Kaohsiung, Taiwan

March 11, 2023

Taiwan is quite a small country in area, just about the size of Vancouver Island, but has 23 million people. It is quite mountainous in the center, and is situated on many intersecting geological fault lines, so has frequent small earthquakes.

Kaohsiung is a major port in Southwestern Taiwan, and the second largest city. It has been settled since the later part f the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was an important port under the Japanese occupation (1895-1945) and became the Southern terminus for the island's main North-South railway line.

The lovely modern port terminal is in the shape of a whale.

Kaohsiung is very clean, with lots of nice trees and boulevards.

Our tour started with a drive through the countryside to visit a large center of Buddhism founded in 1967 by Buddha master Shingyun and built in to the mountainside called Fokuanghan, or Light of Buddha Mountain.

There are several courtyards to ascend to before reaching the inner temple. This is the gate to the entrance, and first flight of stairs.

Two lions usually guard the entrance to the temple. The male lion will have ball under his paw. It is hard to see, but this female lion has a cub under her paw, to protect the young.

The second courtyard filled on the sides with statues of Buddha brought from all over the country to this location.

The large formal temple at the top.

Roofline guardians of the temple.

The color and style of the roof is very important in Chinese culture. Although this is a religious site, Chinese culture and folklore still play an important part in the design. The yellow roof color is the most auspicious, reserved for royalty or the most revered in Chinese society. Also, the more important the temple, the greater the number of guardians on the curved top of the roof. Notice there are seven small figurines ( a dragon, five beasts, and an immortal figure) perched on each upsloping roof segment. That means that the temple is very important. The highest possible status is located on the roofs in the Forbidden City in Beijing, with figures of a man riding a bird, nine beasts, an immortal figure, and a dragon, for a total of twelve figures.

The interior of the temple was very beautiful.

The garden of the grounds of the temple was a really interesting mix of religion, culture, and tacky decorating style. It had many "Baby Buddhas" as well as these cartoon bunny figurines to celebrate the Chinese "Year of the Rabbit".

A chubby relaxing Baby Buddha

This large standing Buddha is located on the hillside above the temple, and is surrounded by hundreds of smaller identical life size gilded Buddha statues that have been donated by followers. In all the temples we have seen, the more Buddhas, the better!

Our next stop was to the large modern center for Humanistic Buddhism. It is a special form of Buddhism creatd by Master Hsing Yun, which focuses on the interaction with others in society, diminishing self centeredness, and charity toward others.

It is very auspicious to have a photo to

gether holding Buddha in your hand!

The main tenants of Humanistic Buddhism written on the wall: "Do Good Deeds, Speak Good Words, Think Good Thoughts".

This sculpture with hundreds of small Buddhas was carved from a solid piece of wood.

We then went back to the city to the Confucius Temple, devoted to the teachings of the wisdom of Confucius. this is the outer gate to the shrine.

The inner shrine has a yellow roof. The buildings on the side which are not part of the main shrine building have green roofs.

Our last stop was the Chiming Tang, a temple celebrating Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucius. It was certainly a colorful mix!

Part of the temple is on this Lotus Pond.

You walk through the mouth of the big dragon in the photo, down several stairs and through it's winding body, covered inside with colorful, cartoon like paintings illustrating tales from Hinduism, and Buddhism. A bit like Disneyland!