Cheng Yen - Early Life

Early Life

Cheng Yen was born Wáng Jǐnyún (王錦雲) in 1937 in Qingshui in Taichung County (now part of Taichung City), Taiwan. Her uncle was childless, so she was given to be raised by her aunt and uncle. She had first hand experience of suffering because she was raised in Japan-controlled Taiwan during World War II. She witnessed the devastating effects of war and even experienced bombings in Taiwan. These experiences taught Cheng Yen the truth behind the concept of impermanence. As early as 1945, she had to experience people’s pain and helplessness at the age of eight when she had to look after her sick brother in a hospital for eight months. At the age of 23, her father died suddenly from brain hemorrhaging caused by a stroke. It was in searching for a burial place for him that Cheng Yen first came into contact with the Buddhist Dharma. After her father's death, Cheng Yen took over managing her father's theaters and became financially responsible for her family.

Upon deciding to become a nun, Cheng Yen had to run away to a temple because she feared that her mother would not allow her to go. After her first attempt of running away, her mother found her three days later and brought her back home. The second time she ran away from home was in 1961. She left to travel through eastern Taiwan with a friendly nun by the name of Master Xiūdào (修道). Cheng Yen followed a nontraditional route to becoming a nun, traveling for two years with Master Xiūdào. Cheng Yen even shaved her own head before she had been officially ordained a nun. After traveling for two years, Cheng Yen decided that she needed to become an ordained nun in order to continue with her lifestyle. She went to the Lin Chi Temple to register for ordination. They turned her down because she did not have a master. Typically, to become a nun, one must be the disciple of a master for two years before ordination. Fortunately, Cheng Yen encountered Venerable Master Yin-shun, whom she asked to be her master. He accepted her request, an hour before the registration closed. In February 1963, she became the disciple of her mentor, the Venerable Master Yin Shun, who gave her the dharma name of Cheng Yen and the courtesy name of Huìzhāng (慧璋). Yin Shun also gave her the great expectation of "doing all for the Buddhist religion and for all beings", which is written with six characters in Chinese. From then on, these six characters became the highest ideals for Cheng Yen in belief, teaching, and practice.

In May 1963, shortly after receiving her initiation as a nun, she went to Pu Ming Temple in Hualien County to continue her spiritual formation. As a part of that formation, she recited the Lotus Sutra, which she revered, every day and copied it every month. It was during her six months there that she vowed to commit herself to the Lotus Sutra and the “Path of the Bodhisattvas.”