In early July, the team from Tzu Chi Singapore Branch started preparatory work for the workshop by engaging the Tzu Chi Singapore history compilation team and volunteers in briefings, finalization of workshop programme and collection of historical materials. (Photo by Tang Zau Cie)
“Master Cheng Yen doesn’t belong only to Tzu Chi, she belongs to Taiwan and the whole world too.” A specialist from National Library of Taiwan had once suggested to visitors from Tzu Chi Singapore Branch to archive the collection of Tzu Chi artifacts with the help of the library’s professional expertise and facilities.
Living out the instruction of her mentor, i.e. “Devotion to Buddhism, devotion all sentient beings,” Master Cheng Yen has left philanthropic footprints in eastern Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and many other places. To date, Tzu Chi’s missionary work covers five continents in the world, and it was announced during its 40th anniversary celebration in 2006 that Tzu Chi was to be recognized as an independent school of Buddhism. In 2012, the Tzu Chi Dharma Lineage Historical Archival and Research Centre which Master Cheng Yen so eagerly awaited, was established.
The teachings of Master Cheng Yen reflect the needs of our current times; for over forty years she has been expounding how one should purify one’s mind, and Tzu Chi members all over the world have participated in the making of Tzu Chi history by promoting its missions and contributing to their local communities. More importantly, Master Cheng Yen gives us the opportunity to put into practice what the sutras preach, helping us to understand the sutras when we study them. Madam Hong Jing Yuan, the chief editor of the archival and research centre, gives an overview of the exercise: to be a witness of our time, and to record history for humanity and Tzu Chi. “Through the compilation of Tzu Chi’s history, people can then learn about its evolution and growth, and how to continue to promote the Tzu Chi Dharma Lineage in different countries and regions.”
The head of the Tzu Chi Dharma Lineage Historical Archival and Research Centre, Madam Hong Jing Yuan and her colleagues Yan Wan Ting and Huang Li Jun, made a trip to Tzu Chi Singapore to conduct their first overseas workshop on the compilation of Tzu Chi history. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
Madam Hong shared with workshop participants the vision and mission of the archival and research centre, as well as the plan and framework under which Tzu Chi’s overseas history will be compiled. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
Collation and Classification-The First Step in Writing History
The archival and research centre plans to publish a series of materials, covering Tzu Chi’s history, biographies of Tzu Chi members, as well as explanations of the Buddhist sutras explained by Master Cheng Yen and other Tzu Chi related works in the year 2016, when Tzu Chi celebrates its 50th anniversary. To date, a total of 14 audio files by Master Cheng Yen have already been compiled and work on the history of Tzu Chi’s overseas branches has also begun.
On Aug 2 and 3, 2013, the first overseas Tzu Chi history compilation educational training workshop was held in Singapore. Madam Hong, together with colleagues Yan Wan Ting and Huang Li Jun made the trip to Singapore to conduct a training class at the Tzu Chi Singapore Branch. Apart from examining the various historical materials, they too hope to impart their knowledge in collation, classification and verification of historical materials to Tzu Chi Singapore.
Liang Qi Cao, a contemporary historian and educator, compared historical materials to the cell organisms of history, in that “there is no way to restore history if the historical materials are incomplete.” Sister Li Jun explained that records of past events in any form can be turned into history through the reconstruction of such materials. As such, be it in the form of text or non-text (pictures, video and audio, artifacts), direct or indirect sources of information, materials to be gathered have to be authentic, accurate and complete, and information obtained from as close to first-hand sources as possible are better.
When the historical materials have been gathered together in one place, Sister Wan Ting imparted the key tip in materials collation: sort and classify, file correctly, and generate a detailed list. Examine the list and continue to try and obtain the information that seems to be missing. This appears to be a simple process, yet there is much knowledge involved. Just to open a file for the documentation of historical materials, one has to progressively identify the categories related to the lineage philosophy, the mission, event and project type. What is even more important is to ensure that the documents have standardized filenames so that it is easier for people to make sense of the contents by merely glancing at filenames.
