Xiyuan Road, Buddha Supplies Street Introduction
Reflecting on early Taiwan, Fujian Minnan people crossed the Taiwan Strait to cultivate this land, leaving their hometowns behind to face an unknown and thorny new world. Their only spiritual reliance was on their ancestral hometown and deities. Immigrants manifested their deities through hometown rituals, purchasing Buddhist statues, which marked the beginning of Taiwan's Buddhist statue carving history along Section 1 of Xiyuan Road next to Longshan Temple. From the intersection of Guangzhou Street to the intersection of Guilin Street, this short stretch of Section 1 of Xiyuan Road is the most famous Buddhist supplies street in Taiwan, featuring a total of 20 Buddhist supply stores, including one century-old establishment founded in 1895, along with many other family-run shops passed down through generations. Longshan Temple has been an important driving force for the concentration of the Buddhist statue carving industry along Xiyuan Road. As living standards gradually improved, the faith in deities deepened, resulting in an increase in temples and a more common practice of inviting deities for worship at home, creating a clustering effect for the Buddhist supplies street. In addition to deities, other related items like altars, incense burners, and lamps are also essential goods in the Buddhist supply stores, collectively writing a brilliant chapter of Buddhist supplies on Xiyuan Street.
