Xiyuan Road, Buddha Supplies Street Introduction
Looking back at Taiwan's early days, Fujian Minnanese people crossed the Taiwan Strait to cultivate this land, leaving their hometowns and facing an unknown and thorny new world; their only spiritual reliance was their ancestral hometown and deities. Immigrants manifested their deities by purchasing Buddha statues through their hometown's religious rituals, which initiated the development of Buddha statue carving in Taiwan along Section 1, Xiyuan Road, next to Longshan Temple. From the intersection at Guangzhou Street to Guilin Street, the short Section 1, Xiyuan Road, is the most famous Buddhist supplies street in Taiwan, featuring a total of 20 Buddhist supply stores on both sides, including a century-old establishment that has been operating since 1895, along with many other long-standing family-run shops. Longshan Temple serves as an important catalyst for the gathering of Buddha statue carving businesses on Xiyuan Road. As people's livelihoods became more prosperous, faith in deities deepened, leading to an increase in temples and making the practice of inviting deities into homes for worship increasingly common, contributing to the gathering effect of the Buddhist supplies street. Besides statues, other related items such as altars, incense burners, and lamps are also indispensable products in Buddhist supply stores, together composing a brilliant chapter in the history of Buddhist supplies on Xiyuan Street.
