Religion and Beliefs
A large variety of religious groups are present in Hong Kong, including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. Freedom of religion is protected by the Basic Law and relevant legislation. However, the majority of people in Hong Kong (57%) are atheist. For the elderly population, Chinese Folk Religion plays an integral part of the culture. Unlucky sayings are considered offensive, and many people travel yearly to the cemetery on Ching Ming festival to honour the memory of their ancestors. There are several major shrines in Hong Kong, and many smaller shrines to the local Gods and Goddesses of the earth line the streets. Objects like bagua mirror are still used regularly to shield evils. Numbers in Chinese culture also play a role in people's everyday life. Numbers like "4" (because of its similarity to the Chinese word for "(to) die") are avoided when possible by believers. Chinese New Year is also the most important celebration in the Hong Kong culture.
A significant number of Hong Kongers are Christians or Catholics. Other religions, such as Hindu and Islam, are also practiced by the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Hong Kong
Famous quotes containing the words religion and/or beliefs:
“We think of religion as the symbolic expression of our highest moral ideals; we think of magic as a crude aggregate of superstitions. Religious belief seems to become mere superstitious credulity if we admit any relationship with magic. On the other hand our anthropological and ethnographical material makes it extremely difficult to separate the two fields.”
—Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945)
“If we cannot find a way to interpret the utterances and other behaviour of a creature as revealing a set of beliefs largely consistent and true by our own standards, we have no reason to count that creature as rational, as having beliefs, or as saying anything.”
—Donald Davidson (b. 1917)