The Presbyterians continued to build and manage hos-
pitals, as well as the Happy Mount Leprosy Colony (founded
in northern Taiwan in 1934). Presbyterian theological col-
leges in northern and southern Taiwan also thrived, while
the Reverend William Campbell (1841–1921) founded a
school for the blind in southern Taiwan in 1900 to 1901.
Missionary efforts to preach the gospel were further facilitat-
ed by the on-going translation and publishing of scriptures
in romanized Southern Min. Other dedicated evangelists like
Campbell N. Moody (1866–1940), who preached in over
900 of 1,100 villages in one county, also proved instrumental
to the continuing growth of the Presbyterian movement.
Presbyterian leaders made great efforts to develop their
church’s self-sufficiency by training local clergy and estab-
lishing a united Presbyterian church (the Presbyterian
Church of Taiwan). This took the form of a synod, with
presbyteries in the north and south of the island serving as
equal partners. This self-sufficiency helped the Presbyterian
Church of Taiwan survive the difficult years of the late colo-
nial and early postwar era.
During the 1930s, Christian believers engaged in a se-
ries of tense confrontations with the colonial authorities over
politically charged issues such as whether Christians should
worship at Shinto ̄ shrines. Roman Catholics decided to at-
tend, and English Presbyterians acquiesced as well, but Ca-
nadian Presbyterians were adamant in refusing to take part.
All Christian movements eventually lost control of schools
and other church properties by the 1940s. Many foreign mis-
sionaries left Taiwan, while others were expelled; local Chris-
tians were harassed, and some detained. In 1943, all local
churches were absorbed into the Japanese-run Christian
Church of Taiwan, and many churches suffered during the
Allied bombing of Taiwan. By the end of World War II,
however, English and Canadian Presbyterian missionaries
had begun to make plans to return to the island.
Taiwan’s churches kept a low profile during the early
years of the postwar era, particularly after the February 28
indicent of 1947, during which thousands of Taiwanese were
massacred by Nationalist forces intent on suppressing a local
uprising. From 1965 to 1985, however, the Presbyterian
Church of Taiwan began to publicly criticize the cultural
policies of Taiwan’s Nationalist government, while also ad-
vocating Taiwanese identity. The Presbyterian Church of
Taiwan resisted attempts to promote Mandarin as a national
language at the expense of local dialects, and continued to
publish Bibles using Southern Min romanization, even after
thousands of copies were confiscated. Some leaders, such as
the Reverend Kao Chun-min, went to prison for their be-
liefs. At the same time, however, the Presbyterian Church of
Taiwan and other churches managed to survive and even
grow due to the Nationalist policy of opening Taiwan’s
doors to Western missionaries, including Anglicans, Baptists,
Catholics (Jesuits, Vincentians, and the Catholic Missionary
Society of America, also known as the Maryknoll Order), Je-
hovah’s Witnesses, Lutherans, Methodists, Mormons, Pente-
costals (mainly members of the Assemblies of God), and the
Unification Church. However, most missionaries belonging
to these churches did not speak Southern Min, and unlike
the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan made little headway out-
side of Taiwan’s major cities. Indigenous churches also grew
during the postwar era, particularly Holy Spirit, which be-
longs to the Pentecostal movement.
Christianity in Taiwan is thriving at the beginning of
the twenty-first century. Roman Catholicism made a re-
markable comeback in Taiwan after 1949, when multitudes
of Catholic clergy and believers followed the Nationalists to
the island, thereby infusing local Catholicism with new
strength and vigor. According to government statistics, as of
June 2001 there were 1,135 Catholic churches, 677 clergy-
men, and 664 foreign missionaries in Taiwan serving nearly
300,000 believers. By that same date, the Protestant congre-
gation had expanded to approximately 605,000 members,
with 3,609 churches, 2,566 ministers, and 1,087 foreign
ministers. Of these, over 220,000 were members of the Pres-
byterian Church of Taiwan, which has begun to focus its ef-
forts on social welfare and environmental protection. The
Presbyterian Church of Taiwan was active in organizing re-
lief efforts after the devastating earthquake on September 21,
1999, and the church worked alongside other Christian or-
ganizations, such as the Chinese Christian Relief Association,
to help local communities engage in reconstruction efforts.Other foreign religions in Taiwan include Islam, Juda-
ism, Baha ̄’ ̄ı, Tenrikyo ̄, and Mahikarikyo ̄. The largest of these
is Islam. Approximately twenty thousand Muslims accompa-
nied the Nationalist government to Taiwan in 1949, the ma-
jority of whom were soldiers, civil servants, or food-service
workers. As of June 2001 Taiwan was home to approximate-
ly 53,000 Muslims, as well as thirty-four mullahs and six
mosques.
SECTARIAN RELIGIONS. By the eighteenth century, sectarian
movements composed mostly of lay Buddhist believers had
begun to make their presence felt in Taiwan. Subsequently
labeled “vegetarian religions” (zhaijiao) by the Japanese colo-
nial authorities, these sects featured a membership of men
and women who identified themselves as adhering to a form
of Buddhism that exists apart from and is superior to that
of the ordained Buddhist clergy. In terms of practice, believ-
ers generally perform a variety of Buddhist rituals, but adopt
a strict diet that requires abstaining from meat and five types
of pungent roots (onions, chives, leeks, scallions, and garlic).
Many vegetarian sects became popular due to their willing-
ness to perform rites for the dead, often at rates cheaper than
those charged by ordained Buddhist and Daoist specialists.
Some sects also featured latent millenarian doctrines, an issue
that gained the attention of the colonial authorities after a
millenarian-inspired uprising in 1915 known as the Xilai An
Iincident. In order to survive the subsequent crackdown,
some members of vegetarian sects organized the Taiwan
Buddhist Dragon Flower Association (Fojiao Longhua hui)
in order to demonstrate their allegiance to the island’s Japa-8964 TAIWANESE RELIGIONS