In our search for Chinese religious experience, we go to Taiwan. A whole pantheon of gods both local and imported from the mainland are worshipped in thousands of Buddhist and Taoist temples. Several strands make up the religious life of the village: a Confucian respect for past and the ancestors, the cosmic pattern of the Tao that permeates all levels of existence and manifests itself through oracles, the local gods who dispense justice and favors, and the hungry ghosts of the dead who have to be placated.
The Long Search was a 1977 BBC documentary television series spanning 13 episodes. Presented by theatre director Ronald Eyre, the series surveyed several major world religions, including Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic Christianity. Other episodes surveyed Theraveda and Zen Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and even the New Age movement. Location filming took place in India, England, Italy, Japan, Israel, Romania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the United States, Egypt, Indonesia, and South Africa.
Scholar of religion Ninian Smart acted as editorial consultant to the show, and also authored a companion book by the same name. The series was re-issued on DVD, and is currently distributed by Ambrose Video.
