The International Heritage Days, which were held earlier this month offering free tours of historical sites such as the Control Yuan (
Most of the historical sites in Taiwan date from the Japanese occupation between 1895 and 1945, though some date as far back as the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1628) or even to before Chinese settlement on Taiwan. The Yuanshan relics, for example, are estimated to be between 2,500 and 4,000 years old.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PAOAN TEMPLE
Age, however, is not the only criterion for the government to list a site as a historical site. According to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law, for a place to be listed as a heritage site, it must have historical and cultural significance or possess great artistic value.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WANCHIN BASILICA
For example, the Tomb of Wang Te-lu (
About a quarter of the historical sites in Taiwan are buildings used for religious purposes.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAOAN TEMPLE
These generally stand out from other historical sites through better preservation and the careful recording of their history. They are typically still in use and, through the generous donations given to places of worship, are often renovated every few decades. The frequent overhauls, however, often adversely affect the historical value of the buildings.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WANCHIN BASILICAN
Some religious practices also accelerate the degradation of the historical sites. According to Li Chian-lang (
Due to Taiwan's history and its location at a crossroads of many different cultures, there is a wide variety of religious architecture on the island.
Paoan Temple (保安宮)
Paoan Temple (
Like many of the oldest temples in Taiwan, Paoan Temple began as a simple shrine established by a group of immigrants. As the migrants from Fujian Province's Tungan County, who came to Taiwan in 1742, settled down they used their limited means to build a small wooden shrine at the center of their new village for the god that had guarded them through the harsh journey across the Taiwan Strait. It is said the god answered so many residents' prayers that in the early 19th century the village decided to build a bigger temple to replace the original shabby shrine as an expression of gratitude. The expanded complex is the temple visible today.
After the completion of the temple, the village gentry bought up the leftover building materials for the construction of two commercial blocks and leased the 44 stores to residents who wanted to start businesses. This helped the Talungtung neighborhood become Taipei's second-earliest developed area after Wanhua. Later, the Japanese colonial administration set up schools in the temple.
To this day, Paoan Temple still offers art and music courses, scholarships and holds the annual Paosheng Cultural Festival, which includes a photography competition and guided tours, as well as traditional religious celebrations.
The beauty of Paoan Temple lies in its intricately decorated architecture, which has seen numerous renovations over the years. In 1917, the temple started a large-scale renovation and decoration project. Following the common practice at the time, the temple hired two master craftsmen, one for each half of the building. As a result, the stone and wood carvings, paintings and calligraphy on the two sides of the temple vary slightly in style, but the artistic competition between the craftsmen and their teams of workers spurred
unprecedented creativity. Their efforts are still manifest today in the wood-carvings of squirrels and pumpkins under the eaves of the bell tower and those of phoenixes and tigers in the drum tower.
More wonders are being discovered or repaired in the current round of renovations that began in 1985. During the restoration, workers have found rare and valuable swallow tail bricks inside the walls which had been covered up by previous renovators. The bricks are to be made visible in the new design of the temple.
"We want to restore Paoan Temple like a work of art," said Liao Wu-chih (
Wanchin Basilica (萬金聖母聖殿)
One religious edifice with a contentious history is Wanchin Basilica (
In 1863, Kuo bought a piece of land on which to build the church. At the time, the Pingpu had regular land disputes with neighboring Hakkas and mountain Aborigines. During the conflicts, the church became a target and was burned down by a mob in 1866. The reconstructed church was also soon destroyed in an earthquake.
The present basilica was built in 1870 by Chinese craftsmen with wood shipped from China. The original design exhibited a fusion of gothic and traditional Chinese architecture. According to the church's records, its interior followed the format for Taoist temples in Taiwan, while the exterior displays the design of a typical Spanish fort. The columns on either side of the statue of Mary were decorated with couplets of Chinese calligraphy.
