Taiwan Today

Colorful, Ancient Structures Call Themselves to Attention Of Tourists as Well as Gods From Sites That Include Some Of the Island's Most Scenic

China, unlike some neighboring countries, does not have a national religion. Receptive to foreign influence and tolerant of all faiths, the Chinese have philosophical roots that are firmly bedded in the Confucian doctrines of filial piety, benevolence, justice, fidelity and propriety. Such principles have subconsciously become part of the Chinese character. It is in this sense that every Chinese can be considered a Confucianist.

A person may pay respects to his ancestors as part of family tradition and at the same time be a good Christian. He thinks there is nothing strange about it. In fact, even differences in faith have never caused civil conflict in China. At the same time, temples have never exercised the influence that churches do. To most Chinese, faith is molded more by tradition than by any formal religion.

When the Manchus came to power some 300 years ago, patriotic remnants of the overthrown Ming dynasty left their homeland for Taiwan, where they hoped to organize a movement to oust the invading northerners. Others came to escape the intimidations and encroachments of Manchu power. Each group brought its dialect, customs, beliefs, and gods.

Thus the temples of Taiwan have been in existence for three centuries. There are more than 4,000 of them, primarily Confucianist, Buddhist, and Taoist, in addition to “Christian churches" and Moslem mosques. Veneration also is accorded local deities, including Matsu, the guardian goddess of the seas.

According to a Taiwan Provincial Government survey, principal divinities total 38, roughly classified into five categories:

1. The worship of nature—providence, stars, earth, the moon, stones, trees, and other natural objects: a legacy from primitive ancestors.

2. The worship of the soul or the spirit—heroes, sages, saints, worthy men, city gods, and the like.

3. The veneration of Confucius—Emperor Wen-chang (god of literature), the kuei hsin (chief star of the dipper, revered as the god of literature), and others.

4. Popular Buddhist figures—Shakyamuni, Amida Buddha, Kuan Yin (goddess of mercy), Ti- Tsang (Buddha who saves souls), the Buddhist Trinity, Yen Lou (king of purgatory), St. Gee Kung and other patron saints.

5. Popular Taoists—the Taoist pope and numerous divinities whose origin and nature are ambiguous.

Various Names

The first settlers from the mainland worshiped the idols in the privacy of their own homes. As their numbers grew, small groups began to build shrines to worship together. These modest buildings gradually became the temples of today.

Most temples are for purposes of supplication, thanksgiving, commemoration, and veneration. Some are family ancestral halls. Others are meeting places where Buddhist lay members can study and discuss religious scriptures. Some provide living quarters for nuns and monks. A number are altars to provide assurance against disaster.

Temples are named after the personages honored, the virtues represented, or after the locality. Thus they are variously called temples, meeting places, halls, study halls, shrines, monasteries, palaces, altars, grottoes, caves, convents or nunneries, pavilions, chambers, mountains, and so on.

The exact number of temples is not known. According to a 1937 Japanese survey, there were 3,705 on Taiwan and 171 in the Pescadores. New construction was not undertaken during Sino-Japanese hostilities of 1937-45. Some temples were bombed and destroyed. Since retrocession, new construction again has been undertaken.

Supposedly, there are 55 temples more than 300 years old; 194 are 250 years or older, 379 of 200 years, 687 of 150 years, and 932 of 100 years.

Taiwan's Kuan Ti Miao (Emperor Kuan Temple) and Makung's Tien Ho Kung (Heavenly Queen Palace) are reputedly the oldest. Tucked away in little frequented hills or out-of-way settlements are diminutive, dilapidated structures, often nameless but mostly Yu Yin altars, that may be much older.

Tu Ti Kung (Earth Lord) shrines are popular among the people, a majority of whom are farmers. Tu Ti Kung is identical with the divinity of wealth revered by merchants. The shrines are everywhere; their numbers can be counted in the thousands.

Yu Yin temples, housing the bones of the unknown dead, are mostly situated on hilly slopes, in open fields, along roads and rural communities and tribal village. Poorly constructed with mud walls and thatch roofs, some of stone slabs and tiled roofs, they honor the Ching T’ou (Golden Peck measure), or the urn for the remains; hence these are also called "Golden Peck", "Everybody's" or "Thousand-family" temples.

In the beginning, the Yu Yin shrines were used as a resting place for the bones of early Chinese settlers who were killed by the aborigines. Later, the bones of the indigent were added. The shrines were built by local residents as a benevolence. They are more in the nature of a common grave or cemetery than buildings of worship.

Next in number are the Princes' temples which provide offerings to the deities of the sea. Larger than the two mentioned previously, they are mostly located at fishing ports and on islets. Legend has it that these "princes" were 360 Chin Shih (graduate), holders of a scholastic degree equivalent to a doctorate, of the Tang dynasty. Their boat capsized in a typhoon and the scholars were drowned. A boat stands in every temple.

Another version has it that the 360 were of the Ming dynasty. When the regime was overthrown, they committed mass suicide by drowning. Scholars, farmers, laborers, and merchants join in honoring them.

The "princes" also are appealed to in time of plague. Whenever a pestilence threatened, Taoist priests of olden days were called to offer sacrifices. The temple boat was put adrift at sea to carry away the sickness. If the boat touched shore, shrines were built to prevent the outbreak of disease. With the advent of modern medical science, the "princes" arc losing their significance.

Historical Port

There are private, public, and society-owned temples. Ancestral halls belong to private families or clans and are supported by them. Public houses of worship are built and supported through public contributions and the proceeds from temple-held properties. Some establishments serve and are maintained by a religious society. Temples may also be used as social centers for local residents. Many have historical interest. Some command beautiful views and have become tourist attractions.

Pei Kanz or North Harbor in Yuen Lin county is a natural port, formerly an important link between Taiwan and the mainland. Its Tsao Tien Kung (Worship Heaven Palace) is the largest and most imposing temple honoring Matsu. It also has a long history, having been built in the 33rd year of Kang Hsi (1694). First made of mud and thatch, it was rebuilt in wood and tile in the eighth year of Yung Cheng (1731). The principal image was brought from the mainland by the famous monk Shu Bi from the temple of the same name in Mei Chow, Fukien province, the birthplace of Matsu.

Once wrecked by fire and later destroyed by an earthquake, the present temple was started in 1907 and completed in 1912. The stone columns, roof, and eaves are delicately sculptured. The main hall honors Matsu, the central hall Kuan Yin and the rear hall Matsu's parents. A record crowd gathers annually for Matsu's birthday.

Another Matsu temple, the Feng Tien Kung (Serve Heaven Palace) stands within the city of Hsin Kang or New Harbor in Chiayi county. It attracts large numbers of believers.

Taipei has several celebrated places of worship. The Hsia Hai (Radiant Sea) city god temple of Tihwa Road is small but well known. The most popular incense-offering time is the fifth lunar month, when 10,000 persons worship daily. The 13th day of the fifth month is the god's birthday.

One hundred and seventy years ago, this city god was taken over from Tung An county of Chuan Chou prefecture, Fukien, and resettled in a temple in the Wanhua district. Descendants of settlers from Chin Chiang, Huei An, and Nan An counties of Chuan Chou, who built up the bustling Wanhua commercial area, became involved in a factional squabble, and the first temple burned down. The god was saved, however in 1895, contributions made possible the, construction of a new temple on the present Tihwa Road site.

Two City Gods

The Cheng Huang god (the words mean "city wall") has for company his wife, his officers, and the 38 persons who died in saving his image from the fire. The temple is supported by 600 "adopted" sons and daughters who sought the deity's help in curing some ailment. After recovery they accepted responsibility for helping celebrate the divinity's birthday and for keeping the temple in good repair and well provided.

Another Cheng Huang shrine is located on Wuchang Street. Less popular than the first, it has two city gods. Instead of paintings of door spirits on the two halves of the gate, there is the inscription: "Adjust the dual powers (ying or negative and yang or positive) and be equitable to the good and the bad."

On the door posts are carved the messages: "If one listens to his conscience in performing the duties of life, one need not burn incense and light candles on the first and the fifteenth of the month; those acting against justice must look out for my chains and iron fork (punishment) in the middle of the night."

Before the shrine of judgment are the words: "The judge is upright and true, luminously displaying and reporting all good and evil deeds; the judgments are stern and one rule decides the ying (the world of the dead) and the yang (the world of the living). The judges are not blind and do not allow soliciting of favors."

Chih Nan Kung in scenic Musha honors Taoist Lue. On one side of the main hall stands a bell tower and on the other a drum tower. Located on the summit of a hill, the temple comands a panoramic view of the rolling countryside. It was built in the 17th year of Kuang Hsu (1892). In 1917, contributions were solicited to widen the road and put a bridge across the stream.

On the eighth day of the fifth lunar month (Lue's birthday), the second of the eighth moon (the temple's inaugural day), the third of the ninth moon (Taoist Pope Chang's birthday), tens of thousands of persons stream to the temple to worship or to enjoy the view.

Lung Shan Shih (Dragon Mountain Temple) on Kuangchow Street, one of the most famous and largest Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan, is dedicated to the goddess Kuan Yin. Construction was started in the third year of Chien Lung (1739) and completed three years later. The goddess was brought from An Hai village's Lung Shan in Chin Chiang county, Chuan Chou prefecture. Since that time Kuan Yin has twice gone back to her original home, in 1892 and again in 1918, to receive offerings.

During the earthquake in the 20th year of Chia Ching (1816), all except the main hall of the temple collapsed. In that same year, contributions were sufficient for the reconstruction. Damaged again by a combination of termites and typhoons, the temple was rebuilt in 1921 with contributed funds. Damage of Second World War bombings was repaired after the retrocession of Taiwan to the Republic of China. Skillful sculptures and artistic carvings on gates, pillars, and eaves lend the temple a stately appearance. Area is 3,600 square feet. Lung Shan Shih temples in Tamsui and Tainan are smaller and more recent

Taiwan's Kai Yuan temple, one of the oldest, occupies some 12,000 square feet. Formerly named Pei Yuan (North Garden) villa, it was built by Koxinga's son, Cheng Jin, during the 19th year of Kang Hsi (1681) for his mother. Some of Koxinga's relics are displayed.

A cluster of "seven string" bamboos (the trunks have delicate yellow string-like stripes, like those on a music instrument) grow in the garden. These are said to have been transplanted from the mainland by Lady Koxinga. Back of the temple tower are three connecting pagodas where the temple's monks rest themselves.

Chin Lung Shih (Golden Dragon Temple) is situated on Neihu's Pi Hu or Blue Lake Mountain. To commemorate the 2,500th birthday of Shakyamuni on the fourth of the fourth lunar month (May 14, 1956), a big Buddha statue of reinforced concrete was constructed behind the temple. It was a Sino-Japanese technical venture. Height is 73 ½ feet and width 44 feet. The face is 18 ½ feet long and 15 feet wide. There are seven stories inside the body. Through the statue's eyes, there is a panoramic view.

Monsters Slain

Near Chin Lung Shih arc three smaller temples - the Pi Shan Yen (Blue Mountain Precipice), the Tai-yang Miao (Sun Temple), and the Yuan Jueh Shih (Round Realization Temple)—each dedicated to a different divinity.

Yuan Shan's Chien Tan Ku Shih (Sword Lake Ancient Temple) lies near the Kcclung River in Taipei city, the place where the present Chung Lieh (Loyal Meritorious) shrine stands. Built in the years of Kang Hsi (1662-1723), it first was a thatched roof structure. In the 10th year of Kuang Hsu (1885), it was rebuilt of brick and tile. In 1925 a new temple was completed on the site.

Legend had it that sea monsters were making trouble in the lake when Koxinga passed through the area with his troops. He threw his sword into the water, subduing the monsters; thus the name.

Hsin Pu's Pao Chung Ting (Praise Loyalty Pavilion), popularly called Yi-ming Miao (Volunteers Temple), was constructed in the 55th year of Chien Lung (1791) by Hakka immigrants and used as a meeting place. It was abandoned for a time, then reconstructed from 1898 to 1903 to commemorate the spirits of some 200 Hakka heroes. The period of the 18th through 20th days of the seventh lunar month has been designated for Hakka memorial services.

White Jade Goddess

Yuan Tung Shih in Chungho county is a spotless, lovely convent that was enlarged and repaired in 1953. An elephant and a lion, both of cement, stand in front of the temple. Carved on a cliff is a giant character of Buddha and a statue of Amida Buddha. Beautiful scenery helps attract tourists.

