This is reflected in a shift of focus in the academic study of Taiwanese religions. New theoretical agendas on the part of the researchers have played a role in this shift of perspective, but the principal factor is to be found in the drastic acceleration and greater visibility of change in the religious sphere since the 1970s. Julian F. Pas provides an evaluation of the general issues involved in religious change in Taiwan that serves to link the three more narrowly focused contributions. Together these four papers throw light on important aspects of a large-scale, ongoing process of sociocultural transformation of great significance for Taiwan and for the study of the role of religion in modern East Asian societies.
All societies go through changes, but in change, some aspects remain stable.
One major factor seems to be crisis, another factor is contact with other cultures, or new discoveries. All this applies to changes in the area of religion. In Taiwan, the process of change is ongoing, but perhaps too short to make final evaluations. Some groups tend to pressure their members in their religious outlook, and appear like cult movements. The purported role of Confucianism in modernization, both negative and positive, has received much attention.