Religion inTaiwan is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, predominantly those pertaining to the continued preservation of ancientChinese culture and religion.Freedom of religion is enshrined in theconstitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The majority ofTaiwanese people practice a combination ofBuddhism andTaoism often with aConfucian worldview, which is collectively termed asChinese folk religion.
Many statistical analyses try to distinguish betweenBuddhism andTaoism in Taiwan, which, along withConfucianism, are rather aspects within broader "ancient Chinese religion". It is hard to make such distinction because various Taoist deities are worshipped alongside deities which originated in Buddhism, for instanceGuanyin, in many temples across the country.
As of 2024[update], there were 15,206 temples and churches in Taiwan, including 9,794Taoist and 2,273Buddhist temples as well as 2,374Protestant and 418Catholic churches.[3] In Taiwan's 36,000 square kilometers of land, there are more than 33,000 places for religious (believers) to worship and gather. Averaging almost one religious building (temple, church, etc.) for every square kilometer, Taiwan is considered to have the highest density of religious buildings, making it the "most religious" region in the area whereChinese is the majority language.
Before the 17th century, theisland of Taiwan was inhabited byindigenous peoples ofAustronesian origin, as well as small settlements ofChinese andJapanese maritime traders and pirates.[4] Taiwanese indigenous peoples traditionally practisedanimism. When theDutch occupied parts of southern Taiwan in 1624, Dutch missionaries soon followed, introducingProtestantism to the indigenous communities.[5] Following the arrival of theSpaniards in northern Taiwan two years later,Catholic missionaries from Spain also came to share their faith.[6]
When theHan Chinese began to settle on the island and form theTaiwanese Chinese ethnic group, interfaith exchanges occurred, leading to two-way religious assimilation between the indigenous and Han communities. An example was the incorporation ofAli-zu, theSiraya god of fertility, into the Han pantheon of folk deities in some places around Taiwan.[7]
A large influx of Han Chinese began in the 1660s with the transition of imperial power from theMing dynasty to theManchurianQing dynasty.[8] Many Ming loyalists fled to the south, including Zheng Chenggong aliasKoxinga, a military warlord who fought against the Manchu dynasty.[8] He sailed to Taiwan in 1661 with thousands of troops, and in a war with theDutch, he defeated and drove out the Dutch military forces and established theKingdom of Tungning, the first Chinese state on the island.[8] Chinese settlers, mostly fromFujian andGuangdong, began to migrate to the island.[8] The policy of migration to Taiwan was restrictive until 1788, even after the island came under the political control of the Qing in 1683.[8]
Chinese migrants brought with them theChinese traditional religions from their hometown, which served to integrate communities around the worship ofChinese Deities.[8] As the settlers were mostly males, came from different areas, and at first not many people shared the samesurnames and belonged to the samekins,ancestral shrines ofkinship gods did not develop until the 1790s, when sufficient generations of families had established on the island.[9]
The first settlers in Koxinga and Qing periods brought with them images or incense ashes from mainland temples, installed them in homes or temporary thatched huts, and later in proper temples, as economic circumstances permitted to build them.[10] Prominent temples became the foci of religious, political and social life, often eclipsing Qing officials and state-sponsored temples in their influence.[10]
There is little evidence that the doctrinal and initiatory religions ofBuddhism andTaoism were active during this period.[10] Taiwan, as a frontier land, was not attractive for Buddhist and Taoist religious leaders.[10]
During the mid-Qing dynasty, sects of popularBuddhism which the Japanese authorities would have later lumped together with thereligions of fasting (zhāijiāo) because of their vegetarian precepts, began to send missionaries from the mainland to Taiwan.[11] They were more successful in attracting converts than either pure Buddhism or Taoism.[11] Japanese researches of the early colonial period identifiedzhaijiao sects as a line of theLinji school ofChan Buddhism, although contemporary scholars know that they were centered on a female creator deity,Wusheng Laomu, and identify them as branches ofLuoism disguising as a form of Buddhism free of ordained clergy.[11]Zhaijiao sects identify thesangha as the community of believers, not as a separate clergy.[12]
Apart fromzhaijiao Buddhist sects, otherfolk religious sects, that were mistakenly classified as Buddhist by the Japanese government, were active in Taiwan.[13] The most prominent were the threereligions of fasting: the Jinchuang, the Longhua, andXiantiandao traditions (the latter was introduced to Taiwan in the mid-19th century).[13]
