A plaque from President William Lai (賴清德) has been delivered to Tainan’s Confucius Temple and would be unveiled in a ceremony in November, which Lai is to personally attend, the temple said on Thursday last week.
Lai’s plaque would be the 16th to grace the temple’s eaves, alongside plaques from Qing Dynasty emperors and Taiwan’s presidents, making it a truly unique cultural asset.
From the Qing Dynasty to the present day, rulers and presidents have observed the tradition of presenting the temple with plaques honoring Confucius’ ideals to teach everyone, regardless of status, who came to him wishing to learn.
19.Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei
The temple’s Da Cheng Hall houses all the plaques given to the temple since Emperor Kangxi (康熙) of the Qing Dynasty from 1683, except for the plaque of Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi, or Emperor Xuan Tong (宣統), Tainan Confucius Temple Culture Foundation director Shih Mu-min (石牧民) said.
Xuan Tong ascended the throne in 1909 after the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Taiwan to Japan. He was the final emperor of the Qing Dynasty, which ended in 1912.
The plaques are even more precious, as they were only preserved thanks to the Fang (方) family, who had moved them to rural areas before the bombing of Tainan by the US Air Force during World War II.
The plaques from the Qing emperors were hung on the eaves over the center of the temple, while the plaques from the various presidents were hung on either side, Shih said.
The temple has eight plaques from Qing emperors — Kangxi, Yongzheng (雍正), Qianlong (乾隆), Jiaching (嘉慶), Daoguang (道光), Xianfeng (咸豐), Tongzhi (同治) and Guangxu (光緒), Shih said.
From the Republic of China government, the temple holds plaques from former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦), Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Shih added.
Shih said that customarily, the plaque from the current president was always placed in the upper right corner, as the position, from the vantage point of the cartouche representing Confucius in the temple’s center, was considered the “dragon side” (龍邊) by feng shui principles.
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