圓山捷運站

Huguo Rinzai Temple (臨濟護國禪寺)

The Great Hall

People often ask me how I'm able to find so many 'interesting' places to take photos of and write about. When I think about it, its a bit of a strange question. Sure, some of the places I visit are a bit ‘different’ than most other expats but I've never really considered them all that obscure.

After over a decade of living in Taiwan I feel like I’ve pretty much exhausted all of the ‘typical’ well-known tourist attractions meaning that as a long-term traveller, I have to be a bit more adventurous and try harder than the average tourist.

To that effect, I suppose that there are quite a few places that I visit and blog about aren't likely to be introduced in Lonely Planet or any other English guide books. In truth, everyone knows about places like the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall or Longshan Temple. There’s not much new to discover or to talk about when it comes to tourist spots like these while the lesser known spots keep me on my toes and means that I get to learn more and more about Taiwan and its history.

As the nation opens up more and more to global tourism and becomes an important destination for the worlds travellers, its probably more important than ever that there are English resources available for travellers - especially those who come looking for something off the beaten path. One of the problems with this however is that travel resources and information regarding tourist spots outside of Taipei are rarely very helpful.

I guess that is why I try hard to introduce Taiwan as best as I can through the photos that I take and the research and translations that I do about the places I visit. I hope that I’m able to help make this beautiful country a little more accessible to the outside world.

Sun shining on the beautifully restored roof

Surprisingly, the spot I'm writing about today is one that I've passed by probably over a thousand times while riding Taipei's MRT and yet had always avoided. While I have a bit of a reputation for always wandering around Taiwan’s temples, from time to time there are some that even I try to avoid - and often for good reason!

Most of Taiwan's temples are easily accessible to the public and when you visit, no one will bother you with religious stuff or push anything on you. There are however quite a few temples belonging to certain organizations that would prefer visitors spend more time converting or donating than exploring. (See: Nature Loving Wonderland) I had always mistakenly thought that this was one of those places and I avoided going in to save myself the hassle.

I finally found a reason to visit however as I found out that there was a Japanese Colonial Era Buddhist Temple sitting right in the middle of this odd-looking temple complex. A Japanese temple of this size that is still left standing is something almost unheard of these days in Taiwan and is not the kind of thing I’m going to pass up, so I visited as soon as I could.

That being said, I did get harassed for a few minutes while inside, but it was more of an effort by someone to learn English rather than push any religious ideology!

The Linji Huguo Zen Buddhist Temple (臨濟護國禪寺) is one of the oldest and most well-preserved buildings of its kind remaining in Taipei from the Japanese Colonial Era and is a beautiful place to visit - So much so that I regret not having visited much sooner!

Yet another example of learning not to judge!

History

The Japanese Colonial Era began on April 17th 1895 when representatives from the Qing Dynasty signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki (下関条約) which signaled the end of the first Sino-Japanese War and forced China to cede both territory and copious amounts of cash to the Japanese Empire.

The colonial period which ended up lasting for a half century had its fair share of resistance from the local people and the colonial powers were certainly guilty of a great many atrocities, however the general feeling today is that people of this country share a strong bond with the Japanese and enjoy a friendship that is based off of mutual understanding and respect for each other.

When the Colonial Era started, the Japanese wasted no time starting to develop the island with modern infrastructure and also the means to create a thriving economy. As Taiwan was part of the Japanese empire, the Japanese made sure to construct buildings of Japanese cultural influence while at the same time building schools, banks, roads, etc.

Some of the buildings that were constructed included the various Martial Arts Halls, Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples which were meant to help endear and convert the people of Taiwan into loyal citizens of the Japanese empire.

In 1900, then Japanese Governor of Taiwan Kodama Gentaro (兒玉源太郎) requested monks from the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism to come to Taiwan, build a temple and promote Zen Buddhism in Taiwan on land nearby the newly constructed Taiwan Grand Shrine (台灣神社).

Rinzai (臨濟宗) is a sect of Zen Buddhism which is descended from the Chinese Lingji school founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji Yixuan (臨濟義玄). Rinzai Buddhism simply put emphasizes the usage of kōans (公案) which are best described as paradoxical anecdotes or riddles that have no solutions and are meant to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and promote enlightenment. Practitioners of Rinzai believe that through the usage of these riddles that the path to enlightenment (the ultimate goal for Buddhists) could be accelerated.

