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RELIGION AND CUSTOM

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EVERY major faith is practised in Hong Kong with complete freedom.

Here, among communities of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, Buddhist monasteries and Taoist temples co-exist with Christian churches, mosques, and Hindu and Sikh temples. All major religious bodies have established schools which offer religious teachings besides a general education.

Traditional Festivals

-Traditional Chinese festivals are occasions for family union and feasting.

There are five major Chinese festivals, all of which are statutory public holidays. First and foremost is the Lunar New Year, when visits and gifts are exchanged between friends and relatives, and children receive 'lucky' money. The Ching Ming Festival in the spring- time is the traditional occasion for visiting ancestral graves. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in early summer with dragon boat races and by eating cooked rice wrapped in lotus leaves.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon, when gifts of mooncakes, fruit and wine are exchanged, and adults and children alike carry colourful lanterns to the parks and countryside at night under the full moon. The Chung Yeung Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth moon, and is celebrated by large crowds climbing hills in remembrance of an ancient Chinese family which fled to the top of a high mountain to escape from plague and death. Family graves are also visited on this day.

Buddhism and Taoism

Buddhism and Taoism, the leading Chinese religions, maintain a strong hold on the population, especially among the older folk. Ancestral worship is also widely practised as advocated by Confucianism which, though not truly a religion, teaches a moral code based on human relations.

Hong Kong has more than 360 Chinese temples. Some temples are centuries old, built by fishermen or old settlers. Due to the short supply of land some temples are established inside multi-storey buildings to cater for the spiritual needs of smaller circles of city dwellers.

All temples are required to be registered under the Chinese Temples Ordinance. The Chinese Temples Committee manages some 40 public temples and the income, from donations by worshippers, is used for the preservation and restoration not only of public temples but also privately-owned temples of historical value. Most of the large temples and monasteries are open to the public.