| Religion |
|
To
be recognized, religious groups must apply and register with the Civil
Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) after meeting
stipulated requirements, including a minimum number of local believers,
organizations, and sufficient funds. According to the MOI's statistics
in 2001, there are 19 religions recognized by the government: Taoism,
Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Syuan Yuan
Jiao, Li-ism, Tenrikyo, Baha'i, the Lord of Universe Church (Tian Di Jiao),
Tian De Jiao, Yi Guan Dao (I-kuan Tao), Mahikarikyo, Confucianism, Da
Yi Jiao, Hai Zih Dao, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification
of World Christianity, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The figures released by the MOI in June 2001 indicated that about 12.96
million people in Taiwan were religious believers (see chart, next page).
Altogether, 23,146 temples and churches serve the spiritual needs of the
people in Taiwan.
Polytheistic and syncretic, Taiwan's society has been dominated by ancestor worship, Taoism, and Buddhism but has never excluded the addition and development of other indigenous and foreign religions. Although each religion may appear to postulate an independent doctrine, some cannot be strictly differentiated. For example, the Taiwan folk deity Ma Zu, Goddess of the Sea, and Guan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, are often worshiped together in the same temple. This reveals the special character of Taiwan's religious outlook, which can accommodate seemingly contradictory beliefs simultaneously. Another important factor influencing religion in Taiwan is the extremely eclectic nature of the people's religious view. The religions currently practiced in Taiwan are for the most part combinations of elements from several religions. Even Taoism, which is rooted in traditional philosophy, has absorbed many aspects of foreign dogmas. Unlike Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which require that believers adhere only to their particular doctrines, the Taiwanese have seldom felt it necessary to exclude aspects of other faiths from their personal or collective religious beliefs. Therefore, age-old religious customs, icons, and beliefs permeate all levels of Taiwan's society. Almost all adults in Taiwan, even those not formally subscribing to a religious belief or worshiping regularly at a particular temple, engage in religious practices stemming from one or a combination of folk religions. It is very common in Taiwan to see homes and shops with a lighted shrine and incense burning to honor a deity, hero, or ancestor. Most families perform the filial duty of ancestral worship; and on important occasions, as when a son or daughter takes the university entrance examination, parents visit the temple to present petitions and solicit divine assistance. Many taxi drivers in Taiwan decorate their cars with charms, amulets, statuettes, and religious slogans for protection against accidents and harm. After creating an economic miracle, the people in Taiwan have turned to raising their level of spiritual consciousness and fulfilling their higher aspirations. As a result, proselytizing and other activities by various religions are common, there are diverse religions offering spiritual assistance. |
| Government and Private Organizations and Institutions |
Taiwan's
first religious association, the Taiwan Association for Religious Studies,
was established on April 18, 1999, by a group of scholars and academics.
The association researches mainstream and folk religions in Taiwan and
publishes a monthly newsletter. In addition, National Chengchi University
established a graduate school in religious studies in 2000; it is the
only university unaffiliated with religious groups to set up a graduate
program in religion. Other universities that provide religious studies
under the laws governing private schools that prevent discrimination on
religious grounds include Aletheia University , Chung Yuan Christian University,
Fo Guang University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Hsuan Chuang University,
Nanhua University, Tunghai University, and Tzu Chi University. The Department
of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education (MOE) is also inspecting
existing theological seminaries and Buddhist studies schools that are
registered under the MOI as "research institutes of religious teachings,"
attempting to incorporate them into the former educational system while
maintaining proper tertiary education standards.
|
| Most Taiwanese people believe in Confucianism, Folk Religion, Taoism, and Buddhism. |
| Confucianism |
|
Confucianism is a philosophy with a religious function.
It is named after Confucius, whose discourses on ethical behavior have
been passed down from generation to generation. It embraces some elements
of traditional religion, such as a reverence toward heaven and the worship
of ancestors, but is primarily concerned with the moral cultivation of
the individual in order to establish harmonious relationships with others
and society. It does not assert or deny the existence of a deity.