As one of Japan's various sects of Buddhism, Rinzai had flourished since its introduction in 1199 but came close to extinction when the Meiji Restoration (明治維新) started in 1868. The reforms brought on by the government focused their attention on several aspects of Japanese society that were deemed to be ‘feudalistic’ or ‘foreign’ as well as bringing an end to the Tokugawa Shogunate, the daimyo and the samurai class which were considered a burden on the state despite their cultural importance.

Orchids overlooking the century year old temple. 

Buddhism, which was the most widely practiced religion at the time was also targeted and replaced by Shintoism as the state religion in an attempt to cultivate Japanese nationalism, the notion of Japanese cultural superiority and the idea that the emperor was divine.

Buddhism was perceived by the Meiji as a religion of foreign origin and therefore inferior to the culturally superior state Shinto religion. Making matters worse was the fact that Rinzai was once closely linked with the former feudalistic social system and for centuries enjoyed the perks of being under the patronage of the Samurai class. This meant that in order to survive, Zen Buddhism had to quickly change and adapt to the new social order or face destruction.

The changes that were made by the various schools of Buddhism altered the core approaches and interpretations of the Buddha’s teachings to coincide with an unquestioning support for the Japanese government, its policies and the divinity of the Emperor. The new uneasy alignment with the Japanese government allowed for Japanese Buddhism to survive, but also forced it to abandon some of its key principles and practices and help promote militarism.

Buddhism’s conformation to state ideology however was not something so easily accepted by the government and during the period of the Meiji Restoration over 4,500 Buddhist temples were either closed or destroyed and monks were either drafted into the Imperial army or forced to return to ordinary life depending on their age.

While Buddhism faced difficulties during the Meiji Restoration in Japan, Taiwan was a bit of a different story where monks were sent with military regiments in order to provide spiritual service to the army which in the early days of the colonial era had to quell several rebellions.

Coincidentally the monks who came to Taiwan in the early days of the colonial era made similar attempts to convert the population that Christian missionaries did. The Japanese government supported these efforts for a while but ultimately stopped funding the monks as there was a larger push to promote Shintoism in Taiwan.

Governor General Kodama Gentaro who was himself affiliated with the Rinzai sect invited his university classmate Iori Genshu (梅山玄秀), a well-known Rinzai monk from Osaka to come to Taiwan and become the abbot of the temple which was to be constructed.

Construction on the temple took over a decade and was completed in 1911 (明治44年) with the original name Chin'nanzan Gokoku-ji Temple (鎮南護山國禪寺) which ultimately means that the temple was meant to help Protect the Southern Lands of the Japanese Empire.

Design

Beautiful Japanese architecture constructed with Taiwanese cypress. 

In the decades since the end of the Japanese Colonial Era the temple complex has been expanded upon and buildings have been built up that surround it and block it from the outside. Part of the reason why I never really knew that this temple existed in such a popular and busy tourist location is that it was pretty much hidden from plain sight by a temple design that seriously looks like it was crafted in the 80s.

The original complex consisted of a Main Hall, a Gate and some administrative buildings but today it has expanded considerably with two large halls, an administrative office, a large dormitory for the monks or guests of the temple and an area on the small mountain behind it where there are graves and statues of the Buddha.

I’m not going to touch on all of the new additions but the Main Hall, the Gate and the grave site of former temple abbot Iori Genshu are all important to mention.

Main Building (大雄寶殿)

The Great Hall 

The Main Building of the temple complex is the main attraction for visitors coming to the temple. It is the oldest remaining wooden structure built in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Era and also one of the largest. Built entirely of Taiwanese Cypress, a kind of wood that the Japanese lovingly refer to as hinoki (檜木), the temple is not only beautifully constructed with this wood but also extremely aromatic, especially if the past few days had some rain. 

The building known as the Hall of Great Strength (大雄寶殿) houses the main shrine which is dedicated to Shakyamuni Buddha (釋迦) and is a common name for a main hall of the Buddhist temple which contains an image of the Buddha.

