote that though she and Zhengyan take very differentapproaches to social action, both are Buddhist nuns who hope to improve

aiwan society; each employing skill ul means to good ends.114 Diverse Bud-dhist interpretations and practices together can contribute to the growth oa vibrant and pluralistic society.



Conclusion

Buddhism, Women,and Civil Society in aiwan

o conclude, we return to the three ocalizing questions o this book.

How Have Women Shaped aiwan’s Buddhism?

Over the past hal -century, ordained and lay Buddhist women, together withmonks and laymen, have built up modern Chinese institutional Buddhismon the oundations ozhaijiao and Japanese-era institutional Buddhism.1

aiwan’s Buddhism is unique in the world or several reasons: aiwan has

the largest number o nuns in the world; nuns outnumber monks three toone; and, among nuns in aiwan are leaders in the elds o education, char-ity, the arts, normative ethics, and human rights. Finally, aiwan’s Buddhistshave to a great extent trans ormed negative depictions o “women” and “the

eminine” into positive traits worthy o emulation by both genders; in the caseo Ciji, Zhengyan strives to re orm aiwan and the world through a eminizedBuddhism. o my knowledge, this particularly strong propagation o positive

eminine traits as making “women especially suited or Buddhism” is onlyound in aiwan, not in the Mahāyāna Buddhism circles o China, where

the monks’ order is more numerous and power ul, with privileged access to

resources, education, and positions o leadership and where negative ideasabout women’s “pollution” and “karmic burdens” still prevail.2

Nor is this kind o argument ound in Korean Buddhist circles, thoughmore than hal o the monastics are nuns and eighty percent o lay Buddhistsare women.3 In Vietnam, the emale image o Guanyin is also very importantto Mahāyāna Buddhists, as in aiwan, but according to my observations, monksor nuns do not regardtù’ bi (compassion) as being particular associated withwomen or “the eminine,” rather,tù’ bi is one o the great Buddhist virtues tobe cultivated by all. Tough it is claimed that now nuns outnumber monksin Vietnam,4 and many nuns seek higher education in Vietnam and abroad,

111




monks and nuns still have unequal status. Only monks are called “ eacher/Master,” Tâ y , while nuns are calledSu’ Cô, “ eacher-auntie”; also, monks’

names begin withTích while nuns add the word or “woman,”Tích n u’ .Monks in Vietnam, as they have throughout history, have higher social stand-ing and power, have privileged access to lay disciples and resources, and arein command in all areas o Buddhist circles except the monastic kitchen.

Due to the hard work and achievements o nuns such as Zhengyan, WuYin, Chao Hwei, and their disciples, a orm o socially-engaged Buddhism,Buddhism or the Human Realm, ourishes in aiwan. Monastics in aiwanare now perceived as educated pro essionals, and the Buddhist religion isnow respected or its achievements in many elds. aiwan also plays a keyrole in developing global Buddhism through its overseas branches in many

countries, and is helping to revive Buddhism in China, with aiwan’s nunsand monks offi ciating at ordination ceremonies, giving lectures and holdingretreats, and disseminating Buddhist publications, as well as with aiwan’sBuddhists’ generous donations. Master Xingyun deserves great credit or hissupport o the nuns’ order in aiwan and around the world, and Foguangshanhas sponsored ull ordination ceremonies or nuns o ibetan and Teravādintraditions, such as in February 1998 at Bodhgayā India, which helped restoreSri Lanka’sbhikkhunīorder afer a lapse o nine centuries.5 aiwan has becomea center or emale Buddhist novitiates, Asian and non-Asian, rom all Buddhisttraditions (Teravādin, ibetan, Zen) to receive training and ull ordination.

For over feen years, the Dalai Lama has called or ull ordination or nunsin ibetan Buddhism and sent a special team to aiwan in 1997 and in 2001to investigate the aiwanese system.6 All these accomplishments have provenwrong Zhang Mantao’s gloomy prediction that: “Relying on women [in aiwan’sBuddhism] probably will make it impossible to obtain per ect results.”7

How Has Buddhism Shaped the Roleand Identity o aiwanese Women?

We have seen that there are many types o Buddhist groups in aiwan besidesthose advocatingrenjian ojiao and not every temple chooses active socialengagement. aiwan offers many choices or women and men regarding Bud-dhist doctrine and practice, including whether to remain a lay practitioner orbecome a monastic, and this is one strong point about aiwan’s Buddhism.8 Women can choose to become Buddhist nuns and in doing so satis y their intel-lectual and spiritual needs and pro essional aspirations. Buddhism in aiwanhas produced women leaders in education, culture, and social service and hasempowered women on an individual level as in Ciji’s level o sel -strengthen-ing, ziwo peili, where women gain a new voice, new knowledge, worldview,



113Buddhism, Women, and Civil Society in aiwan

and skills, and are saved rom despair, abuse, and death. Furthermore, Cijipromulgates the world-saving Guanyin as “mother” and in the process has

extended women’s nurturing and healing role rom home to society, withbene ts to women, the Ciji organization, and society.Luminary nuns endeavor to empower women, rst as sel -reliant, well-

trained dharma masters, and also empowers women through Luminary’scommunity outreach programs in post-earthquake relie and their classesassisting “ oreign brides.” And the eminist Chao Hwei endeavors to worktoward gender equality or all women, whether nuns, lay Buddhists, or non-Buddhist women.

As aiwan’s Buddhists stressed Buddhist doctrines on gender equality andalso championed positive “ eminine traits” such as compassion, nurturance,

peace-making and communication skills, aiwan’s Buddhists have cultivatedwomen’s hereto ore “hidden” or disparaged potentials and mobilized womenand men to great good or the commonweal. apping into aiwan society’sgender essentialism has served the Buddhists well, but will Ciji’s ideal oGuanyin-as-mother appeal to the next generation? As or Dharma Drum’sShengyan, though he lectured on the doctrines in Buddhism that advocategender equality, he also held essentialist concepts about gender: “Womenare restricted due to their amily and child-bearing responsibilities . . . the

act that women are willing to sacri ce [their potential or sel -development]or the sake o the amily, it’s in their nature . . . in the animal world, this is

also true.”9

Buddhists’ perpetuation o gender essentialism seems to be at oddswith the strenuous efforts by NGOs and the government to realize genderequality in aiwan, not to mention the calls or gender equality in Buddhism.Su Qianling criticizes the myth o “woman as wi e and mother” and the ten-dency to abuse the notion o “mother’s love,” when a woman is de ned asmother and wi e in both private and public spheres, and her “natural” role asnurturer, healer, and service-provider supercede her humanity, her sel , andher potential to develop other aspects such as the intellect and other talents.Moreover, Su believes that this abuse o mother’s love is not bene cial orsociety, that the aiwanese will never become independent mature people ithey are always hiding beneath a mother- gure’s wings.10 But Lu Hwei-syinreminds us that at least or now, women in aiwan can accept gender differ-ences and “celebrate” gender complementarity, as long as they can success ullyobtain the resources, power, sel - ul llment, and social status they want bymaneuvering and negotiating among their domestic roles as mother, wi e,daughter, and their “outside” roles as worker, pro essional, and other non-

amily-based identities.11

Te ambiguous discourse in aiwan’s Buddhism about “women’s nature”can perpetuate Buddhism’s attraction as it can weaken its appeal. Ultimately,




the long-term success o Buddhism in aiwan will depend considerably uponthe way women themselves in aiwan de ne their role and identity.

How Are Buddhist Women Shapingthe Future o aiwanese Society?

Among aiwan’s Buddhists are those who pro essed no previous religiousbelie , but others are converts rom Christianity and above all, the popularreligious tradition. Tus Buddhism is altering aiwan’s traditional religiouslandscape, also in a literal sense when one sees the proli eration o Buddhisttemples and mega-structures in city and countryside alike. aiwan’s Buddhists

have also helped to shape the current public discourse on illness, dying, anddeath through publications, community classes, and public advocacy.12 Asone example, Ciji’s medical center is a pioneer in the eld o hospice carein aiwan.

But perhaps most intriguing is the question oi and how aiwan’s Bud-dhists are contributing to the making o civil society, and scholarly opinionscan be divided into those who hold a broad de nition o civil society andthose who pre er a strict, activist de nition. In the broad neo-liberal de ni-tion that has taken shape since the 1980s, “. . . civil society consists o asso-ciational li e—a non-pro t, voluntary ‘third sector’—that not only restrains

state power but also actually provides a substitute or many o the unctionsper ormed by the state . . . Civil society . . . is the realm between the state,the market, and the amily, but it is a realm o stability rather than struggle,o service provision rather than advocacy, o trust and responsibility ratherthan emancipation.”13

Robert Weller’s (1999) is an example o a broad de nition o civil society:Ciji “. . . is a classic civil organization in the sense that it is an intermediateinstitution between the private world and the state . . . It is insistently apolitical,yet politically vital as a central eld or the rede nition o sel and moral-ity.”14 As evidence to support Weller, we can point to the power o changingconsciousness. As mentioned above, Ciji has mobilized women as mothersto make great contributions to aiwan and the world, while both Ciji andFagushan [Dharma Drum] have been very effective in educating people aboutbasic environmental issues. In addition, theserenjian ojiao groups have ledthe amily-oriented Chinese to think beyond amily unit to neighborhood,other regions, and other countries, to extend care and resources universally, inother words, developing a public consciousness that is crucial or a true civilsociety. o take another example, the Ciji organization worked strenuously toovercome popular taboos against blood and bone marrow donations; now, theirbone marrow bank is the largest in Asia and third-largest in the world.




Moreover, the crux o Weller’s argument is that aiwan has mani estedan alternate orm o civil society development. Western ideas about civil

society took as the norm the notion o the autonomous individual in his orher search or identity, while the Chinese did and still do “. . . maintain stronglinks to the bonds o local community, kinship, and religion,” dismissed byclassic sociologists as “premodern.”15 Civil groups multiplied so quickly afer1987 because they grew out o the numerous extant in ormal groups based onties o community, local politics, religion, and kinship. Tis in ormal sector,rooted in community and amily li e, includes such phenomena as rotatingcredit associations, the environmental movement, and Ciji. In each o these,women play a large and active role, while men, past and present, have domi-nated the ormal sectors o society.16 Studies by David Schak and Hsin-Huang

Michael Hsiao o six socially-engaged Buddhist groups in aiwan similarlyconclude that these groups have, through their missions o education, culture,philanthropy, and environmental protection, created social capital and havecontributed to aiwan’s growing civil society.17

However, a number o scholars in aiwan hold a strict, activist de ni-tion o civil society. “For the activist version, the inhabitants o civil societycan be roughly equated with civic-minded or public-spirited groups. Toseactive in civil society would be those concerned about public affairs and publicdebate.”18 Mary Kaldor de nes civil society “. . . as the medium through whichsocial contracts or bargains between the individual and the centres o political

and economic power are negotiated, discussed and mediated.”19

Lin Yusheng, or example, cannot call Ciji an example o a public orga-nization in aiwan. Like Chao Hwei, Lin believes NGOs should supervise,critique, advise, and proactively shape the public discourse, which so ar Cijishies rom doing.20 As another example, Gu Zhonghua employs the de ni-tion o the term civil society dating rom the global democratic movementso the past twenty years especially against the authoritarian states in EasternEurope and Latin America. As Gu Zhonghua describes it, the possibility orcivil society ( gongmin shehui) in aiwan began with the abolition o martiallaw in 1987, initiating a period o spontaneous social movements and publicdemonstrations that culminated in a series o large multigroup public marchesin spring o 1997. Ten, in the period rom 1997 to the present, socialmovements crystallized into NGOs and NPOs (non-pro t organizations).NGOs and NPOs comprise “the third sector,” together with government andbusiness, in a triangular balance o power. Tis “third sector,” as it exercisescitizens’ civil rights, participates in public discourse, and in uences publicpolicy ( or example, education re orm groups, the local community move-ment, women’s rights groups, environmental groups, aboriginal rights groups)has the potential to evolve into “civil society.”21 But Gu points out that thelarge Buddhist NGOs in aiwan like Ciji, Fagushan, and Foguangshan, as




we saw in Chapter 6, “. . . due to various concerns, have a strong ‘apolitical’orientation, unwilling to challenge the powers that be” and thus are not yet

“public” organizations.22

Finally, ing Jen-Chieh and Zhan Sujuan comment that with the “9.21”earthquake and Project Hope, Ciji could have seized the opportunity tohelp build a Habermasian public sphere, “where public opinion is ormed,”but did not, due to Ciji’s perennial claims to be apolitical, always seekingconsensus and harmony, above and beyond the polity, avoiding debates andcon rontation.23 ing Jen-Chieh argues that though Ciji has developed intoa large, modern, international NGO, the group still retains characteristicso aGongde hui, a traditional Chinese charitable association based on thespirit o keji chongren (overcoming the sel , esteeming compassion), whose

members, by meeting the needs o their community, ( or example, in aminerelie or nancing local educational and in rastructure projects) accumulateboth personal and amily merit; such merit associations were uninvolved withupper-level state policymaking.24 In contrast, Chao Hwei and her colleaguesas well as the Luminary Buddhist Institute, through their work with otherNGOs, are building the horizontal links that constitute civil society.

In closing, we can ask: By becoming nuns, have aiwanese womenound their “Peach Blossom Spring,” their Utopia, their reedom rom patri-

archal bonds, gender discrimination, and power games?25 Tis is the ques-tion the novelist Chen Ruoxi explores in her two novelsHuixinlian [Te

Story o aiwan’s Nuns] (2000) andChong an taohuayuan [Return to PeachBlossom Spring] (2001).26 Chen Ruoxi asks piercing questions such as: Dowomen simply go rom a lay environment, serving ather, husband, son,to the Buddhist environment, serving other Buddhist masters and servingsociety, without changing the traditional image and sel -image o womenas “gentle and yielding . . . able to endure hardships and ceaseless work?” Inaddition, Chen wonders i Buddhism or the Human Realm risks becomingsecularized, valued only or its utilitarian aspect in serving society, not orits intrinsic spiritual value. Furthermore, she ears that high levels o educa-tion and training do not necessarily lead to high levels o sel -awareness andpowers o critical re ection. Chen also ventures into the taboo subjects oemotional attachments, sex, power, and gender inequality in contemporary

aiwan’s religions, including institutional Buddhism.27

Te novels offer no de nite answers but, precisely because they raisedsuch sensitive topics, Chen Ruoxi’s novels had a cool reception among theBuddhist community. For example, in her terse review oHuixinlian, the nunXinghe sympathized with the novel’s description o the pain and guilt involvedas women leave their amilies to become nuns, however Xinghe rejected thenovel’s “stereotyped” description o Buddhism as a re uge o last resort orbroken hearts and victims o broken homes. Xinghe re rained rom discuss-




ing the other controversial issues raised in the novel. Sensitive or not, ChenRuoxi’s questions still await wide discussion in the Buddhist community.28

Regarding the uture, as the older generation o nuns who were ordainedrom the 1960s to the 1980s age and become less active, the younger genera-tion o nuns might cooperate more with NGOs and government initiatives.However, another scenario may un old: As aiwan’s society undergoes urtherliberalization, it may become socially acceptable to remain as an unmarriedlaywoman.29 In that case, there would be no need to make the sacri cesrequired by the monastic li e.

Te sudden increase in numbers o young women who became nunsin the 1980s may simply have been a passing phase, akin to the surge o newCatholic nuns in the decades o 1960 through the 1970s, inspired by the

“Vatican II” re orms and Liberation Teology, youth movement ideals such asthe imperative o social engagement, and the rise o eminist consciousness.30 In aiwan, some young women and men elt a personal spiritual bond withthe charismatic Buddhist masters and nuns who propagatedrenjian ojiao in

aiwan: Tese masters are now aging and must increasingly delegate tasksand responsibilities to the younger generation. But Mingjia predicted that inthe uture, young people drawn to the monastic li e will not do so due tothe compelling charisma o any master, but due to the appeal o living andworking in a Buddhist community, as a member o a collective team. Sheor he will have to be drawn rst or religious and spiritual reasons, because

in modern society, the enticements and pressures o the secular world areever-increasing. Mingjia stated that the number o newly ordained nuns issteady, and she eels the Buddhist community should continue to emphasizecomprehensive and pro essional education and training or nuns to meet thechallenges o socially-engaged and globally-oriented Buddhism.31

When asked is there equality in aiwan between thebhikkhus andbhikkhunīs, Wu Yin answered: “Te leadership rests with thebhikkhus.32 Butconcerning their presence and what is given back to society, thebhikkhunīsdo much more than thebhikkhus . . . [Te bhikkhunīs] are much more engagedin studying and propagating the Dharma.”33 Even without absolute equalitywith monks, the state o the nuns’ order in aiwan today surpasses even thebest times or Chinese nuns over the past seventeen centuries, and ar exceedsthe situation or most Buddhist nuns in the world. o note but one poignantexample, the ibetan nuns o Labrang in China, because they are emale,are greatly limited in their scope o ritual and merit-making activities. Oneway Labrang nuns can gain lay support is by practicing the grueling ritualo asting and ritual silence calledsmyung gnas. However, the time spent andbodily hardships endured “severely limit” the nuns to “improve themselvesbeyond [the ritual’s] scope,” and thus nuns are “constrained [by the monks]to collude in their own silencing.”34




Nuns in aiwan possess the power to speak, write, and publish, andhave been instrumental in the in development o civil society. On par with

monks, nuns can pursue studies, lead and administer temples, per orm a variety o rituals and offi ciate at ordination plat orms, and teach thedharmato nuns, laypeople, and other monks. Nuns enjoy high social status and mate-rial wel are35 and can travel abroad to study, lecture, transmit the precepts tonew nuns, and to advance global Buddhism.36 aiwan’s nuns have ought orand secured voice, space, and power that no person or institution can takeaway rom them. Tese are in nite worlds,tiankong.

ianxia mingshan shei shi zhuKongzhong wuwo xin ji o

Who is master o the amed mountains all under Heaven?[Dwelling] in emptiness, ego-less, the mind is Buddha.37



Notes

Introduction

1. I have been told the ollowing estimates, rom a scholar who wishes toremain anonymous until the gures can be proven: 1,500 ully ordained nuns inChina; 9,805 ully ordained nuns in the world, excluding aiwan. See Chapter 1 ormore in ormation about nuns in China, past and present. Korea has a long historyo ully-ordained Buddhist nuns, beginning in the fh century AD; Vietnam has hada tradition o ully-ordained nuns since the twelfh century. Both countries since thetwentieth-century have experienced growth in education opportunities or nuns, andhave seen the development o socially-engaged Buddhism in recent years. See Batchelorand Son’gyong Sunim 2006 and articles on Korean Buddhism in somo 2006; TichNu Dong Anh, “A Survey o Bhikkhunis Sangha in Vietnam,” in somo 2004a: 51–54.

