Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan

Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan巴哈伊教, The Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan began after the religion entered areas of Chinacite web
last = Hassall
first = Graham
title = The Bahá'í Faith in Hong Kong
work = Official Website of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong
publisher = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong
date = January 2000
url = http://www.hk.bahai.org/The_Faith_in_Hong_Kong.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 208-08-16] and nearby Japan.Citation
last = Baldwin Alexander
first = Agnes
authorlink = Agnes Baldwin Alexander
last2 = R. Sims
first2 = Barbara (ed.)
title = History of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan 1914-1938
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Osaka, Japan
year = 1977
location = Japan
pages =
url = http://bahai-library.com/east-asia/history.japan/index.html
doi =
id =
isbn = ] The first Bahá'ís arrived in Taiwan in 1949cite book
last = R. Sims
first = Barbara
title = The Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle: A Historical Record of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust of Japan
date = 1994
location = Tokyo
pages =
url = http://bahai-library.com/east-asia/taiwan/
doi =
id =
isbn = ] and the first of these to have become a Bahá'í was Mr. Jerome Chu (Chu Yao-lung) in 1945 while visiting the United States. By May 1955 there were eighteen Bahá'ís in six localities across Taiwan. The first Local Spiritual Assembly in Taiwan was elected in Tainan in 1956. The National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1967 when there were local assemblies in Taipei, Tainan, Hualien, and Pingtung. Circa 2006 the Bahá'ís showed up in the national census with 16,000 members and 13 assemblies.cite web | title = Taiwan Yearbook 2006 | publisher = Government of Information Office | date= 2006 | url = http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/22Religion.htm | accessdate = 2007-09-01 ]

Early days

Far East

The Bahá'í Faith entered the region of the Far East, in Hong Kong, in the 1870's, during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. While the religion continued to enter other nearby regions to Taiwan — Bahá'ís being in Shanghai in 1902,cite web
last = Hassall
first = Graham
title = China in the Baha'i Writings
work = Unpublished Articles
publisher = Bahá'í Acadamic Library
year = 2003
url = http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=hassall_china_bahai_history
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-08-16] Japan in 1912, Canton in 1949, and Macau in 1953, [cite book
last = Compiled by R. Sims
first = Barbara
title = The Macau Bahá'í Community in the Early Years
publisher = Bahá'í Academics Library
year = 1991
location = Japan
pages =
url = http://bahai-library.com/east-asia/macau/
doi =
id =
isbn = ] there was no Bahá'í contact with the island until 1949. Between 1895 and 1945, until ending with World War II, Taiwan was under Japanese rulecite conference | first = Minghuang | last = Shao | coauthors = Miller, Lyman | title = “The Out-of-Tune ‘Flowers on the Rainy Nights’: Some Observational Aspects of Taiwan at Wartime” | booktitle = Minutes from the Conference on Wartime China: Regional Regimes and Conditions, 1937-1945 | publisher = Harvard University | date = June 29, 2002 | location = Cambridge, MA, USA | url = http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~asiactr/sino-japanese/session9.htm | accessdate = 2006-07-19 ] and then there was the period of the Chinese Civil War.

Beginning in Taiwan

Four Bahá'ís arrived in Taiwan in 1949 as part of the wave of refugees of Chiang Kai-Shek's retreat from the mainland: Jerone Chu, Yan Hsu-chang, Chien Tien-lee, and Gellan Wang. The first Bahá'í in Taiwan was Mr. Jerome Chu (Chu Yao-lung), a newspaper man, who had become a Bahá'í in Washington D.C. in 1945. Chu arrived in Taiwan after a stay in Nanking where an associate, Yuan Hsu-chang, had accepted the religion and also came to Taiwan. Major Chien Tien-lee (Lee L.T. Chang) had had a Bahá'í marriage ceremony in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. and came to Taiwan after a stay in Shanghai.

The first American Bahá'í visitors to Taiwan were Dr. David Earl and Lt. Col. John McHenry in 1952, and Rafi and Mildred Mottahedeh in 1953. In October of that year Dhikru'llah Khadem visited Taiwan, the first Hand of the Cause — people who achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion — to do so and at a meeting he held in Chu's home three more people accepted the Bahá'í Faith: these three were Professor Tsao Li-shih, who was an instructor of architecture at the College of Engineering at the National Taiwan University; Hong Li-ming (Jimmy), the first native-born Taiwanese to become a Bahá'í; and Wong Ho-len (Wong Ho-jen).

Later, Mr. and Mrs. Suleimani, who where Bahá'ís in Shanghai, left that city in 1950,Citation
authors = Universal House of Justice
title = In Memorium
journal = The Bahá'í World of the Bahá'í Era 136-140 (1979-1983)
volume = XVIII
publisher = Bahá'í World Centre
pages = Table of Contents and pp.619, 632, 802-4
year = 1986
url = http://bahai-library.com/books/bw18/748-772.html
isbn = 0853982341] and arrived in Taiwan in 1954 at port KeelungCitation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Attractive center holds fond memories
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2004-12-16
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/339] where they found there was already a community of ten Bahá'ís spread among some of the cities of Taiwan: Taipei (2), Tainan (4), Tao-yuan, Tsoying and Chiayi. Mrs. Suleimani was from a Bahá'í family from Ashqabad who left in 1923.

