Zhinan Temple

The roof of Zhinan Temple, containing the Chinese characters "Zhinan", meaning "south-pointing".

Today was the first day that wasn't rainy, though the weather still wasn't great. But, as the weather has prevented me from going out much in the past two days, I seized the opportunity to do some more exploring. I chose to go to the Zhinan Temple [指南宮], a Daoist temple near Zhengda campus. It's merely a five to ten minute bus ride from the stop outside the university.


The view from the temple entrance on the mountainside.

There is a rumor associated with Zhinan temple; namely, if an unmarried couple goes in together, they will break up. There are a couple stories behind this, one of the most prominent being that the Daoist master to whom the temple is dedicated, Lu Dongbin, harbored unrequited love for one of the Immortal Goddesses, and so he is jealous of lovers. The temple is located on a mountainside, and the path up to the temple is very steep and requires visitors to climb hundreds of stairs.


Despite this, even many older Taiwanese people were making their way up the temple to pray. I met a nice old man who seemed surprised that a foreigner would go to Zhinan temple, and explained many parts of the temple to me in English.

Now, I am no stranger to temples. I have visited several in mainland China, Tokyo, and even a couple already in Taipei. But I had never visited one that was so wholly devoted to Daoism. Most of the temples I have been to focused on Buddhism, local gods, or a mixture of local religion. So it was interesting to see in what ways this temple was different.

One difference was the presence of trees with ribbons tied to them.

As a placard explained, different color ribbons correspond to different things. As you might be able to guess, yellow (by far the most common) corresponds to wealth and wishes to earn money.

Another unique thing I saw was a fountain, also devoted to raising money.

There were also statues of the sixty Taisui, agents of the Daoist "Jade Emperor". He sent the generals out to help him rule over mortals, so each of them has been given command of one year out of the sixty-year cycle. There are prayer bells held by golden dragons, the walls are made of gold-colored tiles, and there was even a Coca-Cola machine in the temple.

However, even at this most Daoist of places, there was some syncretism. The adjacent temple building, still part of the Zhinan complex, is devoted to Buddhism. It contains Buddhist statues and many Buddhist motifs, such as elephants marked with the samsara, the wheel of reincarnation.


Candles shaped like lotus blossoms, a Buddhist symbol.

It was interesting to go to a Chinese temple and see so many unfamiliar things. I feel as though I learned a lot about the differences between Daoist and Buddhist religious practice, and I got lots of cool pictures too!

Tomorrow we resume classes so I'm not sure when I'll have another good chance to explore so much.