Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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5. Ancestor veneration, funerals and afterlife beliefs
56% of the religiously unaffiliated in Taiwan believe in rebirth
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- 5. Ancestor veneration, funerals and afterlife beliefs
- Large majorities in Vietnam engage in traditions to honor ancestors
- Christians in East Asia, Vietnam generally less likely than others to engage in ancestor veneration rituals
- Roughly a quarter of Hong Kongers say they talk to ancestors about their lives
- Few in Asian societies surveyed believe ancestors have punished them
- Vast majority of East Asians and Vietnamese who have a family gravesite say they maintain it
- 7 in 10 Japanese adults visit their family gravesite at least once a year
- 44% of adults in South Korea say it is not important to follow traditional funeral rites
- In Japan, 9 in 10 say their family cremates and buries remains
- Few East Asian and Vietnamese families scatter deceased relatives’ ashes
- 56% of the religiously unaffiliated in Taiwan believe in rebirth
- 48% of Hong Kongers believe in nirvana
- In Vietnam, slightly more believe in hell than in heaven
- Across East Asia and Vietnam, majorities of Christians believe in both heaven and hell