Heterotopia in Hualian: Tzu Chi Buddhism and its Material Representation

This paper explores the role of Tzu Chi's material culture in presenting the vision of the group's founder, the Buddhist nun Cheng Yen (b. 1937). Taking a social semiotic approach, it discusses examples of material culture found in, and around, Tzu Chi's "Still Thoughts Hall" in Hualian, Taiwan. It shows that Tzu Chi's material culture synthesizes its multidimensional features and serves as an additional articulation of its Buddhist philosophy beyond texts or the spoken word. Drawing from Foucault, the paper shows that the examples of material culture considered here embody "heterotopian" dimensions. A focus of past studies has been on heterotopias as sites of difference. Building on this scholarship, this paper advances the argument that heterotopias are themselves multifaceted sites that emerge through our interactions with their varied features. In highlighting this multidimensionality, the paper complexifies our understanding not only of heterotopian space, but also of Tzu Chi's social presence.