I have waited ten years for just this book. When I published my own modest history of Buddhism in Taiwan in 1999, it was already clear that the Buddhist charitable movement known as the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Association (Fojiao ciji gongde hui 佛教慈濟功德會, hereafter Tzu Chi) was one of the largest Buddhist organizations in Taiwan, and that it was quickly transcending its local character and establishing an international presence. It was also clear that, as it grew larger, it would become harder to do the ground-level research needed to document it properly. Since then, other authors have attempted studies of this organization without much success. C. Julia Huang, in contrast, has patiently and with great skill and tact pursued her research over a long enough period of time to overcome the organization's resistance to outside investigation, and brought a number of theoretical angles to bear on her...

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