Seeing Greatness in the Ordinary – Venerable Temple Embracing the Years in the Everyday

By the Dahan River, waters rushing endlessly by day and night, Zhaiming Temple stands timeless, from the Qing Dynasty Daoguang Emperor period to today. As time has flowed by over the past century-plus, it has stood independent from the outside world, its original style of simplicity maintained.   

Close observation reveals that Zhaiming Temple is a temple with a traditional sanheyuan (three-sided courtyard residence) layout. The decorative elements are plain, with no emulation of the ostentatious display of prosperity commonly seen at other temples.  

The roof and walls are also very different from other temples, more like what is seen at a quaint old-style family abode, giving it an appearance particularly small and cute. This set-up stems from this site’s origins as a Zhai shrine belonging to the Longhua school of the Zhai or Vegetarian sect. The Longhua school is also referred to as “Home Buddhism” or “Lay Buddhism.” It arose in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with believers adhering to Zhai practices and worshiping the Buddha in the home, wearing clothing no different from everyday attire.

Over the years the Zhaiming Temple has undergone several changes in its dharma teachings, but it was not until 1999 when Dharma Drum Mountain took over that it returned to Buddhist orthodoxy. 

The Great Beauty of Heaven and Earth

The artistic value of Zhaiming Temple is not only manifested in its heritage buildings, but also in its new guardian dragons and new meditation hall. 

In response to modern needs for Dharma propagation, architect Sun Te-hung was commissioned to execute plans for additional construction. Fair-faced concrete and granite were used as the primary building materials, creating a minimalist tranquil ambiance of poetic feel. Master Guo Hong describes a scene where every morning around dawn the air is filled with the sounds of birds and insects, sunlight splashes over the central courtyard, and another new day of flourishing vitality is opened.  

In his eyes, this oasis of tranquility is filled with beauty at all times through all seasons, though he finds summer especially rich with life. From winter into spring, a corridor of planted Yoshino cherry trees are in full bloom, presenting scenery out of the ordinary. Between the heritage buildings and the new Meditation Hall is a large grassy lawn area where visitors love to spend a little time, home to a venerable two-century-old camphor tree whose branches seem to stretch out between heaven and earth, impressing all who see it with the beauty of creation. As well, while visiting Zhaiming Temple take the time to walk a section of an ancient pathway trodden by the forefathers, the Zhaiming Temple Historic Trail. The flagstone footpath traverses a quiet waterside environment of verdant foliage.  

When you come to Zhaiming Temple, which sits atop a high riverside terrace, you get to see two of the “Eight Scenic Wonders of Daxi'' in times gone by. The “Setting Sun Over the Spiritual Tower” refers to the Cueiling Tower behind the temple. In the evenings, the afterglow and oblique shadows of the setting sun to the west cause people to linger. “Sailboats return to Kan Wharf ” refers to the fact that a 100-plus years ago the Dakekan River (old name for the Dahan River) was still being used for water transport, the cargo craft arriving at the local docks creating a scene of prosperity. 

Though times have changed and the old scenes have disappeared, this century-plus-old temple still stands guard over the people of Daxi, generation after generation. 

Perceiving the Essence of Design, Meeting Figures from History 

Zhaiming Temple originally had a sanheyuan (three-sided courtyard style complex) layout. After Dharma Drum Mountain’s Venerable Master Sheng Yen took over as the temple’s seventh abbot, he had the idea to build a meditation hall. However, his hope was to avoid changing the original appearance of the temple while at the same time expanding the space to meet the needs of the resident monks, making this the primary concern of the design team. 

The final result is indeed a showcase of the minimalist aesthetic that “less is more,” with the scattered light and shadow, the lush greenery, and the century-plus-old temple intertwined in a poetry-like freehand space. 

Information:

Zhaiming Temple
No. 153, Zhaiming St., Daxi Dist., Taoyuan City 335, Taiwan
03-3801426