Most Taiwanese do not identify Confucianism as a religion, but rather view it as a philosophy. They regard Confucian temples more as halls to honor Confucius rather than places of worship. Visitors may witness an elaborate ceremony to honor Confucius at Taipei's Confucian Temple every year on his birthday, September 28, which is also designated as Teachers' Day in Taiwan. |
| Folk Religion |
|
Folk religion is a faith whose theology, rituals, and
officiants are widely diffused into other secular and social institutions.
Taiwan's difficult pioneer environment of the 17th and 18th centuries
created a strong need for religion, and folk religion was the choice of
many early settlers. They adapted traditional religious beliefs functionally
to their new society, sometimes even creating new gods and rituals to
meet their needs for security and survival. The resulting mixture of beliefs
is called folk religion for the sake of convenience.
Like Taoism, folk religion has a broad pantheon of gods and goddesses. Relations between gods and people and between gods and gods are of paramount importance. Like Buddhism, folk religion offers salvation, or at least temporary aid, for true believers. Although folk religion has been influenced significantly by Buddhism and Taoism, it is neither Buddhist nor Taoist. People associated with Taoism often place folk religion in the same category as Taoism; however, they concede that folk religion includes a number of gods that Taoism does not recognize. In folk religion, the supreme deity is the God of Heaven, who is recognized as a personification of justice. Below this supreme deity are hundreds of lesser gods. Almost every neighborhood in Taiwan has a temple for the Earth God, and many families make offerings to the House God when they move into a house. One of the most popular deities is Ma Zu, the patron goddess of the sea and fishermen. Meizhou in Fujian Province is where worship for the Meizhou Ma Zu originated. In 1987, worshipers celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of Ma Zu's ascent to heaven with a round-the-island parade of her image. Her birthday on the 23rd day of the third lunar month is regularly celebrated with great pomp as worshipers carry her image in a procession through cities around Taiwan. On July 23, 2002, the idol of Ma Zu, Goddess of the Sea, at Penghu County's Tian Hou Temple embarked on a pilgrimage to the mainland in the first approved direct religious journey across the Taiwan Strait. Nearly 300 officials and staff of the temple, as well as those from other Ma Zu temples in Taiwan, escorted the idol to Chuanzhou City in Fujian Province in southeast China, from where it came to Taiwan's offshore county of Penghu 410 years ago. The organizers prepared for this direct trip for two years and finally won formal approval from the government. The Ma Zu idol had returned to the Tian Hou Temple in Chuanzhou many times in the past. But the trip in July 2002 marked the first direct cross-strait journey of Taiwanese religious groups. Some deities in Taiwan folk religion were originally people who, through their actions or accomplishments in life, later became gods. The brave warrior Guan Yu from the Period of the Three Kingdoms; General Koxinga (or Jheng Cheng-gong), who drove the Dutch colonists off Taiwan in the 17th century; and the renowned healer Hua Tuo, who lived sometime between the first and third century a.d., all have faithful followings in Taiwan. Their birthdays are celebrated following the traditional rituals similar to those of Confucius' birthday. For example, on August 13, 2001, the Sing Tian Temple in Taipei City and the Sie Tian Temple in Jiaosi, Ilan County held grand, yet frugal, celebrations for Guan Yu. Taiwan's Wang Ye deities are believed to be celestial emissaries sent by the heavens to ensure the safety of mankind by driving away evil spirits and eradicating epidemics. There are said to be 360 Wang Ye in Taiwan, but the religious practices surrounding each of these celestial lords are different, depending on the locality and the time of year. Wang Ye are often worshiped together in groups of three or five. |
| Taoism |
|
Taoism developed from the philosophy of Laotzu, who
lived in the sixth century b.c. He and his disciples emphasized individual
freedom, laissez-faire government, human spontaneity, and mystical experience.
Taoist philosophy takes The Way and Its Power as its central text.