In 1895, the Manchu governmentceded Taiwan to Japan as part of the terms of surrender following theFirst Sino-Japanese War.[13] During the fifty-one years ofJapanese rule, governors enacted regulations to control the activities of "native religions".[14] During a first period from 1895 to 1915, the Japanese adopted alaissez-faire policy towards native religions.[14] During a second phase from 1915 to 1937, the government tried to vigorously regulate local religions.[14] A third period, coinciding with the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and mainland China, saw the Japanese government start a "Japanisation movement" (Japanese:皇民化運動,Hepburn:kōminka undō) that included a "temple-restructuring movement" (寺廟整理運動,jibyō seiri undō).[14]
During the Japanese period many indigenous groups were forced to practice Shintō, only a few (such as theSaisiyat people) were able to resist and maintain their traditions. Often this was done by convincing Japanese anthropologists to come to Taiwan and document religious traditions as legitimate cultural heritage however even the indigenous people allowed to keep some traditional ceremonies were still forced to pray at Shintō shrines.[15]
Buddhism, as a shared heritage of China and Japan, received better treatment thanChinese folk religion andTaoism.[16] Some Taiwanese Buddhist groups cooperated with the Japanese government, andJapanese Buddhist sects sent missionaries to Taiwan and even worked withzhaijiao Buddhist groups.[17] The total number of Japanese Buddhist groups that were introduced to Taiwan could be categorized into 14 sects under 8 schools. However, given the profound differences between Chinese and Japanese Buddhist traditions (among others, Japanese priests marry, eat meat and drink wine, all of which Chinese monks abstain from), the "Japanisation" ofChinese Buddhism was resisted by Taiwanese Buddhist communities.[18] During the same period, most Taiwanese Buddhist temples came to affiliate with one of four central temples, called "Four Holy Mountains" (台灣四大名山).
In 1915, Japanese religious policies in Taiwan changed after the "Xilai Hermitage incident".[18] The hermitage was azhaijiao Buddhist hall where the follower Yu Qingfang (余清芳) started an anti-Japanese uprising, in which many otherfolk religious andTaoist sects took part.[18] The Japanese government discovered the plot and Yu Qingfang was executed in a speedy trial together with ninety-four other followers.[18]
After the incident, the Japanese government became suspicious of what it called Taiwan's "old religious customs" (kyūkan shūkyō).[18] The government began to investigate, register and regulate local temples, and it created islandwide Buddhist religious associations—into which evenzhaijiao Buddhist groups were enrolled—whose charters recommended loyalty to the government.[19]
In 1937, after theMarco Polo Bridge Incident and the start of theSecond Sino-Japanese War,Tokyo ordered the rapid acculturation of the peoples of Japan's colonies.[20] This included an effort to disaccustom people from Chinese traditional religions and convert them into the nexus ofState Shinto.[20] ManyShinto shrines wereestablished in Taiwan. Chinese family altars were replaced withkamidana andbutsudan, and a Japanese calendar of religious festivals was introduced.[20]
The subsequent "temples' restructuration movement" caused much consternation among the Chinese population and had far-reaching effects.[21] Its inception can be traced back to the "Conference for Improving Popular Customs" held in 1936, that far from promoting a razing of temples discussed measures for a reform and standardisation of Taoist and folk temple practices.[20]
The outbreak of open war between China and Japan in 1937 led to a proscription of practices and even stronger measures, as Japanese officials saw the religious culture centered around folk temples as the major obstacle to Japanisation.[21] Consequently, some local officials began to close and to demolish temples, burning their images, confiscating their cash and real estates, a measure that they called "sending the gods to Heaven".[21] In 1940, when a new governor-general took office, the "temples' restructuration movement" was halted.[22]
The Japanese persecution of Chinese folk religion led to an increase in skepticism and loss of faith among the Chinese.[23] As a result of this loss of faith in gods, Japanese police reported a general decline in public morals.[23] The policies also resulted in the disappearance of the smallMuslim community, untilIslam was reintroduced by theKuomintang with their retreat from mainland China to Taiwan after the end ofChinese Civil War in 1949.[24]
Another effect of the Japanese colonisation on religious life in Taiwan was due to the modernisation of infrastructures.[25] Before the 20th century the travel infrastructure of Taiwan was not very developed, and it was difficult for people to move from a part of the island to another.[25] The Japanese quickly constructed a network of railroads connecting all regions of the island.[25] In the field of religion, this promoted the rise in importance of some Buddhist, Taoist or folk temples as island-wide pilgrimage sites.[25] During this time, some gods lost their local and sub-ethnic nature and became "pan-Taiwanese".[26]
In 1945, after theSecond World War, the administration of Taiwan was handed over to theRepublic of China throughGeneral Order No. 1. ThePeople's Republic of China was established four years later inmainland China under theChinese Communist Party.
