Religion in Taiwan
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A wide diversity of religions can be found on Taiwan, due to its multicultural history, and religious freedom written in the constitution of the Republic of China.
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[edit] History
The original Native Taiwanese tribes traditionally practice nature worship. With the arrival of the Dutch in 1624, Protestant Christianity was introduced to Taiwanese via missionaries. The first converts were Indigenous Taiwanese. Two years later, with the arrival of the Spanish, Catholicism was introduced into Taiwan. The Japanese brought Shinto to Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period which began in 1895. Chinese migrants brought Buddhism, and Taoism with them to the island over a few centuries of immigration and settlement.
[edit] Religions
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Government figures
The table shows official statistics on religion issued by the Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of the Interior ("MOI"), in 2005. The ROC government recognizes 26 religions in Taiwan.[1] The statistics are reported by the various religious organizations to the MOI:[1][2]
| Religion | Members | % of total population | Temples & churches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhism (佛教) (including Tantric Buddhism) | 8,086,000 | 35.1% | 4,006 |
| Taoism (道教) | 7,600,000 | 33.0% | 18,274 |
| I-Kuan Tao (一貫道) | 810,000 | 3.5% | 3,260 |
| Protestantism (基督新教) | 605,000 | 2.6% | 3,609 |
| Roman Catholic (羅馬天主教) | 298,000 | 1.3% | 1,151 |
| Lord of Universe Church (天帝教) | 298,000 | 1.3% | 50 |
| Maitreya Great Tao (彌勒大道) | 250,000 | 1.1% | 2,200 |
| Tian De Jiao (天德教) | 200,000 | 0.9% | 14 |
| Liism (理教) | 186,000 | 0.8% | 138 |
| Syuan Yuan Jiao (軒轅教) | 152,700 | 0.7% | 22 |
| Islam (伊斯蘭教) | 58,000 +88,500 Indonesians[3] | 0.3% | 6 |
| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (耶穌基督後期聖徒教會) |
47,000 | 0.2% | 54 |
| Tenrikyo (天理教) | 35,000 | 0.2% | 153 |
| Universe Maitreya Faith (宇宙彌勒皇教) | 35,000 | 0.2% | 12 |
| Hai Tze Tao (亥子道) | 30,000 | 0.1% | 55 |
| Church of Scientology (山達基教會) | 20,000 | < 0.1% | 7 |
| Bahá'í Faith (巴哈伊教) | 16,000 | < 0.1% | 13 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses (耶和華見證人) | 6,223 | < 0.1% | 85 |
| The Chinese Heritage and Moral Sources (玄門真宗) | 5,000 | < 0.1% | 5 |
| Zhonghua Sheng Jiao (中華聖教) | 3,200 | < 0.1% | 7 |
| Mahikari (真光教團) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 9 |
| Red Swastika Society (先天救教) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 6 |
| Huang Zhong (黃中) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 1 |
| Da Yi Jiao (大易教) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 1 |
| Total religious population | 18,724,823 | 81.3% | 33,223 |
| Total population | 23,036,087 | 100% | - |
Statistics for the following religions and new religious movements are missing from the table above:
- Xian Tian Jiu Jiao (先天救教)
- Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (世界基督教統一神靈協會)
The figures for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not from the MOI rather they are based on self reported data from LDS Newsroom.[4]
The figures for Jehovah's Witnesses are not from the MOI rather they are based on the Witnesses own 2007 Service Year Report.[5]
[edit] CIA figures
- Both Buddhist and Taoist: 93%
- Christian: 4.5%
- Other: 2.5% [1]
[edit] Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan
巴哈伊教, The Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan began after the religion entered areas of China[6] and nearby Japan.[7] The first Bahá'ís arrived in Taiwan in 1949[8] and the first of these to have become a Bahá'í was Mr. Jerome Chu (Chu Yao-lung) in 1945 while visiting the United States. By May 1955 there were eighteen Bahá'ís in six localities across Taiwan. The first Local Spiritual Assembly in Taiwan was elected in Tainan in 1956. The National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1967 when there were local assemblies in Taipei, Tainan, Hualien, and Pingtung. Circa 2006 the Bahá'ís showed up in the national census with 16,000 members and 13 assemblies.[1]
[edit] Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religion
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA, there are about 93% of people identifying themselves as Buddhists, Taoists, or practitioners of Chinese folk religion. However, as with the majority of East Asian religious traditions in general, identification with these faiths does not necessarily mean actual affiliation as it does in many other parts of globe. It is also common for people to practice a blend of the three religions. Some people practice Buddhism exclusively, but most blend Taoist religious practices with elements from Buddhism and folk traditions. It is not uncommon to find a Buddhist temple adjacent to a Taoist temple, or even under the same roof. One example of this is Longshan Temple in Taipei City. Religious diversity has never been a significant source of conflict in Taiwan. Those who consider themselves "pure" Buddhists are usually allied with the Zhaijiao movement.
Another example of syncreticism commonly seen in religious life are the numerous sutra-chanting groups (誦經團) in Taiwan, which combine Buddhist, Taoist and folk religious spirituality, chanting, and ritual. In small rural areas where Buddhist and Taoist monastics are not readily available, trained sutra-chanting groups are hired by local villagers and townspeople to perform a variety of services, and are usually performed in the native Taiwanese Hokkien dialect rather than standard Mandarin. Chanting groups mainly consist of everyday men and women dressed in Buddhist monastic robes and playing traditional ritual instruments accompanied by an electronic keyboard.
Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are very common, and can be spotted on roadsides, parks, and neighborhoods in Taiwanese cities and towns. These small pockets of religious atmosphere let people stop by and pray informally anytime. They also provide a safe environment for locals to practice meditation and various other forms of religious practice. Many homes and businesses may also set up small shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen god for success in a restaurant business. Students may visit a shrine to the Learning god for good luck before a test.
Taoist temples are highly decorative. Colorfully tiled sculptures of dragons and other mythological creatures highlight the roof, and temples are often filled with statues of many gods and semi-theistic historical figures, reflecting the polytheistic and ancestor worship tradition of Taoism and folk religion.
Festivities and picnics often take place at Taoist temples.
There are approximately 4.55 million[9] or 4.5 million Taoists in Taiwan and 4.9 million Buddhists [10].
[edit] Buddhism
Buddhism was introduced to Taiwan in the late 16th century with the Chinese immigration. Several forms of Buddhism have thrived on Taiwan ever since. During the Japanese occupation, Japanese Buddhism (Shingon, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren Shu, etc.) was introduced as part of the overall policy of cultural assimilation by the colonial government. Although many Buddhist communities affiliated themselves with Japanese sects for protection, they largely retained Chinese Buddhist practices. For instance, clerical marriage and meat-eating did not make the headway they did in occupied Korea. Today, approximately 94% of Taiwan's population is Buddhist[11].
Following retrocession, Taiwan was inundated with Mainland monks, including some who were considered to be of the best and brightest of the previous decades, such as Master Yinshun (Yìnshùn 印順). Tainted by the whiff of collaboration, outshone by these refugees, and underrepresented in the Chinese Buddhist Association (CBA) which served as a liaison with the government, the local lineages declined.
The CBA remained the dominant Buddhist organization until the end of martial law, when its government mandated monopoly was ended. Since the eighties, Buddhism has enjoyed a surge of popularity as the percentage of people identifying themselves as Buddhist rose from the low teens to almost fifty percent. Today there are several large Buddhist organization based in Taiwan that have expanded to become international organization. They include Dharma Drum Mountain (Făgŭshān 法鼓山) founded by late Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴), Buddha's Light International (Fógŭangshān 佛光山) founded by Master Hsing Yun (星雲), and the Tzu Chi Foundation (Cíjì jījīnhùi 慈濟基金會) founded by Master Cheng Yen (證嚴法師).
Tzu Chi, one of the largest international non-profit Buddhist organizations, focuses on community service, outreach programs, charity work, and international humanitarian efforts. They have opened hospitals, community centers, schools, and Tzu Chi University in Hualien County.
In the last few years non-Chinese forms of Buddhism, such as Tibetan Buddhism, the Soka Gakkai International and the Vipassana movement of S. N. Goenka, have also had growing followings...
[edit] Christianity
Christian churches exist on the Republic of China (Taiwan). According to figures given by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Christians which include Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and non-denominational Christians make up a total of 4.5% of the population of Taiwan.
[edit] Eastern Orthodoxy
[edit] Islam
Though Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula, it had spread eastward to China as early as the 7th century AD. Muslim merchants married local Chinese women, creating a new Chinese ethnic group called the Hui people. Islam first reached Taiwan in the 17th century when Muslim families from the southern Chinese coastal province of Fujian accompanied Koxinga on his invasion to oust the Dutch from Taiwan. Islam did not spread and their descendants became assimilated into the local Taiwanese society adopting the local customs and religions.
During the Chinese Civil War, some 20,000 Muslims, mostly soldiers and civil servants, fled mainland China with the Kuomintang to Taiwan. Since the 1980s, thousands of Muslims from Myanmar and Thailand, who are descendants of Nationalist soldiers who fled Yunnan as a result of the communist takeover, have migrated to Taiwan in search of a better life. In more recent years, there has been a rise in Indonesian workers to Taiwan. There are an estimated 88,000 Indonesian Muslims living in Taiwan[3], in addition to the existing 53,000 Taiwanese Muslims. All demographics combined, there are over 140,000 Muslims in Taiwan.
[edit] Falun Gong
Even though Falun Gong is banned in China, people in Taiwan are free to practice it.
[edit] See also
- Demographics of Taiwan
- Buddhism
- Taoism
- Protestant Christianity
- Catholicism
- Islam
- Shinto
- I-Kuan Tao
- History of the Jews in Taiwan
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Taiwan Yearbook 2006". Government of Information Office. 2006. http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/22Religion.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
- ^ "2006 Report on International Religious Freedom". U.S. Department of State. 2006. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71337.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
- ^ a b http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2002/chpt25-7.htm
- ^ "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Taiwan Country Profile". http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/taiwan.
- ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses: Interactive Map of the Worldwide Work". http://www.ilabmedia.com/service_year/.
- ^ Hassall, Graham (January 2000). "The Bahá'í Faith in Hong Kong". Official Website of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong. http://www.hk.bahai.org/The_Faith_in_Hong_Kong.html. Retrieved 208-08-16.
- ^ Baldwin Alexander, Agnes; R. Sims, Barbara (ed.) (1977). History of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan 1914-1938. Japan: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Osaka, Japan. http://bahai-library.com/alexander_history_bahai_japan
- ^ R. Sims, Barbara (1994). The Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle: A Historical Record of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan. Tokyo: Bahá'í Publishing Trust of Japan. http://bahai-library.com/sims_taiwan_bahai_chronicle.
- ^ Religion
- ^ Taiwan - Religion
- ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Taiwan
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Religion in Taiwan |
- Introduction to Religion in Taiwan
- Marimari.com - Religion in Taiwan
- Taiwan Yearbook 2004
- Government Information Office
- The Glyphomancy Factor "Observations on Chinese Conversion" by David K Jordan (essay on voluntary religious conversion in Taiwan)
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