Religions and the Philosophies of the Taiwan and Their Effect on Daily Life and Doing Business - Essay Example

Religions and the philosophies of the Taiwan and their effect on daily life and doing business Student’s name Institutional affiliate Religions and the philosophies of the Taiwan and their effect on daily life and doing business Religions and philosophies of the Taiwan Taiwan is an island with over 23 million citizens. The fact that it is associated with the republic of china really means a lot. Taiwan itself being born in 1911 tells a lot about the origins and the motivations behind its religions and the philosophies. This gives some insight to why Taiwan uses two types of calendars: the Gregorian calendar and the Mingo calendar. The Minguo calendar dates back from 1911. This is really confusing to new people who visit Taiwan. Concerning religions of the Taiwan people, there is a very interesting reality (Chen, 25). In the history of the world, individual or a group of people consider themselves to be religious. They give unquestionable reverence and respect to deities and messengers of these deities. They do this in the hope of making their lives better and meaningful. Majority also subscribe to a religion as a source of answers to any unseen future or doubtful past. Taiwanese have not been left behind in this. Some may be consciously or unconsciously engaged in religion. Taiwanese are notoriously religious (Lin & Hsing, 2009) Taiwan has more than twenty religions. Buddhism, Taoism and the Chinese folk religions are the religions with a lot of Taiwanese following them. Religions such as Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Islam are found in Taiwan but not with many followers compared to the other earlier mentioned religions. Most of the Taiwanese religion is anchored in the Taiwanese folk culture and beliefs. Whether Taoism or Buddhism, the many deities in Taiwan enjoy the many reverence accrued to them. There are many festivities that the Taiwanese engage them in. some of these deities include the god of the war, the god of the teen, the god of good luck, the god of success, the god of the sea . The list is endless. Most of these deities are made into myths after their death. Most of these deities were mortal individuals who lived at a certain time in the history of Taiwan. They possessed extra ordinary skills, abilities, knowledge, charisma and even courage. They are celebrated in the four seasons of the year: summer, autumn, winter and spring. The gods of the winter are relatively good and humble. Those gods of the summer are very aggressive ones. There is the example of Lord Guan, a Taoist deity according to the New York Times, is the god of business. Taiwanese people worship this deity to bring good luck and successes to their businesses. The deity is also believed to protect business from bad thinks that may affect their sales and success (Yang, 2004). The observance of these festivals involves a lot of rituals including the burning of the incense inside the temples where the gods dwells. Philosophies of the Taiwanese people Philosophy is understood as a process of thinking that a certain group of people or an individual subscriber. In fact a philosophy, though is understood as the love for knowledge, is taken by the majority to mean ones principles in life. It is correct looking at it from that point of view. A philosophy is arrived at as a result of different factors. They may be historical, economical, cultural, political, or personal general dispositions. The attempt to explain a certain phenomenon leads one or a group of people to come with principles that come to be treated as their defining factors. Taiwanese have not been left behind in this. Owing to the fact that it is only 14-16% of Taiwanese that are non religious, it is easy to gauge what the rest 93% or so believe in. from the historical circumstance, Taiwan has come to liberalize religion. There is no single Taiwanese among the religious 93%. They either combine polytheistic ancient Chinese religion with Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. There liberal form of philosophy has enabled the Taiwanese to interact with each pother freely. The freedom of religion is very rife in Taiwan. The constitution of the republic of China has this dispensation very clear. If there is any conflict that arises amongst the Taiwanese, then religion is never a source of conflict to Taiwanese. This makes it very hard to draw a clear demarcating line between the philosophies and the religions of the Taiwanese. They seem to diverge, converge and interact at their own pleasure. The philosophies are at times seen as religions and religions are seen and treated as philosophies (Anon., 2012). How Taiwanese religions and philosophies affect and interact with each other As earlier said, the philosophy of the Taiwanese inspires the religions of the Taiwanese and the vise versa is also very true. Confucianism does not necessarily regard itself as a religion but rather as a philosophy. This is despite a number of people in Taiwan regarding Confucianism as a religion. Confucianism is a school of thought whose founding is credited to Confucius- that great Chinese thinker. Confucianism is concerned with secular ethics of the people. This is why the temples of the Taoists and those of the Buddhists serve other purposes too in addition to being places of worship (YANG, 2013). Temples in Taiwan is diversely used by the Taiwanese differently. They are used as a form of worship and as a home for the many Taiwanese gods. The most important key thing here is that these temples are used as a meeting place for the people regardless of whether they are religious or not. They are serving as social placers where Taiwanese meet to socialize, to gather news and simply to speak out their minds. Inside these temples, Taiwanese burn incense to these gods too. How Taiwanese philosophies and religions are affecting the Electronics businesses The philosophies and the religions of Taiwan are greatly affecting businesses in Taiwan. The electronics industry and the manufactures of these electronics are a victim. The owners of these businesses are finding it hard to separate the Taiwan folk religion with business. He workers too on their side are turning to ritualistic habits associated to Taiwanese gods when things go wrong. More than 300 employees of Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) in April this year