In 1949, the 63rdCelestial Master of Taoism Zhang Enpu (張恩溥) escaped frommainland China to Taiwan after theGovernment of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan after losing theChinese Civil War, bringing the religious leadership and orthodoxy ofZhengyi Dao to Taiwan. The lineage for the Celestial Master has since passed on to the 65th Celestial Master Zhang Yijiang (張意將).
The rapideconomic growth of Taiwan since the 1970s and 1980s ("Taiwan Miracle") accompanied by a quick renewal ofChinese folk religion, challengingMax Weber's theories onsecularisation anddisenchantment, has led many scholars to investigate how folk religious culture, with its emphasis on values like loyalty, its social network of temples and gods' societies, may have contributed to the island's economic development.[27] During the same period, folk religions developed ties withenvironmental causes.[28]Chinese salvationist religions (such as earlierXiantiandao) become increasingly popular in Taiwan after 1945, although some of them were illegal until the 1980s.[29]
After the 1950s, and especially since the 1970s, there was a significant growth ofBuddhism.[30]Chinese Buddhism developed into distinctivelynew forms, with the foundation of organizations like theTzu Chi, theFo Guang Shan and theDharma Drum Mountain, which follow theHumanistic Buddhism movement that was founded in mainland China during the early 20th century.[31] Many highly realized Buddhist masters, such as MasterHsing Yun, MasterSheng-yen, MasterYin Shun, and others escaped frommainland China to Taiwan when theGovernment of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan after losing theChinese Civil War. They promotedHumanistic Buddhism reformist movement in Taiwan, which was pioneered by MasterTaixu inmainland China.Tibetan Buddhism had also spread into the island.[31] Since the 2000s, there has been an increasing cooperation between religious groups in Taiwan and mainland China which decreased tensions between them. Despite this, there are still tensions from past events, including Taiwan being removed from theUnited Nations by the People's Republic of China.[32][33]
Chinese traditional, popular or folk religion, or simply Chinese religion, also called Shenism, defines the collection ofgrassrootsethnic religious and spiritual experiences, disciplines, beliefs and practices of theHan Chinese. Another name of this complex of religions is Chinese Universism, coined byJan Jakob Maria de Groot, and referring to Chinese religion's intrinsicmetaphysical perspective.[34][35]
It consists in the worship of theshen (神 "gods", "spirits", "awarenesses", "consciousnesses", "archetypes"; literally "expressions", the energies that generate things and make them thrive) which can benature deities, city deities ortutelary deities of other human agglomerations,national deities,culturalheroes and demigods,ancestors andprogenitors, deities of the kinship.Holy narratives regarding some of these gods are part ofChinese mythology.
Chinese folk religion in Taiwan is framed by the ritual ministry exerted by theZhengyi Taoistclergy (sanju daoshi), independent orders offashi (non-Taoist ritual masters), andtongji media. The Chinese folk religion of Taiwan has characteristic features, such asWang Ye worship.[36] Even thoughFalun Gong is banned inChina, people in Taiwan are free to practise it.[37]
As of 2005, more than 10% of the population of Taiwan adhered to a variety of folk religious organisations of salvation. The largest of them isYiguandao (with 3.5% of the population), followed byTiandiism (whose two churches, the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue and the Lord of Universe Church, counted together constitute 2.2% of the island's population),Miledadao (an offshoot of Yiguandao accounting for 1.1%),Zailiism (0.8%) andXuanyuanism (0.7%), and other minor movements includingPrecosmic Salvationism and Daiyiism.[38] The three largest ones—Yiguandao, Tiandiism and Miledadao—and some others derive from theXiantiandao tradition, making this the religious tradition of more than 7% of Taiwan's population. Other salvationisms with an important presence in Taiwan, though not documented in the 2005 official statistics, areConfucian Shenism (also called Luanism) and the recentWeixinism.