Hence, it is essential to go through the material in detail to ascertain their content type, highlight the important points, and then generate an appropriate search index. Sister Wan Ting shared with participants at the workshop that in recent years, Tzu Chi missions can overlap, for example, the school bursary scheme is a combination of the mission of education and environmental protection. If it is difficult for one to make a clear classification, one may seek advice from the project administration team to understand the main objective of the events. She also encouraged all to be involved in small group discussions to enhance their mastery over the attributes of historical materials.
Master Cheng Yen elucidates that our thoughts and concepts form the foundation of Tzu Chi’s philosophy, whereas the implementation of our philosophy and our actions forms the missions of the Tzu Chi school of thought. The history of the overseas Tzu Chi branches is hence categorized accordingly, arranged in chronological order to link the people involved to the events while preserving the local flavor. Madam Hong mentioned, “this is going to be different from the past where we published our yearly magazines or special publications to showcase our achievements; we will now trace the origins of all events, how the Tzu Chi people sought advice and instruction from Master Cheng Yen, and how they then promoted and executed the events in their home countries.”
During the training class, Sister Wan Ting imparted the key tip in materials collation: sort and classify, file correctly, generate a detailed listing and seek out any missing pieces of information. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
The workshop focused on giving participants practical hands-on experience. Participants were divided into groups and they learnt how to organize, classify and verify the materials under the guidance of Sister Huang Li Jun. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
The Time to Start is Now
The workshop focused on giving participants hand-on experience, and the participants learnt how to arrange, classify and verify the historical materials from Singapore which were furnished by the data compilation team. “Which category does this piece of historical material belong to? Is this the right way to name it?” “How come we have conflicting dates for these two events?” Whenever a consensus could not be found, shouts of “Teacher!” arose one after another from all corners of the class.
The class was engrossed in learning while the instructors were full of enthusiasm to teach. Sister Li Jun used real cases as examples to illustrate how to determine the sources of materials, make cross references and verify information. While filtering for essential information, she reminded everyone not to exclude information due to one’s own subjective opinions. “We should not exclude information on our failures, as everything goes through a process of evolution, all that helps us learn from the past for the benefit of future undertakings.”
Sister Wan Ting further illustrated this point with the incident regarding “a pool of blood.” To acquire a full understanding of the situation at that time, they visited the library to study newspaper reports about the hospitalization deposit that was required in the past, taking pains to scan the relevant pages for archival purposes.
She also shared with them the Master’s reminder, that be it positive affirmation or criticism, we have to gather all these data as many historical events reflect the political and socio-cultural background of the period they took place in; even for those which have never been published for various reasons, we have to keep them with much care. Apart from preserving a piece history, it also serves to let our future generations know what happened.”
As the Tzu Chi Singapore Branch has relocated a few times before settling down in its current location, all its historical materials are scattered in different places. There are printed matters, correspondences and photos, etc., that have been sealed in boxes and passed from one person to another; there are also CDs and other digital materials from various databases. Colleagues in the Tzu Chi Singapore branch sought for advice and Madam Hong encouraged all to “start organizing them without delay” as “the older the materials, the more valuable they are.” If these materials are left in their boxes, sooner or later they will disintegrate and be lost. Should there be sensitive materials, she suggested bringing them back to Taiwan to seek further advice.
Madam Hong shared that Master Cheng Yen had hoped that the compilation exercise can reinforce the philosophy of the Tzu Chi Dharma Lineage and lay a solid foundation for the indoctrination and cultivation efforts of future generations of disciples. Publications from the archival and research centre will be the official publications of Tzu Chi, and the source of official textbooks used in the Tzu Chi Buddhist teaching academy. These will also be the official sources of materials for external parties interested to research on Tzu Chi.
Madam Hong wished to capitalize on this opportunity to do a thorough review and revision of all historical materials, conserving the originals and removing the erroneous ones, so as to prevent the continued propagation of inaccurate information through the internet. She also hopes to invite others from the academia and cultural circles to participate in the exercise, and that the publications will be widely circulated locally.
