Ji'an Qingxiu Temple

It feels very much like a Japanese shrine~ Haha~ This shrine was originally the Yoshino Buddhist temple of the old Koyasan Shingon sect in Japan, so it looks exactly like Japan. But there are a lot of mosquitoes...

The third-level historic site of Hualien, Ji'an Qingxiu Temple, is a Japanese-style temple built during the Japanese colonial period. It is built according to the traditional Japanese wooden structure, with the "treasure-shaped" roof in the form of copper plates on the four corners and the "teaching platform" extending backward from the middle room as its characteristics. There are 88 Buddha statues in the courtyard, symbolizing 88 kinds of troubles, which is unique in style.

During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese introduced Buddhism to comfort the immigrants’ homesickness. The Ji’an Monastery was built in 1917. The park is not big. The wooden building materials show the beauty of Japanese architecture. When there are not many tourists, it has a simple and peaceful atmosphere.

Qingxiuyuan is located in Ji'an Township, Hualien County. It has been listed as a national third-level historic site by the government. It is the only Japanese temple in Taiwan that has been preserved intact since the Japanese occupation period. During the Japanese occupation period, "Qingxiuyuan" was the main base for a large number of Japanese immigrants. At that time, in order to make the local Japanese immigrants feel at ease, the Japanese built the "Yoshino Mission" here. At that time, the main gods enshrined in the mission were Kobo Daishi, Acala Myo-o and Bishamonten. Later, after Japan was defeated and left, the mission was taken over by local residents and changed to enshrine Sakyamuni Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva, so it became the current "Qingxiuyuan". In addition to being the religious belief center of the Japanese at that time, "Qingxiuyuan" also had functions such as a medical clinic, classroom, funeral and legal service center. The building of Qingxiuyuan follows the traditional Japanese structural form, and the structural form is mainly based on the wooden frame system. The overall building has a typical Edo style. When traditional Japanese architecture is integrated into Taiwan, it presents the unique style of "Qingxiuyuan". Today, Qingxiu-in is not only the most complete historical site of a shrine from the Japanese colonial period preserved in eastern Taiwan, but is also one of the top tourist attractions for Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan.

The Ji'an area of ​​Hualien was called Yoshino in the Japanese era. Among the immigrants from Japan, the largest number came from Shikoku, so the Shikoku branch was invited to establish this temple. Keishuin Temple still retains the legacy of the Japanese era from inside to outside. It is quite quiet. It is very comfortable to sit in the temple and drink tea or coffee in the breeze. The mandala images hanging on both sides of the main hall are painted on the blackboard, which is very interesting. The most worth seeing are the 88 Buddha statues established after the Shikoku Pilgrimage, the goshin seals of various temples, and the old statues of Acala Myo-o, which are the main heritage of the temple. You can get on and off directly at the entrance of Keishuin Temple by taking the Huadong Longitudinal Valley Line of Taiwan Travel. The transportation is very convenient. I visited here because of the Shingon Sect. I found that there is a little Japanese style in Baoyou. Now there are many antiques from that time. At the same time, there are also statues of Kobo Daishi, as well as the Shingon Ten Million Pilgrimage, and there are also instructions related to the Shikoku Eighty-eight Pilgrimage. It's great to come and take a walk!