Taoism in Taiwan is almost entirely entwined withfolk religion,[39] as it is mostly of theZhengyi school in which priests function as ritual ministers of local communities' cults.[39] Taiwanese Taoism lacks acontemplative,ascetic andmonastic tradition such as northern China'sQuanzhen Taoism. TheCelestial Masters, leaders of the Zhengyi school, have their seat on the island. Nowadays the office is split into at least three lines competing to head the Taoist community.[39]
Politicians of all parties appear at Taoist temples during campaigns, using them for political gatherings.[39] Despite this and the contention among sects for leadership, there is no unitary structure of authority overseeing all Taoists in Taiwan.[39] According to the 2005 census, there were 7.6 million Taoists in Taiwan (33% of the population) in that year.[38] As of 2015, there were 9,485 registered Taoist temples in Taiwan, constituting 78% of all registered temples.[40]
Confucianism is present in Taiwan in the form of many associations andtemples and shrines for the worship of Confucius and sages.[41] In 2005, 0.7% of the population of Taiwan adhered toXuanyuanism, which is a Confucian-based religion worshippingHuangdi as the symbol of God.[42]
Buddhism was introduced intoTaiwan in the mid-Qing dynasty (18th century) through thezhaijiao popular sects.[11] Several forms of Buddhism thrived in Taiwan ever since. During the Japanese occupation,Japanese schools of Buddhism (such asShingon Buddhism,Jōdo Shinshū,Nichiren Shū) gained influence over many Taiwanese Buddhist temples as part of the Japanese policy of cultural assimilation.[17]
Although many Buddhist communities affiliated with Japanese sects for protection, they largely retained Chinese Buddhist practices. For instance, the Japanisation of Chinese Buddhism, the introduction of clerical marriage and the practice of eating meat and drinking wine, was not as successful as in theBuddhist tradition ofJapanese-occupied Korea.[17]
Following the end ofWorld War II and the establishment of theRepublic of China on the island, many monks frommainland China moved to Taiwan, includingYin Shun (印順) who is generally considered to be the key figure who broughtHumanistic Buddhism to Taiwan. They contributed significantly to the development ofChinese Buddhism on the island.
The Buddhist Association of the Republic of China remained the dominant Buddhist organization until the end of restrictions on religious activities in the 1980s. Today there are several largeHumanistic Buddhist andBuddhist modernist organisations in Taiwan, including theDharma Drum Mountain (Fǎgǔshān法鼓山) founded bySheng Yen (聖嚴),Buddha's Light International (Fóguāngshān佛光山) founded byHsing Yun (星雲), and theTzu Chi Foundation (Cíjì jījīnhùi慈濟基金會) founded byCheng Yen (證嚴法師).
Thezhaijiao Buddhist groups maintain an influence in society. In recent decades, also non-Chinese forms of Buddhism, such asTibetan Buddhism andSoka GakkaiNichiren Buddhism, have expanded in Taiwan.[31] Adherence to Buddhism has grown significantly in Taiwan since the 1980s.[30] From 800.000 in 1983 (4% of the population), the number of Buddhists expanded to 4.9 million in 1995 and subsequently to 8 million (35% of the population) in 2005.[43]
The history of theBaháʼí Faith (Chinese:巴哈伊教;pinyin:Bāhāyījiào) in Taiwan began after the religion entered areas of China[44] and nearby Japan.[45] The first Baháʼís arrived in Taiwan in 1949[46] and the first of these to have become a Baháʼí was Jerome Chu (Chu Yao-lung) in 1945 while visiting the United States. By May 1955 there were eighteen Baháʼís in six localities across Taiwan. The firstLocal Spiritual Assembly in Taiwan was established inTainan in 1956. With a growing number of Local Spiritual Assemblies (Taipei, Tainan,Hualien andPingtung), the TaiwaneseNational Spiritual Assembly was established in 1967. In the 2005 official statistics on religion issued by the Department of Civil Affairs, the Baháʼís had 16,000 members and 13 Local Spiritual Assemblies.[38]
Christianity in Taiwan constituted 3.9% of the population, according to the census of 2005;[38] Christians in Taiwan included approximately 600,000Protestants, 300,000Catholics and a small number of members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Estimates in 2020 suggested that the portion had risen to 4% or 6%.[47][48]
Despite its minority status, many of the earlyKuomintang political leaders of theRepublic of China were Christians. Several Republic of China presidents have been Christians, includingSun Yat-sen who was aCongregationalist,Chiang Kai-shek andChiang Ching-kuo who wereMethodists,Lee Teng-hui is a member of thePresbyterian Church. The Presbyterian Church has strong ties with theDemocratic Progressive Party since the 1980s.
