Buddhism in Taiwan
Of these, a smaller number identify more specifically with Chinese Buddhist teachings and institutions, without necessarily eschewing practices from other Asian traditions.
[3][4] Taiwanese Buddhist institutions are known for their involvement in secular society, including the providing of a number of public goods and services such as colleges, hospitals and disaster relief.
With Japan's defeat in World War II, Taiwan fell under the control of Chiang Kai-shek's government, resulting in contrary political pressures.
In 1949, a number of mainland monks fled to Taiwan alongside Chiang's military forces, and received preferential treatment by the new regime.
[10] Humanistic Buddhism traces its roots to Chinese monk Venerable Taixu (1890–1947), who wanted to reform the continuous focus on ritual and ceremony.
[11] Taixu promoted more direct contributions to society through the Buddhist community and was a significant influence for Master Yin Shun, who is generally considered to be the figure who brought Humanistic Buddhism to Taiwan.
[14] Hsing Yun first attained popularity through the new medium of radio broadcasts in the 1950s and later through publication of Buddhist audio on phonograph discs, leading to the founding of Fo Guang Shan in 1967.
[15] Another major figure was Master Cheng Yen, a direct student of Yin Shun, who founded Tzu Chi, which would become Taiwan's largest Buddhist organization and charity.
The eventual result was that in the 1990s—flush with contributions made possible by Taiwan's "miracle economy"—not one but half a dozen such schools emerged, each associated with a different Buddhist leader.
The regulations of the Ministry of Education prohibit recognized colleges and universities from requiring religious belief or practice, and these institutions therefore appear little different from others of their rank.
In a reversal of the older historical relationship, these Taiwanese Buddhists would later play a role in the revival of Buddhism in mainland China later in the century.
The growth of Buddhism in Taiwan was spearheaded by a number of organizations developing during this period led by various teachers who took a socially engaged approach in accordance with Humanistic Buddhist philosophy.
As Buddhist groups become more involved in people's everyday lives there has been a general push to make the teachings of Buddhism more relevant and applicable to modern- day issues such as environmental protection, human rights and stress management.
[11] While other religious groups, such as Christian churches, took similar approaches and had many of the same societal benefits in Taiwan during this period of Buddhist resurgence, a major advantage Buddhism had was that it had long played a role in Chinese history and culture.
[21] In addition, most of the contemporary Taiwanese Buddhist organizations leading the resurgence were known for their use of modern technology to appeal to the masses and some were known for championing popular progressive causes at the time.
Many scholars now consider Taiwan to be the center of Chinese Buddhism with many schools, temples and shrines established all over the island by many prominent Buddhist leaders.
