nese overlords. Today, although many Taiwanese have
adopted different forms of vegetarian diets, the overall influ-
ence of vegetarian movements is declining due to the rapid
growth of the Buddhist organizations mentioned above.
The latter half of the nineteenth century was a period
of rapid growth for other sectarian groups that practiced spir-
it-writing, published morality books, and congregated at sa-
cred sites often referred to as “phoenix halls” (luantang).
Some scholars refer to such sects as “Confucian,” while some
groups have not hesitated to use this term as an autonym.
The question of exactly how “Confucian” these movements
really are is difficult to resolve because this term has long
been used to describe a wide variety of phenomena, includ-
ing temples founded by state or local elites that are dedicated
to the worship of Confucius, secular organizations that stress
Confucian teachings, such as the Confucius-Mencius Soci-
ety, and a wide range of sectarian groups, such as the Divine
Teachings of the Confucian Tradition (Ruzong shenjiao).
Modern sects in China and Taiwan have not hesitated to use
the term Confucian to describe their tenets and practices, but
for these groups, Confucianism includes unique and syncret-
ic interpretations of key Confucian philosophical texts, as
well as a distinctive liturgical style that differentiates them
from other similar and hence competing groups.
Many sects that practice spirit-writing or publish moral-
ity books remain highly popular in Taiwan today. Perhaps
the largest and best-known movement is the Way of Unity,
which spread to Taiwan from China during the postwar era
and features an eclectic religious doctrine that draws upon
both traditional Chinese religious teachings and other major
world religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hindu-
ism. Outlawed during the first decades of the postwar era,
it is now a flourishing movement. According to government
statistics, as of June 2001 there were 3,218 large or medium-
sized Yiguan Dao temples in Taiwan, with 2,326 temple
priests serving approximately 887,000 believers. However,
these numbers may be somewhat inflated, and the Way of
Unity has undergone a series of schisms during the postwar
era, meaning that this data should not be seen as reflecting
a single coherent religious movement. Other popular sectari-
an groups include Li-ism (Doctrine of Order), which like the
Way of Unity was transmitted from China to Taiwan after
1949, as well as a wide range of groups generally referred to
as “new religions” (xinxing zongjiao) that arose during the
postwar era, particularly following the lifting of martial law.
One of the best known of these groups is the Religion of the
Yellow Emperor (Xuanyuan jiao), which was formally
founded in Taiwan in 1957 by a legislator named Wang
Hansheng. This sect attempts to promote Chinese national-
ism, and preaches a syncretic philosophy combining ele-
ments of Confucianism and Daoism. Other charismatic yet
controversial leaders, including Lu Shengyan, Miaotian,
Qinghai, and Song Qili, have formed sectarian associations
that have attracted large numbers of dedicated followers but
have yet to eclipse more established religions in terms of
numbers of believers and overall influence.
COMMUNAL RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS. Of Taiwan’s many
various beliefs and practices, communal religious traditions
centering on temple cults and festivals remain the most pop-
ular and the most prevalent. Temples continue to play an in-
tegral role in individual, family, and community life, and
temple cults have retained their importance as sites for daily
worship, community service, and massive festivals. Member-
ship in a temple cult is ascriptive, and does not require any
form of initiation, so it is impossible to accurately calculate
the exact number of men and women who belong to com-
munal religious traditions. However, every year hundreds of
thousands of Taiwanese (including many members of the re-
ligious traditions discussed above) donate money to local
temples and take part in their festivals.
Most deities worshipped in temple cults in Taiwan were
transmitted to the island from China, but there are also cults
to indigenous deities, particularly local heroes and the unruly
dead. Taiwan’s most ubiquitous deity is the Earth God (Tudi
gong), whose temples dot every urban and rural community.
Other popular deities include Mazu (originally the goddess
of the sea, now worshipped as an all-powerful protective
deity) and the Royal Lords (wangye; originally plague deities,
but now invoked to counter all manner of calamities). These
and other deities are worshipped for their ability to provide
health and prosperity, while their temples and festivals con-
tribute to the formation of local social structures and a sense
of identity.
One particularly fascinating phenomenon of the post-
war era has been the steady popularity of cults associated
with the unruly dead or eccentric deities, such as the Bud-
dhist monk Crazy Ji (Jigong or Jidian), who gained renown
for his spiritual powers despite a distinct penchant for eating
meat, drinking wine, and hanging out with prostitutes. Such
cults were extremely active during the Everybody’s Happy
(Dajia le) lottery craze of the 1980s. The inauguration of a
Lotto lottery in January 2002 has prompted a new wave of
worship of Taiwan’s unruly gods, although the current fervor
has been somewhat tempered by the fact that more and more
Taiwanese are choosing to rely on computer programs to try
to predict winning numbers.
Another important development is that temples are no
longer strictly local entities, but now play important roles on
the national stage as well. The Nationalist government ac-
tively attempted to discourage temple cults during the 1960s
and 1970s (for example, in 1968, the Ministry of the Interior
promoted a series of guidelines to regulate local religion enti-
tled “Promoting Frugality in Folk Sacrifices”), a policy that
only began to change during the 1980s and has now been
almost completely abandoned. Today’s political elites in-
creasingly appreciate the constructive roles temples play in
Taiwanese society, and now limit any state intervention to
sponsoring local festivals while also attempting to regulate
their contents. In addition, the modernization of Taiwan’s
infrastructure and liberalization of the mass media has result-
ed in popular pilgrimage sites being able to exert an island-
wide influence.TAIWANESE RELIGIONS 8965