The following information is based on a telephone interview and correspondence with a professor at the department of religion at the University of Missouri in Columbia, who is a specialist in Chinese religions (8 Oct. 1999). The professor told the Research Directorate that he is aware of the existence of Tian Dao temples in Canada, having done research on the Tian Dao religion in British Columbia. Tian Dao ("way of heaven") is also known as Yi Guan Dao ("way of unity"). The name Tian Dao came to be used more frequently after the religion was banned in China following World War II, and in addition, Canadian followers of the religion prefer the name Tian Dao. When the professor did research on Tian Dao in British Columbia from 1993 to 1996, there were about 30 Tian Dao temples (known as Buddha halls) in the greater Vancouver area, each of which were attended by about 30 to 50 people. Tian Dao adherents undergo an initiation ceremony, and each initiate receives a certificate and is counted as a member of the Buddha hall where the ceremony took place.

There are two types of membership in a Buddha hall: active and passive. All members have undergone the initiation ceremony, but the majority do not regularly attend a Buddha hall, and are therefore considered passive members. Adherents maintain that Tian Dao is not a religion in the narrow sense, but represents the Dao, in which all specific religions are rooted. Membership in, and practice of another religion, Christianity for example, is not an obstacle to being initiated into Tian Dao. The professor was not able to provide information on a Buddha hall in Toronto called "Xiende," although he observed that many Buddha halls have the character "de" (virtue) in their names. In addition, the professor mentioned that Buddha halls are usually not recognizable from the outside as temples, mentioning home churches by way of analogy. Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

Professor, Department of Religion, University of Missouri, Columbia. 8 October 1999. Telephone interview and e-mail correspondence.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, LEXIS/NEXIS, World Network Connection (WNC).

Two oral sources consulted did not provide additional information on the subject.