Prosecutors from the Black Gold Investigation Center (
Chenlan Temple, located in Tachia township (大甲鎮), Taichung County, was not always the well-known temple it is now. However, the temple followers' annual pilgrimage to Chaotien Temple (朝天宮) in Peikang township (北港鎮) brought notoriety to Chenlan Temple. It is believed that the pilgrimage to Chaotien Temple, a sacred place for all Matsu (媽祖) believers, purify the pilgrims spiritually. The ascetic annual pilgrimage of the believers from Chenlan Temple over the years has become a distinguishing aspect of Taiwanese culture. Unfortunately, due to the discord among factions, the temple's board decided to invite Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), Taichung County Council speaker, to chair the temple's board of directors, and the temple was thereby destined to become entangled in politics.
First, Yen announced that Matsu has told him to support Soong for the presidency. Meanwhile, violating his own principle that "politics ought to stay politics," After the election, Chenlan Temple officials claimed that Matsu granted permission for a pilgrimage to Meizhou (
On the other hand, although investigators said that they were only investigating suspected business crimes and illegal land ownership related to the temple, people were unable to understand why these apparently common crimes, if substantiated, would invoke investigation. We thereby sincerely hope that the new government can also live up to the principle of "let politics stay politics" and does not incriminate individuals for supporting different presidential candidates.
Yu Chien is an associate professor at Tzu-Chi College of Medicine and Humanities.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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