The Church in Taiwan
Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in Taipei in 1956. Early Church members translated hymns and scriptures, and Taiwan became a hub for Chinese translation. Saints in Taiwan donated funds and labor to construct the first meetinghouse in Taipei, which was completed in 1966. Taiwanese Saints also donated funds to build the Taipei Taiwan Temple, which was dedicated in 1984.
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History of the Church in Taiwan
Home to indigenous peoples for thousands of years, now with a majority Han Chinese population, the island of Taiwan has a complex cultural, political, religious, and linguistic heritage. Missionaries of the Southern Far East Mission studied Mandarin Chinese for several months before arriving in Taiwan in 1956. By 1959 the missionary force included ethnic Chinese members such as Koot Siu-yuen (Nora) 葛肇媛 from Hong Kong and Chiu Siou-ping (Donna) 邱秀平, a local convert.
Taiwan was the center for translation efforts for the Book of Mormon in Chinese, published in 1965. In 1974 translators in Taiwan worked as part of an international team to publish the Chinese Doctrine and Covenants and, two years later in 1976, the Pearl of Great Price.
Amid trials and challenges in Taiwan’s bustling economy and competitive educational system, individual Latter-day Saints have consecrated their talents and experience to God’s work. Members labored with their own hands to build the first chapel in Taipei, completed in 1966, and contributed funds to construct the Taipei Taiwan Temple, completed in 1984. “May it be sacred to all who enter its portals,” prayed Church President Gordon B. Hinckley at the temple dedication, “and may they rejoice in the eternal ordinances to be performed herein.” Indeed, in decades since, the temple has been a powerful focus of Latter-day Saint life in Taiwan. Members have also coordinated with civic and cultural institutions to host genealogy and family history exhibitions, sharing the spirit of temple ordinances far and wide.
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Notes
- 聖徒之聲 (Liahona [Chinese]). Hong Kong.
- Chou, Po Nien, and Petra Chou. Voices of the Saints in Taiwan. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, 2017.
- Heaton, H. Grant, and Luana C. Heaton. A Documentry [sic] History of the Chinese Mission 1949–1953, Southern Far East Mission 1955–1959. 1999. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Stamps, Richard B. “The Cultural Impact of Mormon Missionaries on Taiwan.” BYU Studies 41, no. 4 (2002): 103–14.
- 尹因印 (Stamps, Richard B.) and 江威締 (Wendy J. Shamo). 台灣的末世聖徒：台灣傳道40週年歸信者見證選集 (The Taiwan Saints). Taipei: Cultural Dynamics, 1996.