The temple is designed with architecture that was typical of the Edo Period (江戶時代) which was the period of rule where the Tokugawa Shogunate (德川幕府) controlled Japan between 1603 and 1868 ending with the restoration of the Meiji Emperor.

The main hall is elevated off of the ground and has the easily identified four sided ‘hip and gable roof’ (懸魚) that resembles a mountain and has “owl’s tails” (鴟尾). The special thing to notice about the temple though is that on each of the owls tails you will find something known as an Onigawara (鬼瓦) as well as the word “Town” or “Guard” (鎮) on each of the end tiles (瓦片).

An Onigawara, otherwise known as an ogre tile is a type of roof ornament that depicts a Japanese ogre or what we might refer to as a “demon” in English. The tricky thing about referring to these “oni” (鬼) as demons is that they aren’t specifically evil in the English sense of the world although they are meant to be fearsome and have the ability to scare away evil spirits which might attempt to visit the temple. Practically speaking, the Onigawara tiles were meant to assist in protecting the roof from weathering and also the weather.

For more about Onigawara, Japanese imagery and another Japanese-Era building in Taiwan, check out my friend Alexander’s blog about the Fenyuan Town Hall in central Taiwan.

Link: Fenyuan Town Hall (芬園庄役場) (Synapticism)

The end tiles on the roof each end with a circle and have the Chinese character “鎮” on them which refers both protection and the original name of the temple.

When it comes to the roof, you have to pay a bit of attention to the details that went into its construction and make sure not to miss the wonderful designs that are distinctly Japanese and are not something that you’ll commonly see in Taiwan these days.

The inside of the main hall is currently off-limits to visitors as the hall is going through an on-going renovation project. You are able to view the inside from the main entrance but they have blocked it off for outside guests. The interior of the temple is made completely of wood which shines in the afternoon sun.

The main shrine room of the Great Hall - Off limits to visitors at this point. 

As mentioned above, the temple is dedicated to Shakyamuni Buddha (釋迦牟尼) but there are also shrines dedicated to Guanyin (觀世音菩薩) and Ksitigarbha (地藏菩薩). Above each of the Buddha’s are plaques that read “Compassionate and Kind” (慈悲為懷), “Transcending Time” (現壽者相) and “Commandments and Longevity” (戒壽並尊) respectively. 

The temple has been going through a long period of renovation over the past few years and while the outside has ultimately been completed, the interior still has quite a bit of work to do before its completed. The original renovation commenced in 2007 and ended in 2010 with the temple raising over $85 million NT (3 million US) for the project. Fresh cypress was shipped in from the forests of Yilan on Taiwan’s east coast while the roofing tiles were specially ordered from Japan to help with the temple’s authenticity.

Old Gate / Bell Tower (舊鐘樓山門)

The Old Gate / Bell Tower

The old gate to the temple seems as if it is still under renovation and although it is for the most part completed it is mostly just for decoration. Today it is the resting place for hundreds of pigeons who hang out all day. The door to the gate is closed and people are unable to pass through it anymore but its fine because there is an alternate entrance to the temple beside it. The gate is designed in the same way as the Main Hall with the same roof and the same wood.

Historic Japanese-era photo of the bell tower.

The sad thing about the gate though is that there is a giant stone slab next to it that had the original name of the temple as well as the date it was opened. The problem is that while most of the characters are still there to help identify the temple, the time period has been vandalized which is something I complained about in my blog about the former Taichung Shinto Shrine. The gate would have said something like “明治44年” on the side, but considering political sensitivities after the end of the Second World War, it was likely demolished like quite a few other buildings of Japanese cultural significance.

Getting there

Getting to the temple is extremely easy - All you have to do is hop on Taipei's MRT system's Red Line and take the train to Yuanshan MRT station (圓山捷運站). In addition to this beautiful historic temple the Yuanshan MRT station is an area of the city where travellers could easily spend an entire day checking out the beautiful Flora Expo Park (花博公園), the historic Lin An-Tai Mansion, Taipei's Confucius Temple (台北孔廟) and of course Bao-An Temple (保安宮) all of which are in walking distance from the station.

