Fayun Temple Ancient Trail Introduction
Fayun Temple is located in Wenshui Village at the border of Gongguan Township and Shitan Township. It is one of the four major Buddhist temples in Taiwan and was originally built in the first year of the Republic of China. After being damaged by an earthquake, it was rebuilt, and the newly constructed Fayun Temple has a solemn and magnificent appearance, reminiscent of the Tang Dynasty. Inside Fayun Temple, the main hall houses a white jade Buddha statue, approximately 9 feet tall and weighing over a thousand kilograms, donated by Master Hongzong from Singapore. The garden outside the hall is filled with cherry blossoms, and notably, there is a Bodhi tree next to the temple that symbolizes wisdom and bears plentiful fruits between September and December each year. Additionally, Wenshui Village's straw insulation baskets are rare handcrafted items. The ancient trail of Fayun Temple begins at the City God Temple in Kaikuang Village and ends at Dahu Fayun Temple, with a total length of 1.8 kilometers. It served as an important transportation route for ancestors developing the Shuijiaoping area in Dahu. The original path was located behind the current Kaikuang Elementary School, crossing the saddle of Jintong Mountain (Jianshan), descending to the bridge on the opposite bank of Fayun Temple, reaching the Shuijiaoping area of Dahu Township and Wenshui area of Shitan Township. Later, with the construction of Fayun Temple, the route was altered to the existing military hiking trail, and the original ancient path has become difficult to trace.
