Cao Gong Temple / Heisei Fort Introduction
In memory of County Magistrate Tsao Chin, who served during the Daoguang era, a temple was built. On the south side of the square in front of the temple, 12 stone tablets of different eras are preserved, among which the "Tsao Gong Zhun Ji," composed of four long granite inscriptions, was the memorial issued to the imperial court when the name "Tsao Gong Zhun" was proposed in the 19th year of Daoguang, praising Tsao Chin's achievements. Behind the Tsao Gong Temple is the Heisei Fort, which features a wall embedded with a granite plaque inscribed with "Heisei." The initial grandeur of the fort guarding the city can still be faintly felt. To address the drought issues in Fengshan City, County Magistrate Tsao Chin, during the Qing Daoguang era, introduced water from the Gaoping River and built numerous irrigation projects, greatly improving the irrigation of farmlands in the Fengshan area at that time. Grateful for his contributions, the people of Fengshan built a shrine at Feng Yi Academy. In 1900, when Governor-General of Taiwan, Kodama Gentarō, visited Fengshan, he donated funds to relocate the temple to its current site, and it was upgraded to the Tsao Gong Temple in 1992. The Heisei Fort, located behind the Tsao Gong Temple, is about 5 meters high, square in shape, with a staircase leading up on the inner side, and a plaque inscribed with a horizontal banner on the front. The two characters "Heisei" are accompanied by the inscription "built by Tsao Chin," making the entire structure of the fort exceptionally solid and impregnable.
