The history of Taiwanese Buddhism

After the Qing Dynasty ruled China, it vigorously promoted Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism. Therefore, major changes in beliefs occurred in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong. In addition to the Lushan sect of Fujian Taoism that absorbed the secularization of Buddhism, it also gave rise to Develop Buddhism that suits the people of the Han people (people from southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong). At this stage, Guanyin Bodhisattva is the most easily accepted belief among the Han people in Buddhism.

The "Bodhisattva" in Guanyin Bodhisattva is actually a transliteration of Sanskrit, and it is a simplified translation. The full translation is "Bodhisattva". "Bodhi" means "enlightenment", "Sattva" means "sentiment", and Bodhisattva means "enlightenment". Sentients refer to sentient beings with love and affection, and Bodhisattva is the teacher of enlightened sentient beings. The worship of Guanyin Bodhisattva is a major feature of Hokkien Buddhism.

After the 18th century, a large number of Buddhist temples with Guanyin Bodhisattva as the main deity were built in Taiwan Province where immigrants from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dominated. This kind of Buddhist temples are mostly rock temples.

As for the jungle system of Buddhism, it began during the Zheng Chenggong period, and the Zhuxi Temple in Tainan was one of the earliest temples built. In 1895, Taiwan Province was colonized by Japanese imperialism. In terms of the religious support needed to govern Taiwan, Taiwan's "Governor-General" abandoned the national Shinto religion that emerged as a result of victory in foreign wars at the end of the 19th century, and chose Buddhism, which already had some roots in Taiwan. This "religious influence" thinking model, which is different from the "religious colonization" of Christian-governed colonies in the Western world, has also accelerated the assimilation of Taiwan, which is dominated by Han Chinese and Taiwanese aborigines, into Japan.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a large number of Japanese Buddhist sects came to Taiwan to preach. Until the end of the Japanese colonial period in 1945, eight Japanese Buddhist sects and fourteen sects came to Taiwan to preach. The temple sect has the best development, but it is more in line with Taiwanese people's sentiments. The three Buddhist sects, including Soto, Nichiren, and Pure Land, which focus on the deification of Bodhisattvas, are also developing quite a lot. For example, the Caodong Sect once spent its own money to build an ancient Buddhist worship path along the mountain road of Guanyin Mountain in Taipei (today's Lingyun Road) with 33 stone statues of Guanyin along the way.

In response to the actual environment, the Taiwanese Han people cooperated with the Japanese in Taiwan and established many temples and missionary centers across Taiwan by rebuilding temples and adding Buddhist statues (such as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva). At first, various sects competed with local Buddhist and Taoist preachers to increase the number of believers, causing believers of Sect A to switch to Sect B, so there were a few disputes among them. However, after the population of Taiwanese Buddhists or folk believers increased significantly, and the large number of Pingpu people who became Chinese and gave up their original pure witchcraft religion, each Buddhist sect has a certain number of believers. Under this situation, each sect "does not regard the number of believers as the sole criterion." The purpose is that there will no longer be any strife among the various sects, which is quite smooth."

In 1941, the population of Taiwan was more than 5 million, and the number of people who actively participated in Japanese Buddhism alone reached. 80,000 people. Among them, Shinshu Honganji sect, Soto sect, Nichiren sect, Pure Land sect and other sects are still the main ones.

The eight sects of the fourteen sects refer to the Huayan sect, the Tendai sect, the Shingon sect, the Rinzai sect, the Soto sect, the Pure Land sect, the Jodo Shin sect, and the Nichiren sect; Shingon Daigo sect, Rinzai sect Myoshinji sect, Soto sect, Jodo sect, Jodo sect Nishiyama Fukakusa sect, Shinshu Honganji sect, Shinshu Otani sect, Shinshu Kihebe sect, Nichiren sect, Honmon Hokke sect, Kyon Honkaku sect Zong.

When Taiwan Province was ruled by Japanese imperialism, there were so-called four major dharma lines and four great venues. Among them, Lingquan Temple in Keelung City opened the Yuemei Mountain School, chaired by Jiang Shanhui; Taipei County Wugu Lingyun Temple opened the Guanyin Mountain School, chaired by Shen Benyuan; Miaoli County Dahu Fayun Temple founded the Fayun School, chaired by Lin Jueli; Kaohsiung County Gangshan Chaofeng Temple opened the Dagangshan sect, founded by Lin Yongding and others. The development of the four major dharma lines after the war was not as prosperous as it was during the Japanese colonial period. However, it is still a developing Buddhist system.