In Japan, the rst ordained monastics were three young girls who were sent to theKorean peninsula or ordination in 590 AD, while ordination or monks in Japan wasnot established until the mid-eighth century. However, due to Meiji government policieso the late nineteenth century, male “monks” in Japan have married and raised amilies;alcohol and meat are not prohibited to them. Japan has a long and varied traditiono Buddhist nuns, many o whom were celibate, were ully or partially tonsured, andwere scholars, teachers, administrators, and ritual specialists. Some lived in convents,some remained at home, some were itinerant. Full ordination never became the normin Japan; nuns instead have taken Bodhisattva or novice vows or were “sel -ordained.”Since the late nineteenth century, Japanese nuns, particularly rom the Sōtō Zen sect,have ought to establish schools and institutes to provide Buddhist and secular education

to nuns, and have succeeded in changing their sect’s regulations to allow nuns accessto higher ranking, administration posts, and the right to per orm certain rituals, allrom which nuns were previously barred. However, lay models o Buddhist practice are

more popular and numerous in Japan. See Arai 1999, Ruch 2002, and Faure 2003. InTeravādin countries and in ibetan Buddhism, although many Buddhist laywomen,ten-precept nuns, and novice nuns practice devoutly and diligently, they suffer romlimited resources, limited access to education, limitations in the ritual sphere, and lowsocial status. Unless they are able to seek ull ordination based on the Chinesevinaya o theDharmaguptaka tradition, they practice as novices their entire lives. Due to theefforts o many Buddhist women and men (including aiwan Buddhists) over several

119



121Notes to Chapter 1

Buddhism” by showing how nuns variously interpret certain ideas and strictures aboutwomen and gender in the Pāli and Chinese scriptures, especially in light o the nuns’li e experiences and religious practices and their various contexts. See my review in Journal o Chinese Philosophy 34:4 (December 2007), pp. 606–11.

12. Yikong 2004: 67.13. Li Xueping 2000: 3; 17.14. Huang and Weller 1998: 391.15. Chinese re ormist monk aixu (1890–1947) rst developedrenjian ojiao

to answer the critiques o and challenges to Buddhism in the modern world. Formore details see Pittman 2001 and Jones 1999. As Chapter 6 will explain, the “threemountaintops” o renjian ojiao in aiwan include Zhengyan’s Ciji (Compassion-Relie ) enterprise, ounded in 1966; Xingyun’s Foguangshan (Buddha Light Mountain)enterprise, ounded in 1967; and Shengyan’s Fagushan (Dharma Drum Mountain)enterprise, ounded in 1989.

Chapter 1

1. Earlier orms o this chapter appeared in theaipei Ricci Bulletin 3, 1999–2000: 79–89, and in Karma Lekshe somo ed.Buddhist Women and Social Justice NY:SUNY Press, 2004: 219–31; reprinted with permission.

2. Luminary Publishing Association, 1997b: 86–122. For this chapter Iinterviewed Master Wu Yin, head o the Luminary Buddhist Institute, Jiayi; Ven.Mingjia, ormer second-in-command o the Luminary Buddhist Institute; Ven. HengChing, pro essor o philosophy emerita at National aiwan University; Ven. Jianshen,pro essor o education, Hsuan Chuang University; Ven. Shanhui o the Qianguang

emple, Jiayi; Vens. Guang’guo and Xianyue o Lingjiu Mountain Monastery, Jilong; Ven.Lianchan o the Wuyan Association, aipei; Ven. Jingxin at Benyuan emple, Kaohsiung,and Ven. Man’guang, Foguangshan, Kaohsiung County. I am especially indebted toVen. Chao Hwei o the Hongshi Buddhist Institute or generously speaking with andwriting to me countless times. Many thanks to Pro . Dominique yl who organizedand carried out a phone survey o all offi cially registered Buddhist monasteries in

aipei, August 1999. Tese interviews are one source or the section o this chaptercalled “Why Become a Nun?” I also thank Dr. Jiang Canteng and Dr. Li Yuzhen ortheir generous help and guidance.

3. Qin 2000: 223–26; 239–31; 265; 437–39. Qin illustrates how hard thenuns on Emei Shan have struggled to shape their own path as emale religiouspractitioners. Tey have recently gained lay support and access to ritual and nancialpowers traditionally monopolized by monks. But nuns, she points out, still remain ina state-determined in erior position to monks. “Te continuing male dominance overwomen in the Buddhist monastic tradition is justi ed by the patriarchal administrativestructure set up by the state,” including a state-determined quota system to guaranteemore monks than nuns. 226, 239–40.

4. Li 2000: 22–23. 5. As stipulated by thevinaya, the monastic rules, a male Master can take both

monks and nuns as disciples, but a emale Master can only take nuns. At mixed-sangha



122 Notes to Chapter 1

temples in aiwan, monks and nuns are housed separately and honor all monasticprecepts including celibacy. A comparison o all-nun and mixed-sangha communitiesmight reveal different institutional patterns and teaching and leadership styles, as wellas the problems special to mixed-gender celibate communities. According to Wei-yiCheng’s ndings, some aiwanese nuns believed that the emale-onlysangha was amore empowering environment overall or nuns, while others elt that mixed-sangha environment provided more opportunities or education and preaching. Cheng 2007:149–66.

6. Kan 2004: 22–23. 7. Cheng 2007: 36. 8. Hs’ing 1983: 6. 9. Ibid., 5.10. Ibid., 11–16.11. Kan 1999 and 2005; Shi Huiyan 1996.12. Kan 2005:24.13. Hs’ing 1983: 14–15; Kan 1999.14. Jones 1999: 9. “Wild rontier” is a typical term used in colonialist discourse

and the validity o this term should be scrutinized in that context. See Emma Jinhuaeng, aiwan’s Imagined Geography: Chinese Colonial ravel Writing and Pictures,

1683–1895. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.15. Jones 199: 13, 30. Jones here relies on Chen 1974 and the1971 General

Gazetteer o aiwan Province, published by the Nationalist government on aiwan.16. Kan 2005: 26, 30. Kan is quoting rom Shi Miaoran, ed. Minguo ojiao dashi

nianji [Annual Chronicle o Important Events in Republican-Era Buddhism]. aipei:Hai Chao Yin Magazine Publishers, 277.

17. Goossaert 2002: 42, note 21. Te argument that links a lack o ordinationcenter to a weak or in erior Buddhism in aiwan is made by Chen 1974: 10–11.

18. Goossaert 2002: 42; Personal communication, July 11, 2007.19. Goossaert 2002.20. David K Jordan and Daniel L. Overmyer,Te Flying Phoenix: Aspects o

Chinese Sectarianism in aiwan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Wan-liHo o Emory University studies the recent phenomenon o emale Daoist clergy in

aiwan, including the celibate ordained clergy o Daode Yuan in Kaohsiung, whosepractice combines the rituals o the Zhenyi sect with the ideas regarding “inneralchemy” rom the Quanzhen traditions.

21. Li 2000: 73. For more in ormation aboutzhaijiaoin aiwan, see Jiang andWang 1994; Jiang 1997: 49–60; and Jones 1999: 14–43.

22. Cheng 2003: 41.23. opley 1978: 67–88. Marjorie opley studied women’s “marriage resistance”

and women’s vegetarian houses in the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong, and Singapore.In some areas o Guangdong, women’s re using or delaying marriage was related totheir desire (or that o their amily) or wages earned in the local silk industry.

24. Li 2000: 75; Jiang 1997: 113–24.25. Li 2000: 77.26. Zhang Kunzhen 2003. aiwan de lao zhaitang . aipei County: Yuanzu

Wenhua, 156–61.




27. Li 2000: 74, quoting Lin Mei-Rong.28. Jiang 2001b: 59.29. Goossaert suggests that regional variation ound among clerical groups

(monks, nuns, Buddhist, Daoist) is related to patterns o master-disciple succession otemple properties and management positions as well as the cultic and liturgical needso the local communities that supported these groups. Tus, he argues, traditionsevolved in certain areas, where it was “standard and honorable” (and economicallypragmatic) to send or permit one’s son or daughter to join the Buddhist sangha.Goossaert 2000: 16–18.

30. Jiang 1997: 49–60; Jones 1999: 153.31. aiwan Shukyō Chōsa Hōkokushō [Report o the Investigation into Religion

in aiwan]. aipei: aiwan Sōtoku u, 1919; Shi Huiyan 1999: 263–64. Jones also claimsthat at the end o the Qing, there were no nuns in aiwan. Jones 1999: 153, quotingCheng Ruitang 1974: 11.

32. Chen Wenda, ed. 1958. aiwan wenxian congkan, ype 103, “ aiwanCounty Gazetteer, Geography, Customs.” aipei: Economic Research Offi ce, Bank o

aiwan, Oct., 60.33. Lian Heng 1977.Chuan 11, “Education Record,” andChuan 22, “Religion

Record.” aiwan tongshi [General History o aiwan]. aipei: atong Shuju. Lian Heng’s(1876–1936) rst edition o theaiwan tongshi was published in aipei in 1920–21.

34. In the early twentieth century, the monk Jueli accompanied his nun disciplesto Yongquan emple in Fujian to pursue Buddhist studies and become ordained, seesection below.

35. Li 2000: 87–88.36. Li 2005: 42.37. Jones 1999: 86.38. In November 1919, Chinese monks at Kaiyuan emple held the rst

ordination or nuns in aiwan, ollowing its 1917 ordination or monks. Shi Huiyan1999: 263–64.

39. Jones 1999: 35; 83–92.40. he Japanese authorities intensi ied their e orts to control Buddhist

personnel and activities afer the 1915 “Xilai An Incident.” A plot to overthrow thecolonial government was mapped out at Xilai An, and among those later arrestedand punished or intent to insurrection were lay Buddhists practicing the “vegetarianreligion.”

41. Te complicated interactions among Chinese Buddhist temples and monasticsin aiwan, the various vegetarian sects, Japanese Buddhism, and the Japanese colonialadministration during the period 1895–1945 are beyond the scope o this chapter. SeeChen 1992, Jiang 1996: 100–243, Jiang 2001, and Jones 1999: 33–96.

42. Te ve great Chinese Buddhist temples o the Japanese period includedLingquan temple in Jilong; Fayun emple in Xinzhu; Kaiyuan emple in ainan;Chao eng emple in Kaohsiung County, and Lingyun Chan emple in aipei.

43. Shi Huiyan 1999: 261–64.44. ravagnin in somo 2004a: 87–88.45. All three nunneries still exist but are now small institutions and their

in uence has greatly diminished.




46. Li 2000: 92–93.47. Kan 1999: 58.48. Ibid., 13.49. Li 2005: 50–52.50. Ibid., 43–46.51. Li 2000: 91–95.52. Jianye 1999: 11–12; Chuandao 2004a: 63; ravagnin 2004a: 83–96. Te nun

ianyi is one such example, discussed in Chapter 5.53. It is unclear how many nuns rom China came to aiwan at that time. Li

2005: 64.54. Jianye 1999: 7, 9; 23–32. See Jiang 2003: 3–246 or more details on this

crucial transitional period, as well as Luminary Publishing Association 1997b: 93.Also, Li 2000: 97 stresses the important role that the nun Yuanrong played in the1953 ordination, as she negotiated between the indigenous aiwanese monastics andthe Buddhist Association o the Republic o China.

55. Li 2000: 109. Tree leading Chinese monks o the Japanese era had alreadydied: Jueli in 1933, Shanhui in 1945, and Benyuan in 1947. For more in ormation aboutthe “ ate ozhaijiao” during and afer Japanese colonial rule, see Jones 1999: 88–92.

56. Li 2000: 83–85.57. Li 2005: 64–65.58. Li 2002: 3.59. Kan 2004: 287.60. Cheng 2007: 155.61. O course, these teachings were not completely absent, or most nuns learned

about (and may have interpreted literally) emales’ “Five Hindrances” ( rom theLotusSūtra) restricting them rom attaining Buddhahood, and, the “Eighty-Four Kinds oWomen’s Ugly Gestures” a list o negative “ eminine traits” such as narrow-mindedness,bad-temper, insolence, ignorance, jealousy, etc. that nuns should overcome; this tractalso teaches nuns “correct” body movements and body language, to avoid attractingattention to hersel and to avoid “distracting” the monks. “ o a great degree, theseeighty- our requirements are very similar to the Con ucian parameters o a humblelady.” Li 2000: 112–13. Another example among many that could be cited is that othe monk Guangqin, who “required his nun disciples to spend the rst seven yearsin the kitchen . . .” not only, as required o most new monks and nuns, to ul ll one’sduties as part o the monastic community, but also because to Guangqin, “cookingis the best way to repay the karma o being born in the emale body.” Additionally,Wei-yi Cheng writes that nuns in aiwan have been usually prohibited rom leadingghost rituals, apparently due to the popular belie in “women’s polluting nature andin erior karma” (2007: 65–66) and that the misogynist “Blood BowlSūtra” used to benarrated at women’s unerals in aiwan. Crane (2001) studied one temple in aiwan,led by a monk, with monk and nun disciples, whose nuns are especially determinedto overcome “the negative qualities o emales,” “ emale pollution,” and the “heavierkarma and bad ate o women,” all o which hinder their spiritual path, so that theypractice in every way to become “men in spirit” in this li e, with the hope o beingreborn in a man’s body. Yet both Li Yuzhen and Wei-yi Cheng also ound in theirresearch that some nuns agreed that there are extra burdens and diffi culties o being




born in a woman’s body, but interpreted these in a positive light, as challenges toovercome, thus mani esting women’s power ul spiritual sensibility. Li 2000: 11, Cheng2000: 67. Furthermore, aiwanese women re ute the idea o “women’s in erior karma”by stressing that Bodhisattvas can and do appear in emale orm. Cheng 2007: 68.

62. Li 2000: 112. Sukdham Sunim writes that Korean nuns had been excludedrom obtaining ormal monastic education rom the feenth century until 1956. In

an interesting parallel with aiwan’s case, “. . . Korean monk masters in the 1950splayed a major role [in] educating Korean nuns, with the hopes that nuns would play vital roles to rebuild Korean Buddhism,” because institutional Buddhism had beenoppressed under the Choson Dynasty rom 1400–1910, then suffered under Japanesecolonial rule and its Buddhist policies, and has had to compete with Christianity or

ollowers and unds. “Crossing Over the Gender Boundary in Gray Rubber Shoes:A Study on Myoom Sunim’s Buddhist Monastic Education,” in somo 2006: 218–27.Quotation is rom page 221.

63. Li 2000: 117–18; Jianye 1999: 30; ravagnin 2004b: 196.64. Li 2005: 70.65. Li 2000: 113–14.66. o ordain a emale candidate, mostvinayas state that ten nuns are required

or the rst ceremony in the nuns’sangha and ten monks or the second ceremonyin the monks’sangha. Li 2000: 341–42.

67. Ibid., 107–20.68. Ibid., 125–29.69. Ibid., 209. Tough Ven. Heng Ching and many other senior nuns support

dual ordination, Ven Chao Hwei, in the spirit o monastic gender equality, suggeststhat a committee o ten quali ed nuns is suffi cient to ordain nuns, without the secondordination by monks. Chiu Min-chieh, “Fojiao dui nuxing zhuyi de sikao: yi Zhaohui

ashi de ojiao nuxing zhuyi lunshu weili” [Buddhist Tinking on Feminism: akingVenerable Chao-hwei’s Exposition o Buddhist Feminism as an Example]. Paperpresented at the International Con erence on Religious Culture and Gender Ethics,Hsuan Chuang University, Nov. 24–25, 2007: K8–9.

70. ravagnin 2004b: 186–87. ranslation is by ravagnin.71. Jiang 1992: 84–85, citing an exchange o letters between the two masters.

Shengyan had sought Yinshun’s guidance about his (SY’s) plans to ound a newBuddhist organization but what to do about the large number o nuns? Bingenheimer2004: 160–61. “Te ordination o Mahāprājapatī, the rstbhikkhunī. . . is said to havebeen con erred by the Buddha only upon the nuns’ acceptance o the eight specialrules. . . .” raditionalists invariably point to this to justi y gender hierarchy in Buddhistinstitutions. But recent “textual analysis reveals that these discriminatory passages havebeen arti cially embedded in earlier texts” and could not have been uttered by theBuddha. As one glaring example, the “nuns’ assemblies” did not exist yet at the timeo Mahāprajāpatī’s ordination. ( somo, “Mahāprajāpatī’s Legacy,” in somo 1999: 27–28.Te eight garudhammasare 1. A nun must always show de erence to a monk, however junior in age or experience the monk is. 2. A nun should not spend the rain-retreat ina place without monks. 3. Te monthly ceremony ovinaya reading should be led bya monk. 4. At the end o the rain-retreat, a nun must report on actual or suspectedbreaches o discipline be ore the assemblies o monks and nuns. 5. I a nun commits




a serious offense, she must con ess be ore the assemblies o monks and nuns. 6. Aferthe two-year period as a novice, she must be ordained by the assemblies o both monksand nuns. 7. A nun must never offend or insult a monk. 8. A nun cannot admonisha monk, but a monk may admonish a nun. Keown 2003: 99–100. See Chapter 6 ormore discussion o the Eight Special Rules in aiwan.

72. Adopting out daughters, whether to relatives, or to non-kin or a price,was a common practice in aiwan rom the Qing dynasty up to the 1970s. Someyoung girls who were adopted into non-related amilies later married their adoptedbrothers and became daughters-in-law, calledtongyangxi.During the Japanese era, thecommoditization o yangnu increased, with a variety o ormal and detailed contractsin the transactions. Gates 1996: 127; Lin Manqiu et al.aiwan xin nuren [Portraitso Women in aiwanese History]. aipei: Yuanliu, 2000: 161–63. However, it is as yetunknown how many yangnu became nuns in aiwan. Ven. Zhengyan is one example;see Chapter 2 or more details.

73. Xin juesheng , vol. 12, no. 3, Dec. 15, 1965, p. 5. Kan 2004: 410–11.74. Kan 2004: 289; 412.75. Ibid., 279–80; 409–10.76. Kan 1999: 229–30.77. Kim Gutschow’s brilliant study o ibetan Buddhist nuns in the Zangskar

region o the Indian Himalaya clearly details “the economy o merit within whichnuns and monks operate [albeit, in different and unequal ways] on behal o their village clients to produce merit and other ritual effects.” In this exclusively Buddhisteconomy o merit, “. . . requent and ongoing village and household rites rely onextensive reciprocities and networks between the monastic and lay spheres.” Gutschow2004: 83–89.

78. See Li Yuzhen’s “Fojiao lianshe . . .” (2000) on laywomen’s vital participationin Pure Land Buddhist Lotus Societies in twentieth-century China and aiwan. Duringthe martial-law era, the Nationalist party-state orbade any open religious proselytizingin public schools, and religious personnel o any religion were rarely allowed to lecturein public schools, etc. Tus, Buddhist student groups on campus registered with theirschools as “study” or “culture” groups. Kan 2004: 465–511, especially 482, 489–90.

