Government statistics claimed that in 1990 there were 4.8 million Buddhists and around 2000 priests in Taiwan. In 2004 the Government gave a figure of 5.5 million Buddhists compared with 0.6 million for Protestant Christianity . It seems then that Buddhism has been growing in popularity but it is hard to say how many Buddhists there really are in Taiwan because it depends on the definition you are working with. The Taiwan authorities do not collect or independently verify statistics on religious affiliation but do maintain registration statistics voluntarily reported by religious organizations. The figure given for number of Buddhists seems unusually high considering the low number of registered temples and in the case of the larger Buddhist organizations such as Tsu Chi include large numbers of people who regularly contribute funds without any real interest in the actual Buddhist teaching of the organization. In 1998 Tsu Chi claimed around 4 Million members of which only 7000 participated in its activities, most of whom were Qi Pau wearing female disciples .

Buddhist associations are found on most Taiwanese University campus, eight Buddhist universities or colleges are opened or near completion and three main Buddhist hospitals. Taiwanese cable TV has a few channels devoted to Buddhist teaching. There are 28 registered Buddhist publishing houses and over 4000 registered Buddhist temples (compared to around 3500 registered protestant churches) all signs that Buddhism is impacting Taiwanese society.

When Buddhism reached China in the 1st Century AD it mixed with other Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism. The aesthetic teachings of the Buddha and the emphasis on separation from the world and monastic living clashed significantly with the pragmatism of the Chinese and the duties of sons to produce heirs. The example of the Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama, abandoning his wife, son and palace in the quest for enlightenment sounded strange to the Chinese whose pragmatism and emphasis on filial piety would consider ownership of a palace and the possession of a son as an ideal to be achieved. Marshall describes Buddhism in China as ‘a fish out of water’ needing to evolve to fit in with Chinese culture. The result of this ‘evolution’ were many new schools of Buddhist thought, the most popular being Pure Land Buddhism and Chan Buddhism (more popularly known in the West by its Japanese name ‘Zen’)