Chaolin Temple () is a temple located in Silin Village, Chaozhou Township,

Pingtung County Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...

, Taiwan.

History

Chaolin Temple traces its history to the 1850s, when a farmer surnamed Chen sought to donate his land and construct a temple to

Nezha Nezha (, Nézhā) or sometimes Nezha the Crown Prince (, ), is a protection deity in Taoism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religion. His official Taoism, Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prin ...

. A

feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...

practitioner advised against the temple's construction, and it was not built in Chen's lifetime. After the feng shui practitioner had also died, Nezha began appearing to Chen's descendants, warning of heavy rains if the temple was not constructed soon. The rains that came caused flooding, and the floods washed the coffin of the feng shui practitioner into a pond. The coffin circled the pond three times, then sank and vanished. A second origin story also involves floodwaters, in this case diverted by an apparition of a child, which saved the village. Afterwards, local leaders collected funds to construct a temple, and the Chen family donated land for its construction. Following the flood, Chaolin Temple was completed in 1909. However, during Japanese rule,

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

was repressed. When the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

-led government required temples to be placed on a registry in 1973, township leader Chen Jung-chieh submitted Chaolin Temple under a neighboring address. A community and elder care program that had launched in 2006 is hosted at Chaolin Temple. Chaolin Temple was designated a historical site by the Pingtung County Government in 2006. The temple received its own address in 2020.

References

1909 establishments in Taiwan Temples in Pingtung County Religious buildings and structures completed in 1909 {{Taiwan-religious-struct-stub