Abstract
The author examines the development of Daoist institutions in Hong Kong. He focuses on the historical factors behind that development, in the context of transplantation from parent institutions in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong province since 1940. The origin of most Hong Kong Daoist temples and altars cannot be disassociated from the larger Lü Dongbin cults that flourished in Guangdong during late imperial China. Many of the Daoist institutions are volunteer religious organizations whose members are recruited from different strata in Hong Kong. Since the 1970s, in identifying themselves more as charitable societies in a modern sense, major Daoist organizations are changing their nature and integrating into the Hong Kong community.