After learning that the compilation process involves collating, editing and archiving historical materials for future reference, Tzu Chi documentation volunteer, Wu Jia Han, deeply realized the importance of ensuring the accuracy of first hand reports. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
A colleague from the charity team, Xie Jia Jun, was grateful that he had learnt much from the workshop. He was upfront about how discouraged he was in the beginning when he first received the assignment, and shared how his mindset had changed to become more positive. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
New Blood Rises To the Occasion
A young environmental engineer, Bernard Ng Jia Han, has been active in writing articles about the various Tzu Chi activities. After learning that the compilation process involves collating, editing and archiving historical materials for future reference, he deeply realized the importance of ensuring the accuracy of first hand reports. He cited the example of a territorial dispute that involved his home town in Sabah, and emoted how “disputes in history could lead to war.”
“When I looked at this big pile of materials, I felt like destroying all of them!” A colleague from the charity group, Xie Jia Jun was upfront about how discouraged he was in the beginning when he received the assignment. But the following day when he was doing his morning prayers, he miraculously heard some words of wisdom, “if you give up at the moment when you are needed, you will lose the window of opportunity to make a contribution,” and he no longer felt lost. Xie was very grateful that he had learnt much from the two day workshop. Humbly conceding that he was not capable enough, he made a vow, “the only thing I can contribute to the team is my determination!”
The management team from Tzu Chi Singapore first learnt about the history compilation exercise in June at a management meeting attended by teams from various countries, and upon returning to Singapore, they requested the head of the documentation team, Yan Su Yuan, to follow up. Towards the end of June, “The Tzu Chi Singapore History Compilation Team” was formed with Yan as the chief coordinator, 23 members comprising colleagues from the administration and documentation departments, as well as branch leaders and Tzu Chi documentation volunteers.
Apart from the members of the Tzu Chi Singapore history compilation team, the executive team and senior volunteers from the art and decor team also attended the workshop, making good use of the opportunity to learn something useful. The CEO of Tzu Chi Singapore gave his words of encouragement, saying, “this is a huge project and all of you have your own full time work commitments, but fear not, we are a team, apart from the five senior volunteers from the documentation department, the whole management team is also behind you. And if that is still not enough, you still have Madam Hong, all our colleagues, Vice-President of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Wang Tuan-Cheng, and above all, Master Cheng Yen herself!” He exhorted all to learn with humility, “to conquer all challenges with a strong sense of mission, let’s go all out!”
The lively and proactive learning attitude of the class heartened Madam Hong, and she shared that when she was first appointed the head of the editing team, she had mixed feelings. No matter how tough the going was and how tired she was, she would wipe away her tears and proceed on as she deeply believed that under the guidance of Master Cheng Yen’s wisdom, her potential would be fully utilized for a good cause.
She declared, “Life is a tough journey for all beings, we come and go repeatedly as no one can live on indefinitely. Time is like a river that has witnessed the coming and going of countless lives, if we keep a record of all these information, then our descendants can refer to them and learn from them. And the next time we are reborn into this world again, we can similarly feel at ease as we move along, guided by these lessons.”
During the workshop, senior Tzu Chi members shared their past experiences openly and the younger ones learnt with a serious attitude. One of the four participants from Tzu Chi Malacca Branch, Fang Li Xia, was choked with emotion as she said, “I feel a lot more prepared and ready after attending the workshop, I now know how to move forward. The teachers have given us very strong moral support, it resonates in our mind and we have to cherish the opportunity to learn from them.”
The compilation of the history of Tzu Chi branches overseas starts in Singapore, and Master Cheng Yen has given her blessings. Due to Singapore’s multilingual and multicultural environment, as well as the Singapore branch’s good grasp of culture and history, Madam Hong looks forward to leveraging on the Singapore experience to enrich Tzu Chi’s worldwide history compilation exercise, expecting it to take place after the initial stage of materials collation. “History is about facts and the stories of real people. Our language maybe simple and plain, but with a little touching up, every article will turn into a piece of highly readable history full of the soul of Tzu Chi.”
Fang Li Xia who hails from Tzu Chi Melaka, was choked with emotion when she expressed her gratitude to the workshop instructors, who had struck a chord in her heart with their sincerity, giving her much confidence to carry out the task. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
At the conclusion of the workshop, the CEO of Tzu Chi Singapore Branch, Brother Low Swee Seh, handed the “coin bank of gratitude” from workshop participants to Madam Hong, while she in turn, presented the “coin bank of positive aspirations” from the participants to Liu, making a deal to see to the successful completion of the history compilation project. (Photo by Susan Ong Soh Chin)
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