Taichung Confucius Temple
October 11, 2016
Hello everyone! For one of our last days in Taiwan, we decided to go explore the Taichung Confucius Temple. We rode our scooter there and it was only 10 minutes away from our apartment! I know that one of the things I will miss when we move back to America is how accessible all of these amazing temples are to us! I love learning about the culture and seeing where people worship.
The Taichung Confucius Temple (台中孔廟) was built employing the temple-style architecture of the Song Dynasty, which is characterized by roughhewn simplicity, harmony, and majesty. It is one of few examples of classical Song Dynasty architecture in Taiwan, and it boasts great structural complexity and a wealth of exquisite decoration. Each detail of the construction process - including assembly of forms, emplacement of reinforcing, and pouring of concrete - required meticulous calculation and checking, and the external decoration work was even more painstaking. Each hall of the temple features color painting in the Song style, and the predominant decorative motif consists of curling grass and flowers.
There were two brides taking photos there that we got to see and props to them because it was pouring rain, they were troopers! There was also English lessons going on and we sat in and watched for a little bit. It was so fun!
After we were at the temple we went to our favorite night market and had some chicken curry and mango smoothies! This is one of our favorite meals that we will miss for sure. Thanks for following along our adventures of Taiwan so far!