The success in converting Pingpu Aborigines to Catholicism has been largely attributed to the integration of local architectural and decorative elements in the church's design. Today the church is not only listed as a historical site but has been appointed a Catholic pilgrimage site in Taiwan by the Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan and declared a sacred shrine by the Pope.
Most of the residents of the village have been Catholics for generations, giving it a peculiar atmosphere in predominantly Taoist southern Taiwan.
The major visible change to the church after it was listed a historical site is the large number of tourists it now attracts. For the church priest, Huang Jia-lo(
"In recent years, young Pingpu have become more aware of their origins and more proud of being Pingpu. Every December, they come back to the church from the cities where they work to attend the church festival. This makes them feel like a real Pingpu," Huang said.
Oxford College (牛津學堂)
Oxford College (
Mackay had been preaching and teaching in Tamsui for eight years when he decided to establish a school in 1880. To raise funds for its construction, he returned to his home village of Oxford in Canada. The college was named after the village to commemorate their support.
The school offered a Western curriculum, including courses in theology, literature, medicine and sciences and is now Taiwan's oldest school building.
The school was designed by Mackay himself and was intended to reflect his ideal of combining Western and Taiwanese cultures. Its basic structure was that of the traditional Chinese courtyard residence, with Western domes on its left and right wings. Its red-brick roof was typically Taiwanese while the windows were Western. Unfortunately, the present building, after several restorations throughout the years, no longer shows such interesting cultural fusion.
Although the building bares little resemblance to the original structure, the connection to Mackay's legacy is still significant.
"Taiwanese still remember Mackay today and have a high opinion of him because he was the one Christian missionary at the time to really respect Taiwanese culture and devote himself to this land. When other priests would train Taiwanese to be their subordinates, he trained them to be priests of the same rank -- to be his equals," said Chen Chi-jon (陳志榮), professor and head of the university's religion department. The building now commemorates Mackay's example."Its significance for our university is mostly symbolic. It symbolizes the establishment of Christianity with Taiwanese characteristics," Chen said.
Taipei Mosque
The Taipei Mosque was established in 1948 at what was originally a Japanese-style residence in Lishui Street. The 300-ping house was a gift from two elderly Muslims for a congregation which hadn't had their own place of worship since immigrating to Taiwan from Fujian, Shanxi and other Chinese provinces as early as in the Ming dynasty.
Soon after the KMT government moved to Taiwan the following year, the house became too small for the growing number of Muslims, some of whom had arrived with the government. In addition, the government's close ties to Islamic countries led to frequent visits by Islamic heads of state. To play a better host to them, the government decided to build the mosque with funds from the central government, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries that held diplomatic ties with the ROC.
Located on Hsinsheng South Road facing Ta-an Forest Park, the mosque is one of the few centers for Islamic religion and culture in Taiwan. Apart from religious services, the mosque offers Arabic language courses and tours on the weekends. The building's Turkish architectural style, with its mosaic and green domes, makes the mosque stand out among the drab neighboring apartment blocks.
Inside the gates, a framed plate with a phrase in Arabic hangs above the entrance to the hall for male worshippers. The words say "In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful." The saying is "a reminder of the omnipresence of Allah, so that we will be on alert and do what we should at all times because we are being watched," said Ma Shiao-chi (馬孝棋), imam of the Taipei Mosque. Exquisite Persian rugs cover both the men's prayer hall and the women's prayer hall, which is found on the second floor.
Preserving sites for the future
Taiwan has looked to several successful examples in Japan for the preservation of historical sites. Perhaps foremost of the relevant methods employed there is the banning of incense burning in temples. Others have pointed to China, where high entrance fees to sites have funded preservation and kept overcrowding at bay.
In addition to carefully maintaining present heritage sites, it has also become common for governments to list more new sites. France, for example, has relaxed its listing standards to include sites with less than 40 years of history. "In a world that changes so fast, today's new buildings may take on cultural or historical significance tomorrow. If we don't give them heritage status in time, they may soon get torn down," said Li Chian-lang of Chinese Culture University.
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