During the Three Kingdoms period, Emperor Wu Sun Quan sent Wei Wen, Zhuge Zhi, and tens of thousands of soldiers to the sea to seek Penglai Fairy Mountain and came to Taiwan Island. During the Ming Dynasty, Taoism was officially introduced to Taiwan, and people from coastal areas such as Fujian and Guangdong migrated to Taiwan, bringing with them local beliefs such as Mazu, Emperor Baosheng, Lady Linshui, and the Holy King of Kaizhang. During the Japanese occupation, many people believed in Taoism to express their national stance. Therefore, Taoism was suppressed. Taoist temples must also enshrine Buddhist statues in order to be preserved. This resulted in the mixed phenomenon of Buddhism and Taoism continuing to this day.
In 1949, the 63rd generation Celestial Master Zhang Enpu followed the Kuomintang to Taiwan and combined with the local Taoist circles, bringing about a new situation in Taiwan Taoism. In 1950, Zhang Enpu established the "Sihan Tianshifu Office in Taiwan" and the "Taiwan Provincial Taoist Church". In 1968, he established the "Taoist Church of the Republic of China". Since the one country, two systems policy was proposed in 1982, the relationship between Taiwan's Taoist circles and the mainland's Taoist circles has gradually strengthened. Groups and individuals continue to return to the mainland to pay homage to their ancestors, worship statues of gods, and request to receive burial rituals.
Members of the Taiwan Taoist Church are divided into group members in religious sites such as palaces, temples, ancestral halls, temples, halls, and altars, and individual members such as lay practitioners, Taoist priests, and fortune tellers. Taiwan Taoism is centered on Zhengyiyi and has strong local characteristics of Taiwan. Taoist priests are divided into "Hongtou Sigong" and "Wutou Sigong". They focus on fasting rituals and engage in Taoist activities such as Feng Shui and numerology.
The Taiwan authorities advocate the legalization and openness of folk religions, and include them in the category of Taoism for easier management. This makes the situation of Taoist sects in Taiwan very complicated, including Tianshi Taoism, Yiguandao, Xuanyuan Religion, Neo-Confucianism and other sects and Beliefs such as Mazu Empress, Emperor Guansheng, Emperor Baosheng, Prince Chitose, etc. Among them, Yiguandao, which advocates the unity of the five religions, developed rapidly after the ban was lifted in 1986.
According to data released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Interior in 2012, there are 15,211 registered religious temples in Taiwan, of which Taoist temples account for 78.3%, or about 12,000, ranking far behind among the major religions. Leading the way, there are also tens of thousands of unregistered folk temples. Taoism is relatively prosperous in southern Taiwan, with Mazu temples and Wangye temples being the majority. There are more than 1,000 Taoist temples in Tainan City, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County. There are more than 10 million followers of Taoism (including Yiguandao and folk beliefs) in Taiwan.
Note: Excerpted from Baidu Encyclopedia