 

It isn't likely that you'll find this temple in English guide books, but as it has recently been recognized as one of the top religious tourist destinations in Taiwan, I suspect that will eventually change. This beautiful century-old Zen temple doesn't require a lot of time to visit but is a great place to visit to experience a living piece of Taiwan's history.


Taipei Confucius Temple (台北孔廟)

When I first started writing this blog a few years back, I wasn't as organized with how I would present photos and information as I am now, nor did I really imagine that the blog would get as much attention as it has. I planned on posting photos quite often but hadn't really considered that the content would often be just as important to people visiting the blog as the photos were. To that effect I made a few posts that combined locations and didn't really provide the information that certain places actually deserved.

This was the case when I posted about Taipei's Confucius Temple (台北孔廟) as well as its neighbour Bao-An Temple (保安宮) which happen to be two of Taipei's most important places of worship and also travel destinations for tourists. My plan is to rectify that by giving each location the proper respect and making separate blog posts using both new and old photos as well as giving more detailed information.

I know a lot of people don't share my passion for temples in Taiwan and posting about them isn't as great for traffic in the short term, but I think that temples of this importance and cultural significance deserve a much better effort on my part, so here we go:

Taipei's Confucius Temple (台北孔廟) located in the city's Da-Tong district (大同區) is a popular tourist attraction in Taipei and is an excellent example of southern Fujianese architecture. The temple is open year round to tourists with a full time tourism bureau kiosk inside the gates offering guided tours to visitors and it also acts as a Chinese cultural centre holding free Chinese calligraphy lessons as well as other classes that bridge the gap between China and Taiwan as well as the west.

The temples are known throughout Asia as "Temples of Literature" but it's important to not confuse them with temples dedicated to the Wenchang King (文昌大帝) who is otherwise known in Taoism as the "god of literature". The difference between the two is that while there are various religious celebrations dedicated to the Taoist God and during exam times students will visit to pray for good grades, that doesn't actually happen at a Confucius temple as they're set up more to promote education and venerate an individual who is thought to be the greatest teacher who ever lived.

The simplicity of the temple may make the average tourist think that it pales in comparison to its much larger and more spectacular neighbour Bao-An temple (or any other Taoist temple for that matter), but that is really not the point of a Confucius temple - They are set up to seem like an ancient school and while inside may seem like a library but there is certainly a lot to notice when you're there.

There are of course various Confucius temples found throughout Taiwan and while the Taipei temple was not the first to be constructed (Tainan's Confucius temple was the first in Taiwan built in 1665) nor is the the most beautiful (Taoyuan's is the most beautiful in my opinion) but the temple does have an interesting history and that history relates to the modern development of Taiwan through the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese Colonial era and the most recent Republic of China period of Taiwan's history.

History

The Taipei temple's origins date back to the Qing Dynasty (清朝) when the empire established a proper base of operations in Taipei years after the defeat of the descendents of Koxinga (鄭成功) and his clan of Ming-loyalists (who occupied parts of Taiwan and were considered a major annoyance to the newly formed empire) and started to develop the city.

History has shown that for the majority of time that the Qing controlled Taiwan they were mostly uninterested in the island referring to it as a "ball of mud beyond the sea" which added "nothing to the breadth of China" (海外泥丸,不足為中國加廣) and were ultimately unable to expand their land control any further than the western coastal strip due to disinterest and the fact that Taiwan's Indigenous groups (who had lived on the island for tens of thousands of years) weren't exactly interested in making friends with strangers.

This fact is important to remember when you hear about Chinese claims of sovereignty over the island as the Qing couldn't even come close to controlling the entire island the way the Japanese did.

In 1875, almost two hundred years after the Qing took partial control of the island they established "Taipei prefecture" and almost immediately set in motion plans to construct a Confucius temple to serve the literati, matters of the court and impose imperial culture on the people of the island. Construction work on the temple began in 1879 with parts being finished in 1881 and the rest reaching completion in 1884. The location of the temple was different than today and is actually on a site near Taiwan's presidential palace in the governing district of the capital.

