Luye Shrine
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Kunci Temple ( zh, t=崑慈堂, p=Kūncí Táng) is a
Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
temple located in Longtian Village, Luye Township, Taitung County, Taiwan. The temple grounds contain a reconstructed Shinto shrine known as Luye Shrine ( zh, t=鹿野神社, p=Lùyě Shénshè).


History

Longtian sits on a large flat plain along the
Beinan River The Beinan River () is a river in 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 Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China ...
. At the beginning of Japan's rule over Taiwan, the region was largely unpopulated. In 1912, the newly-founded acquired a tract of land as part of the government's "immigration village" program. The company wanted to use the land to plant sugarcane and persuaded a couple families from
Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...
to move to Longtian. Inside the new village, a small Shinto shrine was built on October 17, 1923 and moved to the current site of Kunci Temple on November 13, 1931. The shrine was dedicated to
Prince Yoshihisa of Japan, was the second head of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. He was formerly enshrined in Tainan-Jinja, Taiwan, under the name ''Kitashirakawa no Miya Yoshihisa-shinnō no Mikoto'' as the main and only deity. Biogra ...
and the , which is common for shrines in Taiwan. When the Japanese left in 1945, the
Han people The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...
that had been living nearby migrated into Longtian. They brought their former village's
Tudigong Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...
and placed him in the old Shinto shrine to worship. In 1953, Lin Wending (林文定) moved to Longtian from
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
and brought statues of Mazu and the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
to his home. At the time, Longtian residents had to travel very far to Cihui Temple (慈惠堂) to worship non- tutelary deities, so Longtian residents often visited Lin's house to worship instead. Therefore, in 1958, Lin and other villagers visited Cihui Temple and brought a copy of their
Queen Mother of the West The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
to Longtian. A small bamboo temple with a statue was completed on 1958. The current reinforced concrete building was completed in 1982.


Luye Shrine reconstruction

Completed on October 28, 2015, the new Luye shrine is the second Shinto shrine to be reconstructed in Taiwan post World War II, after Gaoshi Shrine. The Luye Township Government hired a team of Japanese craftsmen who referred to old pictures of the shrine to rebuild it. Unlike the original, which used the rare Taiwan red cypress, the new shrine is made of Japanese
Hinoki cypress ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orna ...
. The shrine does not house any deity and is not used for any religious purposes.


Chinaberry tree

Outside of Kunci Temple, there is an eighty-year old
chinaberry ''Melia azedarach'', commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native ...
tree that is tall, which is more than two times bigger than the expected of the species. In 1960,
Tzu Chi Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, known for short as the Tzu Chi Foundation ( zh, t=佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會, p=Fójiào Cí Jì Císhàn Shìyè Jījīn Huì, l=Buddhist Compassionate Relief Charity Foundation), is a Taiwanese in ...
founder,
Cheng Yen Cheng Yen (; born Chin-Yun Wong; 14 May 1937) is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun ( bhikkhuni), teacher, and philanthropist. She is the founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, ordinarily referred to as Tzu Chi, a Buddhist humanita ...
, who at the time just became a nun, stayed at Kunci Temple for two months and would often have Dharma talk with other monastics under the tree. Therefore, the tree is popular among Tzu Chi adherents.


References

{{reflist 1958 establishments in Taiwan Religious buildings and structures completed in 1958 Temples in Taitung County Taoist temples in Taiwan