My Trips: Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Nantou County of Sun Moon Lake

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Nantou County of Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

Visited the Wenwu Temple (文武廟) (N23.86960 E120.92685) after the Lake Cruise. There were many stalls in front of the temple selling souvenirs and local foods...

Before we step into the temple, I was attracted by this staircase...it was Full of little lantern bell on the both sides...

The staircase was locked with grill door and it's not accessible for public...and there was a write up about it beside the door...

"Getting to Wenwu Temple in earlier days was not so convenient as it is now; there was no round-the-lake road, and visitors had to take a boat to the pier below the temple and then climb up a lot of steps. Because the slope was so steep, the steps were called the "Stairway to Heaven". Now the steps are not needed to get to the temple, and they have been renovated into a 150-meter path with 366 steps the symbolize the 366 days in a leap year. The name of a historical personage is carved on each step, and the steps also incorporate the 24 bells on the two sides of the steps; the bells chime in the wind adding much to the romantic atmosphere. If you want to hang your own bell, ask the temple official how to do it."

The Little Lantern Bell

"The Wenwu Temple was established in BC1812, which was meant to be a place for youth people advocating the loyalty and learning martial arts. The Wen Shrine worships the Wenchang Dijun while the Wu Temple worships the Guansheng Dijun. Two temples lines each other in a wall. In that, the two are together called Wenwu Temple." You can read more about the history of the temple here.

The temple is guarded with 2 big Red Lions on both side

I was really attracted by the stone and wood carved within the temple! Amazing! You can see the nice wood carved at the roof before you step in...it's all over everywhere in the temple.

The two tigers beside the temple

The first hall of the temple...

There are total 3 main halls in the temple...we visited one by one slowly...

And we continue to the second hall...it was full of the little lantern bells again!

The second hall

The Little Lantern Bell

Beautiful stone carved

The decoration was very nice! And we slowly proceed to the third hall...

Behind the third hall, there was still some construction work carried on, I believe the restoration of the temple has not complete yet. But the stone carved was Awesome! It's all about Confucius.

We climbed up to the highest point of the temple just to snapped some nice photos about the temple...

The roofs of the temples

I can't post all the photos of the temple, because there are about 100 photos taken...
If you like to take nice photo of the temple, try to visit it on sunny day.

We hanged around the temple about 45 minutes and everyone were hungry...and we started the food hunt again! :)