The lifespan of the original temple was cut short due to the breakout of the first Sino-Japanese War (甲午戰爭) and the ultimate signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki (馬關條約) which ceded control of Taiwan and the Penghu islands to the Japanese empire. When Japan took control of Taiwan they quickly moved to quell any sort of resistance and also put much more effort into achieving complete control of the island than the Qing did.

Taipei being a major economic centre for the Qing meant that the population of the city was likely very loyal to the empire and uprisings were often held forcing the Japanese to strong arm the population and institute new policies that would promote Japanese culture and language.

In 1907 the original temple was torn down and replaced with the Taipei First Girls School (臺北市立第一女子高級中學) causing most of the ceremonial objects and tablets within to be destroyed or disappear. This is where the story gets interesting however - The harsh policies implemented by Japan didn't last that long and when the situation cooled down, life in Taiwan wasn't actually that bad. The Japanese brought with them modern education and helped to develop the island making life here more bearable and coincidentally more efficient - something which continues to this day.

When those policies were eased up a group of people including several Japanese members of society formed an organization which aimed to collect support and more importantly donations for the construction of a new temple. Land owners in the area ultimately donated over 180,000 square feet of land for the temple in Daodaocheng (大稻埕) which meant that the next step was to find an architect to construct the temple.

This was an issue for the people in Taipei because no one actually had any skill or experience building an actual Confucius Temple. The history lesson up to now might have been a bit boring but for me this is the part that gets interesting - The organization that was tasked with construction of a new temple now had the land and the funds necessary to build a temple, but they needed someone with the building and design expertise to bring it all to fruition.

They contacted a well-known builder from Fujian province named Wang Yi-Shun (王益順) who was well-known in Taiwan at the time for his masterpiece of renovation work which he had completed on the Mengjia Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) as well as on the Hsinchu City God Temple (新竹城隍廟) - giving him a resume like no other! The organization contacted him shortly after he completed work on the City God Temple and he agreed to their terms becoming the chief engineer in charge of both design and construction of the new temple.

Wang is still considered one of the best carpenters of the late Qing dynasty and has a reputation for creating a fusion of the most important characteristics of Southern Chinese and Fujian-style architecture with that of traditional northern Chinese buildings like that of the original Confucius temple in Qufu.

Due to Wang's influence the newly constructed temple became the only Confucius temple in Taiwan (of which there are many) which was designed with Fujian-style adornments while still finding its inspiration from the original Qufu Confucius temple (山東曲阜孔廟) in China's Shandong Province.

Purists may argue that liberties were taken with such a fusion of styles but I think it's important to remember that the blending of styles allowed for some familiarity and more appreciation of the temple as the majority of Taiwan's earliest immigrants came from Fujian province and were not well well-versed in Northern-Chinese architecture.

Construction on the temple commenced in 1927 and on September 28th 1930, Teacher's Day (Confucius' birthday) was celebrated in Taipei for the first time in decades. At the time of the celebration the temple was only partially completed, however Wang Yi-Shun returned to China where he died shortly after at the age of 70.

After Wang's death, further additions were ultimately added to the temple complex which were completed in 1939. Shortly after completion the Second World War broke out and the Japanese ended the period of relative harmony as the nation prepared for war and because of this, Chinese cultural ceremonies were banned meaning that the Confucius temple was about to enter another difficult period.

After Japan surrendered to the allies, they were forced to relinquish control of Taiwan to the newly formed Republic of China which was led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (中國國民黨). The government quickly set up shop in Taiwan shortly and was ultimately forced to fully retreat to Taiwan with millions of people when they lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

In 1950 on the occasion of the 2500th birthday of Confucius, President Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣中正) visited the temple and gifted it with a large plaque with his personal calligraphy - The plaque read "Education for All" (有教無類) and the temple thus entered the modern period where it was gifted to the Taipei City Government in order to ensure that education and Confucian philosophy should be a priority for the nation.

Design

Confucius temples tend to be uniform in their simplicity - Unlike the overwhelming beauty of Taiwanese folk temples and Taoist temples - Confucius temples stand alone in their almost "zen-like" nature in that they don't have shiny gold or bronze decorations and murals all over the walls with hundreds of sticks of incense creating a haze throughout the temple.

