2 Temple and History
2.2 Events and Activities in the Temple
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an elevated platform, which makes it higher that rest of the buildings, but still not as high as Minglun Hall. People often ascend the platform to bow in front of the main hall, but many people walks by and bows while standing at the Yi Gate and facing the main hall across the courtyard. In contrast to other temples, the pillars do not bear calligraphic couplets. Popular explanation is that it is because no one dares to show off one’s erudition in front of Confucius.
On the platform in front of the main hall, there is a large incense censer, which makes it different from the temple build by the KMT government after the war. In front of the censer, there is a table with a small box for student index cards when asking for blessings in examinations. Next to the table stands a plaque with instructions on how to worship, even though I did not notice people paying much attention to these instructions and instead praying in the way they are used from temple in general. The entrance is often partitioned with a red rope. Inside the main hall, there are spirit tablets of Confucius and accompanying Sages, and ritual utensils such axe-halberds, lampions, and several musical instruments used during ceremonies. Above the tablet of Confucius hang horizontal plaques written by Chiang Kai-shen
“Education without distinctions” (Youjiao wulei 有教無類), which is a passage from Analects, and by Ma Ying-jeou “The Way binds the illustrious virtue” (Dao guan deming 道貫德明) referencing the opening passage of the Great Learning.
The Eastern and Western wing (13, 14) are also elevated higher than the courtyard but lower than the main hall and house the tables of the Former Worthies and Scholars. In addition, there are also multimedia installations of the Six Arts (calligraphy and mathematics), and rooms serving as a storehouse and a classroom.
In the back of the courtyard, on the northern side (15), there is the Chongsheng Shrine (Chongsheng ci 崇聖祠) in the centre, which houses spirit tables of the ancestors of Confucius and Mencius. To its sides, there is a quite large room that serves as a classroom, and another large room housing an installation on the Six Arts (rituals and music).
To the east of the temple, there is a large courtyard (16) with trees and memorial steles in the southern part and a parking lot in the north.
This is a description of the temple during the time of my field research. The temple has undergone several reconstructions in the recent history such as during a restoration project in 2006-2008, which included new multimedia installations on the Six arts, and remaking of the pond, the plaza in front of the Minglun Hall, and the gardens with trees and flowers. In 2006, the Hongdao Shrine was built. As such, in summer 2016, the front of the Minglun Hall underwent changes, and the main double door now leads to the souvenir shop. At the right side, where souvenirs shop originally was, there is now a dedicated classroom with tables and chairs. The classes on the Four Books, poetry, and children singing now take place here instead of the rooms in the Eastern wing or the room next to Chongsheng Shrine.
2.2 Events and Activities in the Temple
The tables below show the activities I attended or observed, although they include majority of events, they are not exhaustive. Throughout the year there were various events linked with public holidays such as Chinese New Year, Mother’s day, or Dragon Boat Festival,
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and other tourism-oriented and recreational activities such as summer holiday paper folding or drawing classes for children, which I did not manage to visit. All events and activities in the Taipei Confucius temple are free of any charge. There were also several lectures in the Minglun Hall by organizations that rented the space, such as the convention of the members of the India Arts and Dance Association of Taiwan on 7 June 2015. There are also various music performances, some performed by a group of temple volunteers, others by invited music groups, which in one case I overheard included contemporary popular music.
Table 1. Weekly Events and Activities (2015-2016)
Event Day Time
Ritual Temple Purification Tuesday to Friday At 9 a.m. and 4p.m.
Customized Calligraphic Blessing Cards
Tuesday to Friday From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
From 2 to 4 p.m.
Calligraphy Wednesday From 2 to 4 p.m.
Dance Performance Saturday, Sunday At 9 a.m.
Classics for Families Saturday From 9 a.m. till noon From 2 to 5 p.m.
Poetry, Songs, and Dance Saturday From 9 to 11 a.m.
Poetry Saturday From 2 to 4 p.m.
Traditional Clothing and Games
Saturday, Sunday From 10 a.m. till noon From 2 to 4 p.m.
Four Books Study Group Sunday From 2 to 5 p.m.
Table 2. Yearly Events and Activities (2015-2016)
Event Organizer Date
Classics for Families School Year
Chinese Classics Association
March 2015 to January 2016
Four Books Study Group School Year
Lizhong Academy March 2015 to December 2015
Ritual of Adulthood Tatung High School 24 March 2015 Group Prayers Before Exams Taipei Confucius Temple 2, 3, 9 May 2015
6, 7, 13, 14 June 2015 Ritual of Adulthood Taipei Municipal
Chongqing Junior High School
15 June 2015
Ritual of Passage for First Graders
Rotary Club 15 August 2015
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Taipei Confucius Temple 28 September 2015
Charity Fair Chinese Classics
Association
9 October 2015
Taipei City Joint Adulthood Ceremony
Taipei City Government 21 November 2015
Ritual of Adulthood Rotary Club 5 December 2015
Theatre Performance Taiwan New Style Folk Dance follows the same rules as other institutions such as museums. The 4D theatre play two short 15min films six times a day besides Monday. The films are made in 3D and bursts of air from the seats simulate wind and movement. In the first one, three contemporary schoolchildren visit Confucius temple and meet Confucius who introduces them to the Six Arts. The second film is narrated by Kung Tsui-chang 孔垂長, the descendant of Confucius in 79th generation, who narrates the official history of the temple, which for example emphasizes the Japanese tearing down the old temple, but omits to mention their role in building the new one. The 4D Hall is an example of contemporary trend of infotainment, and it feels strange to sit in a temple watching a low-quality animation of the temple when you can go around the temple and look with your own eyes. The multimedia installations on the Six Arts are designed in a similar infotainment manner.
Weekly lectures in the temple are oriented around cultural activities associated with the literati culture such calligraphy, poetry, study of classical texts, and musical instruments.
It is worth noting that poetry classes focus on reciting or singing and not composition of poems, which differs from the skills possessed by literati. There are two different classes on the Classics presenting quite different understanding of the classical texts and Confucianism, and use different methodologies towards different goals. The lectures and activities in the temple are not specifically Confucian, but rather focus on a more general national Chinese culture, which omits Taoism and Buddhism. For example, the calligraphy classes are very enjoyable and the teacher gave us very helpful comments and instructions on each of the students’
characters, but the classes are not different from calligraphy classes one can take at university or cultural centres.
The lessons in the temple do not provide a systematic education because even though they share space, they exist independently, and a classmate who attended both poetry lessons and the study group on the Four Books seems to be an exception in that people attend only one class they are interested in. Although there are instances of personal relationship between ritual masters, musicians, or teachers of the Classics for children, the courses do not present comprehensive education and function independently of each other. They are rather
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similar to classes in a culture centre, or to the so-called academies, which have appeared in Taiwan in recent history, i.e. institutions providing an assortment of classes and lectures on
“traditional Chinese culture” including Book of Changes, Confucian Classics, calligraphy, or taijiquan etc.
The lessons on the Classics on Saturday and Sunday operate separately without cooperation. On several occasions, when I mentioned to some of the teachers from the Classics for Families that I would attend a class on Sunday, they were not aware of other kind of classics lessons taking place in the Taipei Confucius temple. Similarly, when I mentioned the Classics for Families during the class of the Four Books study group on Sunday, it led the teacher to a speech on Wang Caigui and the movement of Classics recitation for children in general. The teacher was unaware of the specifics of the classes on Saturdays too. On the other hand, I notice connections between the Classics for Families and several ritual masters, and since some of the teachers’ children attend the Dalong Elementary school and learn the yi dance (yiwu 佾舞) performed during the Confucius birthday ceremony in September, they know the teacher of the ritual dance. During my fieldwork, the dance teacher once attended a ceremony and performance organized by Classics for Families as one of the honoured guests.
For the temple visitors, the Taipei Confucius temple functions as a tourist site, museum, national cultural symbol, and public space like a park or a local temple. People come to worship, and make use of the temple space for recreational activities such as taijiquan, practicing on music instruments, dancing. There is a group of martial artists practicing every weekend. One can often see parents with children, local and foreign tourists. The temple seems especially popular among Japanese schools, as I have seen on many occasions buses filled with Japanese students in uniforms guided by their teachers around the temple before returning to the bus. I encountered several groups of teachers with their students of field trips to the temple. The teachers usually prepared their own materials introducing the temple and paired them with information seeking games. As a motive, they usually mentioned a wish to give children an opportunity to experience the materiality of the culture and see it for themselves for real, instead of being closed in the textbooks inside the classroom.
The main emphasis of this thesis is on the two types of lessons on the Classics, which are discussed in Chapter 3. Classics for Families and Chapter 4. Four Books Study Group. The Classics for Families is aimed at parents and children studying assortment of classical texts accompanied by issues such as environmentalism. Four Books Study Group, which is aimed at adults, presents nationalist interpretation of Confucianism by the New Confucian intellectuals.
In the Chapter 5, I will give attention to various rituals performed in the temple. When I started with the field research, the new city mayor cancelled the spring ceremony, and therefore I only attended the autumn ceremony, rituals of group prayers before examinations, rites of passage and independent worship by groups and individuals.