Jian Qingxiuyuan Introduction
Playful guide - Designated historic site in Hualien County - The most well-preserved Japanese-style temple in Taiwan - Admire the eighty-eight stone Buddhas from Shikoku, Japan - A must-see Buddhist hall built using the traditional Japanese architectural style "Hōgyō-zukuri." Public transportation, click here >>> Taiwan Tourist Shuttle - Zongye Hualien Line information (Timetable/Fares) Barrier-free bus reservation >>> Taiwan Tourist Shuttle barrier-free reservation information. The cleansing hand-washing area for purifying body and mind, the quaint and rustic Buddhist hall, the solemn eighty-eight stone Buddhas, and the Zen-like rock garden create an atmosphere reminiscent of Japanese temples, immersing visitors in a serene and tranquil environment. This is the Jijiang Qingxiuyuan, a mission hall built by Kawabata Manji during the Japanese colonial period to comfort immigrants. It is a designated Class 3 historic site in Hualien County and the most well-preserved Japanese temple in Taiwan today. Spiritual refuge and the eighty-eight stone Buddhas. During the Japanese colonial period, Jijiang was known as Yoshino, a well-known immigrant village in Hualien. In the sixth year of Taisho (1917), Kawabata Manji raised funds to build this "Shingon Sect Koyasan Yoshino Mission Hall," hoping to use religious power to soothe the homesickness of Japanese immigrants in Yoshino (Jijiang). The temple houses a sequence of stone Buddhas, which, according to legend, Kawabata Manji followed the last wishes of the founder of the Shingon Sect, "Kūkai," traveling across the eighty-eight sites on Shikoku Island in Japan to bring back the eighty-eight stone Buddhas, allowing residents to seek spiritual solace. Entering a time tunnel to the Edo period, after the restoration of Taiwan, the Yoshino Mission Hall was renamed Qingxiuyuan. The surrounding environment remains tranquil, preserving monuments and structures such as the immovable Myōō stone carvings, the Baidu stone, and the Hōgyō-zukuri-roofed Buddhist hall. Spanning through the passage of time, Qingxiuyuan carries a sense of historical vicissitudes, and its architecture adhering to traditional Japanese construction methods, along with the lush gardens and rock gardens, makes time seem to stand still, as if stepping into a time tunnel leading back to the Edo period in Japan, allowing one to feel the rich history of the former mission hall.