The simplicity exhibited in Confucius temples throughout China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is meant to be a show of respect to Confucius as well as the importance of his philosophical views of education and his influence on Chinese culture and history.

One of the common features of all Confucius temples is that there is no imagery or statues of Confucius. This is a rule that goes back almost 500 years to the Ming Dynasty (明朝) when the emperor decreed that all Confucius temples should be uniform and only have "spirit tablets" (神位) rather than images of the sage. This practice has endured in Confucius temples up until today but if you really want to see the guy you don't have to go far as the neighbouring Bao-An temple has a shrine set up to the sage.

  • Dacheng Hall (大成殿)

Dacheng Hall is the main shrine area of any Confucius temple. The hall sits in the middle of a large granite courtyard with a large elevated platform in front of it as well as on the sides. Inside the hall is a very simple set up with the Confucius spirit tablet set up on a nice red table with an "Education for all" (有教無類) plaque above it. The phrase was taken from the Analects of Confucius (論語) and was written in calligraphy by none other than the glorious dictator Chiang Kai-Shek himself.

The simplicity of the shrine room is a stark contrast to what you'd see at a Taoist temple but there is beauty in simplicity and if you have the chance to walk inside the shrine room (it's not always open to the public) I recommend stepping in and checking it out.

There are an additional two shrines in the room found upon the west and east side walls and are dedicated to the four sages (四配) Yan Hui (顏子), Zengzi (曾子), Zisi (子思) and Mencius (孟子) who were Confucius scholars and authored books which improved upon the philosophy.

The key things to notice in the hall would be the spirit tablets but also the 'seven-levelled' pagoda in the middle of the roof which is thought to suppress evil. There are also 72 clay owls under the pagoda. You should also check out the 42 large pillars inside the shrine room and on the outside as well. The wooden trusses below the roof are also painted in the southern Fujian style so it sets the hall apart from others in Taiwan and China. 

  • Lingxing Gate (欞星門)

The Lingxing Gate acts as the main entrance to the temple. It's a necessary part of any Confucius temple yet the main gate at the Taipei temple is unlike any other and is where the architect and designer Wang Yi-Shun had the most influence.

The gate is decorated with beautiful ceramic murals on the sides featuring bird and flower patterns as well as different events in the life of Confucius. The ceramics are part of the reason why this temple has set itself apart from the rest and shouldn't be missed. The gate acts like a park and there is a lot of greenery in and around the gate.

It is a popular hangout for local senior citizens who want to come and have a chat with friends or have some peace and quiet from city life. One interesting thing to note however is that Wang Yi-Shun passed away before the gate was completed so if you have a sharp eye you may notice subtle differences in the wood work around the gate.

  • Chongsheng Shrine (崇聖祠)

The Chongsheng Shrine is situated behind the main Dacheng Hall and is used as a shrine room to venerate several generations of the ancestors of Confucius as well as the various Confucian sages and philosophers throughout history. This shrine room is not unlike a shrine room that you'd find in any large Taiwanese home and is an important place for ancestral worship.

The descendants of Confucius have spread out throughout China, Taiwan and Korea so it's important for them to have a place to worship. The shrine room isn't often open to visitors but you can look through the windows to see inside and if it is open you can walk in and see a smaller shrine room that is quite similar to the much larger shrine in Dacheng Hall.


The Taipei Confucius temple is generally not a very busy temple, but it is a well-known tourist attraction in close proximity to an MRT station. There are sparse groups of visitors throughout the day and the temple really only experiences massive crowds of people on Teacher's Day (September 28th). If you are in Taipei at that time and want to experience an ancient tradition that venerates China's most important sage you will have to wake up early as the ceremony starts at 6am and is often attended by mayors and presidents alike.

The temple is a short walk from Yuanshan station (圓山捷運站) on the red line of the Taipei MRT. There are signs that lead tourists in the direction of the temple and it is quite easy to find. If you visit, you are free to enjoy the temple and the park next to it - There is a tourist information bureau just outside the temple that will provide information about the temple in several different languages.

I realize that this was a long post, but I thought the temple deserved a much better effort on my part and hope that the detail in this blog, which I spent quite a bit of time translating from Chinese helps people to better understand the temple and how unique it is - something I didn't actually realize before doing all of this research!

