The mother and the girl were descending the stairs in front of the Sanfong Temple in a friendly manner
After a short detour, I arrived safely at the Sanfong Temple in Kaohsiung. This temple is said to be dedicated to the Marshal of the Central Altar. Another unfamiliar deity in Japan, it is, after all, a Taoist temple. In Japan, there are Taoist temples in Chinatowns such as Yokohama, such as the Kuan Ti Miao dedicated to Guan Yu and the Mazu Temple, but they are not as varied as those in Taiwan. How many gods are there in Taoism?
The Sanfong Temple is a 300-year-old temple, but unlike shrines and temples in Japan that boast a long history, its precincts are small. There is no gate, but rather a staircase leading up to the main hall, which is located beyond a parking lot. On the upper floor of the main hall, where the main deity is enshrined, there are other Taoist deities and Buddhist deities such as Shakyamuni Buddha and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Again, there are so many deities within the small temple grounds that it is like a department store of deities.
I wonder if the temple's only income has always been from offerings. In Japan, temples had their own domain, and shrines had their own domain, from which they made their profits to operate their shrines and temples. I wonder if Taoist temples in Taiwan actually have vast territories in the countryside, not only where the temples are built. It seems to me that if they rely only on donations, it would be difficult for them to run a stable business.
| Aug 2024 IN THE CITY TAIWAN | |
| KAOSHIUNG PARENT AND CHILD STAIRWAY TABLET TEMPLE |
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PHOTO DATA
No
12635
Shooting Date
Mar 2024
Posted On
August 23, 2024
Place
Kaoshiung, Taiwan
Genre
Street Photography
Camera
SONY ALPHA 7R V
Lens
ZEISS BATIS 2/40 CF
