Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Religion & Belief
Hong Kong is arguably the only city in China where religious freedom is both
provided for by the law and respected in practice. Almost everyone here is
brought up on certain spiritual beliefs, even though these may not always add
up to the profession of a religion. And most of the time, they don't - Hong
Kongers are not a particularly religious bunch.
There are about 30,000 Muslims of various nationalities in Hong Kong. The city's earliest
Muslims were seamen who settled in the area around Lower Lascar Row in Central. Subse-
quent Muslim migrants from South Asia were known to take up posts in the British
colony's disciplinary forces.
Early Influences
The city's early inhabitants were fishermen and farmers who worshipped a mixed bag of deit-
ies - some folk, some Taoist - notably the Kitchen God, the Earth God and the Goddess of
the Sea (Tin Hau). Many sought divine protection by symbolically offering their children to
deities for adoption. All villages have ancestral shrines. Traditional practices are alive in
Hong Kong today, often colourfully intertwined with those of imported religions like
Buddhism and Christianity.
Confucianism
For 2000 years, the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BC) and the subsequent school of
thought called Confucianism, informed the familial system and all human relationships in im-
perial China. Yet in the revolutionary fervour of the 20th century, the philosophy that was the
bedrock of Chinese civilization was blamed for a host of evils from feudal oppression and
misogyny to all-round backwardness.
Family Ethos
Traditionally, Confucian doctrines helped rulers to maintain domestic order. Emperors led by
'mandate of heaven'; government positions were filled by top-scoring candidates on exams in
the Confucian classics. For historical reasons, Confucianism in this institutionalised form
never existed in Hong Kong. Yet Confucian values are at the core of familial and social rela-
tionships in the former British colony. Two pillars of Confucian thought are respect for know-
ledge and filial piety. Hong Kong parents attach huge importance to academic performance;
