Manka Lungshan Temple, Herb Lane and Bopiliao Historic District

March 15,2015
Guide: Li, Tai

Recorder: Lisa Chen

Route: Manka Lungshan Temple→Herbal Lane→Dicangwang Temple→Bopiliao Historic Block→Taipei Education Centre

Manka, which means “small boat”, is the very first place where Taiwanese people settled down and started their own business. There was a saying “Tainan first, Luganag second, and Manka third.” Walking along the streets nowadays, we see a lot of homeless people gathering at the park near the MRT station. They might seem homeless, but this is the place they really belong to. They are here because this place provides a local protection for them and also because Manka has been a part of their lives.





←The dragon on the column

With the sun shining on us, we cross the streets to the famous Longshan Temple. The temple has been here since 1738. It is a temple with both Buddhism and Taoism religion and has been here protecting everyone who came to worship no matter who they are. We walk in through the dragon gate on the right hand side and walk out of the tiger gate on the left hand side so that we will be safe and be blessed for luck. Stepping into the sacred temple, the stones underneath symbolise the commercial history of Manka. These stones came from Mainland China, called bedded stones, were to weigh on boats during the shipping of valuable goods.

     The bedded stones↑

 The temple itself tells many stories and history by the way it was built, the sculptures and poems on the walls. Take the dragon on the columns for example, it is a combination of nine different animals and resembles the boundless power of Gods.

↑Poems written by Japanese

←Sculpture on the left hand side of the main gate represents luck

Longshan Temple is a fusion of different cultures and religions. At the front of the temple are the Buddhism Gods while the Taoism Gods are at the back of the temple. When people come to the temple to worship the Gods, we use incense sticks and insert them into the praying tins after the worship. Also, there are different rules when worshipping different Gods. Many students will take their copy of admission tickets along with green onion or celery to pray for good results of their examinations from the Wen-Chang God.
Sculpture on the right hand side of the main gate represents praying→

↑The back of Longshan Temple

People who ask for babies from the Birth God will pray with red or white flowers that resemble girls and boys. Other rules are followed when communicating with the Gods. First, we stand in front of the God and say our names along with our questions. Then we take the two pieces of red woods that are used for poe divination. The God will tell you whether you can go on asking this question, try it again or not ask this question at all. Through poe divination, we choose a stick that had been agreed for three times then finally take the divination words for the answer. All these years, people followed these rules and come to worship the Gods to pray for their own goodness. No matter what government ruled this area, Longshan Temple has been the religious centre of Manka ever since. Maybe it is the kindness of the Gods that brings people together, or maybe it is the place itself that takes in every little difference and infuses to become one.

↑The Dicangwang Temple

We also visit Dicangwang Temple where people worship the Hell God. He vowed not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied to encourage people to do good. Between Longshan Temple and Dicangwang Temple, we pass through Lane 224 of Xichang Street, known as the Herbal Lane. Although most of the stores are closed on that day, we can still find many herbs drying on the counters before the stores. This is where people look for traditional treatments since two hundred years ago. Nowadays, this place still provides traditional herbal prescription while many tourists will stop by for a cup of herbal tea for freshening.

↑Herbs drying on the counter

The walking tour ends at the Bopiliao Historic Block and the Heritage and Culture Education Centre of Taipei. Located to the south of Lao-Song elementary school, Bopiliao used to be the commercial street in the Qing Dynasty.

↑The Southeast architecture along with arcades for passengers to walk underneath

 ↑The Bopiliao Historic Block used to have theatre for entertaining

We can also find tea houses and theatres where used to be entertainments for people by then. This area conserves the Baroque architecture as well as the Southeast architecture and the spatial characteristics in the early development period. The Bopiliao Historic Block also serves as the Heritage and Culture Education Centre of Taipei, where we can obtain more details about the local history and culture, including the first missionaries that came to Taiwan and educated Taiwanese people about western medicine knowledge.

The narrow streets used to be commercial streets→

A walk in Manka brings us to the old days of Taipei. Many people might think of Manka as an old place without much modernization. However, it acted as the transportation hub between southern and northern Taiwan and is a place full of historic resources. Manka is now a district of Taipei named Wanhua, but to most people who lived in this area since their youth, Manka is not considered the same as Wanhua. Manka is the origin of commercial activities in Taipei and the cultivation of different cultures. Like the homeless people gathering near the MRT station, to people who live in Manka, this place is their belonging and is the only place they called home.

Not many young people understand the importance of this area to Taipei and not many of them know the stories behind these streets and buildings. Surely Manka has been changing throughout the years, and it is time for young people to be involved in this part of history and bring in some new trends into nostalgia.

↑The map on the ground shows the outline of the Bopiliao area