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Buddhism in Taiwan

Religion in Taiwan is very complex. Most people should probably be defined as followers of traditional Chinese folk religion, rather than as Buddhists. However, Buddhism still plays a very important role in Taiwan.

Statistics

Government statistics claimed that in 1990 there were 4.8 million Buddhists (about 20% of the population) and around 2000 priests in Taiwan. In 2004 the Government gave a figure of 5.5 million Buddhists compared with 0.6 million for Protestant Christianity. Buddhism has been growing in popularity but it is hard to say how many Buddhists there really are in Taiwan because these numbers include many people who regularly contribute funds to organizations without any real interest in their Buddhist teaching. For example, in 1998 Tsu Chi claimed around 4 million members of which only 7000 participated in its activities.
Buddhist associations are found on most university campus, there are eight Buddhist universities and colleges, three main Buddhist hospitals. and cable TV has a few channels devoted to Buddhist teaching. There are also 28 registered Buddhist publishing houses and over 4000 registered Buddhist temples (compared to around 3500 registered protestant churches). These are all signs that Buddhism is impacting Taiwanese society.

Buddhism's arrival in China

When Buddhism reached China in the 1st Century AD it mixed with other Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism. The aesthetic teachings of the Buddha and the emphasis on separation from the world and monastic living clashed significantly with the pragmatism of the Chinese and the duties of sons to produce heirs. Buddhism in China needed to evolve to fit in with Chinese culture. The result of this ‘evolution’ were many new schools of Buddhist thought, the most popular being Pure Land Buddhism and Chan Buddhism (more popularly known in the West by its Japanese name ‘Zen’)

Pure Land Buddhism

Pure Land Buddhism ties in with popular Taoist interest in magic and spiritual forces and so mixes quite well with Chinese folk religions. The help of Buddha may be gained through reciting Buddhist chants. This form of Buddhism believes in the idea of a Pure Land, a Western paradise comparable to the idea of heaven, which can be entered through faith in Buddha. There is no idea here of the extinction of Nirvana as in more traditional Buddhism. Its stress on the equality of all people makes this form of Buddhism more appealing to the grass roots Chinese. Pure Land Buddhism has a strong emphasis on moral teaching and basic social virtues, which overlaps with Confucianism.

Chan (Zen) Buddhism

Chan focuses on meditation that is able to generate instant enlightenment. Chan Buddhism has no emphasis on a concept of heaven, chanting the name of the Buddha or on moral teaching. Aspects of this type of Buddhism known in the West include the development of physical skills and meditation on paradoxes. Chan has encouraged practitioners to become highly skilled at physical tasks. The idea is that when one masters a physical task to the point that it may be done without thinking, then a deeper awareness of surrounding reality may be achieved. This is the background to the famous Kung Fu skills of China's Shaolin Monks and the book, “Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Meditation on paradoxes such as the famous “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” is used to jar the mind loose from the bondage of language and enable deep mystical insights into the meaning of meaning.

Taiwan Buddhism

Orthodox Buddhism has grown in Taiwan, however, when there is a clash between traditional Chinese values and Buddhism, Taiwanese usually choose to interpret Buddhism in terms of Chinese culture, not the other way around. Taiwanese organizations have built more Buddhist temples per capita than anyone else in the world but Taiwanese have much understanding of core Buddhist beliefs such as the Four Noble Truths and reincarnation only plays a minor part in their thinking of life after death.
In recent decades, Buddhism in Taiwan has come to focus to external charitable acts and involvement in society. Emerging Buddhist leaders call for building a “Pure Land” in this world. They place a strong emphasis on involvement in humanitarian works in society such as relief and medical work. This has changed the image of Buddhism and resulted in many becoming regular donors to Buddhist funds despite having little interest in or understanding of Buddhist teaching. Buddhist teaching is actively promoted through the establishment of Buddhist universities, teaching conferences attracting international speakers, and small group studies at a local level. Buddhist groups have extended their teaching strategy to involve the popular media inlcuding free magazines and newsletters, radio and cable TV. Buddhist groups employ top professionals in management roles and through careful image management in the media have achieved recognition and approval by the Taiwanese public.
Without doubt Buddhism is growing in Taiwan and Taiwan Buddhist organizations are playing a significant role in the promotion of Buddhism worldwide. Fifty years ago as most people in Taiwan looked to the West as the source of all progress Buddhism had the low image of the poor uneducated monk with nothing to offer a society looking to modernize. Today Buddhist organizations are affluent and are sending priests to gain doctorates at prestigious universities in the west. They are making impressive use of media and information technology and have even adapted such traditional Christian activities as weekend retreats for lay people, children’s camps and cell groups for their own use. Taiwan is the only Asian country where ordination of women as Buddhist nuns is fully accepted and as a result women play a prominent role in Taiwan’s Buddhism.
Three of the most notable organizations in Taiwan are:

Fo Guang Shan (Buddha Mountain of Light School)

Founded by Master Hsin Yun with the aim of spreading Buddhism worldwide, they now have 100 chapters in 60 countries. This has been described as ‘humanistic’ Buddhism where followers are directed towards the suffering of people in the world and participation in concrete social welfare activities to relieve suffering.

Tsu Chi Foundation

Founded by the Buddhist Nun Master Cheng Yen who in 1996 was nominated for a Nobel peace prize. Tsu Chi is involved in charity work in Nepal, Thailand and North Korea. They are noted for their response to disasters all over the world and very prominent in Taiwan. Tzu Chi runs a 750-bed hospital in Hualien, the largest hospital in Eastern Taiwan. Tsu Chi is a global organization with 78 offices in the US and over 4 million supporters worldwide.

Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM)

This organization was founded for the spread of Chan Buddhism. They are in the process of building a Buddhist global education complex which will include a research center, a university, a monastery, a museum and international conference hall. The organization is also known for its emphasis on environmental protection and reduction of waste in daily life.

Buddhism and Folk Religion

The majority of Taiwan’s grassroots people believe in Chinese folk religions. These believe in a host of gods arranged in a heavenly hierarchy similar in structure to the ancient Chinese court. Folk religion, which mixes ancestor worship in the home, offerings to ghosts, temple worship and the use of spirit mediums, is behind most of the significant festivals in Taiwan. Many adherents mix Buddhist ideas with a folk religion worldview seemingly unconcerned by the contradictions. Many in Taiwan will call themselves Buddhist when in fact their real belief is in folk religion. One of the roots of this confusion may lie in the Japanese attempt to suppress Chinese religions during the 50 years that they governed Taiwan. At this time to prevent closure many folk temples installed Buddhist statues and called themselves Buddhist temples. In many homes today it is common to see a Buddhist statue alongside the ancestor tablets with pictures of folk gods in the background. This syncretism makes it hard to define who is a true Buddhist in Taiwan.

The Success of Buddhism

The growth in popularity of Buddhism is due to a number of factors including: aggressive "evangelism"; social and political involvement;a non-religious approach promoting meditation as a key to general health and well-being. Retreats involving a few days of teaching on meditation are being held by a number of Buddhist organizations throughout Taiwan. Attending such retreats is perhaps the major Buddhist activity in which the average person would be likely to consider participation.This has strong resemblances to New Age teaching in the West, allowing individuals to select religious beliefs and activities that bring personal benefit without the need to make long term commitments to a religious organization's, activities or codes of moral behavior.
At the present time Buddhism has a done much to popularize and modernize its image and has large amounts of funds available which it is spending on medical and social work and education. It is not surprising then that Taiwan has become a significant center for Buddhist world mission. Many grassroots people in Taiwan, may have little understanding or interest in Buddhism's philosophical teachings. However, they consider it to be “local” even if they don’t understand it or give it a prominent role in their lives. In comparison they consider Christianity to be “foreign”. Thus Buddhism, and people's identification of themselves as "Buddhist" remains a significant challenge to Christian evangelism in Taiwan.