79. Ibid., 466–68.80. Jianye 1999: 9.81. See Appendix wo o Li Yuzhen’s doctoral dissertation or biographical

capsules o feen eminent nuns in aiwan.82. Luminary Publishing Association 1997b: 100.83. Cheng 2007: 48–49, and Shi zu Jung, “Te Development o the Bhikkhunī

Order” in somo 2004a: 77. “Haven’t you heard o the ‘ ve dragons o Foguangshan’?Without these ve dragons [the ve seniorbhikkhunīdisciples o Xingyun], Foguangshanwould be nothing.” Cheng 2007: 48–49. Dragons in Chinese culture are positive andauspicious symbols.

84. Jiang 1992: 77–85.85. Interview with angzhang Ven. Jingxin, Aug. 5, 2000, Kaohsiung.86. Li Yuzhen, “Bodhisattva Kśitigarbha and Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary

aiwanese Bhikkhunīs,” in somo 2006: 190–96.



87. Jiang 1992: 77–85; Li Yuzhen 2004a: 98–99.88. Interviews with Shi Rongzhen, May 11–12, 2007, Hong Kong.89. Interviews with Shi Lianchan, Dec. 2001 and June 2002, aipei.90. Interview with Shi Shanhui, Sept. 4, 1999, Jiayi.91. Faure 2003: 40–51.92. sai 1994: 2.93. Te validity o these earlier nuns’ ordinations was debated at the time.

“All thevinayas indicate a minimum number o monks and nuns to be present atthe ordination ceremony. o ordain a male candidate, ten monks are needed in the[monks’sangha]. In border regions, a group o ve monks is suffi cient. o ordain a

emale candidate, mostvinayas state that ten nuns are required or the rst ceremonyin the [nuns’sangha] and ten monks or the second ceremony in the [monks’sangha].In border regions, ve nuns and ve monks can presumably carry out the ordination.”Ann Heirman, “Chinese Nuns and Teir Ordination in Fifh Century China,” in Journalo the International Association o Buddhist Studies, vol. 24, no. 2, 2001: 275–304.Quotation is rom pages 294–95.

94. sai 1994: 2, 5–6; Ranjani de Silva, “Reclaiming the Robe: Reviving theBhikkhunīOrder in Sri Lanka,” in somo 2004: 121; Chikusa Masaaki, “Te Formationand Growth o Buddhist Nun Communities in China,” in Ruch 2002: 12.

95. Chikusa Masaaki, Ibid., 3–20. Also see sai 1994.96. Hinsch 2006: 16–17. At the same time,Lives o the Nunspraises the nun

Fasheng or adopting and caring or an elderly widow, thus extending “ lial piety”beyond the boundaries o one’s own amily into “an expression o universal Buddhistmorality,” o universal compassion. Ibid., 23. See also Cole 1998.

97. Hinsch 2006: 16.98. Li 1989; Levering 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000; Hsieh 1991; and Grant 1996.99. Shi Zhenhua. 2005. Xu biqiuni zhuan [Lives o the Nuns, Continued].

Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju.100. It is premature to conclude, (as do Faure 2003: 27 and Susan Mann,Precious

Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century.Stan ord: Stan ord UniversityPress, 1997: 10) that Con ucian anti-clerical literature and anti-clerical laws o the lateImperial period effectively and consistently prevented women rom becoming nunsin the Ming and Qing eras. See Goossaert 2000 and 2006.

101. Zhenhua’s ndings will help correct the alse hierarchy ofen drawn between“Chan-mediation-monastic”versus “ Pure Land-devotional-lay.” See Qin: 2000, Chapter5, or a sophisticated interpretation o Pure Land meditation practice as a means totrans orm the body and mind.

102. Economic production is another under-explored aspect in the history onuns. Some Jiangnan nunneries in the Song dynasty specialized in silk weaving, andaccording to nineteenth-century oreigners’ reports, nuns (though unclear what kind)engaged in various economic activities such as tea-picking (Sichuan), embroidery,sewing, spinning, and weaving, and raised orphans to become workers and potentialordinands (Chaozhou). Gates 1996: 50; 194.

103. In 1927, aixu suggested that China should have 20,000 nuns, by whichhe meant, o high quality. “Sengzhi jinlun” [On the monastic system today].Hai Chao




Yin [Sound o the ide], vol. 8, nos. 4–5. Te Chinese Buddhist Association estimatedthat in 1930, China had 225,700 nuns, but it is unclear what type o nun this re erredto. Goossaert 2000: 11–12.

104. Looking at examples o existing scholarship, Holmes Welch’sTe Practice oChinese Buddhism, 1900–1950, excludes the subject o nuns. Chün- ang Yü’smagnumopus (2000) includes many scattered re erences to Buddhist nuns, but has moresustained discussion on various aspects o “domesticated religiosity” in late ImperialChina. Likewise, Zhou Yiqun’s 2003 article on emale religiosity in late Imperial China

ocuses on laywomen, not nuns.105. sung 1978; Chern 2000.106. Li 2000: 266, 287–89; Appendix 2.107. Ibid., 284–85.108. Chandler 2004: 151–52; Li, “Religiosity and Leadership Among aiwanese

Buddhist Nuns,” in somo 2004a: 104, note 12.109. Jianxian, “Fojiao nuxing de tiaozhan yu weilai” [Te challenge and uture

o Buddhist women]. Xiang’guang zhuangyan, vol. 84, Dec. 20, 2006.110. Li Lijun. 2006. “Shi Jianduan ashi” [Master Jianduan].Renlai lunbian

yuekan[Renlai Monthly: A Chinese monthly o cultural, spiritual, and social concerns],Oct., 44–45.

111. Each temple has a different training and selection process, but most requirethat potential members obtain their amily’s consent. Buddhist circles in aiwanare especially sensitive to this issue due to the “Zhongtai Chan emple Incident.”In 1996, at the end o Zhongtai’s Buddhist summer camp or college students, 129

emale students decided to be tonsured, without in orming their amilies, leading torantic parents rushing to the temple and physically orcing their daughters home,

some trussed up with rope. Most observers in aiwan, Buddhist monastics included,criticized Zhongtai or their irregular and non-transparent recruitment process andcharged both Zhongtai and the students with violating the strictures o lial piety.See Li 2000: 260–65.

112. Tough each monastery must obey thevinaya or general guidance, thedetails about daily operations, scal and personnel administration, and long-termmissions are decided by each Master and disciples. Monastic education and trainingis also based on thevinaya, but the actual courses o study, length o novitiate period,selection process, etc., are also decided by each monastery. Each monastery is anautonomous authority unto itsel , according to the principles o sel -regulation andsel -examination. Each monastery orms its own customary laws as well as Constitutionand by-laws, ideally reached through group consensus.

113. During the course o my eldwork I was unable to nd out in ormationabout the numbers or rates o nuns returning to lay li e. David Chandler comparedmonastic community numbers at Foguangshan, 1988 and 1997, and ound an overalldropout rate over these nine years o thirty-seven percent, with a much higher dropoutrate among monks than among nuns. Chandler 2004: 206–12.

114. In uenced by Western eminism, ormer Vice-President Annette Lupioneered the women’s movement in aiwan rom the early 1970s, despite the dangersinvolved in organizing sociopolitical movements during the martial law years. SeeChapters 12 and 16 in Farris, Lee, and Rubinstein 2004.




115. See the many books edited by Karma Lekshe somo, who in 1987 pioneeredthis movement by ounding “Sākyhadhitā: International Association o BuddhistWomen” with other concerned Buddhist women. On the ounding o Sākyadhitā, seeKarma Lekshe somo,Sākyadhitā: Daughters o the Buddha. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow LionPublications, 1989, and “Mahāprajāpatī’s Legacy: Te Buddhist Women’s Movement,An Introduction,” in somo 1999: 1–44.

116. See also Li Yuzhen’s dissertation 2000: 12–14 and Cheng 2007: 190–91.117. Interview with Shanhui, Sept. 4, 1999, Jiayi.118. Yikong 1992: 1.119. Interview with Jingxin, August 5, 2000, Kaohsiung.120. Chao Hwei 2001: 4. Ven. Chao Hwei “. . . promotes such emale

characteristics as ‘gentleness,’ sel -respect and sel -worth, and a ‘spirit o giving.’ ”Chiu Min-chieh, “Fojiao dui nuxing zhuyi de sikao: yi Zhaohui ashi de ojiao nuxingzhuyi lunshu weili” [Buddhist Tinking on Feminism: aking Venerable Chao Hwei’sExposition o Buddhist Feminism as an Example]. Paper presented at the InternationalCon erence on Religious Culture and Gender Ethics, Hsuan Chuang University, Nov.24–25, 2007: K2, K10.

121. Tis book takes issue with Hillary Crane’s assertion that “(r)ather than builton physical difference, gender is correlative and built on relationships . . . A Chinesewoman . . . is only a woman inso ar as she is per orming the role o a woman (as daughter,mother, wi e, etc.) in relation to others” (Crane 2001: 237). I argue that gender in aiwanis constructed, built on perceived “essential” sex differences, as well as correlative, builton relationships; ar rom being contradictory, these are mutually rein orcing concepts.Crane’s thesis that “. . . nuns work hard at constructing and per orming a masculinegender they expect will in turn produce a masculine body” (Ibid., 241) is primarilybased on observations o one atypical Buddhist monastery and seems to have over-relied on the constructivist arguments o works like Zito and Barlow, eds. 1994. Body,Subject, and Power in China. Chicago: University o Chicago Press.

122. In contrast, nuns on Mt. Emei, according to Qin Wenjie’s ndings, approachtheir struggle to reconstruct their Buddhist practices having been “ingrained” withChinese Communist ideals o gender and social equality. Tese nuns look to Buddhismto realize the ideals o equality and liberation that Communism had promised but

ailed to achieve. Qin 2000: 465.

Chapter 2 1. An earlier orm o this chapter was published in DeVido and Vermander,

eds.,Creeds, Rites, and Videotapes: Narrating Religious Experience in East Asia. aipei:aipei Ricci Institute 2004: 75–103.

2. Huang and Weller 1998: 391. Tere are numerous works on the Cijiorganization, see Jiang 1997; Huang and Weller 1998; Ding 1999; Weller 1999; Huang2001; Laliberté 2004 and the many works o Lu Hwei-syin. I am indebted to Dr. LuHwei-syin or the time and insights she has given me.

3. As claimed by the Ciji Foundation. C. Julia Huang has written a numbero articles on Ciji and globalization, such as Huang 2003 and “Sacred and Pro ane?




Te Compassion Relie Movement’s ransnationalism in aiwan, the United States,Japan, and Malaysia,” inTe European Journal o East Asian Studies, vol. 2, no. 2(Autumn 2003): 220–25.

4. Chapter 3 will address the nuns o Ciji. Ciji bears some resemblance toJapan’s Sōka Gakkai (Value-Creation Society, with exclusive devotion to the LotusSūtra). Both are large, hierarchical, wealthy, international Buddhist groups withmillions o lay-members; both carry out missions o education, relie work, culture,and environmentalism. But unlike Ciji, Sōka Gakkai is directly involved in domesticpolitics and international diplomacy and holds an anti-war stance. Daniel Mertraux,“Te Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation o a Harmonious and Peace ul Society,in Queen and King 1996: 365–400.

5. See C. Julia Huang’s doctoral dissertation 2001 or a detailed and insight ulstudy o Zhengyan and the Ciji organization. Te observations and conclusions in thisbook regarding Zhengyan and Ciji are my own, unless otherwise cited.

6. aishō ripit .aka, CBE A Project, 09n0276_p0384b17 (02), 09n0276_p0384b18 (02), to 09n0276_p0384b19 (03). “Teir minds are calm and clear, pro oundand in nite. Tey remain in this state or hundreds and thousands o kotis and kalpas,and all o the innumerable teachings have been revealed to them. Having obtained thegreat wisdom, they penetrate all things.” ing Jen-Chieh, “Renjian Buddhism and ItsSuccessors: oward a Sociological Analysis o Buddhist Awakening in Contemporary

aiwan,” in Hsu et al. 2007: 229–67. Quotation is rom p. 248. For more explanation,see Shi Zhengyan,Wuliangyi jing: Zhengyan shangren jiangshu[An Explanation bythe Shangren Zhengyan on theSūtra on Immeasurable Meanings]. N.D. aipei: CijiCulture.

7. Shi Zhengyan 1996: 43, 174–75, and Shi Zhengyan 1993 ( rans. Lin): 160. 8. Jones 1999: 213. See Chapter Tree or more discussion on teachingStill

Toughts in aiwan’s schools. On Ven Hiuwan, see Chen Xiuhui, Xiaoyun ashi jiaoyu qinghuai yu zhiye [Master Hiuwan’s education sentiments and mission], aipei:Wanzhuanlou, 2005, and on Ven. Xingyun, see Chandler 2004: Chapter 8.

9. “Still Toughts Abode” in Chinese is Jingsi Jingshe.10. Tough other Buddhist and religious groups in aiwan have their own

logos, uni orms, songs, etc, or lay-members, only Ciji places such exacting emphasison group and subgroup identity.

11. Shangren, literally “Te Supreme Person,” is one o several respect ul titlesor a distinguished Buddhist master in modern and pre-modern Chinese Buddhism.

See Huang 2001 or more discussion on the interactions and bonds between Zhengyanand her ollowers.

12. Ciji values and encourages expressing one’s emotions, and broadcasts the virtue o beingke’ai, lovable and cute, to dispel the stereotyped image o Buddhism asa solemn and repressive religion. Like per ormance art, emotional expression can begenuine while at the same time choreographed. On the “text and context” regardingthe expression o emotions through crying and silent melody by both women andmen in Ciji, see the analysis by Huang 2001, Chapter Five.

13. Shi Zhengyan 1993 ( rans. Lin): 156.14. Tis topic, how and why Buddhist groups such as Ciji use the latest media

technology, deserves urther study in ormed by visual culture studies, to probe whetherthis obsession to literallycapture “moments o being” on lm (and written orm) is




contrary to Buddhist teachings on impermanence, practice o right concentration andright mind ulness, etc.

15. At our evening small-group session, a senior member o the Ciji eachers’Association con essed his eelings o pressure and guilt because he elt his “small”efforts could not begin to compare with other members’ accomplishments, and howhis ear o not living up to theShangren’s expectations and high standards makeshim sweat with anxiety.

16. Sangharakshita 2000: 31. Ciji does not ocus on this central aspect oBuddhist teachings.

17. Sign language is used not only to communicate with the hearing impairedbut also, I was told, to create an atmosphere o quietness, grace, and peace. See Huang2001 Chapter Five or an analysis o sign language and silent melody.

18. See also Huang 2001: 46–48. But not everyone nds Zhengyan’s voice anddingning style (like a teacher with young children) appealing; a nun rom anotherBuddhist group told me that Zhengyan’s voice is too light and high or a Buddhistmaster, not zhuangyan (solemn and digni ed) enough.

19. Lu Hwei-syin, in a number o essays, remarks that Zhengyan combines the“traditional” qualities o the strict ather and gentle mother, uyan, muci.Stuart Chandlersays the same about the monk Xingyun o Foguangshan. Chandler 2004: 37.

20. Te Master urged me to stay in aiwan and “continue to help aiwanesesociety.”

21. Sōka Gakkai members “. . . ofen speak o a ‘Soka Gakkai’ spirit, re erringenthusiastically to the ways that this Buddhism has changed their lives.” Daniel A.Metraux in Queen and King 1996: 274.

22. See Huang 2001 Chapter Five or a complete exploration o crying inCiji. She discusses different types o crying such as con essional; redemptive, beingshocked/embarrassed (being reproached by senior members); cathartic; sorrow ul/empathetic upon seeing pain and suffering; ritualistic; ecstastic in meeting Zhengyan;and a contagious group response.

23. See also Huang 2001, Chapters Four and Six.24. Pan 2004: 427.25. Ibid., 428. Here I am reminded o how the Chinese Communist Party described

the moral authority and power o the masses as a wave or tide, though o course thenotion o violent class struggle couldn’t be more alien to Zhengyan’s philosophy.

26. Huang 2001: 137.27. Ibid., 83.28. Ibid.29. See Huang 2001 Chapters One and wo or a theoretical discussion o

charisma with regard to Zhengyan and the Ciji organization.30. As mentioned in Chapter 1, adopted girls, yangnu, were a common

phenomenon in pre-1970s aiwan. Te popular belie that an older daughter canhope ully “summon” the birth o younger brothers is calledzhaodi. Zhengyan’s youngerbrother Wang Duanzheng is a top lay administrator in the Ciji organization.

31. Liu 1997: 32.32. Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 211. In a similar vein, the offi cial hagiography

o Xingyun claims that rom his earliest years on, Xingyun displayed many acts ospontaneous generosity and compassion. Chandler 2004: 41.




33. Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 211.34. Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 211–12.35. Li 2000: 261.36. Liu 1997: 33; Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 212.37. Li in somo 2004: 99. Shi Baochang’s Lives o the Nuns extol Buddhist

women paragons who rst ul lled their Con ucian obligations to their amilies, ofendisplaying exceptional and consistent lial piety rom a young age, then surpassedthese obligations with Buddhist practice. Hinsch 2006: 9.

38. Xiudao is a good example o a nun whose career spanned the transitionin aiwanese Buddhism be ore and afer the 1950s. Upon her return rom Japan,Xiudao, who later received thebhikkhunī precepts in aiwan, ounded the Ciyuntemple in Fengyuan.

39. Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 212–13. It is unclear how much o this textis based on direct quotations rom Zhengyan and how much is the editor’s historicalimagination.

40. Unless otherwise noted, this section on Zhengyan’s early li e relies on Chen1983; 1984; 1989.

41. Afer a time in Hualian, Xiudao returned to Ciyun temple in Fengyuan andhas continued as emple head to the present, now over 80 years old, as I discoveredwhen I called the temple and Xiudao hersel answered the phone. In May 2008, afer themassive earthquake in Sichuan, China, Xiudao donated N $ 6 million (approximatelyUS $194,000) to the Ciji organization to help with their relie efforts in Sichuan.http://www.newdaai.tv/?view = detail&id = 42003, accessed May 31, 2008.

42. Tere are a number o interesting parallels between the lives o Zhengyanand the Chan master Zhiyuan Xing’gang (1597–1654): Both were amed as exemplary

lial daughters; neither relied on donations or their own livelihood; both are well-known as popular lecturers on thedharma; both have nun and lay (both emale andmale) disciples; and both are praised or their ceaseless charitable undertakings. Grant1996: 54; 58–59.

