Nantou County granted historical heritage status to the ruins of a temple that collapsed during the Jiji earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, it said yesterday.
The Old Wuchang Temple ruins in Jiji Township (集集) became a recognized county-level heritage site following a review by a panel of experts on Sept. 8, a decision that was finalized on Oct. 27, the Nantou Cultural Affairs Bureau said in a statement.
The quake measuring magnitude 7.6 killed 2,456 people and injured 10,718, while 53,661 houses were destroyed and nearly as many houses damaged, with repair costs estimated at NT$300 billion (US$9.32 billion).
Photo courtesy of the Nantou County Cultural Affairs Bureau
The ruins of the old shrine — which lie beside a rebuilt Wuchang Temple — were left untouched after the collapse, making the wreck a memento of a major historical event that should be preserved for posterity, the bureau said.
The remains of the temple are the only preserved ruins that exist from the quake, it added.
The temple’s construction method and architecture were not created to withstand powerful quakes, which makes the ruins valuable for educational purposes, it said.
The ruined structure displays the classical traits of traditional Taiwanese Taoist-style temples, including undulating roof tiles, water channels and other decorative elements that were brought to eye level for viewing by the building’s fall, it said.
Construction of the temple began in 1991, the year after a man named Huang Chao-tieh (黃朝瓞) donated the lot to honor the Taoist deity Xuantian Shangdi (玄天上帝), the bureau’s records show.
Huang oversaw the building of the temple, which was nearly complete when the quake struck.
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