Buddhism

As introduced by the Taiwan Yearbook 2006:

Buddhism in Taiwan

Buddhism was introduced to China around the first century and brought to Taiwan in the mid-17th century by migrants from China's coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. The late 17th century began to see the arrival of monks of the school of Chan (Zen) Buddhism from Fujian. With the support of officials, the gentry, and local people, Buddhist temples were erected and became a source of comfort and strength for these early settlers, who had to face great uncertainty in their new lives. Temple construction started in southern Taiwan, especially around Tainan, and then progressed northward after the Manchus began to rule Taiwan. The oldest temples include Jhusi Temple and Mituo Temple in the south, and Longshan Temple and Jiantan Temple in the north. By 1764, there were 34 Buddhist temples in Taiwan.

At this time, the most popular school of Buddhist thought in Taiwan was Chan Buddhism, since most of the early settlers came from southern China where Chan Buddhism had been flourishing. Few people in Taiwan paid attention to Buddhist teachings and doctrines, however, and the quality of monastics was not emphasized. Buddhism, to ordinary people, appeared no different from popular religion, serving people's spiritual needs through blessings and protection given by Buddhist deities, especially Guan Yin. Buddhism during this time showed a mixed face; some Buddhist abbots administered temples for worshiping deities of popular religion, such as Ma Zu, while other Buddhist monks provided services such as geomancy and fortune telling.

The Japanese Colonial Period

Various schools of Japanese Buddhism came to Taiwan after the Japanese took control of Taiwan in late 19th century. Through setting up social service organizations, these schools made well-planned efforts to promote Japanese Buddhist beliefs in Taiwan. The Japanese colonial government encouraged and supported such actions, especially as they helped to influence Buddhism and eased anti-Japanese sentiment on the island.

A large-scale rebellion against Japanese rule in 1915 changed Taiwan's religious landscape. Because rebels used a nunnery of the Jhai Jiao (a Buddhist sect also known as the Vegetarian Religion, or Lay Buddhism), Silai An, as their communications center, the Japanese colonial government thereafter considered religion a threat to its governance and tightened its control on all religions in Taiwan. For their own protection, Taiwan's Buddhist temples joined Japanese Buddhist organizations, or, under Japanese orchestration, formed their own organizations, such as the Taiwan Buddhist Longhua Association, and the Nanying Buddhist Association.

Although not many Taiwanese people converted to Japanese Buddhism, the faith influenced how Taiwan's Buddhism approached organizational development and education. Influenced by Japanese Buddhists' commitment to Buddhist teaching and cultivation of the clergy, Taiwan's Buddhists started to promote Buddhist teaching by publishing magazines and establishing schools. The first Buddhist school, the Buddhist Middle School (present-day Taibei High School), was founded in 1917. Buddhist groups also began to operate social service organizations.

For Taiwanese monks, receiving ordination and precepts from temples in China was a tradition that represented identification with Buddhist orthodoxy. During the Japanese occupation, monks of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait maintained exchanges, and those in Taiwan went to China for ordination and study. After Taiwan's Buddhist education improved, famous temples in Taiwan began to hold ordination ceremonies. Some Buddhist clergy went to Japan to study Japanese Buddhism.

Reinvigoration after 1949

The 1949 relocation of the Nationalist government to Taiwan saw the return of Chinese Buddhism just as Japanese Buddhism was withdrawing from the island. Buddhist clergy moving from China to Taiwan reestablished traditional Chinese schools, renewed stress on moral and disciplinary codes and the ceremony of ordination, emphasized Buddhist education, and began proselytizing. Limitations on people's right to form social organizations before the lifting of martial law in 1987, however, meant that most Buddhist temples in Taiwan became members of the Buddhist Association of the ROC, which was the authorized national organization of Buddhism. Since 1953, the Buddhist Association of the ROC has helped to organize ordination ceremonies for Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay people.

Since the 1950s, to further elevate the quality of Buddhism in Taiwan, well-respected Buddhist masters and secular Buddhist devotees proselytized Buddhism among the intelligentsia, especially college students. Through Buddhist scholarships, radio programs, study groups and seminars, Buddhist teaching and philosophies attracted substantial numbers of college students. Many students converted to Buddhism, or tonsured to become monks or nuns.

The concept of "Buddhism for this world", introduced in the 1960s by the late Master Yin Shun, had a profound impact on Taiwan's Buddhism as it emphasized that Buddhists should be concerned with social and political issues and should act to help turn the world into a "pure land". Master Yin Shun encouraged Buddhists to form assemblies, and supported freedom of speech and publication, as well as equal opportunities for education and wealth. Many Buddhist groups followed his philosophies and carried out his ideals in different ways: building schools as well as cultural and medical institutes, and providing charity or relief to people in need.

