Working With Diversity, Northern Ireland Section 75 Equality Scheme Advice

Traditional Chinese religion is a rich complexity of many strands of belief and practice drawn, over thousands of years of tradition, from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as from folk beliefs, often involving the worship of various local deities.

Where traditional beliefs exist, reverence for family ancestors is the most common form of practice within Chinese families in the West. It is believed that the spirits of the dead need the continuing care of the family, and it is the particular duty of the sons to carry out the required rituals on behalf of their dead parents. Filial duty and reverence for ancestors are regarded as matters of great importance and piety and children are expected to carry out these obligations energetically, both in respect of the living and the dead.

As previously stated the Chinese, as an ethnic group within Northern Ireland, do not have an institutional religion.

These are influenced by a variety of beliefs i.e. Buddhism, Confucianism Taoism and Christianity (See section on Buddhism and Christianity – Religious Category)

Taoism perceives life as a balance between fire, earth, water, metal and wood. Illness occurs when these elements are imbalanced. Chinese traditional medicine seeks to address the imbalance.

Confucianism is an ethical code respecting authority and perceiving law as essential in order to make life possible.

Every traditional Chinese home has a shrine, which will contain tablets listing each of their ancestor's names. Nowadays, photographs often accompany these names.

The shrine usually is placed in a prominent position and will also contain statues of the various deities. Small red electric lights or candles illuminate the shrine. Offerings of fruit, rice, wine or burning incense are made frequently and often before making important family decisions, the ancestors may be consulted.

Several Gods may be worshipped simultaneously, and their favours sought through partners and the offering of gifts. In particular, the god of Wealth and Good Fortune (Ts'ai Shen) and the Kitchen or Hearth god (Tsao-Wang) are commonly worshipped. It is not uncommon, even in modern communities such as Hong Kong, to find a shelf reserved in shops, offices and in the home for the display of images of traditional deities, and some Chinese people have brought this practice with them to the West.

Religion