The fundamental aim of religious Taoism was the attainment of immortality. Accordingly, people who lived in harmony with nature were said to become "immortals" ĄP. Laotzu, founder of the philosophy of Taoism, eventually was deified as a Taoist god at the head of a huge pantheon of "immortal" folk heroes. Famous generals and sages made up the rest of the pantheon once they had ascended to immortal status. After Taiwan's retrocession to the ROC in 1945, Taoist temples that had been registered as Buddhist under pressure from the Japanese colonial government returned to the Taoist fold. Taoist priests from the Chinese mainland, including Jhang En-pu, a 63rd generation Taoist priest of the Jheng Yi sect of Long Hu Mountain, began moving to Taiwan in increasing numbers. In 1950, Jhang En-pu established a Taoist fellowship in Taiwan, assuming the position of director. This was the beginning of organized Taoism in Taiwan. In the past, much emphasis was put on constructing luxurious temples and holding frequent, lavish festivals. Today, adherents and priests pay more attention to preaching through the mass media. Some Taoist leaders have turned to the strategy of using temple associations to unite the various "generic" temples under the umbrella of a common main deity, while at the same time trying to win over temple diviners from small local or home temples and offering them guidance. As of June 2001, a total of 8,604 Taoist temples and 33,850 Taoist clergy were meeting the spiritual needs of some 4.55 million Taoist faithful living in Taiwan. Six Taoist seminaries and 24 institutes for proselytizing provided instruction in Taoist doctrine and rites. There were also one college, 59 kindergartens, three retirement homes, two hospitals, 19 clinics, 16 libraries, nine publishing houses, and 172 publications affiliated with Taoist groups. |
| Buddhism |
Buddhism was introduced
into Taiwan in the late 16th century. By the time Ming loyalist Koxinga
escaped to Taiwan and drove out the Dutch, Buddhist monks were already
coming to Taiwan with official sanction. Buddhist temples were built with
the support of Koxinga and his followers. By the 17th century, several
Buddhist temples had been erected by officials, the gentry, and local
people; however, Buddhist missionary work at the time seems to have been
limited in scope. Some Buddhist temples were used as temples of folk religion
by the people, and thus received popular support.
During the Japanese occupation, Buddhist groups in Taiwan separated into the northern, central, and southern schools. The monk Shan-huei founded the Yue Mei Mountain school of Keelung (the northern school), and the monk Jyue Li established the Fa Yun Sih school of Miaoli (the central school) and the Kai Yuan Sih school of Tainan (the southern school). Most Buddhist temples of this era belonged to one of these three schools. Postwar Buddhism in Taiwan reestablished the Mahayana tradition, renewed stress on moral and disciplinary codes and the ceremony of ordination emphasized Buddhist education and the establishment of Buddhist institutes, and activated proselytizing. Large numbers of monks followed the Nationalist government to Taiwan and established the Taiwan provincial chapter of the Buddhist Association of the ROC. Temples throughout Taiwan became association members. Since the 1950s, the Buddhist Association of the ROC has held ordination ceremonies for Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay people. Temples recognized by the association hold an annual third-level ordination ceremony, with monks and nuns receiving one month of stringent training before ordination. Since then, thousands of monks and nuns have been ordained in this ceremony at various temples and monasteries around the island. The Museum of World Religions located in Yonghe City, Taipei County was opened on November 9, 2001. The museum collects Buddhist art from China, Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, and Thailand. Artifacts of Taoist and Taiwanese folk religions are also featured in its main collections. As of June 2001, Buddhists in Taiwan had registered 4,037 temples, 39 seminaries, five universities, three colleges, four high schools, 45 kindergartens, 30 nurseries, five orphanages, five retirement homes, one center for the mentally retarded, 64 institutions for proselytizing, three hospitals, four clinics, 118 libraries, and 28 publishing houses with 26 publications. There were also around 9,866 Buddhist clergy serving the 5.48 million Buddhists of Taiwan. |
