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Over the past thirty years,religious institutions of all kinds have become increasingly involved in public charity in Taiwan.I initially thought this related to a world-wide increase in such activity-a globalization of a pattern that began in the West.As I looked more closely,however,much of this initial formulation turned out to be only a very partial truth.My first research on religion in Taiwan began in 1977,with an extended period of fieldwork in the northern Taiwanese township of Sanhsia.At that time there was a small Presbyterian congregation,aIong with some small groups of Buddhists.None of them had any broad charitable activities,to my knowledge.
Over the past thirty years, religious institutions of all kinds have become increasingly involved in public charity in Taiwan. I initially thought this related to a world-wide increase in such activity-a globalization of a pattern that began in the West. As I looked up more closely, however, much of this initial formulation turned out to be only a very partial truth. My first research on religion in Taiwan began in 1977, with an extended period of fieldwork in the northern Taiwanese township of Sanhsia. At that time there was a small Presbyterian congregation, a Iong with some small groups of Buddhists. None of them had any broad charitable activities, to my knowledge.