Wenwu Temple (日月潭文武廟) @ Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan

What's a must-visit when one is at Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan? Aside from the lake, another key attraction would be Wenwu Temple, which I didn't have time for in 2014 although I finally managed to check it after a wait of almost 10 years! 

Grand entrance - some facts about this temple, which was relocated and built in 1938, rebuilt in 1969 and finally underwent a massive restoration from 1999 after severe damage after the great earthquake of September 21.

One of two gigantic red lions that protected the temple and were unique icons that set this religious abode from many others as I have never seen such lions in other countries!

Maybe because the temple was at an elevation with an impressive facade; it felt majestic, as if I am going in to pay homage to an oriental king / emperor. 

And it was surrounded by mountains and dotted with stone statues that were likely for decorative purpose as there's no identification if they were modelled after a notable person in the past.

First building housed five Taoist deities like the God of War, God of Wealth, Emperor Wenchang, Guan Ping and I think General Zhou Cang. Main deity in this case of Guan Yu, the God of War.

Dragon stone carving in between the first and second building. Looks like two dragons were chasing after a golden ball which was right in the middle! The Chinese ethnicity has an obsession with dragons and believe we are all the descendents of dragons. 

Let's proceed to level two!

Hanging tokens of wishes by devotees! Some were embossed with standard wishes like peace and good health to the family although you can also choose to pen down your wishes. 

Second building had an interesting plaque hung over the door which means long live loyalty. Usually, Chinese deities are honoured in odd numbers, for example, 1, 3 or 5 etc. But in this case, there were only two deities, and both were male.

They were famous personalities in the history of China and known for their war prowess; one was Yue Fei, a military general who lived during the Southern Song dynasty, and of course, Guan Yu, another military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China! 

What I thought was eerie was the hollow ceiling right in front of the altar; from far, the carvings inside appeared to be like heads but when I zoomed in, they seemed to be little carvings of fairies. 

A stone statue of a tortoise where you can touch specific parts to have your wishes come true, like touching the shell for a stable career. In my opinion, just touch ALL parts, to play safe!  

Another stone carving wall in the middle of the two staircases going up to the third building, which featured nine dragons! By the way, the third level was intriguing as it housed statues across three religions; Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

Confucianism - main altar was to honor the founder of Confucianism, Confucius. This Chinese philosopher had a profound impact in East Asia, with many dynasties following his way of managing people and country for thousands of years. 

Buddhism - known as the Medicine Buddha or the Blue Bodhisattva, I actually never hear of him/her before. One thing to note of this hall, the statues were in captivating ultraviolet blue. 

Taoism - Yue Lao was said to be a god whose job was to connect the red threads between two individuals so that they fall in love; similar to cupid albeit a lot older. 

In recent years, there were efforts to transform Chinese gods into something cute so that they would appeal to the younger generation; popular gods include God of Wealth and Yue Lao, given deep interest in money and romance! 

We have concluded the three sections of Wenwu temple but it's not all; there's still a large area at the back, starting with this wishing pool right in the middle.

And it's a few floors up, with exquisite, monumental stone archways on top that seemed to make one feel that they would be reaching the gates of the heavenly, immortal realm.

Come, let's made our way up!

View from the top and look at the amount of coins that devotees attempted to throw down to the wishing well! Although I am not religious, there's absolutely no harm in making a wish, and hoping for the best!

Nothing much on top; apart from the archways, there's this point with a three-tortoise statue that strangely had a sad expression from all three of them. There's a plaque indicating a confucius saying that refers to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

Dad with the staggering high marble pillar next to the archway. 

View of the temple's roof architecture and also the sun moon lake right in front. As mentioned previously, the temple was relocated in 1938 but it used to be two separate temples by the lake that were in danger of being flooded after the Japanese colonizers decided to build a dam.

The archways on top.

Pixiu overlooking the sun moon lake. I always find pixiu fascinating as it's not as well known as qilin, yet was marketed heavily as it was said to bestow wealth for those who keep a jade statue of it. 

A replica of the blue dragon falchion that was said to be used by Guan Yu, the God of War. I have my reservations as it was said to be over 175 kilograms, and you need a giant to be able to weld it effectively! Rumour said Guan Yu was over two meters tall. 

Going up the staircase given the notice that there was an observatory platform!

A pretty good view although the temple roofs blocked out quite a large part of the lake. However, having the panorama with a bird's eye view was still worth the effort of the relatively short climb. 

Numerous photographs at Wenwu Temple, with dad as the model.

For a close-up shot with the lake, my recommendation was to go right to the entrance and cross the road. Essentially, it would be right next to the Year of Steps.

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Address

No. 63, Zhongzheng Rd, Yuchi Township, 

Nantou County, Taiwan 

Map

As above.

Floor Plan

As above.

Click HERE for the Summarized Itinerary for Our 8 Days 7 Nights See Iconic Taiwan Anew Tour Package via Chan Brother