ENG-1949 — Page 161

Rellation

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 element of mysticism and aims at inculcating that resignation and contentment which its followers believe to be essential requirements 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 considerably 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 in order to ensure that temple and monastery properties, which in many cases are of considerable value, do not fall into unscrupulous hands.

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