43. For Zhengyan, since true compassion is more pro ound than words,consolation must amount to more than words and involve active physical interventions.Fuwei means to console using a range o expressions including tone o voice, acialexpressions, and actions such as stroking or patting as a mother would com ort achild. Zhengyan ofen describes soothing and com ort as a type o “coolness,” see themetaphor where Ciji is alluded to as an unlimited orest o Bodhisattvas-as-Bodhitrees in which “. . . everyone who is experiencing diffi culties or eeling insecure canhave a part o the coolness o Bodhi.” Shi Zhengyan (Kao, ed.), 1993: 210. And tohumans, suffering in this polluted world, “the people o Ciji are like a vast and coolbreeze.” Ibid. , 208. Te “Universal Door” chapter o theLotus Sūtra speaks o theBodhisattva’s compassion that can trans orm the res within humans into a cool,clear, lotus lake. “Te ‘cool and pure’ is a Buddhist technical term.” Miriam Leveringin Cabezón 1992: 156, n. 61.

44. For years, the nuns at the Still Toughts Abode produced small red “tearless” votive candles, especially designed to burn or ten hours without a drop o wax: insteadthe wax slowly melts to orm a protective “skin.”

45. In a sad turn o events orty years later, in 2003 the amily o the doctorin question sued Ciji or de amation (though neither Zhengyan nor Ciji publications




had ever mentioned the doctor’s name) and in September the Ciji organization wasordered by the court to pay N $1.01 million (about US $30,000) to the plaintiffs;Zhengyan decided not to appeal. Te activist nun Chao Hwei publicly supportedZhengyan throughout the whole trial and media renzy, seeHongshi Buddhist InstituteBimonthly , vol. 61 Feb. 2003, Special Issue: “Te ‘Pool o Blood Incident’: Te ruthComes to Light Eventually.”

46. Tough initially Zhengyan’s mother had vehemently opposed her decisionto become a Buddhist nun, she did donate money, “as i she were marrying her off,” tohelp nance land and construction costs o the Still Toughts Abode, and to purchaseraw materials used in the nuns’ handicraf endeavors. Liu 1993: 38. A Buddhistmonastic is supposed to have “lef home,” but Chinese Buddhists or centuries haveargued or the compatibility o Buddhist monasticism with lial piety, see Cole 1998.Shi Baochang [inLives o the Nuns,517] “. . . reconciled Buddhism with lial piety byshowing how the two could be practiced simultaneously. Even afer a woman had ‘lefhome’ [chujia] or a religious li e, she could still try to honor her moral obligationsto her parents.” Hinsch 2006: 12. Zhengyan has had close contacts with her amilyover the years and her brother is the executive director o the Ciji oundation. SeeLi Yuzhen’s dissertation or many examples o nuns’ continued interactions with theirnatal amilies, including nuns’ widowed mothers living with their daughters at thetemple. Many aiwanese nuns in Wei-yi Cheng’s study revealed that they supportedthemselves through natal amily and/or personal assets. Cheng 2007: 141–42. StuartChandler discusses the particular emphasis at Foguangshan to “include biological

amilies [o the monastics] as part o the Foguang extended amily.” Chandler 2004:238-48, quotation rom page 242. Qin 2000: 200–1 and 454 also writes that mosto the nuns she studied at Fuhu emple in Sichuan maintained ties with their natal

amilies.47. Jones 1999: 209. However neither Zhengyan nor Ciji voice support o any

political party, nor are they radical nativists intent on “de-Sinicization”; on the contraryCiji actively promotes Con ucian values. See Chapters 3 and 6.

48. See Chapter 4 or more discussion on the nuns o the Still ToughtsAbode.

49. Lu 1998: 545–46, 548–49.50. However, a nun at another Buddhist temple described Ciji members as

insecure and immature in their over-reliance on Master Zhengyan as an omniscientparental gure.

51. ing 2007: 249–51; Brook 1993: 105–7; 185–88.52. Shanhui Shuyuan, 1999: 300–1.53. From the movie “Walking Across the Wounded Earth” 2001, shown to

members o the Ciji eachers’ Association, April 28, 2001. o take an especiallydramatic case, the orce o the earthquake caused massive landslides on ChiuchiuMountain, denuding the peaks o its upper-level vegetation.

Chapter 3

1. Besides written sources, this chapter is based on the author’s notes rom aeldtrip taken with the Ciji eachers’ Association to visit Fengdong Middle School,




Xinshe Primary School, Dongshi Primary School and Dongshi Middle School, aiwan,April 28, 2001, and the author’s visits to Jiji Primary School, Jiji Middle School,Yanping Primary School, Zhongzhou Primary School, Sheliao Primary School, andSheliao Middle School, August 5–6, 2007. An early orm o this chapter was publishedin Chinese, “Xiwang gongcheng: Fojiao Ciji jijinhui 9.21 zaiqu xuexiao chongjiangongzuo,” [Project Hope: Ciji’s Post-921 Earthquake School Reconstruction Plan] inLin, ing, and Chan, eds. 2004: 439–60.

2. See the works re erred to in Chapter 2, note 2. Tere are also many thesesand dissertations rom aiwan’s graduate schools on Ciji’s organization structure andphilosophy, identity, and unction as a non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-pro t organization (NPO); contributions to community and civil society, etc.

3. A ew Chinese works mention Ciji’s Project Hope, namely, Yao 2003, Luo2004, and Zhang 2005, but only Yao’s work takes Ciji’s Project Hope as its ocus.

4. Tis was the most destructive earthquake in aiwan since 1935. See Lin,ing, and Chan 2004: 151.

5. Re orms in education and school design were initiated by these privategroups such as the Humanistic Education Foundation and concerned architects inthe 1990s. See Luo 2004.

6. See Zhang Kaiping 2005 or more details. “Project Hope” constituted inact the third stage o Ciji’s post-earthquake relie and reconstruction work, afer its

immediate emergency relie and medical efforts, psychological counseling, and buildingo temporary pre- abricated housing and school-rooms.

7. Yao 2003: 82. 8. In three years, Ciji also rebuilt ve schools in Bam, Iran, where 26,000 people

died in the 2003 earthquake. Te Filipino architect convinced the skeptical mayor toaccept the schools’ design, an ingenious integration o the Ciji “Still Toughts Abode”sloped-roo with Islamic and Persian styles, by re erring to Bam’s historical links withthe Silk Road and global networks. Te schools’ exteriors vary in shades o red, yellow,and green, not sombre gray like aiwan’s Ciji schools, but some schools display theCiji logo o the Boat o Compassion,cihang , within lotus leaves. zu Chi Monthly , no.484, March 25, 2007, pp. 11–27. Ciji also has completed ve “Project Hope” schoolsin Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. For a Buddhist group like Ciji to success ully completeschool projects in Islamic Iran and Indonesia attests to the group’s superb diplomaticskills, particularly in the case o Iran, without a local Chinese community to assist inthe mediation process with the government.

9. Laliberté 2001.10. Guo Yiqin, Graduate Institute o Building and Planning, National aiwan

University, phone interview, August 13, 2004. Also see Yao 2003 and Zhang 2005.11. aixu, “Xiandai rensheng duiyu oxue de xuyao” [Modern li e’s need or

Buddhism].Hai Chao Yin [Sound o the ide], (May 1931), vol. 12, no. 11.12. Te oundation states, “Humanistic Education re ers to an educational

philosophy that believes humans are, by nature, sel -developing creatures. An educator’sprimary responsibility is to create an environment in which students can do theirown growing.”

13. aixu, “Fu Zhu Duomin jushi shu” [Letters to Layman Zhu Duomin].HaiChao Yin [Sound o the ide], n.d., vol. 37, no. 67. See Chapter 6 or more discussiono renjian ojiao.




14. O course, in all pre-modern societies, the individual could hardly liveoutside a web o amily and social obligations. In the Pāli canon, the Sigālaka Suttaaddresses lay ethics, and explains the six directions in terms o six primary socialrelationships and their mutual obligations: parents (the east); teachers (the south); wi eand children (the west); riends and companions (the north); servants and workpeople(the nadir); and religious teachers and Brahmins (the zenith). Damien Keown. 2003.Dictionary o Buddhism. Ox ord: Ox ord University Press, p. 267. But Project Hopedoes not re er to this text.

15. Te NGO “Humanistic Education Foundation” was the rst to call oreducation re orm in aiwan and continues to lead initiatives or education re ormand community revitalization. Sergiovanni 2000 addresses related trends in the UnitedStates. Xu Shirong 1999 discusses NPOs (nonpro t organizations) and the rise ocommunity consciousness in aiwan, while Huang Liling 1999 probes the topic ocommunity reconstruction afer the 9.21 earthquake.

16. For details see Republic o China, Ministry o Education 2004 and Zhang2005.

17. Luo 2004.18. Zeng Zhilang, 2004. “Yi ‘xin xiaoyuan yuandong’ zuowei zaiqu xiaoyuan

chongjian de qidian” [ ake the ‘New Campus Movement’ as the starting pointor rebuilding o schools in the disaster area]. Zhonghua Minguo Jiaoyubu. ed.,

“Introduction.” Also Zhang 2005.19. Luo 2004: 176–87; Zhang 2005: 75–157.20. Yao 2003: 137.21. For example, at the Jiji Primary School’s request, their new Activities Center,

though built with concrete, was designed to recall their school’s ormer woodenauditorium built in the Japanese era.

22. Shi Zhengyan, “Yuanyi zuo, jiu neng gaichu zhide guanmo dadi yishupin”[I we want to, we can build great works o art worthy o emulation by others], July17, 2000. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessed on August 18, 2007. LuoRong claims that Project Hope’s standards or use o steel-rein orced concrete exceededthe requirements set by the government or the New School Campus Movement. Luo2004: 161–62.

23. See Lin Minchao 2000 and Lin Huiwen 2000.24. Yao 2003: 126 ff.25. When asked, teachers used the adjectives open and broad, stable and rm,

spacious.26. He You eng, “Bosa jianzhu liangxin zhongzi” [Spread the seeds o architecture

conscience]. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessed on July 5, 2007.27. Shi Zhengyan, “Jiaoyu de yuanquan” [Te Fount o Education], Jan. 18,

1990. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessed on July 5, 2007.28. Shi Zhengyan, “Si wu xie, junzi wusuozheng” [With no evil thoughts, the

gentleman has no con icts], Jan. 18, 2001. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns ,accessed on July 5, 2007.

29. Ciji Cultural Mission Center, 2002.921 Building Projects, vol. 7, YanpingPrimary School, Introduction.

30. Luo 2004: 160–61. But, one teacher remarked to me that there is enoughcolor outside the school, with the luxurious green oliage, owering trees, and blue sky




o rural aiwan. Another teacher welcomes gray as a calming in uence because childrenalready have too much stimuli in their lives rom television, computers, etc.

31. Yao 2003: 128.32. Guo Shusheng 2002. “Shejishi yu shiyongzhe (xuexiao), yezhu (Ciji) jian

de hudong xinde” [Re ections on the interaction among the designer, user (school),and client (Ciji)]. Ciji Cultural Mission Center, ed.921 Building Projects, vol. 12,Zhongxing Middle School.

33. Interview with a Project Hope architect, July 27, 2007. His last point is veryimportant, and would take another book to ully explore, but the central Buddhist virtue or Ciji is compassion, so or Ciji, a large well-organized collective body isthe best “vehicle” to undertake compassionate works. For a detailed study o theinteractions among Ciji, the schools, and the architects/builders involved in ProjectHope, see Yao 2003.

34. Luo 2004: 162.35. Sheliao Primary School in Nantou uses solar energy or a part o its power

needs. aiwan, with its sub/tropical climate, could develop solar power but has notdone so; the national electric company relies on nuclear power and ossil uels.

36. Guo Shusheng 2002. “Shejishi yu shiyongzhe . . . ,”921 Building Projects, vol. 12, Zhongxing Middle School.

37. Zhengyan could have been inspired by these books, or by popular religioustexts such as the Dimu jing , Earth Mother Scripture, as well. She seems in ormed aboutcurrent debates on global warming, carbon ootprints, the greenhouse effect, etc. ShiZhengyan, “Yuwang shao yidian, ai diqiu duo yidian” [Have ewer desires, and lovethe Earth more]. zu Chi Monthly , no. 484, March 25, 2007, 6–9.

38. Shanhui Shuyuan, ed. 1999: 300–1.39. Shi Zhengyan, “Yuwang shao yidian, ai diqiu duo yidian” [Have ewer desires,

and love the Earth more]. zu Chi Monthly , no. 484, March 25, 2007, 9.40. Shi Zhengyan, “Renhuo you xin qi, aixin qunji cai neng meihua shehui”

[Human disasters arise rom the heart: amassing loving-hearts is the way to improvesociety], July 17, 2000. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessed on August 12,2007. Shi Zhengyan, “Huanhui qishijian de huimiequ” [Reverse the current coursetoward world destruction], October 9, 2001. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns ,accessed on August 12, 2007.

41. Former Vice-President Annette Lu was heavily criticized or her proposedsolution to the perennial problem o severe erosion and ooding in the central mountainregions: Allow the over-cultivated mountain areas to rest by encouraging local residents,many o whom are non-Chinese aborigines, to emigrate to Fiji and Central America.Lin Chieh-yu, “Annette Lu again says emigration can help Aborigines.”aipei imes,August 5, 2004: 3. Te betel-nut industry is also controversial due to rst, the provenlink between betel-nut chewing and incidence o oral cancer, and second, the popularphenomenon o “betel-nut beauties,” scantily-clad young women who sell betel-nuts,cigarettes, and drinks rom roadside sheds.

42. “You li ze an” [I there is courtesy, there is peace],zu Chi Monthly , no.484, March 25, 2007, Editorial. Zhengyan might be aware that to Buddhist re ormer

aixu, Con ucius’ keji chongren (overcome the sel , esteem compassion) conveyed theundamental spirit o Chinese culture. “Zenyang lai jianshe renjian ojiao” [How to




establish renjian ojiao] aixu 1956; 1970, 47: 453. For Buddhist re ormer aixu,kejichongren (overcome the sel , esteem compassion) conveyed the undamental.

43. Shi Zhengyan, “Shishi xin cun haonian, heli jiu shi hao dili” [At all timeshave a good year in your heart, ‘rationality’ is good geography], Sept. 14, 2001.http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessed on July 23, 2007. However, twoschool administrators told me that they consulted engshui masters anyway duringthe building o their schools.

44. Shi Zhengyan, 1989, 184. o Zhengyan, a scienti c outlook is compatiblewith apocalyptic ideas.

45. Shi Zhengyan, “Huanxi gan’en de yingjian wenhua: yi xiwang gongchenggongdi wei li” [A Joy ul and Grate ul Construction Culture: Te Example o ProjectHope’s Construction Sites], Feb. 10, 2001. http://news.tzuchi.net/HopeProject.ns , accessedon July 23, 2007. C. Julia Huang calls drinking, smoking, and betel-nut chewing markerso normative aiwanese masculinity, 2001: 234–35, but did not discuss the variationsin per ormance o and attitude towards these habits according to social class.

46. See McCarthy 1990: 11–12; Mintz 1995; and Pascoe 1990.47. Huang and Weller 1998: 392–95; Weller 1999: 96–102.48. Lin Huiwen 2000:109; Yao 2003: 125–29.49. Howevernuqiangren may also connote a positive aspect, when appealing

to yearnings or upward mobility. Farris 2004: 363 relates the popularity o the 1984novelNuqiangren about a high school graduate who ailed the national college entranceexamination but who became a success ul businesswoman.

50. Yao 2003: 83; 132–42.51. As one aiwanese scholar lamented to me about Ciji, “Te aiwanese

were orced to submit to Japanese culture and then, during the Nationalist era, weresuppressed under the weight o ‘Greater Chinese culture.’ When can the aiwanesebe ree to be themselves?”

52. Luo 2004: 237.53. One primary school teacher told me he selects quotations romStill Toughts

that students can understand, excluding Buddhist teachings on liberation, the PureLand, etc, which he elt were beyond students’ comprehension.

54. Ciji Wenhua Zhiye Zhongxin [Ciji Cultural Mission Center] 2002.921Building Projects, vol. 7,Yanping Elemenary School ; Introduction. Te principal oYanping primary school views the Buddha Hand not as a religious symbol per se,but as part o “Chinese traditional culture.” August 6, 2007.

55. Luo 2004: 48–50.56. Basic Education Law: ROC Legislative Yuan, June 4, 1999. “Article Six:

Principle o Neutrality and Religious Freedom. Education should be based on theprinciple o neutrality. Schools must not allow proselytizing on the part o any speci cpolitical or religious organization. Education administrative offi ces and the schoolsmust not compel school staff, teachers, or students to participate in any politicalor religious activity.” In addition, Luminary Buddhist nuns (see Chapter Five) haveprovided counseling in Kaohsiung public schools since 1999.

57. Huang and Chen 2002.58. Tere are too many o these studies to list here, but they can be ound

easily on aiwan’s academic databases.




59. C. Julia Huang relates that due to recent education re orms, teachers hadto nd their own materials to teach required courses on li e studies and ethics, andStill Toughts seemed an apt choice or many teachers. Huang 2007: 278. “BuddhistEducation and Civil Society in Modern aiwan: Notes rom Te Buddhist CompassionRelie zu Chi Foundation’s Mission o Education,” in Hsu, et al. 269–83.

60. Ciji teaches in schools abroad, as well. Furong Primary School, a school orChinese students in Seremban, Malaysia since 1997 has held a weeklyStill Toughts assembly where students learn Chinese moral values o propriety, justice, honesty, andshame (li, yi, lian, chi,the values o Chiang Kai-shek’s New Li e Movement, values

ormerly propagated in aiwan schools); the value o maintaining order, and learning tokeep silent as much as possible. Te students also donate money rom their recyclingprogram to needy students. “Furong Primary School,”China Press, (Malaysia), July2, 2007: 5. Also see Huang 2001: 311 and 315, about Ciji Malaysia teaching in localChinese high schools. In Fang County, Chiang Mai, Tailand, Ciji has built bilingual(Chinese-Tai) primary and secondary schools. Te schools’ principals are Chinese,the teachers were trained in aiwan andStill Toughts is part o the curriculum.

61. School visits, August 5–6, 2007.62. In act, the Still Toughts Abode and the Still Toughts Hall were the

models or Project Hope schools, but there was room or some variation upon themain theme.

63. Kang Liwen 2002. “Chongjian xiaoyuan chengle qiye wenhua tuteng?”[Hasrebuilding schools become the totem o “enterprise-culture?”],Ziyou shibao shenghuo yiwen,Sept. 16, p. 2.

64. Huang 2007: 282.65. Some criticize the Ciji organization or lack o transparency about their

nances, membership rolls, and decision-making process, while others resent the helpCiji gives to China and other oreign countries, without rst assisting all the needyin aiwan. Huang 2001: 255–60.