Christianity in Taiwan has declined since the 1970s, after strong growth from 1950 to the 1960s.[49]
There were 2,356 (0.01%)Hindus in Taiwan according toARDA in 2020.[50][51]
Though Islam originated in theArabian Peninsula, it had spread eastward to China as early as the 7th century CE. Muslim merchants married local Chinese women, creating a new Chinese ethnic group called theHui people. Islam first reached Taiwan in the 17th century when Muslim families from the southern China's coastal province ofFujian accompaniedKoxinga on his invasion to oust theDutch from Taiwan. Islam did not spread and their descendants became assimilated into the local Taiwanese society adopting the local customs and religions.
During theChinese Civil War, some 20,000 Muslims, mostly soldiers and civil servants, fled mainland China with theKuomintang to Taiwan. Since the 1980s, thousands of Muslims from Myanmar and Thailand, who are descendants of nationalist soldiers who fledYunnan 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. According to the census of 2005, there were 58,000 Muslims in Taiwan in that year.[38]
In 2021 280,000 Muslims were living in Taiwan with most being foreign nationals. Taiwan is highly ranked as a Muslim-friendly tourism destination.[52]
There has been aJewish community in Taiwan since the 1950s.[53] Since 2011, there has been aChabad in Taipei.[54]
Gaoshi Shrine was the firstShinto shrine rebuilt afterWorld War II.
The table shows official statistics on religion issued by the Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of the Interior ("MOI"), in 2005. The Taiwanese government recognizes 26 religions in Taiwan.[38] The statistics are reported by the various religious organizations to the MOI:[38][55]
| Religion | Members | % of total population | Temples & churches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhism (佛教) (includingTantric Buddhism) | 8,086,000 | 35.1% | 4,006 |
| Taoism,Chinese Buddhism and folk religion (道教) | 7,600,000 | 33.0% | 18,274 |
| Yiguandao (一貫道) | 810,000 | 3.5% | 3,260 |
| Protestantism (基督新教) | 605,000 | 2.6% | 3,609 |
| Catholic Church (羅馬天主教) | 298,000 | 1.3% | 1,151 |
| Lord of Universe Church—Tiandiism (天帝教) | 298,000 | 1.3% | 50 |
| Miledadao (彌勒大道) | 250,000 | 1.1% | 2,200 |
| Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue—Tiandiism (天德教) | 200,000 | 0.9% | 14 |
| Zailiism/Liism (理教) | 186,000 | 0.8% | 138 |
| Xuanyuanism (軒轅教) | 152,700 | 0.7% | 22 |
| Islam (伊斯蘭教) | 58,000 | 0.3% | 7 |
| Mormonism (耶穌基督後期聖徒教會) | 51,090 | 0.2% | 54 |
| Tenriism (天理教) | 35,000 | 0.2% | 153 |
| Church of Maitreya the King of the Universe (宇宙彌勒皇教) | 35,000 | 0.2% | 12 |
| Haizidao (亥子道) | 30,000 | 0.1% | 55 |
| Church of Scientology (山達基教會) | 20,000 | < 0.1% | 7 |
| Baháʼí Faith (巴哈伊教) | 16,000 | < 0.1% | 13 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses (耶和華見證人) | 20,300 | < 0.1% | 177 |
| True School of the Mysterious Gate (玄門真宗) | 5,000 | < 0.1% | 5 |
| Holy Church of the Middle Flower (中華聖教) | 3,200 | < 0.1% | 7 |
| Mahikari (真光教團) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 9 |
| Precosmic Salvationism (先天救教) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 6 |
| Yellow Middle (黃中) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 1 |
| Dayiism (大易教) | 1,000 | < 0.1% | 1 |
| Total religious population | 18,724,823 | 81.3% | 33,223 |
| Total population | 23,036,087 | 100% | - |
The figures forThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were not from theMOI, rather they were based on self-reported data from LDS Newsroom.[56] The figures forJehovah's Witnesses were not from the MOI and they were based on the Witnesses own 2007 Service Year Report. In the original report both of them were counted as part of Protestantism.[38]
Freedom of religion is enshrined in theconstitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and ranked high at 9.2 on the Freedom Scale in 2018 according to theWorld Bank.[57] In 2023, the country scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[58]
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