In a departure from traditional religious themes, new murals at Tainan’s Nankunshen Daitian Temple (南鯤鯓代天府) feature departed and contemporary Taiwanese celebrities to commemorate their contributions to society.
While most temple murals are inspired by mythological or historical figures, Nankunshen Daitian — built in 1817 and widely hailed as the founding temple for Wang Ye worship in Taiwan — took a different tack, using images of Taiwanese celebrities and landscapes, temple board director Hou Hsien-hsun (侯賢遜) said on Sunday.
A collection of freshly painted murals line a hallway from the main worship hall to an auxiliary shrine, featuring individuals that include Lin Chieh-liang (林杰樑), who gained a reputation as a guardian of public health after giving valuable food safety advice amid a number of food scares in recent years, and the late Wang King-ho (王金河), a doctor popularly known as the “Father of Blackfoot Disease” for his work combating the disease.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
Others depicted in the murals include 1968 Mexico City Olympics women’s 80m hurdles bronze medalist Chi Cheng (紀政), Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and renowned painter and 228 Massacre victim Chen Cheng-po (陳澄波).
Hou said the murals, part of a recent renovation project, are the latest additions to a collection started two years ago that adorns the walls and pillars of the main worship hall with portraits of athletes such as NBA player Jeremy Lin (林書豪), former world No. 1 golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) and major league pitchers Chen Wei-yin (陳偉殷) and Wang Chien-ming (王建民), as well as philanthropist Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊) and the late painter Hung Tung (洪通).
Taiwanese landscapes are another prominent motif of the murals, including an ancient salt field and a newly constructed crystal church in Tainan’s Beimen District (北門), Hou added.
Visitor Yang Jui-che (楊睿哲) said that looking at the temple’s murals was like reading a Taiwanese history book, adding that photographs of the murals had gone viral among the nation’s netizens.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS