The Beitun Wenchang Temple () is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

in Renmei Village,

Beitun District Beitun District (; lit: northern camp) is a District (Taiwan), district in Taichung, Taiwan. Located in the northern part of the city, it is a half mountainous, half urban area. Though Beitun District used to be considered part of the countrysi ...

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

History

The construction planning for the temple began in 1825. In 1864, the Wenwei and Wenping community school raised funds to construct the temple to raise the cultural standards, promote Confucianism, improve local literacy, train scholars for the imperial examinations and encourage education in the area. The temple was completed in 1871 as a Confucian Temple, retaining the two original shrines in name, operation and assets distribution, which were the Wenwei and Wenbing Shrines. Extra funds were also raised to purchase the temple land and agricultural process went towards the temple expenses and staffs salary. During the

Japanese rule of Taiwan The Geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu, Penghu Islands, became an annexed territory of the Empire of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan Province, Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki a ...

, the temple was changed to Wenchang Temple. In 1904, the Japanese took over the wing and converted into a public school, which today becomes the Beitun Elementary School. The left and right studios were converted to teacher dormitories. In April 1996, the

Taichung City Government The Taichung City Government () is the municipal government of Taichung. History Taichū City Government was established by the Governor-General of Taiwan and the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese colonial authorities on 1 October 1920. F ...

made reparation by commissioning the Architectural Research Center of

Tunghai University Tunghai University (THU; ) is a private university in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan, established in 1955. It was founded by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). The university is known for its liberal arts educati ...

for the renovation work. The project was completed in March 1998 with a cost of NT$34 million.

Architecture

The temple faces south in a complex which consists of five shrine rooms, two rooms and two wings with small shrines attached to them. The front hall consists of three shrine rooms. The main hall has a four-columned pavilion in front. On the left and right is a low wall that is connected with the classroom in the two wings.

References

{{commons category 1871 establishments in Taiwan Religious buildings and structures completed in 1871 Taoist temples in Taichung

History

Architecture

See also

References