Hong Kong

Hong Kong, the former British port and colony has since 1997 been governed by China as a Special Administrative Region. It contains a [Page 534]greater diversity of religions and sects than any other Chinese city. All religious groups, including those banned in mainland China, operate freely. However about 60% of the population of 7 million people claim “no religion” on surveys.

Hong Kong's people are known in Asia for their pragmatism, but below the surface of this pragmatism lies a deep and diverse milieu of religious hopes and fears. Many people who claim “no religion” on surveys also believe in supernatural retribution, fear ghosts, occasionally visit temples, and worship ancestors by burning paper goods for their use in the afterlife (including paper cars, houses, servants, computers, and even airplanes).

Much religious activity in Hong Kong has roots in Chinese “folk religion.” There are more than 300 temples dedicated to Daoist, Buddhist, or folk religion deities. Most are small, with only a handful of large “god palaces” scattered around the territory. Worshippers at these temples seek help and advice from the gods (some of whom are deified humans) for their problems in family, business, or education, using divination sticks to get the god's answers. In some of these shrines, human spirit-writers channel messages from the deity to worshippers, holding a stick that writes the deity's messages on a table.

Hong Kong's rural villages still conduct periodic festivals every 8 or 10 years to cleanse the district of accumulated spirits and ghosts, calling the gods for that purpose and meanwhile entertaining them with Chinese opera performances, which can also be enjoyed by the villagers. (The gods' statues are provided with good seats for these performances.)

Self-identified Protestants and Catholics constitute about 12%–15% of the population but are disproportionately represented among cosmopolitan portions of the Hong Kong elite, partly because schools run by Christian organizations, established before the rise of free, public high school education, were one of the main routes into universities and the professions. Evangelical Christian groups are growing, appealing particularly to educated young people. Some meet in schools or rented quarters in office buildings. In one urban district, there are five floors of small churches competing with each other in the same building.

Self-identified Buddhists constitute no more than 12%–15% of the population. Buddhist leaders are now sometimes vocal in public affairs. Buddha's birthday has been added to Hong Kong's public holidays, and an exhibition displaying a relic of Buddha (a finger bone) was a major event. Some Buddhist organizations benefit from elite patrons, and from good connections with the mainland Buddhist Association, but they are not as wealthy and active as Buddhist organizations in Taiwan.

For Muslims, local worship sites include a large mosque in Kowloon, which serves mainly South Asian residents. Other religious groups include Jews, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians. Some of these families have prospered in Hong Kong for more than 100 years as merchants and traders.

All these religious groups do business and worship without serious disputes. The rule of law, religious freedom, and a secular state with no religious agenda are key reasons for this harmony among Hong Kong's diverse religions.

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