Religion
حالاا
Chapter 13
In religion as in other aspects of life Hong Kong presents a wide variety. The majority of the Chinese besides the traditional family observances usually described by foreigners as 'ancestor worship", follow the ancient Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian creeds, although about 20,000 of them are Protestants and about 40,000 are Roman Catholics. Each of the three creeds is to a certain extent the complement of the other two and has reacted on the other two during their long history. Confucianism which is entirely unmystical and aims purely at providing a code of behaviour for this world, is represented in the Colony by the Confucian Hall and the Confucian Society which provides a number of free schools for boys and girls. Taoism, the oldest of the three creeds, includes an ele- ment of mysticism and aims at inculcating that resignation and contentment which its followers believe to be essential require- ments of longevity. There are nearly fifty Taoist monasteries in the Colony. Buddhism to the Chinese is a foreign creed having been introduced into China from India-the traditional date being 61 A.D. During the centuries while reacting on the Chinese way of life Chinese Buddhism has itself been changed into a creed con- siderably different from the original Buddhism. There are some seventy Buddhist monasteries and nunneries in the Colony, All Chinese temples (which term under the Chinese Temples Ordinance, 1928, includes, besides temples proper, Taoist and Buddhist monasteries and nunneries but does not include ancestral halls of which there is one in nearly every village) must by law be registered with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
Hong Kong forms part of the Diocese of Hong Kong and South China which celebrates this year its centenary upon the hundredth anniversary of the consecration of the first Bishop of Hong Kong on 29th May, 1849. The building which is now St. John's Cathedral was built in 1847 and was established as a Cathe- dral Church by Letter Patent from Queen Victoria in 1850. Most of the essential Diocesan and Cathedral records were preserved during the occupation, in spite of the grave damage done to the building, and will prove invaluable as a basis for a Diocesan history which is now being prepared.
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Anglican Church services are maintained in three English