Translated by Ruth Wang,
Sacramento
The story is told that
Master Cheng Yen first thought of founding a charity organization
when she saw a mass of blood left on a clinic floor. When she
asked how the blood had gotten there, she was told that an aboriginal
woman who was suffering from a miscarriage had been brought in
by her family but was turned away because she could not afford
to pay the hospital fees. That witness who told the Master about
the tragedy was Li Man-mei.
The charity work of the Tzu Chi Foundation,
spanning thirty-five years and five continents, stemmed from the
compassionate commitment that Master Cheng Yen made when she saw
the blood on the clinic floor and heard the story of what had
happened. Thirty-five years later, Man-mei finally met the Master
again and reconfirmed this legend.
"In the past thirty-some years, I have
never mentioned this to anyone. I did not know who that dharma
master was whose compassion was aroused by what I had seen and
who made a great vow to build this awesome hospital to help so
many people. She is truly great." Gray-haired Man-mei, seventy-five
years old, showed up at the press conference for the thirty-fifth
anniversary of Tzu Chi yesterday. She confirmed that "the
mass of blood" which was the catalyst for the founding of
Tzu Chi was an event that really happened, not something fabricated
by others.
Man-mei came from a small village in Hualien.
On that day thirty-five years ago, she went to see the doctor
whom she often visited for her stomachaches. There she saw two
young aboriginal men carrying a woman in a chair tied to bamboo
sticks. They had walked eight hours down narrow mountain trails
to the clinic. The woman's body was in convulsions due to severe
physical pain. "They said she was in labor. It had been three
days, but still the baby was not delivered. Her blood was dripping
all the way to the clinic. Unfortunately she was turned away because
she was unable to pay the NT$8,000 [US$200] deposit. The men had
to carry her back home, leaving a mass of blood on the floor."
Man-mei said that Master Cheng Yen came out
shortly after visiting another patient. When she saw the blood
on the floor, she asked what had happened. Man-mei described the
incident to her, but she did not know who Master Cheng Yen was
at that time.
Man-mei did not expect that her story would
become the first page in the history of Tzu Chi. The story of
the blood left behind by the aboriginal woman at the clinic in
Hualien has since become a "classic" that every Tzu
Chi member knows. Ironically, Man-mei herself was not aware of
its impact.
Man-mei said that Tzu Chi commissioner Lin
Miao-szu mentioned that the establishment of Tzu Chi could be
traced back to "a mass of blood left behind by an aboriginal
woman." Man-mei said, "Oh, I was the one that told the
Master about this incident." Sister Miao-szu was literally
shocked. She could not believe that a witness to this legendary
story was still around.
Recently, when Master Cheng Yen came
to Taipei, Man-mei was able to meet her again after thirty-five
years. She asked, "Master, do you still remember me?"
Master Cheng Yen only smiled. Man-mei said that she would not
dare to take credit for what Tzu Chi has accomplished today, for
that is the result of the hard work of Master Cheng Yen and the
Tzu Chi members. Man-mei's daughter, Chang Jin-ju, has also become
a trainee commissioner. Man-mei expressed her wish that the aboriginal
woman was also still doing well and could join her to revisit
this legend of Tzu Chi together.