Chapter 4

1. Pan 2004: 516. 2. Huang 2001: 99. 3. “Empowerment” in Chinese is a recent neologism, variously rendered as

uquan (bestow-power);chongquan(to be ull o power),zengneng (increase-ability/power), orziwo peili, (sel -strengthening). I have not yet seen these terms used in Ciji’sliterature, however the last two renderings are closer to the spirit o Ciji members’testimonies. Tey would probably reject the termquan, power, a politically-saturatedterm.

4. Zhou 2003: 121, note 31. 5. “Biology is destiny”: Men and women are born with essentially different

physical, mental and spiritual natures that predetermine each sex to certain behaviorsand certain social roles.Te danger is that upholding these as “natural” differenceswas and is a means to justi y male control over women or otherwise limit women’s




autonomy and choice. Essentialism also limits males’ ull human expression. Incontrast, recent social science theory ocuses on the cultural construction o gender,how the de nitions o “male” and “ emale” are “. . . inculcated as part o the processo socialization. . . .” Richman in Cabezón 1992: 112. See Sherry B. Ortner and HarrietWhitehead, eds.Sexual Meanings: Te Cultural Construction o Gender and Sexuality ,(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) and Sherry B. Ortner, Making Gender:Te Politics and Erotics o Culture, Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

6. My main sources are Huang 1999: 52–75, and my observations rom several visits to the Still Toughts Abode. On May 19, 2005, I interviewed the nun Shi De uat Ciji University, and the nun Shi Deni and one novitiate-in-training, Lisa Shih, atthe Still Toughts Abode. Li Yuzhen’s dissertation (2000) has a ew pages, 316–19,on Ciji’s nuns.

7. Huang 1999: 69. 8. From 2004, Zhengyan employed a new metaphor: Te Ciji organization as

a series o concentric circles, with Zhengyan at the center and layer upon layer o Cijimembers going out into the world, all with hearts as clear as crystal. See Pan 2004.

9. Either ve or six, according to different Ciji sources. Huang 2001: 3510. Huang and Weller 1998: 385, note 7.11. Jones 1999: 212.12. Huang 2001: 66; 126–29.13. Huang 1999: 70.14. Zhengyan 1996: 209–10.15. Compare with Mao Zedong’s sel -reliant production movement in Yan’an

and its use by the CCP as their symbolic capital, as a wellspring o revolutionarymoral authority. See Apter and Saich 1994.

16. Huang 1999.17. Interview with Ven. Deni, May 19, 2005.18. Interviews with Vens. Deni and De u, May 19, 2005.19. Huang 1999: 61, 75.20. Ibid., 65.21. “Te locus classicus in the Mencius states . . . ‘ o dwell in the wide house

o the world, to stand in the correct seat o the world, and to walk in the great patho the world; when he obtains his desire or offi ce, to practice his principles or thegood o the people; and when that desire is disappointed, to practice them alone; andto be above the power o riches and honor to make dissipated, o poverty and meancondition to make swerve rom principle, and o power and orce to make bend—thesecharacteristics constitute the great man, (ta-chang- u).’ ” Levering 1992: 143–44.

22. Ibid., 142.23. Ibid., 142–43.24. Levering in Cabezón 1992: 115; Hsieh 1991; Grant 1996. Te “. . . idea that

extraordinary women are worthy o the title ozhang u is ubiquitous in Ming-Qingliterati writing. . . .” Grant 1996: 63.

25. Chen 1989: 6–7. For Zhengyan and many women in history, becoming anun was the only relatively respectable way to transcend the socially-dictated roles owi e and mother, con ned to the domestic sphere.




26. Interviews with Vens. De u and Deni, May 19, 2005.27. Tese nuns, like other monastics and laypeople I have interviewed in aiwan

or this book, hold stereotypical belie s about male and emale “characteristics.” Similarto nuns in aiwan, nuns at Fuhu emple in Sichuan China report that theda zhang u should cultivate the qualities o courage, strength, tolerance, and wisdom, still de nedin Chinese culture as masculine qualities. Qin 2000: 312–16; 431.

28. Cheng 2007: 190; Li (dissertation) 2000: 14–16, respectively.29. Chapter 5 discusses nuns and theda zhang u ideal at the Luminary Buddhist

Institute. Crane 2001 gives a detailed and help ul discussion aboutda zhang u, a greatman, and what this Buddhist ideal means to the nuns and monks o one temple in

aiwan. She argues that as nuns at this temple embrace theda zhang uideal theyreject their emale gender, as de ned by Con ucian moralists and Chan misogynists.As nuns internalize this ideal o theda zhang u in behavior and thought, she claimsthey become men in spirit and even in physical reality (loss o eminine body shapeand cessation o menses). Her dissertation is problematic because she draws conclusionsabout “Buddhist nuns in aiwan” based primarily on her observations o one temple;she re ers to culture, society, and gender in “China” when in act she is describing

aiwan; she provides very little historical and social context; she uses no Chinesesources; and the English ethnographical sources are out o date.

30. Qin 2000: 319–20.31. Hs’ing 1983: 38–40.32. Hsieh 1991: 180, citing Overmyer in Shinohara and Schopen 1991: 105–9,

and Barend J. ter Haar,Te White Lotus eachings in Chinese Religious History , Leiden:E. J. Brill, 1992: 31–43.

33. Yü 2001: 337.34. Zhou 2003: 113.35. Zhao 2003: 157.36. Huang 2001: 104.37. An important part o any economy that may not be measured in the GNP.

Moon 2002: 480, note 7.38. Huang 2001: 103.39. Yeh, http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/99 all/99 all.htm, accessed on July

2, 2007.40. Liu 1997: 133, 26. Tese are regular gender norms in aiwan and Ciji

members do not regard these statements as sexist.41. Yeh, http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/99 all/99 all.htm, accessed on July

2, 2007. Overseas disaster relie is mostly undertaken by males, who are deemed,according to aiwan’s gender norms, “more suitable” to ace the rigors o such overseasassignments.

42. C. Julia Huang 2001: 150, 184–85, made ascinating comments about theorganizational and programmatic in uence upon Ciji by the Nationalist Party’s (KM )China Youth Corps.

43. From 1992 the Ciji Youth Corps has endeavored to mobilize the studentpopulation through camps and volunteer training opportunities. But it remains to beseen whether young people can identi y with and propagate the Ciji’s code o behavior,appearance, and values and whether young people will join Ciji and be ully dedicatedmembers like their parents’ generation.




44. Wang Fansen, “Mingdai xinxuejia de shehui juese—yi Yan Jun de ‘Jijiuxinhuo’ weili” [Te Social Role o the ‘School o the Mind’ Followers—Te Exampleo Yan Jun’s ‘Emergency reatment or the Heart’s Fire’]. InZheng Qinren jiaoshourongtui jinian lunwenji [Essays in Honor o Pro essor Zheng Qinren’s Retirement].

aipei: Daoxiang, 1999: 249–66.45. Brook 1993: 185–203.46. Yang 2002: 62.47. Jiang 2001 and Jones 1999: 14–30.48. Yü 2001: 414. Barbara Reed similarly writes, “. . . Te Chinese since the

Sung Dynasty have ‘seen’ Buddhist compassion as emale: emale gures surroundedby emale symbols.” Reed in Cabezón 1992: 164. But neither Yü nor Reed can explainwhy this is so.

49. Hsieh 1991: 178.50. Reed in Cabezón 1992: 160. Te cult o Guanyin is popular throughout

East Asia and Vietnam; the Chinese regard Mount Putuo as her “residence.” “Sincethe later third century . . . Buddhists have gone on pilgrimages to Mount Putuo [anisland off the Zhejiang coast] to worship Guanyin’s relics. During the ang dynasty . . . asacred Buddhist altar . . . was ounded at the island, and has remained a ocal point orcult worship o Guanyin there or more than a thousand years.” Zhao Hongying andXu Liang, “Putuoshan guanyin xinyang de lishi, chuanshuo ji qi yingxiang” [History,Legend and In uence o the Cult o the Bodhisattva Guanyin at Mount Putuo]. In Min-su ch’ü-i [Journal o Chinese Ritual, Teatre, and Folklore], no. 138: 112.

51. Yü 2001: 338–39.52. Li, “Te Religiosity and Leadership o aiwanese Buddhist Nuns,” 2004a:

100.53. Ibid., 97. Also see Li Yuzhen’s dissertation 2000, Chapter Five.54. See opley 1975, Sankar 1978, and Sangren 1983.55. Yü 2001: 335–36. o older laywomen on Emei Mountain in China, Miaoshan’s

story affi rms that laywomen can attain spiritual independence while still ul llingamilial responsibilities. Qin 2000: 328–29.

56. Reed in Cabezón 1992: 159–61; 176.57. Reed in Clart and Jones 2003: 199.58. Reed in Cabezón 1992: 171–72.59. Ibid., 172.60. Ibid.61. Shi Zhengyan 1996: 29, 169–70, 172.62. Ibid., 173. Mei 1998: 168 points outs Zhengyan’s acceptance o the sexual

double standard in aiwan society: it is inconceivable to imagine the same advicebeing directed at a husband regarding a wi e’s affair.

63. Shi Zhengyan ( rans. Lin) 1993: 171–72, 1996: 2, 179–80.64. Te Chinese word or “capable” isneng’gan, one o the greatest compliments

paid to aiwanese women, and means much more than “capable,” but omni-competentand super-effi cient, anticipating others’ needs and ul lling them, without questionor hesitation.

65. Shi Zhengyan 1996: 167.66. Reed in Cabezón 1992: 175.67. Lu 1998: 539.




68. Shi Zhengyan 1996: 26.69. Ibid., 171.70. Ibid., 174–75.71. Older Buddhist laywomen on Emei Mountain in Sichuan sing olksongs

lauding similar ideals. Qin 2000: 321–33. Tese songs belong to the umu en nan baogenre [it is diffi cult to repay the debts o gratitude owed to one’s parents] in ChineseBuddhist literature. See Cole 1998.

72. Shi Zhengyan 1996: 259. Zhengyan says “compassion breeds wisdom,”probably alluding to the course o the Bodhisattva path, which “begins with giving riseto the ‘aspiration to enlightenment (bodhicitta).’ ” Trough cultivation o compassion,through the vow to liberate all sentient beings, the Bodhisattva also aspires “. . . toattain the wisdom and skill-in-means necessary to teach.” Levering 2000: 190. Butas José Cabezón has discussed, the Indo- ibetan Mahāyāna texts describe “wisdom”as the mother o all types o “spiritually-accomplished individuals” who then needmale “compassion” and “altruism” to possess ull Mahāyāna “paternity.” Cabezón inCabezón 1992: 181–99. Rita Gross 1993: 11 reminds us that the imagery in VajrayānaBuddhism “. . . portrays all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as partners—male and

emale—in sexual union. Te undamental pair consists o discriminating awareness( prajñā), which brings insight ul liberation, and her partner, compassion (karun.ā).Tough she represents the epitome o realization, she is not isolated, but is joined inmale- emale union with compassion, understood as activity to save all sentient beings.”It is important to note these qualities o “ eminine” insight/wisdom and “masculine”compassion are qualities to be cultivated within each person, and are not re erringto actual or ideal social roles.

73. Gutschow 2004: 16–19; 224–25. Quotation is rom page 218. Also seeFaure 2003: 126.

74. But Cheng 2007: 57–83 ound that many Sri Lankanbhikkhunī and ten-precept nuns “dismiss the idea o women’s in erior karma” and rmly believe thatwomen can become arahants.

75. Sponberg in Cabezón 1992: 3, 13, 18.76. Keyes 1984: 227–30. Kate Crosby’s study o a wide range o Teravāda texts

(not limited to the Teravāda canon) nds examples o the valorization o eminineembodiments o compassion, wisdom, and other emale-inclusive symbols therein, basedhowever, on “. . . two aspects o motherhood: protective nurturing and procreation.”However, Crosby concedes that such symbolic valorization o motherhood cannot “betaken as a historical valorization o women as human beings,” though mothers andmotherhood were both culturally valued and mother-related symbols were vital to thespiritual practice o celibate males. “Gendered Symbols in Teravāda Buddhism: MissedPositives in the Representation o the Female.” Paper presented at the InternationalCon erence on Religious Culture and Gender Ethics, Hsuan Chuang University, Nov.24–25, 2007. Quotations are rom pages D: 13–14.

77. See, or example, theEkottara Āgama, 32, 0725c07.78. Tis quotation re ers to Western women active in nineteenth-century re orm

movements such as prohibition, poor relie , anti-prostitution, public hygiene, etc. Dubyand Perrot in Pantel 1992: xi–xii.

79. Interviews with Vens. De u and Deni, May 19, 2005.




80. Hughes and Hughes 1997: 153–56.81. Gross 1993: 264–65. On eco- eminism, see Plant 1989; Diamond and

Orenstein 1990; and Adams 1993. On eminist spirituality, see Sered 1996: 205–6.82. Bisnath 2002: 2–3.83. Ibid.84. As reported to me by Ciji’s lay ollowers.85. Lu 1998: 544.86. Te woman in the rst case (whose throat and stomach are permanently

damaged by the suicide attempts) did not get divorced while the second one did. Fan2001: 1 and Lai 2001: 2.

87. Laliberté 2003: 176–77. Te aiwan’s Government In ormation Offi ce Website’s section on “social wel are” discusses government efforts together with Ciji’scontributions.

Chapter 5

1. Li 2005: 66–68. 2. Li argues however that many nuns viewed cooking as part o their Chan

spiritual practice, and making the most o their limited voice and segregated space,built social networks different rom the monks,’ via emale bonding with other nunsand laywomen. Furthermore, Li writes that nuns’ cooking ( or ritual celebrations and visiting pilgrims, etc) was “. . . essential or monastic nances.” Additionally, or manynuns, success in the kitchen was crucial to their promotion to positions related totemple nance and administration. Li (dissertation) 2000: 300, 336–37.

3. Re ecting the many talents o the nuns and in response to lay interests andbackgrounds, classes (besides Buddhist courses) include music and the arts such as atYanghui, which has produced a CD o Luminary songs; while in stress ul aipei, theYinyi branch holds classes in yoga, aromatherapy, organic ood and healthy eating,psychological health, Buddhist camp or college students, and reading Buddhist worksin English, one by Tích Nhât Ha.nh.

4. See Ding 1996; Shi Jianye 2001and 2004; Shi Zichun 2002; and Cheng2003 and 2007. Chün- ang Yü o Columbia University has a orthcoming monographon the nuns o the Luminary Buddhist Institute. I thank Dr. Yü or sending me herpaper on Luminary’s outreach programs entitled “Bringing the Dharma to the People:Te Adult Education Classes on Buddhism in aiwan.” See also Yü 2003. In additionto the works just mentioned, or this chapter I have relied on publications rom theLuminary Buddhist Institute, their Web site, www.gaya.org.tw, and my visits to Jiayiand to their aipei Yinyi Institute. Also I conducted interviews with Ven. Wu Yin( angzhang means “head monk”) in 1999 and 2002, and with Ven. Mingjia, ormerlywith the Luminary Buddhist Institute in 1999.

5. Cheng 2003: 44, 49–50; Cheng 2007: 47. 6. Te central government hopes religious groups will take on even more social

wel are work, as evidenced by two lectures given by the Director o the Departmento Social Affairs, Xiao Yuhuang, on April 29 and June 17, 2007 at the LuminaryBuddhist Institute.




7. Shi Zichun et al., 1992: 126. Yü Chün- ang adds that Wu Yin’s ather so vehemently opposed her becoming a nun that he swore never to see her again. Be orehis death ten years later, Wu Yin saw him once, when she returned home or a visit.Yü 2003: 274–75. Yet, Wu Yin recalls that both her parents sobbed terribly when shetold them she would become a nun, and her mother told her to wait until she (hermother) saved enough money to give her so (Wu Yin) wouldn’t’ suffer so much. WuYin declined her mother’s offer, pre erring to be sel -reliant. Wu Yin, “Chujia de yiyi”[Te meaning o ‘becoming a monastic’] speech at ordination ceremony, May 12, 1996,Luminary emple, Jiayi.

8. Shi Jianye 1999: 323. 9. Rare or emales o her generation, ianyi received both high school

(Pingdong Girls’ High School, a Japanese school) and university education (ShowaUniversity in okyo). Shi Jianye 1999: 38–39.

10. Shi Jianye 1999: 148–50; Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 128–29; Cheng 2003: 46.In honor o ianyi, Wu Yin named Luminary’s aipei branch,Yinyi, ianyi’s otherdharma name.

11. Shi Jianye 1999: 396. ianyi told her disciples that nuns were not secularwomen anymore and should rid themselves o girlish attitudes,nu’ er tai, and secularwomen’s looks and behavior,nuzhong xiqi. Li 2005: 68.

12. Compare with Zhengyan (b. 1937) who decided to become a Buddhist nunwhen she was working with her nun riends in a rice-paddy. Later, a conversationwith Catholic nuns was one reason Zhengyan devoted her li e to provision o charityand medical service.

13. Ding 1996: 425; Shi Jianhan et al. 1992: 11–12; Shi Zichun et al. 1992:127–28.

14. Xiang’guang zhuangyan (literally,xiang is ragrant; guang is bright, andzhuangyan denotes the splendid sublime qualities o the Buddha) are our charactersdisplayed in Luminary’s Guanyin Hall and is the name o one o Luminary’s journals.Te phrase is taken rom theŚūran. gama Sūtra, fh ascicle,Dashizhi pusa nian o yuantong zhang [Te Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta Recites the Buddha’s Name andAttains Per ect Inter-Penetration], a well-known Pure Land text. Xiang conveys beingclean and pure, bright conveys wisdom. Tose who recite the Buddha’s name canattain the purity and wisdom o the Buddha, the sublime qualities o the Buddha. ShiJianhan, “Ran xinxiang, xu oguang” [Light the heart’s incense, continue the light othe Buddha] Xiang’guang zhuangyan, vol. 89, Dec. 31, 2004.

15. Ding 1996: 420–23; Cheng 2003: 43; Xiang’guang zhuangyan,no. 49. 1997a:2–93. Te relationship between the Luminary nuns and the villagers has had its upsand downs, such as in 1996 when a group o townspeople, seeing Luminary’s newconstruction projects and growing social in uence, insisted that part o the land stillbelonged to the community and attempted by orce to seize the Luminary emple,leading to violence against the nuns, police intervention, and a law case. See thesources mentioned or more details about “Te Feb. 18th Incident.”

16. he Luminary Buddhist Institute’s library has 31,000 books and 481 journals and each affi liated branch has a library. Luminary also publishes aBuddhistLibrary Journaland is a leader in the eld o digital in ormation management

or Buddhist libraries in the Chinese. Teir achievements in this and other areas




have been accomplished without the vast resources o Dharma Drum Mountain orFoguangshan.

17. Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 14, 25; Shi Jianhan et al. 1992: 34, 41.18. “Introduction to the Director,” http://www.gaya.org.tw/hkbi/visit/c_teacher1.

htm, accessed on February 10, 2008.19. Ding 1996: 426,433,435; Shi Zichun et al. 1992:129.20. Ding 1996: 426.21. Ibid., 439, 447; Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 200; Shi Jianhan et al. 1992: 23–24.22. Interview with Ven. Mingjia, Sept. 1999; Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 24–28.

Ordination can take place afer two years o study at the Institute. Luminary alsoaccepts ordained nuns as students.

23. Ding 1996: 443–44.24. See Luminary’s Web site, www.gaya.org.tw.25. During my rst visit to the Luminary Institute, during morning chores, a

nun placed a toilet brush in my hand and asked me i I knew how to use it. I noticedthat the bathroom lacked mirrors, to avoidvanitas, I was told. Also I read in the toiletstalls the Chinese verse: “When relieving onesel , pray: May all sentient beings be ableto cast aside greed and anger, and abandon unwholesome mental states.” Tis is one othe 141 verses on practicing mind ulness in daily activities, taken rom the Puri yingPractices Chapter o the Avatam. saka Sūtra. I thank Ven. Zinai or this explanation.

26. Ding 1996: 431–42; Shi Zichun et al. 1992; Shi Jianhan et al. 1992. At someother temples, lay devotees, mostly women, do the cooking and daily chores, as a ormo dāna and a source o merit. See Li Yuzhen’s dissertation (2000), Chapter Six.

27. Shih Wu Yin, “Nisengjia jiaoyu de lixiang yu shixian” [Te ideals and practiceo nuns’ education], Xiang’guang zhuangyan, no. 44, Dec. 20, 1995.

28. Shi Jianye 2001: 116, 148–49.29. Shi Zichun 2002: 2. Up to now, the aiwan government has not orbidden

Ciji lay groups and teachers to teachStill Toughts in public schools, or Luminarynuns to offer counseling in Kaohsiung-area public schools, activities which wouldhave been impossible during the martial-law era.

30. hese lectures were published in English asChoosing Simplicity: ACommentary on the Bhikshuni Pratimoksha. NY: Snow Lion Press, 2001.

31. Te three-day Congress, called or and ully supported by the Dalai Lama,discussed how to establish ull ordination or women in ibetan Buddhism. SeeConclusion.

32. Shi Jianxian, “Fojiao nuxing de tiaozhan yu weilai” [Te challenge and utureo Buddhist women],” Xiang’guang zhuangyan, no. 84, Dec. 20, 2006.

33. Shi Ziyao 2001: 56–59, 17–18, 25.34. Ibid., 92–102.35. Department o Statistics, Ministry o Interior, telephone call, August 14,

2006.36. Shi Jianxian 2002: 17; Zeng Zhongming, General Editor. 2007.aiwan unu

nianjian [ aiwan Women’s Almanac]: 39; 292–95; 444–54.37. Bristow 2002. In southern aiwan, I have seen billboards advertising

“ oreign brides rom Southeast Asia: door-to-door service . . . a great package deal,no extra costs!”




38. http//www.taipeitimes.com/News/archives/2007/12/05/2003391173, accessedon Dec. 5, 2007.

39. Shi Jianxian 2002: 14; Zeng Zhongming, General Editor. 2007.aiwan ununianjian [ aiwan Women’s Almanac].

40. Shi Zichun 2002: 3.41. Shi Zichun 2002: 4–5.42. Shi Jianxian 2002: 16–19.43. Shi Jianxian, “Fojiao nuxing de tiaozhan yu weilai” [Te challenge and uture

o Buddhist women], Xiang’guang zhuangyan, vol. 84, Dec. 20, 2006.44. Shi Jianye 1999: 4–5, 136.45. Shih Wu Yin, “Biqiuni jie gaishuo” [A general explanation o the biqiuni

precepts], Xiang’guang zhuangyan, vol. 37, March 20, 1994.46. Xiang’guang zhuangyan,1990, 1994, 1997c.47. Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 7.48. Cheng 2003: 44–45.49. Keown 2003: 138.50. Ibid., 218.51. Ding 1996: 427; Chern 2001; Jiang 1997: 49–60; sung 1978.52. Chern 2001.53. Chern 2001: 66–67 makes the point that aiwan society values Buddhism

primarily or its social utility.54. Ding 1996; Jiang 1997: 49–60; Xiang’guang zhuangyan 1997b: 86–122.55. As or women in China, Qin 2000 ound that though today they are no

longer necessarily con ned to the domestic sphere, the wish to avoid the sufferingso marriage and motherhood was an important motivation or many women to jointhe nuns’ order at Fuhu emple in Sichuan, China. However, I never heard this wishdirectly stated by nuns in aiwan as a possible reason or joining thesangha.

56. Li Lijun 2006. “Shi Jianduan ashi”[Master Jianduan],Renlai lunbian yuekan[Renlai Monthly: A Chinese monthly o cultural, spiritual, and social concerns], Oct.,44–45. See also Li Yuzhen’s dissertation 2000, Chapter Six.

57. Qin 2000: 312–16; 434–41.58. Cheng 2003: 44.59. Ibid. Interview with Ven. Mingjia, Sept. 1999.60. Interview with Ven. Wu Yin, Oct. 1999. o many women in aiwan, the

term “ eminism” has very negative connotations, associated with the radical eministsocial movement o the 1970s. Scott Simon (2003): 218 ound that most aipei womenentrepreneurs whom he interviewed dismissed eminism as a Western discourse anddid not credit eminism or the eminist movement as a reason or their success. Yet,in act, thanks to the oundation built by social activists a generation ago, governmentand private groups in aiwan (as in other countries) holding different political stancesand ideological viewpoints are able to work on a diverse spectrum o issues relatedto women’s rights and have brought about legal re orms which have greatly bene tedwomen, whether or not women acknowledge this act.

61. Shih Wu Yin 1999; Shi Zichun 2002: 5.62. Luminary’s Shi Jianxian has indeed posed the question, what links should

Buddhist women have with women’s groups in “Fojiao nuxing de tiaozhan yu weilai”




[Te challenge and uture o Buddhist women], Xiang’guang zhuangyan, vol. 84,Dec. 20, 2006. At present, there are hundreds o women’s groups and committees in

aiwan. See Zeng Zhongming, General Editor. 2007.aiwan unu nianjian [ aiwanWomen’s Almanac].

63. Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 7, 132.64. Te aiwanese nun ianyi worked closely with Baisheng, discussed in

Chapter 1. ianyi was considered to be his number one emale disciple; he called her“king o the nuns.” Shi Jianye 1999: 30–32, 78.

65. Shi Jianhan et al. 1992: 8–9.66. Shi Zichun et al. 1992: 7.67. Ibid., 129.68. Shi Jianhan et al. 1992: 40.

Chapter 6 1. aixu and Yinshun did not provide English translations or the termrenjian

ojiao. Tere is no single satis actory English translation, but scholars have variouslyrendered renjian ojiao as “humanistic Buddhism”; “worldly Buddhism”; “Buddhism ‘o ’or ‘ or’ the human realm”; “Buddhism or this world”; and “Humanitarian Buddhism.”Tis book employs “Buddhism or the human realm” as the translation best conveyingthe emphasis o modern Buddhists on action in the present,human, realm, rather thanother Buddhist realms and li etimes. As Chapter 3 discussed, the term “humanistic” isproblematic, or it masks the vast differences betweenrenjian ojiao(and Con ucianhumanism), and the “humanism” o Western religious and philosophical traditions.

2. See also my “Mapping the rajectories o Engaged Buddhism rom Chinato aiwan and Vietnam” in Karma Lekshe somo, ed.Out o the Shadows: SociallyEngaged Buddhist Women, edited by Karma Lekshe somo, New Delhi: Sri SatguruPublications, India Books Centre, 2006: 261–81. Also see Chandler 2001, Chapters 3and 4, or a lucid discussion o the differences between “Humanistic Buddhism” andEngaged Buddhism.

3. See Tích Nhât Ha.nh 1967, Queen and King 1996, Harris 1999; Ðô˜ 1999,Prebish and Baumann 2002, and Queen, Prebish, and Keown 2003.

4. Bond in Queen and King 1996: 124. 5. Ibid. 6. Ðô 1999: 260. 7. Xiao Ping stresses the role o Japan as well in the Chinese Buddhist revival

o the late Qing and early Republican periods. Interchange between the two countriesincluded: reprinting o sūtras; Japanese Buddhist priests proselytizing in China; a revivalo interest in ibetan Buddhism; Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns in Japan orstudy and touring, and Japanese Buddhist monastics and laypeople in China or studyand touring. Xiao Ping, “Zhong’guo jindai ojiao uxing yu Riben” [China’s ModernBuddhist Revival and Japan].Zhong’guo ojiao xueshu lundian, no. 42, (Kaohsiung:Foguangshan wenjiao jijinhui, 2001): 1–4.

8. Welch, 1968: 259. Te discoveries at the Dunhuang caves (Gansu, China)in 1900 were a major stimulus to Buddhist studies in Europe and China.




9. Ibid., 260–62.10. Ibid., 261.11. Ma ianxiang, “Wanqing oxue yu jindai shehui sichao,” [Late Qing

Buddhist Studies and Modern Social Tought].Zhong’guo ojiao xueshu lundian, no.41, Kaohsiung: Foguangshan wenjiao jijinhui, 2001: 2–3.

12. Li Biwan, “Cibei xishe” [Being compassionate and happily letting go] inLin Mingnan, ed.Hongyi ashi hanmo yinyuan [Te Causes and Conditions o MasterHongyi’s Art and Calligraphy], aipei: Youshi meishu, 1996: 61.

13. On the basis o spiritual attainment, one may be reborn in the world ohumans; in the heavenly realm; among those aspiring to be arhants; among the “solitaryBuddhas,” or among the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Pittman 2001: 171–74.

14. Bingenheimer 2007: 148; Pittman 2001: 203–4.15. Pittman 2001: 89.16. Welch 1968: 262–64. Chinese monasteries and laypeople throughout history,

ollowing the teachings and praxis o the Buddha and his ollowers, provided charityor the poor, ill, and homeless; aixu knew this and urged Buddhists, as one way o

practicing the Bodhisattva path, to place more emphasis on modern orms o socialaction, modeled on the work o modern Christians.

17. Pittman 2001: 182.18. Ibid., 192–93.19. Miaozheng, “Mantan jianshe renjian ojiao: wei jinian dashi zuo” [A casual

discussion on establishingrenjian ojiao, in the memory o the Master].aixu dashi jinian ji, Chongqing: Hanzang Jiaoliyuan, 1947: 90–91.

20. Pittman 2001: 182, 192.21. Te years 1925–1947 were a time o civil war, war against the Japanese,

and a time o severe political oppression in China. aixu’s associates denied that hewas a KM member though aixu received political and monetary support rom theNationalist government. Pittman 2001: 185.

22. Chen Yong’ge,Ren jian chao yin: aixu dashi zhuan [Sound o the ide othe Human Realm: Biography o Master aixu]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Press,2003: 256, 259–60, 266–68, 271.

23. Ibid., 269–70.24. Ibid., 272. Chen claims that aixu was de eated by Chiang Kai-shek’s

Christian supporters, and by Chinese anti-Buddhist cultural conservatives. And, heshould have added, due to the lack o support o senior monks.

25. Buddhists who remained in China ormed a new Chinese BuddhistAssociation in 1953, irmly under the aegis o the Communist party-state; seebelow.

26. “Wode ojiao geming shibai shi” [History o my ailed Buddhist revolution].aixu dashi quanshu, [Complete Works] 1956; 1970. 19.57.8:62–63.

27. Pittman 2001: 105–14; 118–30; 139–43. Pittman did not discuss aixu’s tripto Saigon in 1928, and Saigon and Hanoi, April 28–May 4, 1940.

28. Pittman 2001: 142–43. Holmes Welch notes that “Dharmapāla’s ideal o aworld Buddhist movement took root in China, rst under the [efforts o layman] YangWenhui, 1837–1911, and later under aixu.” Welch 1968: 180.




29. Tis is a summary o points made by aixu in a number o articles in hisComplete Works.

30. See my chapter “ ‘Buddhism or this World’: Te Buddhist Revival in Vietnam,1920–1951, and Its Legacy” in Philip aylor, ed., Modernity and Re-enchantment:Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam. Singapore: Institute o Southeast Asian Studies,2007: 250–96, or more details about the links between China and Vietnam in thetransnational Buddhist revival o the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

31. Pittman 2001: 255–60.32. See Zhe Ji’s 2004 insight ul article on the recent Buddhist revival in China in

which he describes a three-sided relation o ongoing negotiations among the party-state,monastics, and lay supporters, each with varying economic, political, and symbolicinterests. Needless to say, the growth o Buddhism in China today is inter-relatedwith the tourist industry, the domestic and global economy, global politics, and thewaning legitimacy o the offi cial socialist meta-narrative. “Buddhism and the State, anew relationship: increasing numbers o believers bring great changes to the monasticeconomy in China.”Perspectives chinoises, no. 55, Sept.–Oct. 2004: 2–3.

33. Until recently aixu was seen as politically incorrect onboth sides o theaiwan Strait: too close to the Nationalist Party or (mainland) Chinese scholars, and

too “radical” and controversial or scholars in aiwan. See the excellent works byChinese scholars recently published in a series calledZhong’guo ojiao xueshu lundian(Academic Teses on Chinese Buddhism), such as vols. 41–43, by Foguangshan,

aiwan, and also Chen 2003.34. Zheng Zimei, “Dangdai renjian ojiao de zouxiang: you zongjiao yu shehui

hudong jiaodu shenshi,”Collected Papers rom the 2004 Cross-Strait Con erence onYinshun and Humanistic Buddhism, 38–39. Ven. Jinghui and his Bailing emple werean integral part o Tích Nhâ´t Ha.nh’s twenty-day trip to China, includingdharma talks and retreats, in May–June 1999.

35. See Bingenheimer 2004.36. Pittman 2001: 262.37. Jones 1999: 110; 141–42.38. Pittman 2001: 267–68.39. Jones 1999: 131–33.40. As mentioned in Chapter 1, afer 1949, the various Buddhist actions rom

China not only competed with each other in aiwan but also con ronted a Buddhistlandscape on the island that included lay vegetarianzhaijiao sects; temple lineagesbrought rom Fujian and Guangdong be ore the twentieth century; and JapaneseBuddhist schools. Jones 1999, Part III.

41. Jones 1999: 132.42. In the 1950s, Yinshun ounded the Huiri Lecture Hall in aipei and the Fuyan

Vihara and Fuyan Institute (1961) in Hsinchu. Yinshun and his students establishedthe Zhengwen Publishers in 1980.

43. A search o aixu’s Complete Works oundrenjian jingtu mentioned 77times; rensheng ojiao mentioned 66 times; andrenjian ojiao 25 times. aixu dashiquanshu, [Complete Works o Master aixu-CD Rom] Hsinchu: Yinshun Culture andEducation Foundation, 2005.




44. aixu, aixu dashi quanshu, [Complete Works] 1956; 1970, 47: 349–430.45. Ibid., 47: 431-456.46. Jiang Canteng, “Cong rensheng ojiao dao renjian ojiao,” 1992: 180. In a

special commemorative collection published by the Sino- ibetan Buddhist Institute inChongqing in 1947, Ven. Miaozheng wrote o his master aixu that “. . . he worked hard

or over orty years to re orm thesangha system, attended to education, visited Europe,the USA, Burma, and India . . . (in all this) his most important goal was purely to savethe world’s people . . . his undertakings were all purely to realizerenjian ojiao. . . wecan say that all o his li e’s writings were or the goal o establishingrenjian ojiao.”Hanzang Jiaoliyuan 1947: 89.

47. Chao Hwei 2003b: 8; 28.48. Lu Shengqiang, “Yinshun daoshi ‘Renjian ojiao’ zhi pusaguan ji daocidi

chutan,” [Renjian ojiao: xinhuo xiangchuan: Di si jie Yinshun daoshi sixiangzhi lilunyu shixian xueshu yantaohui,Humanistic Buddhism: ransmitting the Flame—TeFourth Con erence on the Teory and Practice o the Venerable Yinshun’s eachings,Page N–4, Lu is quoting rom Yinshun’s “Qili qiji de renjian ojiao,”Huayuji di sice,”pp. 48–50.

49. Ibid., N5. Lu is quoting rom Yinshun’s Ibid., pp. 57–63.50. A number o Buddhist groups in aiwan claim that they are the direct heirs

and propagators o aixu’s and Yinshun’s ideas and plans regardingrenjian ojiao. owhat degree these claims are accurate rom a Buddhist studies’ perspective is a topicbeyond the scope o this book. See Marcus Bingenheimer, “Some Remarks on the Usageo Renjian Fojiao and the Contribution o Venerable Yinshun to Chinese BuddhistModernism, in Hsu et al. 2007: 141–61, and ing Jen-Chieh, “Renjian Buddhism andIts Successors: oward a Sociological Analysis o Buddhist Awakening in Contemporary

aiwan,” in Ibid., 229–67.51. See Huang 2001; Pittman 2001; Queen, Prebish, and Keown 2003; Chandler

2004; and Hsu, Chen, and Meeks 2007. Socially engaged Buddhism is ofen translatedinto Chinese asrushi, “in the world,” while a practice ocused on study, meditation,seclusion, and so on, is termedchushi, detached, literally “exiting [the] world.” “Engaged”[Buddhism] is also translated into Chinese ascanyu (participatory) ojiao and sheshi (involved in the world) ojiao.

52. For example, see Chris Queen, “Introduction,” p. 22, and Tomas F. Yarnall,“Engaged Buddhism: New and Improved?” p. 286, both in Queen, Prebish, and Keown,eds., Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism, London: Routledge/Curzon,2003. Also Sallie B. King, “Tích Nhâ´t Ha

.nh and the Uni ed Buddhist Church,” in

Queen and King, eds.,Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia,Albany: SUNY Press, 1986: 321–63. And see also, Nhâ´t Ha.nh 1967 and Chân Không1993.

53. As ar as I can tell, Jean-Paul Sartre developed his ideas on the politicallyengaged intellectual inLa nausée1938, and especially in his 1947 essay “Qu’est-ce quela littérature?” as well as the playsLes Mains Sales(1948) and Saint Genet (1952). Moreresearch is needed to know how Vietnamese intellectuals in France and Vietnam rstinterpreted and disseminated the works o Sartre and Camus; by the 1960s, existentialismwas a requently discussed topic in the Buddhist journals o South Vietnam. In the1960s, two Vietnamese renderings o Sartre’s termengagéwere nhâ. p cuô.c and dân




thân, but Tích Nhâ t Ha.nh pre erred his own term, iê p Hiê.n, Inter-being: iê p [tobe in touch with, to continue] , Hiê.n [to realize, to make here and now].

