Shilin Shen Nong Temple Introduction
Today, the architecture of the Shilin Shenlong Temple features a layout of two courtyards and five openings. Above the left and right side rooms of the San Chuan Hall, there are bell towers and drum towers. The main hall of the temple has two stories, with the main deity, the God of Agriculture, enshrined in the center of the second floor, while the God of Wealth is worshipped in the center of the first floor. Apart from the three doors of the San Chuan Hall at the front, each side room also has one door. As the God of Agriculture is considered a deity of imperial status, the temple's facade can have more than five doors, showcasing the deity's esteemed position. In ancient China during the imperial era, the court regulated that temple architectures should match the status of the deities they worship. The Shilin Shenlong Temple was originally named "Zhi Lan Temple" and was dedicated to the God of Wealth. However, during the Qianlong period, when Shilin residents renovated the temple for the God of Wealth, they used a roof style exclusive to deities of imperial rank, emphasizing the importance of the God of Wealth to the immigrant settlers, but also rendering the temple overly ornate and non-compliant with regulations. To avoid the penalty of demolition for the temple's violation, local residents added the God of Agriculture with imperial status as the main deity, reflecting a compromise and combination of Han Chinese temple traditions, family rites, and local beliefs. The Shilin Shenlong Temple has undergone multiple renovations but still retains many older items, such as the stone-carved dragon columns in front of the San Chuan Hall, the stone beams, and stone-carved windows inside the temple, as well as incense burners from the Qianlong period and statues of the God of Agriculture and the God of Wealth from the Qing Dynasty. The columns on both sides of the main hall have stone columns from the Japanese colonial period embedded, and the design of the main hall walls also retains characteristics from that era, featuring Quanyin Mountain stone that is difficult to reproduce today. The temple also preserves many stone tablets documenting the history of repairs and donation lists, as well as the "Jingzi Pavilion" used for burning joss paper, which bear witness to the development of the Shilin area and its historical period of literary flourishing. The Shilin Shenlong Temple enshrines multiple statues of the God of Agriculture. There are generally two forms of the God of Agriculture's statue: one depicting a primitive man with bare skin and feet, with only leaves wrapped around his shoulders and waist, holding golden rice ears, symbolizing the invention of agriculture and the transition from primitive to civilized society; the other representing the image of wearing royal garments and crown, symbolizing the noble status of Huaxia civilization and the ancestral heritage of the nation. The God of Agriculture venerated in the Shilin Shenlong Temple is in the form of a primitive man with both red and black faces. The red face symbolizes the God of Agriculture's rosy complexion after the invention of farming and consuming grains, while the black face commemorates the God of Agriculture's sacrifice in searching for medicinal herbs after accidentally consuming poisonous plants. On the other hand, the temple houses many pieces of high-temperature glazed Chaozhou pottery, created by Chen Zhuan-you (1911-), a disciple of Hong Kun-fu, who was one of the outstanding figures in the decorative craft of Taiwanese temples in the mid-20th century known as "The Five Tiger Generals." Chaozhou pottery decorations often feature themes from traditional theatrical performances, with each thematic story displayed on a wall being referred to as a "scene." In the horizontal beams inside the inner hall of the San Chuan Hall, there are six scenes of Chaozhou pottery, along with the "Waterwheel Wall" near the eaves on the front hall wall and the "Opposing Watch Wall" on the corresponding left and right side walls, totaling twelve scenes of Chaozhou pottery. Each scene contains more than seven figures, resulting in a considerable total of figures, all in delicate and posed postures, preserving a rich collection of traditional decorative craftworks.
