越南新移民與佛教信仰：以「台灣越南智德佛教文化交流協會」為例 =Vietnamese New Immigrants and Their Buddhist Belief: A Case Study of Taiwan Vietnam Chih Der Buddhist Cultural Exchange Association
新興教團=New religious mission; 越南移民=Vietnamese Immigrant; 宗教生活=Religious life; 台灣越南智德佛教文化交流協會=Chih Der Buddhist Cultural Exchange Association; 釋淨如=Shi Jingru
Taiwan has been an immigrant community since ancient times, and its religious beliefs are marked by many immigrants’ trait. Proverb says: “There are male Tangshan ancestors, and no female ones.” This confirms Immigrants in Taiwan had long been dominated by men. However, in the recent decades, the mainstream of immigrants to Taiwan has become to marry women. The largest number of Southeast Asians marrying to Taiwan comes from Vietnam now. It also has formed a Vietnamese culture trend in Taiwan society. Since religion is recognized as a human’s life style, it is interested to understand what these Vietnamese new immigrants’ religious life can be. It seems few research output in this field at moment.
Due to some limitations, we focus our research object on Chih Der Buddhist Cultural Exchange Association. This organization was created by venerable Shi Jingru, a Vietnamese foreign student to Taiwan, and her followers two years ago. It has become a new religious force with more than two thousands of Facebook registered members.
This research was mainly conducted by questionnaire in order to get more detail research numbers for analysis and explanation. Moreover, a personal interview with venerable Shi Jingru was made to understand her missionary career and religious experience in Taiwan as well. We hope a more comprehensive analysis and understanding to these Vietnamese new immigrants’ religious life in Taiwan.
