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Taiwan is highly
diversified in terms of religious faith, with the practice of
Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Mormonism, the Unification Church,
Islam, and Hinduism, as well as native sects such as Yiguandao and
others. The island not only respects traditional faiths but also opens
its arms to other types of religious thought from the outside. For the
most part, the traditional religions practiced in Taiwan are Buddhism,
Daoism, and folk religions; except for a small number of purely
Buddhist temples, however, most of the island's traditional places of
worship combine all three traditions. Daoism is China's native
religion, and many of its gods are deified persons who actually lived
in the past and made important contributions to society. Guan Gong,
the God of War, is a classic example of this; in history he was Guan
Yu, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms period. Daoism came to
Taiwan in the 17th century, but it was suppressed during the period of
Japanese occupation (1895-1945) because of its embodiment of the
spirit of Chinese culture. During those years the adherents of Daoism
had to worship their gods surreptitiously in Buddhist temples, and
after the island was restored to Chinese rule the convergence of these
two religions continued. Today all sorts of different kinds of deities
are worshipped in the same temple, forming one of the unique features
of religion in Taiwan.
Confucius is another important part of religious thinking in Taiwan.
Confucius was China's most famous and beloved teacher, advocating the
practice of rituals and the worship of ancestors. The Emperor Yuan of
the Western Han Dynasty (207 B.C. - A.D. 24) built the first shrine
dedicated to Confucius, and after that many more temples were
constructed as a mark of respect to the Sage. External religions first
arrived on the island in the early part of the 17th century, when
Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced by Spanish and Dutch
missionaries. Presbyterianism is perhaps the Protestant branch of
Christianity that has played the most prominent role in Taiwan's
history. |
