"De estas )religiones), el taoísmo es una religión autóctona, las otras han sido introducidas desde tierras foráneas.[/details]
Of these, Taoism is a native religion, the others HAVE been introduced from foreign lands.
Why HAVING is the right? Can anyone explain it to me?
Thanks in advance
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I think it means something similar to “…, while the others have been intrduced…”
It emphasises the contrast.
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I’m not really sure what the corresponding grammatical tense would be, but I think it might be because of making a distinction between focussing on the action, rather than an object/person, as a subject, possibly also because it would also be included in a sentence consisting of at least two parts, where the subject has already been referred to explicitly in the other part, but I could be wrong there.
For example “Having been fired, she didn’t go into work that week.” as opposed to “Because she had been fired, she didn’t go into work that week.” or “Not wanting to seem impatient, he waited two minutes before asking the next question” as opposed to “He didn’t want to seem impatient, so he waited two minutes before asking the next question”.
So with relation to this sentence (though it seems to have been taken out of context anyway, since there were clearly more religions referred to previously), an alternative form could look like “Of these, Taoism is the only native religion, since the others have been introduced from foreign lands”.
Sorry, I realise it’s not much of an explanation, I’ll have a bit of a look into the grammar side of this and see if I can find some authoritative sources that can actually explain it better, and more importantly the “why” of it.
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Thank you so much for your explanation and, above all, for the time you put into prepare it.
It has been very useful.
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It is not necessary to use “having”. This is “university” speak, and it must be the second part of a “statement” (there has to be a sentence before it). There is no good reason to write in this way .
Having been:
It usually means Because X happens, then Y.
Instead of having been,
You can just say,
Since this...
OR
As...
Whoever added and wrote the original sentence = 🤦🏼 . And it’s confusing because it cannot stand on its own without the sentence before.
You are better off searching for other “having been” example sentences to understand the grammar here. Here’s one:
No reason to write like this:
HAVING BEEN given an invitation, he didn’t have to wait in line at the club.
BETTER /not like a professor:
He didn’t have to wait in line at the club because he had an invitation 
OR:
Since he already received his invitation, he didn’t have to wait in line at the club.
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Thank you, by a confusing-but-determent ESL.
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