Growth

By May 1955 there were eighteen Bahá'ís in six localities across Taiwan. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in Taiwan was elected in Tainan in 1956, which was noted by Shoghi Effendi, then head of the religion. The members were Mr. Wang Chi-chang, Mrs. Suleimani, Mr. Pai Chung-chen, Mrs. Ruthy Tu, Mr. Tsao Li-shih. Standing. Dr. Ni Jun-chung (ching), Mr. Chu, Mr. Winston Luk, and Mr. Ho Chung-tzu. Mrs. Tu was the first woman citizen of Taiwan to become a Bahá'í and was elected to be a delegate in 1957 to the election of the regional National Spiritual Assembly but was unable to travel. Noted Bahá'í Agnes Alexander visited the island in 1956, and, after being appointed as a Hand of the Cause, visited the island again in 1958 and 1962.

From 1955 through 1957, petitions by the Bahá'í community were submitted to the Taiwanese government to be recognized as a religion by the government had failed, though permission was given to have a temporary Bahá'í summer school in Sept. 1957.

In 1957, the first regional National Assembly election convention of the Bahá'ís of North East Asia, held in Tokyo, was convened; the jurisdiction of the National Assembly included Taiwan. In 1958, the second Local Spiritual Assembly of the island was established in Taipei with the arrival of two pioneers and one more citizen convert. By April 1958 the number of Bahá'ís in Taiwan had reached twenty-two. The first official use of the Tainan Bahá'í Centre was in 1959. In 1960 the book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era was revised, translated and reprinted and one copy was given to every Bahá'í in Taiwan. In 1963 Mrs. Tu was able to attend the first Bahá'í World Congress which also the year of the first Bahá'í marriage ceremony in Taiwan.

The first Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of Taiwan was first elected in 1967 — the members of the institution were Mrs. Isabel Dean and Mrs. Ridvaniyyih Suleimani, Mr. Kuo Rong-hui, Mr. Robert Yen, Dr. Sidney Dean, Mr. S.A. Suleimani, Mr. Tsao Kai-min, Mr. Huang Tsen-min and Mr. Huang Ting-seng. At the time there were local assemblies in Taipei, Tainan, Hualien, and Pingtung. Then in 1970 the Bahá'í community of the island was recognized by the government.

In 1990, the Chief of the indigenous Puyuma Tribe, Mr. Chen Wen-sheng, became a Bahá'í.

Multiplying interests

In more recent years the Bahá'ís of Taiwan have particpated in a number of local and international activities. By 1995, the Bahá'í Office of the Environment for Taiwan, in collaboration with the national government, had trained hundreds of teachers throughout the country to introduce conservation issues into curricula. The Office also produced a series of national radio educational programs on environmental care and protection. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
contribution = Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Baha'i Faith
contribution-url = http://statements.bahai.org/pdf/95-0406.pdf
title = Summit on the Alliance Between Religions and Conservation
date = 1995-05-03
pages =
place = Windsor, England
publisher =
url =
doi =
id = ] In December 1997 Bahá'ís were invited to participate in a local exhibit of religions. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Taiwan - Baha'is at Religious Exhibition
newspaper = Bahá'í International Community
date = 1997-12-21
url = http://www.northill.demon.co.uk/bahainews/#Taiwan] In 2001 Bahá'ís from Taiwan attended the opening of the Seat of the International Teaching Centre. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Gathering in Holy Land marks milestone in the development of the Baha'i Faith
newspaper = Bahá'í International Community
date = 2001-01-16
url = http://www.bwns.org/story/131] In 2004, the Taiwanese Baha'i community organizes 20 regular children's classes, attracting some 200 children.

Modern Community

Circa 2006 the Bahá'ís showed up in the national census with 16,000, or 0.1% of the national population with 13 assemblies. [cite web | title = 2006 Report on International Religious Freedom | publisher = U.S. Department of State | date= 2006 | url = http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71337.htm | accessdate = 2007-09-01 ]

ee also

*History of Taiwan
*Religion in Taiwan

References

External links

* [http://www.bahai.org.tw/ Bahá'í News] of Taiwan
* [http://xbean.cs.ccu.edu.tw/~dan/ChineseBahai/Bahai/News/Phoenix/ Phoenix] the Newsletter of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Taiwan - List of issues
* [http://bahai-library.org/east-asia/taiwan/1-2.html Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle]
* [http://xbean.cs.ccu.edu.tw/~dan/ChineseBahai/Bahai/News/index.html Collection of News Articles and Papers]
* [http://www.hk.bahai.org/ Hong Kong National Spiritual Assembly]