[[File:Tsai Ing-wen in childhood.jpg|thumbnail|right|Tsai Ing-wen (left) as a child]]
Tsai lahir di [[Distrik Zhongshan, Taipei|Distrik Zhongshan]], [[Taipei]], [[Taiwan]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Must-know facts about Taiwan’s presidential candidates|url=http://atimes.com/2015/12/must-know-facts-about-taiwans-presidential-candidates/|accessdate=21 January 2016|work=Asia Times|date=17 December 2015}}</ref> pada tanggal 31 Agustus 1956,<ref name=tnprofile>{{cite news|title=About Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen|url=http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2809116|accessdate=21 January 2016|work=Taiwan News|date=23 September 2015}}</ref> thebungsu youngest ofdari 11 children of her fatherbersaudara.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yeh|first1=Sophia|last2=Chang|first2=S.C.|title=Tsai Ing-wen's brothers vow they will avoid conflicts of interests|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201603140031.aspx|accessdate=14 March 2016|agency=Central News Agency|date=14 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Vanderklippe|first1=Nathan|title=Tsai Ing-wen: Taiwan’s quiet revolutionary|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tsai-ing-wen-taiwans-quiet-revolutionary/article28215643/|accessdate=21 January 2016|work=The Globe and Mail|date=15 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Li|first1=Xueying|title=Democratic Progressive Party's Tsai Ing-wen becomes Taiwan's first woman president|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/democratic-progressive-partys-tsai-ing-wen-becomes-taiwans-first-woman-president|accessdate=21 January 2016|work=Straits Times|date=16 January 2015}}</ref> Her given name, Ing-wen ([[:wiktionary:英文|英文]]), could be translated as "heroic literature" or "[[English language]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/15/tsai-ing-wen-former-professor-on-course-to-be-most-powerful-woman-in-chinese-speaking-world|title=Taiwan elections: the British educated scholar soon to be the most powerful woman in the Chinese-speaking world|author=Tom Phillips|work=the Guardian}}</ref> During her middle school period, she studied in [[Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School]].<ref>[http://news.stnn.cc/hk_taiwan/2016/0602/321027.shtml 蔡英文回母校中山女高 勉学妹温柔有企图心] Retrieved 2016-09-11</ref> She studied law at the behest of her father.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chen|first1=Hsin-yi|title=A Woman of Many Parts: Tsai Ing-wen|url=http://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/show_issue.php?id=201270107030E.TXT&table=2&h1=QWJvdXQgVGFpd2Fu&h2=R2VuZGVyIElzc3Vlcw%3D%3D|accessdate=21 January 2016|work=Taiwan Panorama|date=July 2012}}</ref> After graduating at the College of Law, [[National Taiwan University]], in 1978, Tsai obtained a [[Master of Laws]] at [[Cornell University Law School]] in 1980 and then a [[Ph.D.]] in law at the [[London School of Economics]] (1984).<ref>{{cite news|title=Profile: Tsai Ing-wen|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16464515|accessdate=2 January 2015|publisher=BBC|date=12 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=100145584&capId=90417497&previousCapId=90417497&previousTitle=TAIMED%20BIOLOGICS%20INC |title=Ing-Wen Tsai: Executive Profile & Biography - BusinessWeek |publisher=Bloomberg Business |date= |accessdate=2015-01-16}}</ref> Upon her return to Taiwan, she taught law at the [[Soochow University School of Law|School of Law]] of [[Soochow University (Taiwan)|Soochow University]] and [[National Chengchi University]], both in [[Taipei]].<ref name=copper>{{cite book|last1=Copper|first1=John F.|title=The KMT Returns to Power|date=2012|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9780739174784|page=188|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbBKKy_TEcIC&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=Fair+Trade+Commission+Copyright+Commission+tsai+ing+wen&source=bl&ots=oNyAPeVRo-&sig=Vr3S8D12xZ-nXppimiIte2otS2Q&hl=zh-TW&sa=X&ei=iS6mVL7uE8r-yQSXgoKYAw&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Fair%20Trade%20Commission%20Copyright%20Commission%20tsai%20ing%20wen&f=false}}</ref>