For more information about Taiwan’s Confucius Temple’s please check out my Confucius Temple Guide.


Lin An Tai Mansion (林安泰古厝)

A few months ago I wrote a blog titled “Taipei’s Mansions” which had photos from two of Northern Taiwan’s most famous historical and well-preserved mansions. When I posted the blog, I had expected an obvious question and a few friends didn't disappoint as they enquired why I hadn't included the Lin An Tai Historical House and Museum (林安泰古厝) with the other two.

The reason was simple, the other mansions are just as well-preserved as the Lin Mansion, but they are still in their original locations which I felt was the most important factor in their authenticity. Apart from that, the Lin mansion is much more popular with tour groups as well as photographers that I felt it didn't really need to be included.  

I felt that photos from this place were already quite overdone and cliché as it is so popular for photoshoots for people who want that “Asian” feeling but aren't willing to leave the confines of the Taipei MRT system. Whenever you show up, you will always run into some models in traditional clothing walking around the grounds with a bunch of photographers following behind them. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but personally I prefer to use locations in areas less travelled and less overdone if I'm doing that kind of thing. 

Wedding Photo Time!

I kept the Lin An Tai mansion in mind though as I know that photographically speaking, it is a pretty cool place with nice scenery and eventually introducing the grounds would fulfill the request from my friends to have all of Taipei’s traditional mansions covered. So here we are! 

As mentioned above, due to the expansion of some of Taipei’s major roads, the Lin An Tai mansion in its original location was faced with either destruction or relocation. By the 1970s the mansion had fallen into a bit of disarray and like most mansions of this sort, the original inhabitants had already vacated the premises for modern housing. The mansion wasn't being taken care of in the way it should have been and it has started to fall apart. 

Taipei is a city that tends to have little regard for tearing down the ‘old’ to make way for the ‘new’ but historians and civic activists argued that the mansion should be preserved and moved from its original location in Daan District (大安區) to a new location. 

Enjoying the scenery.

The city government agreed and started a massive relocation and renewal project moving the mansion across the city to the Binjiang park (濱江公園) which was large enough to house a home of its size and historical importance. The relocation project started in 1978 and lasted until 2000 when it was finally opened to the public. 

The house was originally built by Mr. Lin an immigrant from Fujian Provinces Anxi County who moved to Taiwan and operated a successful business here. 

The name of the mansion is interesting as it is named in part after the family, Anxi province and the name of the company the family owned. Today we have the Lin An Tai Mansion (林安泰古厝) which uses the characters “Lin” (林) the family’s surname, “An” (安) after Anxi County (安溪縣) in Fujian Province (福建省) and “Tai” (泰) after name of their successful company (榮泰行) 

I won't go into detail too much about the design of the mansion (My friend Carrie explains in much more detail and much better than I could) but what I will say is that the house was originally designed with Feng Shui (風水) being the most important factor in its construction.

Hello Little Bird.

Since the mansion has moved from its original location, things have changed according to Feng Shui, but the ‘natural’ elements of a home still remain which means you will still find courtyards filled with nature, a pond filled with lotus blossoms and several shaded rest areas where the owners can enjoy the natural environment from the comfort of their home.

Feng Shui stresses a relationship with the natural environment in order to create more positive energy and even though the mansion has moved from its original location, you still get a pretty positive vibe from hanging out at the mansion. 

The mansion is situated a short walk from the Yuanshan MRT station (圓山捷運站) and if you are visiting Taipei, I recommend spending a bit of time in the area as it has this mansion, the Flora Expo park and Taipei’s Confucius Temple (台北孔廟) and Bao-An Temple (保安宮) all within a short distance of one another and can be covered over a few hours in the afternoon before moving on to Shilin Nightmarket (士林夜市) in the evening.

The Lin Tai An Mansion is definitely worth a visit and if you are only in Taipei for a short time and want to visit a place that seems more “Asian” than what you'll find elsewhere in a modern city like Taipei - you'll be pleased with this place as it is a really well preserved monument to a time that Taipei city has more or less forgotten!  

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