[TRAVELS] ASA TOUR – 日月潭文武廟 / Sun Moon Lake Wen Wu Temple @ Nantou, Taiwan
On the forth day of my trip to Taiwan last year, we were brought to a historical and cultural place in Nantou.
日月潭文武廟 / Sun Moon Lake Wen Wu Temple
No.63, Zhongzheng Rd., Yuchi Township,
Nantou County 555, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
+886-49-2855122
The tour brought us on a boat through the sun moon lake after the temple tour and it was really a breezy experience. The view of Sun Moon Lake from the temple is breathtaking as seen above. Sun Moon Lake is named as such as the west side of the lake resembles the moon, while the east side of the lake portrays the sun. If you didn’t already know, the Sun Moon Lake is printed in 2012′s PRC passport, which stirred a strong protest from Taipei to Beijing.
Although I am a Christian, I love going to temples when I am in another country that has special features on it. There is always a cultural significance to the temples there. If we backtrack to the Japanese Occupation period in Taiwan, there were originally two temples named Longfeng Temple & Yihua Hall on the banks of the lake. However, due to the hydroelectric power plants built by the Japanese, the water level rose and the temples had to be removed. Wen Wu Temple was then built in replacement in 1938. After Japan surrender in 1945, the Taiwanese government saw a good opportunity to develop Sun Moon Lake into a tourist spot so the Wen Wu temple was rebuilt again on the North of Sun Moon Lake in 1969. The palace styled temple has three halls. One of it is the front hall on the second hall for the God of Literature and the First Ancestor Kaiji. The second hall is the central hall allocated for warrior-God Wang Fei and Guan Gong and the third hall at the rear side is for Confucius. One of the guardian lion at the side of the front plaza in the forth last picture of this entry is a male, while the other is a female. There are no guardian lion in the Wen Wu Temple in China though. They are named as “Fire Lions” by Wu Huo-shih, who donated it. Just look at how beautiful the interior of the temple is. I heard from the tour guide that Shu Qi prayed in this temple before heading to Hong Kong and she ended up being a superstar after. Thus, she donated money to the temple as well. My brother and his girlfriend went to make a wish by offering donation and praying with the incense provided. The guide also stated that the hotel depicted in the picture above could withstand the strong earthquake many years back. The last two pictures depicts the “stairway to heaven” look. Many years back when there was no road leading to Wen Wu Temple, many people had to take a boat and walk up the many steep stairs to the temple. However, since the roads to Wen Wu Temple is already so developed, the stairs haven been renovated into the stairs as depicted. There are 366 stairs in total and this represents one leap year. At the side of these stairs lies the wind chimes, which people write their names and wishes on it and hang it on the steps that shows their birthday. If I come back here without a tour next time, I would want to walk down and up the stairs to understand more on the traditional folk culture that the steps are carved with.
OPENS 24/7 but please use side entrance after 8PM
Take either THSR / train to Taichung Station / Taichung Railway Station > Continue by Nantou / Renyou Bus to Sun Moon Lake
I felt that the tour to the Sun Moon Lake Temple was a good introduction but it was quite rush and I did not have enough time to appreciate what is written and comprehend the culture enough. I would not mind coming back here again to experience this again but with deeper understanding.
1 Comment
Gorgeous photos! Thank you so much for sharing this lovely tour!