Thu, Feb 22, 2001 page2

• Officials do nothing as temple rots

  HISTORIC SITE Thirty years after the city acquired the Tung Ho Zen Temple and it's bell tower, the restoration has yet to begin and buildings continue to encroach

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  For years, Master Yuan Ling (源靈師父) of Taipei's Tung Ho Zen Temple (東和禪寺) has been longing for a few simple things: a decent gate and the restoration of his temple's nearby bell tower. But for 30 years the government has kept him waiting.

  "What we're asking for isn't very much. We've waited so long and still no progress has been made," Master Yuan Ling said.

  

  A giant 71-year-old bell hangs in the bell tower of the Tung Ho Zen Temple.

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  And while he has waited for the restoration's approval, the government has gradually moved in on the land surrounding the temple, even after the tower was designated a municipal historic landmark in 1997.

  The city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs has been reviewing plans for the restoration, but say that until their review is completed, money for the project cannot be dispensed.

  "We'll start the second round of the reviewing process next Wednesday. If everything goes well, the restoration project should be completed in July," Li Bin (李斌), deputy director of the cultural affairs bureau, said.

  In response, Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (李新) of the New Party and People First Party (PFP) lawmaker Josephine Chu (朱惠良) toured the temple complex yesterday demanding that the city government take immediate action and respect Master Yuan Ling's wishes.

  "Since the City Council has already approved the NT$24 million budget for the restoration of the bell tower, there's no point in withholding the money," Lee said.

  "Historical landmarks are the roots of every culture. If they're not well taken care of, the culture is a rootless one," Lee said.

  Construction on the temple complex, located at the intersection of Linsen South Road and Jenai Road, first began in 1908. It originally covered an area of 4,500 pings (or 14,850m2) and consisted of the Soto Zen Center (曹洞宗台北別院), the Kuanyin Zen House (觀音禪堂), the Taipei Junior High School (台北中學), and the bell tower.

  The bell tower and the Tung Ho Zen Temple are the only two remaining buildings in the complex. The temple was originally called the the Kuanyin Zen House, and was renamed in 1946, about the same time that the complex and the land it was built on were donated by the Japanese colonial owners to the temple's former master, Master Hsin Yuan (心源老師父).

  The central government tried to acquire the land from Master Hsin. But Hsin remained unwilling to part with the complex, so cultural officials had to wait until April 1970, one month after the 89-year-old master died.

  Since it took-over, the area of the complex has gradually shrunk to 700 pings (or 2,310 m2) due to a large number of illegal buildings.

  The most recent encroachment on the temple's land is a new bathroom pink 10-floor building called the Taipei Municipal Youth Recreation Center (台北市立青少年育樂中心), 50m away from the bell tower.

  The center cost the city over NT$1 billion to build and is slated to be opened to the public in July. Meanwhile, Master Yuan Ling's temple and the bell tower continue to deteriorate.

  While the 71-year-old tower was designated a municipal historical landmark in 1997, the city has failed to take any rehabilitative action, doing little to maintain the Japanese-style two-story building. The building is now filled with only dead birds and their droppings.

  PFP lawmaker Chu has called on the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs (文化局) to conduct a survey on the current condition of all of the city's municipal historic relics.

  "I'm very curious to know why the city has failed to prohibit construction in the perimeter around the bell tower," Chu said.

  The Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (文化資產保存法) stipulates that the owner of the historic landmark should specify a preservation area around the site for the sake of protection.

  Officials of the city's Bureau of Education (教育局), the managing party of the temple complex, argue that the construction project of the recreation center was finalized in January 1997, seven months before the bell tower was designated a historic relic.

  Master Yuan also wonders why in the world the bell tower was declared a historical landmark, but the temple was not.

  "I don't know why the 84-year-old temple is considered less important than the 71-year-old bell tower," he said.
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