Jih-Chang

Venerable
Jih-Chang
釋日常
Born1929 (1929)
Chongming County, Jiangsu, China
Died2004 (aged 74–75)
Other namesBhikshu Tenzin Jamchen[1]
OccupationBuddhist leader
Years active1965–2004
Known forFounder of Bliss and Wisdom

Jih-Chang[a] (1929 – 2004) was a Chinese Buddhist leader who founded Bliss and Wisdom.[2][3]

Biography

Jih-Chang (釋日常) was born in 1929 in Chongming County in the Chinese province of Jiangsu.[2][4] As a child, he was taught the Four Books and Five Classics by his father.[5] He immigrated to Taiwan with his uncle in 1947 during the Chinese Communist Revolution, where he took a position at the Tainan Institute of Technology's department of civil engineering.[4]

In 1965, Jih-Chang became a Buddhist monk at Yuan Guang temple in Miaoli, Taiwan.[5] He spent some time in the United States in the 1970s, studying zen with Philip Kapleau at the Rochester Zen Center in New York and teaching at the American Buddhist Association's Dajue Temple.[4] Jih-Chang established a Tibetan Buddhist organization in Taiwan called the Fu-chih Buddhist Academy in 1987,[6][7] where he began teaching from the Tibetan reformer Tsong-Kha-Pa's Extensive and Orderly Treatise on Perfect Wisdom.[7] He established the Buddhist organization Bliss and Wisdom (福智) in 1991,[8] and together with his close disciples established the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation (慈心大地) in 1997.[9][7] Under Jih-Chang's leadership, the foundation became a certified testing body for organic produce[b] and developed food without chemical additives for sale at their Leezen (里仁) supermarkets.[7] In Canada, Jih-Chang facilitated the establishment of a temple at an 80-acre plot on the outskirts of Toronto,[4] now the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS).[5]

Jih-Chang died in 2004,[2][5] and his disciple Zhen-Ru subsequently became the leader of Bliss and Wisdom. As a woman and a layperson, her appointment was controversial,[11] and the Dalai Lama does not recognize her leadership.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Jih-Chang is also rendered in English as Shi-Ri-Chang.[2]
  2. ^ In 2010, a total of 433 Taiwanese farms had received an organic accreditation from the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation.[10]

References

  1. ^ [Dalai Lama] (9 October 2021). "In Praise of Dependent Arising - First Day". Dharamsala, India: 14th Dalai Lama. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Ying-Hsun Tsai (June 2006). "釋日常之儒家思想與教育" [Explaining Confucianism and Education in Everyday Life]. 興大中文學報 (19). Xingda Chinese Literature Journal: 187–215. doi:10.30091/JCDNCHU.200606.0008.
  3. ^ Harding, John S.; Hori, Victor Sōgen; Soucy, Alexander (2021). Buddhism in the Global Eye: Beyond East and West. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 163–168. ISBN 978-1-3502-8317-6. OCLC 1378264555.
  4. ^ a b c d Sheng Yen; Hu Ligui (2016). "我所知道的日常法師" [The Jih-Chang I Know]. Life Magazine (in Chinese). No. 256. Bliss and Wisdom. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d [GEBIS] (2020). "Our Spiritual Teachers: Our Master Jih-Chang". Toronto: Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  6. ^ Goossaert, Vincent; Palmer, David A. (2011). The Religious Question in Modern China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-2263-0416-8.
  7. ^ a b c d Schak, David; Hsiao, Hsin-Huang Michael (May 2005). "Taiwan's Socially Engaged Buddhist Groups". China Perspectives. 59. Hong Kong: French Centre for Research on Contemporary China: 42–47. doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.2803.
  8. ^ Choesang, Yeshe (29 September 2017). "Bliss & Wisdom, largest Tibetan Buddhist group in Taiwan faces crisis". Tibet Post. Dharamshala, India. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  9. ^ a b Bureau, Brigitte; Dugas, Rachel (14 June 2025). "Trouble on the island: A Buddhist group on P.E.I. with ties to China has become a flashpoint in a battle over religion and land". CBC News. Prince Edward Island: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  10. ^ Neatby, Stu (25 February 2021). "After more than a decade, why is there still a controversy over the P.E.I. Buddhist community?". The Chronicle Herald. Halifax, N.S.: SaltWire Network. Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  11. ^ Mercer, Greg; Huang, Jimmy (12 August 2023). "Monks, money and the fierce debate over PEI's scarce land". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
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