Beitou Puji Temple Introduction
According to the "Treasured Guide to Famous Buddhist Sites in Taiwan" published by the Min De Photography Institute in Taipei in 1941, Puji Temple, along with the Linji Huguo Zen Temple, which is also a designated historical site in Taipei, serves as a propagation base for the Myoshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school. During its reconstruction in 1934, due to the majority of its followers being employees of the Transportation Bureau of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, it was named "Tetsujin-ji" after the posthumous name of the Transportation Section Chief, Akira Murakami, and a monument titled "Murakami Akira's Stone Tablet" was established in the temple. In 1998, it was officially designated as a historical site, with an environment full of tranquility and comfort. The temple showcases a clear Japanese architectural style, featuring a single-eaved, hipped roof structure that is three bays wide and three bays deep, nearly square in shape, with the roof extending forward to form an entrance porch. The interior floor of the main hall is raised and covered with tatami mats, presenting a simple, tranquil, yet solemn beauty characteristic of Japanese temples, while the main hall itself is constructed of high-quality hinoki wood. The temple still preserves traditional Japanese worship rituals, which differ from the conventional Taiwanese worship practices. The bell-shaped window next to the main entrance is highly distinctive, and one can see exquisite carvings of the dougong brackets and rainbow beams in the entrance porch, with a plaque of Puji Temple handwritten by Yu Ren. It is noteworthy that within the pavilion on the left side of the temple enshrines a stone Buddha holding an infant in its left arm and a Zen staff in its right hand. The general public regards this statue as "Shun Zi Guanyin," while Buddhist practitioners consider it to be the Japanese "Koyasu Kannon," one of the incarnations of Jizo Bodhisattva, attracting many devotees to pray for children. The presence of both Tang Shou Guanyin and Koyasu Kannon has become a significant feature of the temple.