54. Buddhist journals in South Vietnam reported in depth on Bhave, whowon the rst Ramon Magsaysay award in 1958, and also on Sartre’s opposition tothe Vietnam War and his re usal o the Nobel Prize or Literature in 1964. Formore discussion, see my chapter “ ‘Buddhism or this World’: Te Buddhist Revivalin Vietnam, 1920–1951, and Its Legacy” in Philip aylor, ed., Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam. Singapore: Institute o SoutheastAsian Studies, 2007: 250–96.

55. See or example hisVietnam: Lotus in a Sea o Fire.56. Jonathan Watts, International Network o Engaged Buddhists (INEB),

Email, Feb. 4, 2004.57. Laliberté in Clart and Jones 2003: 172–75. Fear o political retaliation, such

as that which be ell Yinshun, may have been a reason or Foguangshan and Ciji toeschew sociopolitical critiques during the martial law era. However, martial law endedin 1987; all civil and religious groups are ree to engage in sociopolitical activism ithey choose to do so.

58. Laliberté in Clart and Jones 2003: 178–79.59. See www.ddm.org.tw or more details.60. Laliberté in Clart and Jones 2003: 180.61. Ibid., 179.62. Jiang 1997: 104–11.63. Ibid.64. I borrow this phrase rom Lan Ji u 2003. However he uses it in a different

sense than I will here: He discusses what he thinks are the direct heirs to Yinshunand his thought, in the sense o written works, not in terms o praxis or actualization.Lan de nes the “Yinshun Age” as comprising the years 1952–1994, rom the yearYinshun came to aiwan to the year when he ceased writing, due to ill health. LanJi u writes that since 1994, his students such as Chao Hwei and her colleagues suchas Shing Kuang and Wu Yin at the Hongshi Buddhist Institute (all three are nuns);and the monk Chuandao o Miaoxin emple in ainan, have taken on the task opropagating, developing, actualizing, and answering criticism o Yinshun’s work.Also included in this “generation” are monastic and lay scholars who have publishedcriticism o Yinshun’s work, either or textual/hermeneutical reasons, or in de ense othe ibetan, Pure Land, and Chan traditions critiqued by Yinshun.

65. Shing Kuang was born in Jiayi in 1962 and was ordained in 1982 at Haimingemple. She, like Chao Hwei, is an activist-scholar, and has written works on Chan

Buddhism; explications o Yinshun’s writings, and Buddhist ethics, among other topics.She heads the Hongshi Institute; is chie publisher o Fajie Press, and teaches in thephilosophy department at Dongwu University.

66. Chao Hwei was born in Myanmar and become ordained as a nun in1978 while still an undergraduate in the Department o Chinese, National aiwanNormal University. Unable to accept the conservative and authoritative atmosphereo her temple, she lef on a study retreat and discovered the writings o Yinshun in1982. She spent the years 1984–88 studying at Yinshun’s Fuyan Buddhist Institute inHsinchu. Li 2005: 104–6. Tere is no monograph about Ven. Chao Hwei in English




but there is a biography in Chinese, ao 1995. Geoff Foy devotes a chapter to ChaoHwei in his PhD dissertation o 2002 and Li Lingyu’s masters’ thesis includes much valuable in ormation about Chao Hwei. See also Shi Chao Hwei 2002 and HongshiBuddhist Institute 2001.

67. Chao Hwei does not have her own tonsure disciples but the Hongshi Instituteaccepts students and nuns tonsured under other masters.

68. See Wen 2006: 221–48.69. Gu Mei en, “Wurang zhichizhe duili hua en lun wei zhengdang de uyung,”

aiwan ribao, March 31, 2004: 3. Te Humanistic Education Foundation in aiwanlobbies the government and their efforts have, or example, led to a ban on corporalpunishment in schools. Tis Foundation is also involved in con ict resolution andprovides training in “alternative education” or aiwan’s teachers.

70. Chao Hwei 2003c.71. Chao Hwei, “Shengren bu si, da dao bu zhi: Ping Ciji yiyuan heyueshu.”

Hongshi tongxun, no. 10, 1994.8: 3–8. aipei: Fojiao Hongshi Xueyuan.72. Geoff Foy, “Engaging Religion: An Ethnography o Tree Religious Adherents

in aiwan’s Academic Culture,” PhD dissertation, Graduate Teological Union, 2002:148–49.

73. Ibid.74. Chao Hwei 2002: 3.75. As or Foguangshan, Xingyun, like other Buddhist leaders in aiwan, does

not advocate eminism; he believes that essentialist differences between male and emaledetermine their different social roles, and laywomen’s primary roles are those o wi eand mother. Shi Xingyun, “Fojiao de nuxing guan” [Buddhist View o Women] in ShiXingyun,Fojiao congshu [Anthology o Buddhism] (Kaohsiung: Foguang) 10: 258–70.Yet, he has openly and consistently supported Buddhist women’s education, and hehas helped develop the nuns’ order in aiwan and worldwide. Chao Hwei, 2002: 35,Jiang Canteng in same, 253.

76. somo 1999: 1; 30–31; Gross 1993: 291.77. somo 1999: 1, 31. For more details, see Karma Lekshe somo,

“Mahāprajāpatī’s Legacy: Te Buddhist Women’s Movement, An Introduction.” Insomo 1999: 1–44, and alsoSākyhadhitā Newsletter,wentieth-Anniversary Issue,

vol. 16, no. 1, Summer 2007.78. See somo 2004c and Cheng 2007. Santikaro Bhikkhu,”Socially Engaged

Buddhism and Modernity: What Sort o Animals are Tey?” http://www.bp .org/tsangha/skbsebmod.html, accessed on August 15, 2007.

79. aixu’s Wuchang Buddhist Institute (1922–34) did have a section or emaleeducation, as did the branch in Beijing. aixu sketched others plans to educate nunsand laywomen and he encouraged Buddhist nuns at extant temples to gain moretraining and education. aixu, “Biqiuni de zeren” [Te responsibilities o nuns], Speechat Dizang Nunnery Institute, Winter 1930. Shi aixu 1970, “Speeches,” Chapter 18:323–24. aixu’s “Reorganization o theSangha System” ocuses on monks’ educationand monks’ economic livelihood and spiritual cultivation; in one version o his plan,he suggests that nuns be ore the age o fy labor part-time and “practice” the otherhal o their time, while afer age fy, devote their lives to ull-time spiritual practice.“Fojiao sengsi caichanquan zhi queding” [Te con rmation o Buddhist monastic templeproperty rights].Hai Chao Yin [Sound o the ide] (Summer 1928), vol. 9, no. 6.




80. aixu said: “ o become a monastic is hard enough or men, let alone women.”“Funu xue o zhi gui an” [Te standards or women studying Buddhism] Sept. 1926,Speech at Min’nan Buddhist Youth Association, Hai Chao Yin, vol. 7, no. 10. “Tenuns’ order owes its existence to compliance with the Eight Special Rules . . . regardingnuns, quality is more important than quantity.”Letters to the Zhengxin Lay Association, vol. 2, no. 2, Jan. 23, n.y.

81. “Youpoyi jiaoyu yu ohua jiating” [Laywomen’s Education and the Makingo Buddhist Families], Nov. 1935 speech at Donglian Institute, Hong Kong,Hai ChaoYin, vol. 17, no. 2.

82. Li Yuzhen, “Fojiao lianshe . . .” 2000: 270–78. In act, aixu was aware o thedearth o opportunities or women to study Buddhism, but this was not a priority in hisre orm program. Possibly due to the tradition o strict segregation between monks andnuns in Chinese Buddhism, he believed that nuns and laywomen should be trained toteach nuns and laywomen. “Questions and Answers,”Hai Chao Yin, Jan. 29, 1935.

83. See Ester Bianchi 2001; quotation is rom page 24. Ven. Longlian worked hardto re-establish dual ordination in China, absent rom the Chinese Buddhist tradition

or centuries, and in 1982 succeeded in ordaining twenty-one nuns. Bianchi 2001: 32.Dual ordination is becoming the norm or nuns in China, personal communication withmonk instructor o Qixia Shan Buddhist Academy, Nanjing, China, Dec. 4, 2007.

84. Chao Hwei 2002: 18–19.85. Mei 1998: 168.86. Chao Hwei 2002: 3.87. As part o this movement, Chao Hwei urged the ourteenth Dalai Lama

on his two visits to aiwan in 1997 and 2001 to restore ull ordination or ibetannuns as soon as possible.

88. Tese “ugly gestures” re er to the eighty- our kinds o behaviors or attitudes,stereotypically attributed to women, which obstruct them rom attaining nirvāna.Cheng 2007: 86–87, Note 36, 205–6; Li 2005: 102.

89. Tis “revolutionary” message was also addressed to the ourteenth DalaiLama, who was in aiwan at the same time. For more details, see Li 2005, ChaptersFour and Five.

90. Cheng 2007: 86.91. Xingyun diplomatically declared that Foguangshan long ago “ roze” the

Eight Special Rules and claims that this is not a problem at Foguangshan. Li 2005:120–21.

92. Li 2005: 102. According to Wenjie Qin’s observations, in China there is noopen critique o the Eight Special Rules, but no consistent or systematic en orcementeither. Qin 2000: 183–84.

93. Cheng 2007: 86; Bingenheimer 2004: 164.94. Li 2005: 140–41. Wei-yi Cheng ound that many nuns may agree with

Chao Hwei’s ideas, but not with her “extremist” ( jilie) and media-savvy methods.Cheng 2007: 87–90.

95. Cheng 2004a: 184–85. “Nearly all o my nun in ormants, regardless owhether they accept the Eight Special Rules or not, expressed disapproval towardsbhikkhunīZhaohui’s actions.” Cheng 2007: 87.

96. Cheng 2007: 100.97. Ibid., 98.




2. Qin 2000. However, Yuan Yuan (PhD candidate, Duke University) reportsrom the eld that the largest nunnery in China, the Pushou nunnery on Mt. Wutai,

is a center or the growing emale Buddhist movement in China. 3. See Kwangwoo Sunim, “Discipline and Practice o Buddhist Women in

Korea,” p. 175, and other chapters on Korean Buddhism in somo 2006. 4. Tich Nu Dien Van Hue, “Buddhist Nuns o Vietnam,” in somo 2004a:

48–50. 5. somo 1999: 13. 6. wo senior aiwanese nuns, Vens. Heng Ching and Wu Yin, played

important roles during the discussions at the First International Congress on BuddhistWomen’s Role in theSangha held in Hamburg, Germany, July 2007. See BhikkhuSujato, “Dark Matter,” [Summary o Congress Proceedings], Hamburg, Germany, July27, 2007. Te Congress voiced unanimous support or ull ordination or womenin ibetan Buddhism but the exact details o how to proceed, most likely based onthe Chinese vinaya o theDharmaguptakatradition, await uture discussion andconsensus.

7. Zhang Mantao in Nakamura Hajime, ed.Zhong’guo ojiao azhan shi [Historyo the Development o Chinese Buddhism]. aipei: ianhua, 1984: 1092–93.

8. aiwan also has ollowers o ibetan Buddhism, new Japanese Buddhistsects, and Tai Buddhism.

9. Wang 1997: 3.10. Su 1996: 23–37; 42–75.11. Lu 2004: 223–43.12. See DeVido 2004: 235–49.13. Kaldor 2003: 9, 22.14. Weller 1999: 100.15. Ibid., 135.16. Ibid., 140–42.17. he groups studied are Ciji, Foguangshan, Fagushan, Zhongtai Chan

emple, Lingjiushan, and Fuzhi. Schak and Hsiao employ Robert Putnam’s (2001)de nition o social capital as the collective value o all social networks and the normso reciprocity that arise rom these networks. David Schak and Hsin-Huang MichaelHsiao, “Socio-Cultural Engagements o aiwan’s New Buddhist Groups.”CollectedPapers o the aiwan-Japan Workshop on Civil Society Organizations in ContemporaryAsia. aipei: Center or Asia-Paci c Area Studies, Academia Sinica, 2004: 80–100. Fora work in Chinese that takes a similar approach, see Zhang Peixin, “Te Investigationin Social Capital Operated by the Religious and Non-Pro t Organizations in aiwan:Buddhist zu-Chi Merits Society As An Example,” PhD dissertation, Department oCivic Education and Leadership, National aiwan Normal University, 2004.

18. Kaldor 2003: 10.19. Ibid., 12.20. Lin 2003: 56–58. With all their experience in the areas o health-care,

wel are, and relie , Ciji’s experts could lobby or advise the government, but so ar havedeclined this public role. Laliberté in Clart and Jones 2004: 175–76.

21. Gu 2002: 162, 165, 170, 188–89.22. Ibid., 185.23. ing and Zhan in Lin, ing, and Zhan, eds. 2004: xviii.

155Notes to Conclusion



24. ing Jen-Chieh, “Renjian Buddhism and Its Successors: oward a SociologicalAnalysis o Buddhist Awakening in Contemporary aiwan,” in Hsu, et al., eds. 2007:249–51. However, as Chapter 3 illustrated, Ciji is in uencing education policies on thelocal level, with the teaching o Zhengyan’sStill Toughts in public schools.

25. Qin: 2000, Chapter 2, argues that the nuns o Fuhu emple on Mt. Emeiessentially recreated the patriarchal amily structure, in all its glory, in their nunnery.Her chapter presents a grim picture o violent power struggles among the nuns. Ido not have direct knowledge regarding monastic power struggles in aiwan, butLi Xueping’s in ormants told o nunneries in aiwan that “reproduce the patriarchalhierarchy o the home,” where abbesses, having sacri ced so much or their disciples,expect li e-long obedience, loyalty, and personal service in return. Some abbessesaspire to absolute authority and nuns at their temples do not have the right o speechor discussion. Nuns’ letters are opened, phone calls are restricted and/or monitored;reading o books, study at Buddhist institutes and unauthorized contact with othersoutside the monastery grounds are all orbidden. Li wonders to what degree abbessesmake these demands or the good o their disciples’ practice and training. Li Xueping2000: Chapter Six.

26. Chen Ruoxi (b.1938 in aipei) is the author o many works includingTe Execution o Mayor Yin and Other Stories rom the Great Proletarian CulturalRevolution (1976).

27. See the discussion in Ding Min 2002.28. Xinghe 2001: 78–79. Written be ore the appearance o Chen Ruoxi’s novels,

Mei 1998 critically explores the gender inequality in both Buddhist doctrine and withinthe institutions o contemporary aiwanese Buddhism. See also Chao Hwei’s essays inIntonation or Tousands o Years: Buddhist Feminist Tought or a New Century 2002on gender inequality in Buddhism and on her movement to abolish the Eight SpecialRules. Chao Hwei also publicly supported a nun who claimed to have been sexuallyharassed by her master. “Huan wo qingbai [Restore my innocence]” Press Con erence,Oct. 1999, http://www.awker.com/hongshi/mag/41-7.htm, accessed on April 2, 2008.

29. A ront-page story in aiwan’sUnited News reported that “society is openingup . . . li estyles like women living with a partner, remaining single, or being anunmarried mother are no longer dishonorable . . . amilies and riends are graduallycoming to accept the idea o ‘not marrying.’ ” Li Chengyu, “Xing ugan: Yihunzhe jiang,weihunzhe sheng” [Happiness Drops Among Married, Rises Among Unmarried],Lianhebao [United News], December 10, 2007: 1. Also see Gavin W. Jones, “Te ‘Flight romMarriage’ in South-East and East Asia,” in National University o Singapore, AsianMetacentre Research Paper Series, no. 11, 2002.

30. McNamara 1996: 629–32; 635; 639–43.31. Interview with Ven. Mingjia, Sept 4, 1999, Jiayi.32. In aiwan though nuns outnumber monks and head two-thirds o aiwan’s

Buddhist temples, top leaders in the Buddhist establishment such as the BuddhistAssociation o the Republic o China, theSangha Protection Association, and theChinese Buddhist emple Association are monks. Lin Rongzhi 2004: 80. Furthermore,at Buddhist ceremonies and meetings, monks enjoy VIP treatment and generallyspeaking, still receive more lay donations than nuns. Cheng 2007: 130.

156 Notes to Conclusion



33. Ven. Chantal enzin Dekyi, “Visit at Luminary emple in aiwan.”Sangha:In the Footsteps o the Buddha, Issue 7, November 1999: 4.

34. Smyung gnas practices ocus on Avalokiteśvara and are undertakenperiodically throughout the year. See the explication in Makley 1999: 184–89.

35. Cheng 2007: 149.36. Li 2005: 27–30.37. raditional couplet, adapted by Mi Gao; thanks also to Marcus

Bingenheimer.

157Notes to Conclusion



Glossary o Selected Chinese Characters

Ba jingfa BaishengBaizhangBaochangbeiyuan, lixing, hehe , ,biedubiguanbiqiuniBiqiuni zhuan

canyu ojiaochaogeng, yedu ,Chao HweiChen Ruoxichengdan rulai jiayeChong an taohuayuanChuandaochujiachujia nai da zhang u shichushi

cibeiCicheng duida zhang udazhuan xue o yundongdingningdingtian lidi de da zhang uDizangEmeishanErbu shoujie Fagushan

159



160 Glossary o Selected Chinese Characters

FangzhangFaxiang zong

FayunFoguangshanFojiao ciji gongde huiFoyingFujian

umu en nan baouquanuyan, muci ,

Gaoseng zhuangongmin shehui

GuangqinGuanyinHeng ChingHiuwanHongshihoudunHs’ing Fu-Ch’üanHua anHuijiaoHuixinlian

Huiyanhusheng, xi u ,Jiji jijieJiang Canteng jie ang jiaoyuJingsi jingsheJingsi yu jiujing jietuoJueli jueshu renhuaKan Zhengzongkeji chongrenkeji uliLi YuzhenLingjiushanli, yi, lian, chiLinjiLin Mei-RongLonghu An



161Glossary o Selected Chinese Characters

LonglianLu Hwei-syin

MazuMiaoshanMiaoxinMingjiamo aneng’gannuqiangrenPilu Chansipudupusa yuan xing

Putuoshanqing’guiquanqiuhuarenrenRenben jiaoyu jijinhuirenjian ojiaorenjian jingturenshengrensheng

rushisengniShangrenshangyou zhengce, xia you duice ,Shengyanshijiehuashijie zhuyiShing Kuangsheshi ojiaosi weiyi

aixutaoming, taoli ,tiankong“ ianxia mingshan shei shi zhuKongzhong wuwo xin ji o”

,.

ianyitongyangxiWangye



162 Glossary o Selected Chinese Characters

weishiWuliangyi jing

wusheng laomuWu YinXiamenXiang’guangxianqi liangmuXindaoXingyunXiudaoXiwang gongchengXu biqiuni zhuan

yangnuyansiyibu, yijiaoyin ,yi ren wei benyizheng bu ganzhiYinshunYinxin ShuyuanYongquansi, Gushan ,yuan enYuanrong

Yuantong ChansiyuluyuhuizhaiguzhaijiaozhaodiZheng Cheng’gongzhengquanZhengyanZhenhuaZhejiangzhiquanzhizao suoZhongguo ojiao huiZhongtai ChansiZhou Xuandeziwo peilizhuangyanzongwo zhiwu



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Index

181

activism, Buddhist , 87, 96, 102, 104–105,110, 151n57. See also Ciji: avoidance opolitics by; Engaged Buddhism

adopted daughters ( yangnu), 17, 39–40,126n72, 131n30

animal rights, 101, 103, 105architecture o schools, 52–54,53, 59Article Six, 59, 137n56Avalokiteśvara , 72, 75, 157n34. See also

Guanyin

Baisheng (monk), 16, 90, 147n64Baochang (monk), 23BAROC (Buddhist Association o

ROC), 15, 55, 82, 99, 107, 109Benyuan emple, 21betel-nut, 12, 55, 56, 71, 136n41Bhave, Vinoba, 100bhikkhu chauvinism, 107, 109Bingenheimer, Marcus, 150n50Biographies o Chinese Nuns (Lianchan,

ed.), 21Biqiuni zhuan (Baochang), 23Bodhisattva o Compassion.See

GuanyinBuddha Light Mountain (Foguangshan),

59, 121n15, 133n46; nuns o , 9–20,67, 112, 126n83, 128n113, 151n57,153n91. See also Xingyun (monk)

Buddhism, Engaged: global, 100,105–106, 110; in aiwan, 100–101; inVietnam, 97, 100

Buddhism, global, 26Buddhism or the Human Realm. See

renjian ojiaoBuddhism or this world. See renjian

ojiaoBuddhism in PRC, 7, 97–98, 110,

121n3, 129n122Buddhism in aiwan: decentralized

nature o , 7, 108, 128n111; leadershipand gender within, 79, 107, 109, 117,

156n32; three mountaintops o , 93,121n15; unique eatures o , 15–16,27, 111; valued or contributions tosocial wel are, 13, 88, 116.See also Buddhists in aiwan; Buddhism in

aiwan, history o Buddhism in aiwan, history o : Qing

era, 8–13; Japanese colonial period,13–14; afer 1949, 14–19

Buddhist activism , 87, 96, 102, 104–105,110, 151n57. See also Ciji: avoidance

o politics by; Buddhism, EngagedBuddhist Association o ROC(BAROC), 15, 55, 82, 99, 107, 109

Buddhist campus movement (dazhuanxue o yundong ), 18–19

Buddhist laywomen, 3, 70, 120n9.See also Buddhists in aiwan:preponderance o women among;Ciji: lay members o ;zhaigu; zhaijiao

Buddhist nuns.See headings beginningnuns, Buddhist

Page numbers inboldface indicate illustrations.



183Index

da zhang u, 68–69, 87, 89, 139n21,140n29

Dalai Lama, 84, 112, 145n31, 153n87,153n89, 154n108

Daoist clergy, 122n20, 123n29dazhuan xue o yundong , 18–19death penalty, 103De u (nun), 69Deni (nun), 67, 69Deqin (nun), 14Dharma Drum Mountain (Fagushan),

100–101, 113, 114, 121n15dharma lecturing: by Luminary nuns,

79, 81–82, 87–88; by nuns, 14, 15, 22,23, 81, 132n42

Dharmapāla, 94Dijiao (nun), 21Dizang Boddhisatva, 21, 72dual ordination system, 16–17, 124n61,

125n69, 127n93

earthquake o Dec. 26, 2003 in Bam,Iran, 134n8

earthquake o Sept. 21, 1999 in aiwan,49; responses to, 84–85 (See also NewSchool Campus Movement; ProjectHope)

economic production o nuns, 66,127n102

Eight Special Rules in aiwan, 17, 27,107–109, 110, 125n71

eighty- our ugly gestures o women,107, 124n61

Emei, Mount (Emei Shan). See Fuhuemple (Sichuan, PRC), nuns o

empowerment, 77–78, 80, 86, 90,138n3

Engaged Buddhism: global, 100,105–106, 110; in aiwan, 100–101; inVietnam, 97, 100

eremitic monastics, 21essentialist notions o gender, 26, 76,

89–90, 113, 138n5Eternal Mother (wusheng laomu), 10,

24, 41, 42, 72

Fagushan (Dharma Drum Mountain),100–101, 113, 114, 121n15

amily, relation o nuns to, 25, 67, 81,128n111, 133n46, 144n7

angzhang , 82, 143n4emale disadvantages, in Buddhistteaching, 16, 75–76, 87, 109, 124n61,142n74

eminine qualities: negative perceptionso , 69, 124n61, 76; positiveperceptions o , 26, 64, 72, 74–75, 76,89–90, 142n76

eminism, 2, 26–27, 77, 80, 90, 146n60.See also women’s movement in

aiwanFenglin clinic incident, 43–44, 132n45 engshui, 56, 137n43

lial piety, 31, 52, 75, 127n96, 128n111Five Hindrances, 124n61Foguangshan (Buddha Light Mountain),

59, 121n15, 133n46; nuns o , 9–20,67, 112, 126n83, 128n113, 151n57,153n91. See also Xingyun (monk)

Fojiao ciji gongde hui (CijiCompassion-Relie Foundation).See Ciji

oreign brides in aiwan, 85–86Foying (nun), 16Fuhu emple (Sichuan, PRC), nuns o ,

90, 121n3, 133n46, 140n27, 141n55,142n71, 146n55, 156n25

Fuhui (nun), 21Fujioshi Jikai, 17 uquan (empower), 80, 86, 138n3. See

also empowerment uyan, muci, 72, 131n19

gender construction in aiwan,129n121

gender equality: in Buddhistinstitutions, 26–27, 69, 80, 87, 107–109, 117, 125n69; Buddhist teachingson, 16, 17, 27, 87, 107

gender essentialism, 26, 76, 89–90, 113,138n5



184 Index

gender roles in aiwan, 18, 75, 88–89;in Ciji, 64, 71

globalization, 97Goossaert, Vincent, 9, 12, 123n29Grant, Beata, 23, 69, 132n42, 139n24Gu Zhonghua, 115–116Guangqin (monk), 18, 124n61Guanyin , 11; and Ciji, 29, 40, 64, 72–76

passim, 113; and Luminary BuddhistInstitute, 87; and traditions in Chinaand aiwan, 8, 24, 59, 72–73, 74,141n50; in Vietnam, 111, 141n50;and zhaijiao, 10–11, 72

Gutschow, Kim, 126n77

Henan emple, 22Heng Ching (nun), 19, 26, 125n69,

155n6Hiuwan (nun), 19,20, 31, 67Hongshi Buddhist Institute , 21, 102,

104, 109–110, 152n67. See also ChaoHwei

Hsieh, Evelyn Ding-Hwa, 23, 69Hs’ing Fu-Ch’üan, 8, 9Hua an University, 19, 21, 67Hualian, 22, 42–43.See also Ciji:

headquarters in HualianHuang, C. Julia, 38, 39, 60, 63, 66,

129n3, 130n5Huang Long-min, 60hui (insight), 87Huixinlian (Chen Ruoxi), 116–117Huiyan (nun), 9humanism: Buddhist, 50 (See also

renjian ojiao); Con ucian, 50;Western, 50

Humanistic Education Foundation(Renben jiaoyu jijinhui), 49, 50, 51,152n69

immigration to aiwan: o Chinesemonastics in 1949, 14–15; o oreignbrides, 8

in nite worlds (tiankong ), 7, 118insight ( prajñā; hui), 87, 142n72

International Network o EngagedBuddhists (INEB), 110, 154n108

Iran, Ciji in, 134n8

Japan, nuns’ order in, 119n1Japanese Buddhism in aiwan:

opportunities or women, 14; sects incolonial period, 13

Japanese colonial government inaiwan, 9, 12, 13–14, 123n40

Japanese-trained nuns in aiwan, 14, 15,41, 81

Jianduan (nun), 88–89Jiang Canteng, 12, 20, 101, 109Jianxian (nun), 86–87, 89, 146n62Jingding (nun), 21 jingsi yu (still thoughts). See Still

Toughts ( jingsi yu) Jingsi yu(Zhengyan). SeeStill Toughts

(Zhengyan)Jingxin (nun), 26Jones, Charles B., 9, 12, 66, 120n9,

123n31Jones, Ken, 110Jueli (monk), 14 jueshu renhua, 87–88Juzan (monk), 98

Kan Zhengzong, 9, 120n9Kang Liwen, 138n63karun.ā (compassion) , 87, 142n72. See

also compassion, Buddhistkeji chongren, 96, 116, 136n42keji uli, 56kitchen work, 79, 89, 124n61, 143n2,

145n26Korea, nuns’ order in, 111, 119n1,

125n62

laywomen, Buddhist, 3, 70, 120n9.See also Buddhists in aiwan:preponderance o women among;Ciji: lay members o ;zhaigu; zhaijiao

Levering, Miriam, 23, 68–69, 132n43,142n72



185Index

Li Yuzhen: on BAROC 7; on Guanyinworship, 73; on laywomen, 126n78;on nuns’ achievements, 21, 23,126n81; on nuns’ background, 24;on nuns’ amily relations, 133n46; onnuns’ struggle, 16, 27, 79, 124n54; onnuns’ views, 124n61; typologyo Buddhist women, 10–11; onZhengyan, 40

Lianchan (nun), 21, 154n108Liaoyi (nun), 20Lin Yusheng, 115Lives o the Nuns(Baochang), 23Longlian (nun), 106, 153n83Lotus Sūtra, 43, 73, 124n61, 130n4,

132n43Lu, Annette, 128n114, 136n41Lu Hwei-syin, 63, 113, 131n19Luminary Buddhist Institute, 79–91;

compared with Ciji, 67, 82, 85, 87;cultural mission o , 84, 113; andeducation 79, 84; and sel -reliance,144n7; social service o , 84–87;training o nuns by, 82–83, 113

Malalasekera, G. P., 97Malaysia, Ciji in, 138n60Mao Zedong, 41, 56, 139n15marriage resistance, 122n23, 139n25,

146n55masculine qualities, 68, 69, 71maternal traits, 63, 64–65, 72–73,

74–77, 113Mazu, 8, 41Mencius, 87, 139n21Miaoqing (nun), 14Miaoshan , 73, 141n55. See also GuanyinMiaoxiu (nun), 14Mingjia (nun), 89, 117mixed-sexsangha, 7–8, 89, 121n5–

122n5mo a, 15, 55monastics, numbers o , in aiwan,

120n4.See also nuns, Buddhist, inaiwan: numbers o

monks, Buddhist, rom China:dependence on aiwanese womenafer 1949, 15, 106–107; as leaders opost-1949 Buddhism in aiwan, 15

monks, Buddhist, in aiwan:impediments to recruiting, 18,128n113; ordination o , 9, 13, 14, 18;ratio o , to nuns, 1, 16

Museum o World Religions, 20

Nationalist government in aiwan, 7, 9,14–15, 96, 99, 126n78, 140n42

Nenghai (monk), 106New Culture Movements in China, 56,

106, 138n60New School Campus Movement, 49, 51,

54. See also Project Hope (Xiwanggongcheng)

New aiwan Civilization , 50, 58. Seealso Ciji: cultural re orm goals o

National aiwan University, 19nuns, Buddhist, biographies o , 21,

23–24, 126n81nuns, Buddhist, in China, 23–24,

128n103. See also Fuhu emple(Sichuan, PRC), nuns o

nuns, Buddhist, in Japan, 119n1nuns, Buddhist, in Korea, 111, 119n1,

125n62nuns, Buddhist, in Sri Lanka, 23, 112,

119n1, 142n74nuns, Buddhist, in Teravādin

countries, 84, 119n1nuns, Buddhist, in aiwan: diversity

o , 7, 19–22, 108; during Japanesecolonial period, 13–14; during Qingera, 12–13; education missions o ,19–20; amily relations o , 25, 67,81, 128n111, 133n46, 144n7; and

eminism, 2, 26–27, 108; and genderidentity, 69, 89, 144n11; high levelo education o , 19–20, 88; improvedsocial status o , 88, 90, 112; Japanese-trained, 14, 15, 41, 81; negative per-ceptions o , 13, 17–18, 24, 88, 120n9;



186 Index

nuns, Buddhist, in aiwan(continued) numbers o , 1, 119n1, 120n4;

ordination o , 13, 14, 17–18, 127n93;ratio o , to monks, 1, 16; reasons

or ourishing afer 1949, 14–17, 19;social service missions o , 21–22;socioeconomic backgrounds o , 9–10,23, 24; technology use by, 19, 22,130n14, 144n16; training o , 16–17,67, 79–80, 82–83. See also under Ciji;Luminary Buddhist Institute

nuns, Buddhist, reasons or becoming,22–26; economic issues, 18, 24,122n23; amily relations, 10, 17,24, 146n55; or independence andopportunity, 25, 88–89; spiritual andintellectual interests, 25

nuns, Buddhist, segregation rommonks, 7–8, 12–13, 121n5, 153n82(See also mixed-sexsangha)

nuns, Buddhist, in ibetan tradition, 84,117, 119n1, 126n77

nuns, Buddhist, in Vietnam, 111–112,119n1

nuns, Catholic, 44, 81, 117nuns, Daoist, 122n20, 123n29nuqiangren (superwoman), 57–58,

137n49

ordination o aiwanese monks: rst inaiwan (1917), 14; in China, 9, 13;

standards, 18ordination o aiwanese nuns: rst

in aiwan (1919), 14; mail-in, 13;standards, 17–18, 127n93

ordination status o nuns: globalcomparison o , 119n1; in Qing-era

aiwan, 12–13

phoenix halls, 10pluralism in aiwan, 86, 110popular religion, Chinese, 1, 9, 64, 81,

82, 84, 114; and Zhengyan, 41, 64,72, 73–74. See alsozhaijiao

prajñā (insight), 87

PRC (People’s Republic o China),Buddhism in, 7, 97–98, 110, 121n3,129n122

prison education programs, 22, 84private charity in aiwan, 50, 78, 143n6Project Hope (Xiwang gongcheng):

architectural critiques o , 53–54;architectural vocabulary o , 52–53,54; compared to Shigang project, 85;goals o , 50–51; green philosophy o ,54–55; locations o schools or, 49

Qin Wenjie, 69, 121n3, 127n101,129n122, 153n92. See also Fuhu

emple (Sichuan, PRC), nuns o Qing religious laws barring nuns, 12Qing-era Buddhism in aiwan:

institutional history, 8–10; negativeassessments, 9; nuns’ order, 12–13;positive assessments, 9; roles owomen, 10–11

quanqiuhua (globalization), 97

religion, Chinese popular, 1, 9, 64, 81,82, 84, 114; and Zhengyan, 41, 64,72, 73–74. See alsozhaijiao

religion in public schools in aiwan, 52,58–60, 126n78

religious revival in aiwan.See under Buddhist revival

Renben jiaoyu jijinhui.See HumanisticEducation Foundation (Renben jiaoyu jijinhui)

renjian ojiao: and Ciji, 46; ormulationo , 99; and Luminary BuddhistInstitute, 91; prevalence in aiwan,93; and women, 106–109

rensheng , 95Rongzhen (nun), 21

Sākyadhitā, 106, 129n115sangha, mixed-sex, 7–8, 89, 121n5Santikaro, 106Sartre, Jean-Paul, 100school architecture, 52–54,53, 59



187Index

schools, religion in, 52, 58–60, 126n78segregation o monks and nuns,

7–8, 12–13, 121n5, 153n82.See also mixed-sexsangha

Shangren, 130n11.See also ZhengyanShanhui (monk), 13–14Shanhui (nun), 22, 26Shengyan (monk) , 16, 17, 113, 125n71.

See also Dharma Drum Mountain(Fagushan)

Shi or Shih (Master).See names oindividual masters

Shigang ownship, 84–85shijie zhuyi (world-ism), 97shijiehua (globalization), 97Shing Kuang, 93, 102, 103, 151n65si weiyi ( our postures), 68sign language and Ciji, 32, 131n17silk industry, 122n23, 127n102skill ul means, 16, 26, 76, 110smyung gnas, 117social re orm: Ciji agenda or, 56, 58;

Luminary Buddhist Institute viewson, 86–87; nineteenth-centuryChristian, 57

social trans ormation, 64–65, 80–81,114

Sōka Gakkai, 37, 130n4, 131n21Sri Lanka, nuns’ order in, 23, 112,

119n1, 142n74Still Toughts ( jingsi yu): origin and

meaning o term, 30; pedagogy, 29,31, 58–60, 138n60. See alsoStillToughts (Zhengyan)

Still Toughts (Zhengyan), 30–31,73–75.See also Still Toughts ( jingsi yu)

Still Toughts Abode, 32; as model andsymbol, 52, 66; nuns o , 65–68, 69

Still Toughts Camp, 31–38; audio– video documentation o , 35–36,130n14; expectations or dress andbehavior at, 32, 36, 130n12; schedule

or, 33–34; small group system at,31–32, 36; Zhengyan’s role in, 36–38

Still Toughts Hall, 35; as model orProject Hope, 52

Su Qianling, 113superwoman (nuqiangren), aiwan,

57–58, 137n49Sūtra on Immeasurable Meanings

(Wuliangyi jing ), 30

aiwan aborigines, 85, 103, 136n41aiwan Economic Miracle, 39, 46, 101aiwan superwoman (nuqiangren),57–58, 137n49

aixu (monk), 14, 50, 91, 93, 95–97,98, 106

technology use by nuns, 19, 22, 130n14,144n16

temples, Buddhist, numbers o , inaiwan , 120n6

Tailand, Ciji in, 138n60T eravādin Buddhism and women,

75–76, 84Teravādin nuns’ order, 84, 119n1Tích Nhâ t Ha.nh, 100three mountaintops o Buddhism in

aiwan, 93, 121n15tiankong(in nite worlds), 7, 118

ianyi (nun), 16, 81, 147n64ibetan Buddhism: nuns’ order in, 84,117, 119n1, 126n77; and Westernwomen, 84

ing Jen-Chieh, 116, 150n50opley, Marjorie, 10, 122n23somo, Karma Lekshe, 105–106,125n71, 129n115

zu Chi. See Ciji

University o the West, 20

Vegetarian Halls. Seezhaitang vegetarian religions. SeezhaijiaoVietnam, nuns’ order in, 111–112, 119n1vinaya: and administration, 82, 83,

125n71, 128n112; and ordination, 16,119n1, 125n66, 127n93, 155n6; andtraining, 16, 84, 121n5, 128n112



BUDDHIST STUDIES

Taiwan’s Buddhist NunsElise Anne DeVido

“D Vid h i i f ili i i h b h h b k’