Religion in Taiwan

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Religion in Taiwan (Government statistics, 2005)[1]

  Buddhism (35.1%)
  Taoism (33%)
  Christianity (3.9%)
  Yiguandao (3.5%)
  Tiandism (2.2%)
  Miledadao (1.1%)
  Zailiism (0.8%)
  Other or undeclared (2.4%)
  Non-religious (18.7%)

Religion in Taiwan is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, due to its multicultural history, and religious freedom written in the constitution of the Republic of China.


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. The Japanese persecuted "foreign" religions in Taiwan during their rule, which resulted in Islam disappearing until it was reintroduced by the Kuomintang after their retreat from Mainland China to Taiwan after the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949.[2]



Government figures[edit]

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][3]

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
Yiguandao (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
Tian Di teaching (天帝教) 298,000 1.3% 50
Miledadao (彌勒大道) 250,000 1.1% 2,200
Tian De teaching (天德教) 200,000 0.9% 14
Zailiism/Liism (理教) 186,000 0.8% 138
Xuanyuan Religion (軒轅教) 152,700 0.7% 22
Islam (伊斯蘭教) 60,000[4] 0.3%[5] 7
51,090 0.2% 54
Tenriism (天理教) 35,000 0.2% 153
Yuzhou Mile Huang Religion (宇宙彌勒皇教) 35,000 0.2% 12
Haizidao (亥子道) 30,000 0.1% 55
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 Religion (中華聖教) 3,200 < 0.1% 7
Mahikari (真光教團) 1,000 < 0.1% 9
Xiantian Jiu Religion (先天救教) 1,000 < 0.1% 6
Huang Zhong (黃中) 1,000 < 0.1% 1
Da Yi Religion (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:

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.[6]

The figures for Jehovah's Witnesses are not from the MOI rather they are based on the Witnesses own 2007 Service Year Report.[7]

CIA figures[edit]

  • Both Buddhist and Taoist: 93%
  • Christian: 4.5%
  • Other: 2.5%[8]

Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan[edit]

The Bahá'í Faith (Chinese: 巴哈伊教; pinyin: Bāhāyī Jiào) in Taiwan began after the religion entered areas of China[9] and nearby Japan.[10] The first Bahá'ís arrived in Taiwan in 1949[11] 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]

Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religion[edit]

The Hui-an Temple (惠安宮) at Kuan-t'ien (官田), Tainan County, Taiwan in 2004

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[12] or 4.5 million Taoists in Taiwan and 4.9 million Buddhists.[13]


Main article: Buddhism in Taiwan
The Jing Si Abode (静思精舍) of Tzu Chi Foundation in Hualien, Taiwan

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.[14]

Following retrocession, Taiwan was inundated with Mainland monks, including 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. Today there are several large Buddhist organization based in Taiwan. They include Dharma Drum Mountain (Făgŭshān 法鼓山) founded by Sheng Yen (聖嚴), Buddha's Light International (Fógŭangshān 佛光山) founded by Hsing Yun (星雲), and the Tzu Chi Foundation (Cíjì jījīnhùi 慈濟基金會) founded by Cheng Yen (證嚴法師).

Tzu Chi is a large Buddhist organization, focusing on community service.

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 followings...


For more details on this topic, see Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 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.[8]


Main article: Islam in Taiwan

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,[15] in addition to the existing 53,000 Taiwanese Muslims. All demographics combined, there are over 140,000 Muslims in Taiwan.

Falun Gong[edit]

Even though Falun Gong is banned in China, people in Taiwan are free to practice it.[citation needed]


There has been a Jewish community in Taiwan since the 1950s.[16] Since 2011, there has been a Chabad in Taipei.[17]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b c d "Taiwan Yearbook 2006". Government of Information Office. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  2. ^ Peter G. Gowing (July–August 1970). "Islam in Taiwan". SAUDI ARAMCO World. Retrieved March 1, 2011. 
  3. ^ "2006 Report on International Religious Freedom". U.S. Department of State. 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  4. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). "President Chen Meets with Taiwanese Muslim Pilgrims", Republic of China (Taiwan) Government Entry Point
  5. ^ (30 March 2013). "Halal Restaurant and Food in Taiwan", Crescent Rating
  6. ^ "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Taiwan Country Profile". 
  7. ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses: Interactive Map of the Worldwide Work". 
  8. ^ a b
  9. ^ 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. Retrieved 208-08-16. 
  10. ^ 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. 
  11. ^ 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. 
  12. ^ Religion
  13. ^ Taiwan - Religion
  14. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Taiwan
  15. ^
  16. ^ Yiu, Cody (February 14, 2005). "Taipei's Jewish community has deep roots". Taipei Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013. 
  17. ^ Cashman, Greer Fay (January 14, 2012). "Energetic Chabad rabbi nourishes Jewish Taipei". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved April 22, 2013. 

External links[edit]