A group of street cleaners from Kaohsiung’s Sanmin East District have constructed a temple made entirely from recycled materials and named it the Temple of Environmental Protection. Even the decorations and beam artwork were done by hand, and it has been said that this is Taiwan’s first environmentally friendly temple.
The cleaners decided to build the temple because in the course of their street cleaning duties, they had accumulated a lot of discarded statues of revered gods and goddesses, such as the Earth God and Matsu. They worried that it was disrespectful to the gods for the statues to be covered in dust with grubby faces. Since they didn’t dare destroy the statues, they decided to help the gods build a home for themselves
After much creative thinking, the cleaners decided to build the temple underneath a large tree. Everything in the Temple of Environmental Protection was assembled entirely by hand, from the ceiling made from a door curtain, to the recycled light bulbs. Inside the temple, the altar and candles are also made from recycled materials, making this Taiwan’s first environmentally friendly temple.
The cleaners are good at holding more than just brooms. Once they pick up a paintbrush or a chisel, they turn into talented artists. The most surprising thing about the temple is that even the colorful and realistic paintings of dragons and phoenixes were painted by the cleaners. They also engraved the name of the temple on the board that hangs above the entrance, and every day they burn incense and prepare offerings to the temple’s gods.
The temple’s unique characteristics have won it a lot of praise. Its uniqueness has prompted many passers-by to go inside and worship. In recent years more and more people have come to pray here, and it has become one of the area’s notable temples.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
高雄市三民東區清潔隊員搭建一座廟,取名「環保宮」,全部以回收物當作建築材料,裝潢跟樑柱彩繪也是純手工,堪稱全台灣第一座環保廟。
建造這座廟的原因,是因為清潔隊員在打掃市區時,撿了上百尊遭遺棄的神像,當中包括土地公、媽祖等。神像堆在一塊累積許多灰塵,各個灰頭土臉,清潔隊員因為怕對神明不敬,不敢銷毀神像,所以幫神像打造了這個家。
清潔隊員利用回收物發揮想像力,在一棵大樹下建造這間環保廟。「環保宮」以純手工搭建,不但活動門簾充當天花板,還以回收燈泡做成廟燈。廟內的神桌、蠟燭等,也全是回收物,所以稱為全台首座環保廟。
清潔隊員不只會拿掃把,當他們拿起畫筆跟雕刻刀時,各個都成為多才多藝的藝術家。最令人驚訝的是,廟裡柱子與橫樑上的彩繪五彩龍鳳,各個栩栩如生,都是隊員們自己畫的。連雕刻木頭匾額也都自己來。隊員每天上香祭拜,還準備新鮮供品,供奉落難神明。
廟宇深具特色,大家讚不絕口。許多民眾路過發現,直呼很特別,因此也引來大家祈福保佑。近年越來越多人前來拜拜,廟裡香火鼎盛,儼然成為地方特色廟宇。
(自由時報記者陳文嬋)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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