Lin Yun Shih (Reach Clouds Temple) is located on Kuan Yin Mountain, 312 meters high. Its incense-offering time is in the third lunar month. A subdivision of the temple, called the Hsi Yun Shih (West Cloud Temple) has a tower where human ashes are kept and remembered. Its opening days are the eleventh of the third and the ninth moons. The ashes of many modern era personages are to be found there.

Yin Ho Tung (Silver River Cave) on O-K'ua mountain in Taipei county honors goddess Kuan Yin. A waterfall tumbles beside a cave to enhance the natural loveliness of the place.

Yuan Tung Shih on Wu Chih or Five Fingers Mountain in Chu Tung county is built on a cliff. A white jade Kuan Yin is revered here. In the distance, sky and the sea seem to merge into one.

Lion's Mountain is Buddhist sacred ground. Temples and grottoes abound on cliffs and in caves, the most famous being the Chuan Hua Tang (Urge Reform Hall). Clean rooms and simple vegetarian dishes are available for tourists. There are precipices and soaring trees; views are awesome. A highway encircles the mountain. Construction of tourist hotels are planned and the area may become a national park.

Situated halfway up a hilly slope is the Wen Wu Miao (Civil Military Temple) at Sun-Moon Lake. Boats reach the base of the hill and 360 stone steps lead to the temple. Confucius and Lord Kuan are revered.

Chung Wang Sze (Loyalty King Shrine) on Mt. Ali is situated at the entrance of Chungho village in Chiayi county. It is also known as the Wu Feng Miao to commemorate officer Wu Feng, who sacrificed his life in persuading the aborigines to give up head- hunting.

Yen Ping Wang or Koxinga Temple is located on Tainan's Kai Yuan Street. It formerly was a small shrine named Kai Yuan Miao. Later enlarged, it took its present name. Impressive rites take place on the tenth of every second lunar month.

The Confucius Temple in Tainan, though small and less magnificent than the one in Taipei, has a longer history. It was already in existence in the Yung Li (1403-25) years of the Ming Dynasty. Repaired in the 24th year of Kang Hsi (1686), it is the oldest of the civil temples.

Tainan's Lord Kuan temple is said to have been built by Koxinga. It is the most renowned military shrine on the island.

Kuan Tze Lin's Pi Yun Shih (Blue Cloud Temple) and Ta Hsien Yen (Great Immortal Cliff) are located near sulphur springs. Both honor goddess Kuan Yin and are good tourist attractions.

Cho Yin's Chuen Chiu Yu Kuo (Spring-Autumn Imperial Chamber) with main hall and lotus pond stand near Pan Pien Mountain in Kaohsiung. Confucius, Lord Kuan, Yueh Fei (another great warrior), and Koxinga share honors under one roof. Completed in 1953, it is T'aiwan's newest civil and military shrine.

Taitung's Lin Yen Shih (Spiritual Cliff Temple) is a tiny temple located inside the Pa Hsien Tung (Eight Immortals Cave) and honors goddess Kuan Yin. A pond glitters in front of the temple. It is said ,that if childless women drink from the pool, they will conceive.

Makung has 61 temples. The Tien Ho Kung is the oldest of four edifices honoring Matsu, having been built at the end of the Ming Dynasty more than 300 years ago. The Kuan Yin pavilion, built in the 32nd year of Kang Hsi (1694), is on the west coast. Outside the temple lies a pond where captured marine animals are released by worshipers. Commanding a superb vista, it is the most famous shrine in the Pescadores.

Penghu's Wen Shih Shu Yuan (Veined Stones Study), constructed in the 32nd year of Chien Lung (1768), is built exclusively of local veined stone. It is the center of Confucian teachings in the Pescadores, and also honors Emperor Wen Chang as well as Sung, Chen, Cheng, and Chang scholars. A civil and military shrine is located behind ,the study and a Kuei Hsin (chief star of the dipper and god of literature) Tower on one side.

During the Japanese occupation days temples were built in every city, town, and county to honor Shinto divinities. Since retrocession these have become shrines to heroes and martyrs. Most of these structures are located where the transportation is convenient and where the views are admirable.