Following the end of martial law, Taiwan's social and political transformation in the 1990s injected new vitality into Buddhism. After restrictions on the formation of religious organizations were lifted, the number of Buddhist organizations rose rapidly, reflecting the popularity of Buddhism gained through decades of diligent missionary work. Of the numerous organizations, four are particularly influential: Fo Guang Shan founded by Master Hsing Yun, Dharma Drum Mountain founded by Master Sheng Yen, Chung Tai Mountain founded by Master Wei Jyue, and Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation founded by Master Cheng Yen.

Leading Figures

Master Hsing Yun is known for his promotion of Buddhism and his development and management of a Buddhist organization that has branches or affiliated operations around the world. After establishing the Fo Guang Shan center in Kaohsiung in the 1960s, he began to set up Buddhist schools and, over the years, has established an intercontinental network of diversified operations that include temples, associations, publications, libraries, schools, charity services and a cable television station.

The internationally renowned Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation was founded by Master Cheng Yen in 1966 in Hualien and first concentrated its missions in four areas: medicine, culture, charity, and education. From its beginnings, Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation's operations and development were based on Master Cheng Yen's visions and supported by volunteers' contributions. No matter where disasters take place, within or outside of Taiwan, the foundation can always mobilize member volunteers to distribute relief supplies or give medical treatment to victims. Currently, the foundation has over four million members worldwide and has expanded its missionary work into the fields of bone marrow donation, environmental protection, and community volunteerism. Da-Ai Television and Tzu Chi Stem Cell Center are two of the well-known establishments under the foundation.

Master Sheng Yen promotes Buddhism through the practice of Chan Buddhism in everyday life. He is the first Taiwanese monk to have been awarded a Ph.D. by Japan's Rissho University. His dedication to popularizing Buddhist thought and Chan practice began with a one-year journey in the US in 1976. In 1989, he set up his missionary base in a village of Taipei County, naming it Dharma Drum Mountain. By proposing "the protection of the spiritual environment", Master Sheng Yen advocates a fivefold spiritual renaissance, as well as three types of education: education through academics, education through public outreach, and education to reach the goal of uplifting the character of humanity and building a pure land on earth.

Having tonsured at the age of 30, Master Wei Jyue became known to the public after he began to teach Chan Buddhism to a small group of people at his retreat hut in Taipei County. As his teaching drew more attention and followers, Master Wei Jyue built his first missionary base, the Ling Cyuan Temple, and then the Chung Tai Temple in Nantou County. Master Wei Jyue's teaching emphasizes that, to increase the popularity of the religion, modern Buddhism should be developed to encompass five areas: academic, scientific, educational, artistic, and practical.

Tantric Buddhism

Tantric Buddhism, also known as Vajrayana Buddhism, or Tibetan Buddhism, is an esoteric sect that developed between the second and fourth centuries AD in India. Tantric Buddhism was introduced to Tibet in the eighth century AD and developed four major schools: Nyingma (also called the red school), Kagyu (the white school), Sakya (the variegated school), and Gelug (the yellow school). The Gelug school became the leading sect in Tibet, also attracting followers in Mongolia from the mid-17th century onwards.

The earliest Tantric Buddhist masters who moved to Taiwan were Jhangjia (Zhangjia) Khutughtu (Khutughtu is a Manchurian honorable title for a Living Buddha) and Kanjurwa Khutughtu of Mongolia. Both followed the Nationalist government to Taiwan in the late 1940s. In 1959, Tibetan Buddhist masters Gelek Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche (Rinpoche is a Tibetan term for "the precious teacher") came to Taiwan and have been teaching in Taiwan ever since.

Other promoters of Tantric Buddhism in Taiwan have included secular devotees who, before moving to Taiwan, had been taught by Mongolian or Tibetan monks. Famous figures include Master Cyu Ying-guang, Master Wu Run-jiang, Master Shen Shu-wen, and Master Liou Ruei-jhih.

Tantric Buddhism has become increasingly popular in Taiwan since 1980. Exiled Tibetan monks of the Tantric sect have come to Taiwan and set up teaching centers, rapidly attracting large followings, and thereby having a significant effect on Taiwan's religious culture. The most significant events for Tantric Buddhism in Taiwan were the two visits by the Dalai Lama in 1997 and 2001. These visits opened a new chapter in relations between Taiwan and the Tibetan government-in-exile. In 1998, the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was formally established. Although religious in name, the foundation serves as a de facto Tibetan representative office in Taiwan.

A Living Buddha (a highly achieved Tibetan monk or a monastery leader) can be reincarnated after nirvana and his reincarnation can be one or many persons, appearing in China or abroad. In 1987, a four-year-old Tibetan child in Taiwan was confirmed as the reincarnation of a Living Buddha and was revered as Bhumang Rinpoche. He was the first Taiwan-born Living Buddha. Taiwan's second reincarnated Living Buddha, Palme Khyentse Rinpoche, was confirmed in 2005. Unlike Bhumang Rinpoche, an ethnic Tibetan, the 38-year-old Buddhist master was born into a Han family in Lugang and has a Chinese name, Huang Ying-jie.

There are about 226 registered Tantric Buddhist groups in Taiwan, with a total of more than 600,000 members.