gathered outside the headquarters of the company to burn incense in front a statuette of Lord Guan who is a deity in Taoism. They also burnt fake money in front of the statuette. In flying the deity from Shanxi province which is found in mainland China to the doors of his manufacturing company, the chairman of Foxconn Mr.Gou believed that company would recover from the recent losses. Lord Guan is the deity of good business. The Foxconn has been recording a loss of revenue due to the decline of the orders of its iphones and ipads from the Apple- one of its main customers. It is not only the Fox manufacturing company that is finding the Taiwanese oracles as being crucial and vital in the success of their business. Inside these temples Taiwanese people with different business problems are frequenting these places to protect their businesses. These gods give diverse directions. Sometimes these directives are so confusing that an expert is required in these temples. There are therefore so many specialists around these temples to help Taiwanese get the real message once they invoke the help of these deities (DuBois, 2011). The effect of Taiwanese philosophies and religions in the entertainment businesses Due to its cultural pluralism brought about by the ability of the Taiwanese to tolerate people from all cultures and religions with conflicting, Taiwan has made a great step in the film industry. The resulting culture has made it possible the production of films that are gaining a lot of acceptance in different countries. But despite some of the 3D films set in Taiwan winning the Oscar award, there are still so many challenges that face the industry film director in Taiwan lamented the fact that despite Taiwanese being talented differently due to its multiplicity of cultures but the government doing very little to tap good haven. The director also insisted the fact that there is need to create so many TV documentaries in Taiwan and about the Taiwan people. He echoed the observation of one Taiwanese who highlighted the fact that Taiwanese documentaries record the real lives and the cultures of the Taiwanese. There is no good reason enough as to why the Taiwanese government should go very slow on this. If this is not done, there is fear that Taiwan could lose the competitive edge to other economies like china, Singapore, Malaysia and even china (Lee, 2013). How the Taiwanese philosophies and religions are affecting the hotel businesses This industry is reaping a lot from the fact that so many foreign tourists are flocking this island –Taiwan- to experience the cultures of the Taiwan. They are flocking in Taiwan to experience the good legacies associated with the Taiwanese people. They are flocking in Taiwan to experience the effects of the rich pluralistic culture of Taiwan. People come into this island just to witness the burning of incense to the deities. They come to see how the bamboo rituals are conducted. The fact that two different religions can worship under one roof is a source of curiosity to many (Bei, et al., 2010). The Buddhist and the Taoist has in some places in Taiwan been forced to conduct their different rituals under one roof. At other times, the Buddhists and the Taoists have gone a step further to worship together. This behavior was as a result of the Japanese rule that made it hard for Buddhists and the Taoists to observe their different rituals differently. Despite the Taiwanese freeing themselves from the cruelty of the Japanese, those trends they had cone to adopt became hard to do away with. They thus continued to worship at times in the same temples. Who would not want to experience the firsthand account of this fact? And what is the resulting effect of this trend? The hotels are enjoying increased revenues accrued from this lucrative industry. Those industries that are directly or indirectly related with the tourism and the hotels sector are also benefitting a lot. These tourists have to eat in addition to getting accommodation. The suppliers of foods to the hotels are increasing their earnings and making their livelihoods. This is a very positive effect brought about by the cultures, philosophies and religions of the Taiwan people (Arthur, 2013). Effects of Taiwanese philosophies and religions in other businesses As discussed above, the culture of the Taiwan as influenced by the philosophies and the religions has led to the success and the failure of other businesses. The construction sector has also earned a lot of benefit. This is from the fact that the temples are built in a very sophisticated designs. Some have a roof top bearing very decorative images and designs of dragons (Karma Lekshe Tsomo, 2004). The bottom line is the fact that Taiwan is full of rich philosophies and religions which has influenced the manner in which businesses are conducted there (Anon., 2010). References Anon., 2010. Taiwan's Religion/Philosophy. [Online] Available at: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/taiwan/pro-religion.htm [Vieweds 27 May 2013]. Anon., 2012. Culture and Lifestyle. [Online] Available at: http://www.mofa.gov.tw [Viewed 27 May 2013]. Arthur, C., 2013. HTC risks being acquisition target after quarterly operating profit of just £0.9m. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk [Viewed 27 May 2013]. Bei, D., Lin, N. C.-K., Association., A. F. & Thoughts, N. C. U. C. f. t. S. o. I. C. a., 2010. Religio-cultural pluralism : tolerance, dialogue and peace. Taiwan: Hope Publishing Ltd. Chen, C. H., 25. Framing Falun Gong: Xinhua news agency's coverage of the new religious movement in China. Asian Journal of Communication, 15(1), pp. 16-36. DuBois, T. D., 2011. Religion and the making of the Modern East Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, B., 2004. Buddhist women and social justice : ideals, challenges, and achievements. Albany: State University of New York. Lee, A., 2013. Film industry needs assistance. [Online] Available at: http://www.taipeitimes.com [Viewed 28 May 2013]. Lin, C.-Y. & Hsing, W.-C., 2009. Culture-led Urban Regeneration and Community Mobilisation: The Case of the Taipei Bao-an Temple Area, Taiwan. Urban Studies, 46(7), pp. 1317-1342. Yang, H., 2004. "Ethicized" Chinese-Language Christianity and the Meaning of Christian Ethics. Contemporary Chinese Thought, 36(1), pp. 68-84. YANG, L., 2013. Foxconn Tries to Move Past the iPhone. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com [Viewed 27 May 2013]. Read More