Chaolin Temple () is a temple located in Silin Village, Chaozhou Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan.

History

Chaolin Temple traces its history to the 1850s, when a farmer surnamed Chen sought to donate his land and construct a temple to

Nezha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nez ...

. A feng shui practitioner advised against the temple's construction, and it was not built in Chen's lifetime. After the feng shui practitioner had also died, Nezha began appearing to Chen's descendants, warning of heavy rains if the temple was not constructed soon. The rains that came caused flooding, and the floods washed the coffin of the feng shui practitioner into a pond. The coffin circled the pond three times, then sank and vanished. A second origin story also involves floodwaters, in this case diverted by an apparition of a child, which saved the village. Afterwards, local leaders collected funds to construct a temple, and the Chen family donated land for its construction. Following the flood, Chaolin Temple was completed in 1909. However, during Japanese rule,

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

was repressed. When the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

-led government required temples to be placed on a registry in 1973, township leader Chen Jung-chieh submitted Chaolin Temple under a neighboring address. A community and elder care program that had launched in 2006 is hosted at Chaolin Temple. Chaolin Temple was designated a historical site by the

Pingtung County Government The Pingtung County Government () is the local government of Pingtung County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pa ...

in 2006. The temple received its own address in 2020.

References

1909 establishments in Taiwan Temples in Pingtung County Religious buildings and structures completed in 1909 {{Taiwan-religious-struct-stub