The Rise of Tzu Chi

The Rise of Tzu Chi reveals a dynamic Asian religious movement that draws its global success from its capacity to incorporate diversity.

Chengpang Lee is a professor in the School of Sociology at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, China. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Chinese public policy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and serves on the boards of several associations focused on public health, East Asian geopolitics, and knowledge production.

Unsatisfied with existing explanations of the rise and strength of Tzu Chi, Chengpang Lee has produced what will be one of the defining books on the movement. It is an essential read.

David A. Palmer, co-author of Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality:

This is an outstanding book about one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world.

Richard Madsen, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of California San Diego:

In moving the story of Tzu Chi from religious studies to the realm of sociology, Chengpang Lee allows us to understand it in terms of the institutional transformations of Taiwan together with its relations with the rest of the world. This book thus adds new perspectives not only on Tzu Chi but on the development of modern Taiwan.