This paper examines changing faces of gender in the light of Buddhist laywomen's religious experience in one of the most influential Buddhist sects in contemporary Taiwanese society, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation. I delineate two trends of gender representations through an in-depth observation of its structuring principles, its group ethics, and its religious practices. The first is the feminization of the group's social image. Women take the lead in group's promotion and voluntary work. Women's role attributes such as kindness, care, modesty, patience, and altruism are uplifted as the model manner in charity services. Maternal love is heightened to represent Buddha's boundless compassion. The second tendency is the androgynization, or degenderization, of Buddhist identities versus social identities. There are a great deal of exchange of roles, task assignments, and self-images between two genders. In their spiritual cultivation, men and women are required to abide by same rules and course of training. They show their fellowship by addressing each other Bodhisattva (pu sa, referring to the helper of good will), which is utterly gender-neutral. The coexistence of feminization and degenderization is an irony of the double-edged manifestation of Tzu Chi's social and religious orientations, or secular and divine concerns of equal importance to human beings. In this paper, I hope to present a perspective other than political, economic, and social ones on understanding Taiwanese society. Buddhism has become popular and has been integrated influentially into many people's personal and familial lives.
