Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
and a substantial number of ethnic Chinese. The extraordinary reach of
Christianity into the overseas Korean diaspora has been frequently discussed;
in the United States it is often stated that 25 percent of Koreans profess
Christianity in their home country, a figure that rises to 50 percent among
those who emigrate, and that inflates further to 75 percent with conversions
in the United States (Warner 2001; Min 2002).
Substantial, but not equal, dissemination of faith occurs among ethnic
Chinese immigrants, though from a much smaller base, and with greater reli-
gious plurality (Wang and Yang 2006; Zhang 2006). One estimate suggests
around 20 percent of Chinese-Americans are Christians, somewhat fewer are
Buddhists, a smaller number again adhere to folk ritual, and the largest group
is unaffiliated (Min 2002). But an early report on Chinese churches in Toronto
found 'the number of new converts is phenomenal' (Lee 1994).
The Canadian Census includes a question on religious affiliation once a
decade, allowing a record of self-declared association to be collated. Cross-
tabulating religious affiliation against ethnicity from the 2001 Census
established the broad contours of religious practice in Greater Vancouver.
Some 23 percent of Chinese-Canadians identified as Christians, 15 per-
cent as Buddhists and the large majority, 61 percent, claimed no religious
affiliation. Nonetheless close to a quarter of 380,000 remains a large
number and there are at least 85 Chinese Christian congregations in
Greater Vancouver, some of them growing rapidly. Profiles published in the
Directory of Chinese Churches reveal that over a half are less than ten
years old, while a third have a congregation of less than a hundred. This
dynamic pattern of a large number of small and recent churches is repeated
amongst Koreans. Although the Korean population was less than a tenth
the size of the Chinese population in 2001, an extensive network of over 60
congregations existed, benefiting from the high level of Christian affiliation
(72 percent) among Koreans in Greater Vancouver, probably the highest
figure for any ethnic group, and close to the estimated affiliation rate in the
United States.
The role of immigrants in the renewal and reconfiguration of established
faith communities is a recent theme in North America and Europe (Ebaugh
and Chavetz 2000; Jenkins 2007). There are many local variations, and the
case of business immigrants from East Asia has its own particularities.
A common refrain is that emigration was undertaken as a conscious status
passage, for some families to construct a more rounded life than was possi-
ble in the frenzied capitalism of Asia Pacific. The move was undertaken to
seek out difference, not sameness: geopolitical stability, passport 'insurance',
a western education, and a life freed from the relentless pressure of the
70-hour work week that Byron and his young friends are presently engaging
(it must be said) with some gusto in Hong Kong. Part of a more rounded life
includes greater time given to family, like the astronaut wives who have taken
