A huge noise resounded through the neighborhood around Guandi Temple, one of the four major old temples of Penghu County, early Wednesday morning, as the left side of the temple’s bell tower collapsed, spreading rubble across Wenlin Street below. Yeh Ching-hung, head of the Magong City Civil Administration section, happened to be passing on this motocycle at the time. He immediately notified Chaoyang Borough Warden Yen Ming-ching and instructed him to accompany local police to the site and cordon it off as a safety precaution.
It is understood that the roof of the fourth floor at the left side of the Guandi Temple’s bell tower had not had any maintenance work for many years, and that the steel reinforcing bars were rusted. The sudden partial collapse of the structure at 6:30am on Wednesday sent jagged rubble cascading down onto a stretch of road along Wenlin Street. Fortunately, no pedestrians or vehicles were passing at the time, otherwise the rocks falling at high velocity from such a height would have led to serious injuries. As the tower was continuing to crumble, Hsu Huan-ming, head of the religious affairs section of the Penghu County Civic Administration Office, rushed to the scene to inspect the situation, and discussed with the temple management the best way to proceed.
The Chronicles of Penghu have little information about Guandi Temple — also known as the Wusheng (War Sage) Temple — and only record that it was built after the island became part of China’s territory during the Qing Dynasty in 1684, the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign. It was initially built to the west of the Magong Cove military academy (to the east of the present day Penghu Defense Command), but was relocated in the first year of the Guangxu reign (1875) to its current site at then-Hongmu Cheng (present day Beichen Market). Since then, the building has been renovated several times, the last time being in 1973 when it was completely rebuilt. It was then that the bell tower was added.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者劉禹慶
Concerning the corner collapse of the bell tower, the temple management says that when it was built there was a lack of building materials in Penghu, and in some cases sand from the sea shore was used, and that this has not withstood the test of time. More recently, a series of renovations and maintenance work, including the construction of a decorated archway, has been carried out on the temple. As the bell tower is so tall, however, scaffolding needs to be erected before the tower can be thoroughly inspected, and the management had already instructed the contractor to begin work that afternoon, which involved dismantling the top two floors of the structure. As there had been an accident a few years previously, in which a temple roof decoration had fallen from the rear of the temple and struck a car below, Yen also asked the department to carry out a full inspection.
(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
澎湖縣四大古廟之一的關帝廟，上週三清晨突然傳出左側鐘樓屋瓦掉落，鄰近居民都聽到巨大聲響，緊連的文林街散落一地碎石。馬公市公所民政課長葉慶宏剛好騎車經過，立即通知朝陽里長顏明清會同當地管區，現場拉起封鎖線維護安全。
根據了解，關帝廟左側鐘樓四樓屋頂，不堪年久失修，內部鋼筋鏽蝕，上週三早上六點三十分突然大面積崩落，夾雜尖銳碎角的石塊，大範圍散落在鄰近的文林街道路上，所幸當時無人車經過，否則在重力加速度情況下，恐將造成嚴重傷亡。由於現場仍持續崩落，澎湖縣政府民政處宗教禮俗科長許桓銘趕往現場查看，並與廟方商討後續處理之道。
又稱武聖廟的關帝廟，《澎湖紀略》僅載清朝康熙二十三年（一六八四年）將澎湖收入版圖之後所建。最初設於媽宮澳協鎮署西側校場（今澎湖防衛司令部東側）。光緒元年（一八七五年）遷建至紅木埕（今北辰市場一帶），即為現址。其後經過歷次興建，最近一次則是一九七三年全面重建，並增建鐘鼓樓。
針對鐘樓屋角坍塌事件，廟方管理人員表示，早期澎湖建築材料缺乏，部分使用海砂原料，較不耐久。近年來廟方已陸續進行整建維修，包括牌樓等主體建築，但鐘樓因高度較高，必須搭建鷹架才能徹底檢修，已要求廠商下午趕抵施工，拆除上面兩層建物。但因關帝廟數年前也曾發生後方屋脊剪黏摔落砸中車輛意外，顏明清呼籲相關單位應進行總體檢。
（自由時報）
Historians are rethinking the way the Holocaust is being presented in museums as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the last Nazi concentration camps this month. Shocking images of the mass killings of Jews were “used massively at the end of World War II to show the violence of the Nazis,” historian Tal Bruttmann, a specialist on the Holocaust, told AFP. But in doing so “we kind of lost sight of the fact that is not normal to show” such graphic scenes of mass murder, of people being humiliated and dehumanized, he said. Up to this
A: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, known as “BJJ,” has become more and more popular. Even Hollywood stars like Halle Berry and Tom Hardy are obsessed with it. B: Some Asian stars, such as Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng and South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi, have also practiced this martial art. A: BJJ is not just a martial art, but also a combat sport. B: I’ve always wanted to try it, but I’m worried about getting injured. A: Diana Wang, a US doctor of physical therapy, is holding a BJJ seminar at PMA Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Taipei Friday night. Let’s go check out how we
When people listen to music today, they typically use streaming services like YouTube or Spotify. However, traditional formats like vinyl records have regained popularity in recent times. Vinyl records are circular discs that store music in grooves on their surfaces and are played on a turntable. As the turntable’s needle runs along these grooves, it picks up vibrations and translates them into sound. The history of vinyl records dates back to the late 1800s, but material and technological challenges delayed mass production until the 1950s. Despite early versions having short playtimes and poor sound quality, vinyl records introduced a new era
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 能做的事都做了。 ˇ All that could be done has been done. χ All that could be done have been done. 註︰all 指事情或抽象概念時當作單數。例如： All is well that ends well. （結果好就是好。） All is over with him. （他已經沒希望了。） That’s all for today. （今天到此為止。） all 指人時應當作複數。例如： All of us are interested in his proposal. All of us are doing our best. 2. 我們這麼做有益於我們的健康。 ˇ What we are doing is good for our health. χ What we are doing are good for our health. 註︰以關係代名詞 what 引導的作為主詞的子句，動詞用單數。如： What he said is true. 3. 大家都沿著步道跑。 ˇ Everybody runs along the trail. χ Everybody run along the trail. 註︰everyone 是指一大群人，但在文法上一般用單數。 4. 桌上有一本筆記本和兩支筆。 ˇ There were two
RSS