The New Confucius Temple at Lotus Pond

The next morning I checked-out of my hotel and headed back to Lotus Pond to view the new Confucius Temple.  I had limited time as my flight back to Hong Kong was at 3pm and I thought I would need to be at the airport by 1:30 at the latest.

This temple, situated next to Lotus Pond, is the largest Confucius temple in Taiwan.  The buildings have an area of more than 1,800 square meters, while the grounds occupy an area or more than 6,000 square meters.  The configuration is modeled on the Confucius Temple in Song Dynasty, Qufu City, Shandong Province, China; the homeland of Confucius, China’s most influential philosopher.

Construction for this new temple, replacing an older one, started in 1974 and was finished two years later.  The grandeur and size of the temple is the finest of all of the temples dedicated to Confucius in Taiwan.  The temple is also the site of the annual Teachers' Day celebration held on September 28 in honor of the birthday of Confucius.

The temple was pretty empty (maybe due to it being Spring Festival) and the grounds very large.  I was a little disappointed in it as I felt it was a little dilapidated.  Though bigger than the Confucius Temple in Taipei, I liked the one in Taipei better as I thought that one was cleaner, more intimate, and cared for more; but I could be wrong.  I already completed a post on Taipei’s Confucius Temple awhile back; you can compare the two if you wish.  Below are some pics.

I walked around the area a little bit just outside the temple.  There are markets everywhere selling all types of stuff.  I wanted to head back to the Love River area in downtown and caught a taxi to the subway stop.  I wasn’t sure where the subway was, but as it turned out, it was a cheap ride as the subway was probably within walking distance from the temple.  I would visit the river area just for a bit before jumping back on the subway to go to the airport…