Lukang Longshan Temple Audio Guide

Lukang Longshan Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Longshan Temple

   Welcome to Longshan Temple, known locally as 鹿港龍山寺, in the old port town of Lukang in Changhua County. The Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Buddhist figure of compassion, is the principal deity here. The temple has been a national monument since 1983. There are several temples in Taiwan named Longshan, including ones in Tamsui, Wanhua, Tainan and Fengshan. All of them trace their line back to the Longshan temple at Anhai in Quanzhou, in Fujian province. Of the whole family, the one you are standing in is the largest and the best preserved. The grounds cover more than 1600 ping, roughly 5300 square meters, so there is real room to wander. The plan runs in a straight line through three halls and two courtyards: the mountain gate, the five-gate hall with its opera stage, the main hall with its worship pavilion, and the rear hall. Take it slowly, because the story here is layered, and each hall adds a chapter.

2. 02

   A Temple Follows the Port at Longshan Temple

   Start with the story the temple tells about itself. Legend says that a wandering monk named Zhaoshan, from Quanzhou, was carrying a stone Guanyin to offer at the holy island of Putuoshan. A storm swept his boat off course and carried him to Lukang. He stayed, practiced austerities near a lane called Anjie-zai, and founded a small temple by the harbor. Tradition holds that this was the very beginning of Buddhism in Taiwan. The date on the record books is firmer: 1786. In 1784 the Qing court opened Lukang as a port facing Hanjiang in Quanzhou, and migrants from Fujian poured in through the harbor. The temple had been a small street shrine, and its worshippers were growing in number. A military officer named Chen Bangguang, together with his fellow migrants, moved it to this quieter site, away from the bustle of the docks and better suited to contemplation. At first the congregation came mainly from the Quanzhou districts of Jinjiang, Hui'an and Nan'an. Over time those distinctions faded, and the temple became a shared temple for the whole of Lukang.

3. 03

   Stone, Wood and Paint at Longshan Temple

   Now look closely, because this temple is a masterclass in craftsmanship. Out front, granite dragon pillars rise and descend in mirrored pairs. Each pillar carries five cranes in flight, a play on a phrase meaning ten-out-of-ten perfection. Beside the five-gate hall, the dragon and tiger wall panels are carved in deep relief. On the dragon panel, a dragon rides the clouds above two carp, with rocks shaped like a legendary gate. It is a picture of the carp leaping the dragon gate, the old emblem of success against the odds. Behind the front hall, an opera stage projects with a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof. Above it is an octagonal caisson ceiling, the earliest and largest of its kind still preserved in Taiwan. Its spiraling geometry also helps carry sound, giving performances a natural resonance. As you go deeper, notice the carved windows and the painted decoration by the well-known painter Guo Xinlin. Together they help explain why this temple is so often called Taiwan's most complete Qing-dynasty temple architecture.

4. 04

   Rebuilt and Reborn at Longshan Temple

   The temple you see took its present shape in the nineteenth century. In 1829, the scholar Lin Tingzhang, a descendant of the Rimao trading house, and the merchants of the Eight Guilds led a major restoration. It was completed in February 1831, and the temple still keeps the style of that rebuilding. In the central courtyard, paving slabs brought from Quanzhou lie underfoot, and a pair of banyan trees more than 200 years old stand beside them. Inside, a plaque dated 1830 is the oldest in the temple. History has left other marks. In 1897, during the Japanese era, a Buddhist missionary rented the rear hall and set up a Jodo Shinshu mission there, with a school beside it. In 1961 the Guanyin statue was re-enthroned in the main hall, and the Japanese Amitabha Buddha figure moved to the rear hall. Then came the earthquake of September 21, 1999. It twisted the mountain gate, shifted pillars and cracked ridgelines, though the Buddhist statues survived. The repair was funded entirely by the Yuyuan Foundation of the Pou Chen Group, under government-approved plans, and finished in September 2008.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   This temple was built as a place for worship and also for quiet cultivation. It is more spacious and calm than many temples where the incense never stops. So give yourself time to slow down. Before you move on, try reading the carved wooden couplet beside the main door of the five-gate hall. It speaks of the opening of the port of Lukang and of the founding and renewal of the temple. Notice how the plaques above the altar come from different eras, from the nineteenth century to the twentieth. Then look up at the stage ceiling once more. Every hall here is a clue to who built it and why. The next detail you notice may be the one that makes the whole temple click.