Chungui Tianbao Temple Introduction
On the way from the Tou-She Basin along Highway 21 to Shui-Li Township, you can see a towering statue of Prince Yeh on the right side of the road, which is the Tianbao Hall in Wudeng Village. There are two origin stories for the name "Cuǒ jǐ," which refers to an armory. One story suggests that during the Qing Dynasty, indigenous peoples frequently ambushed travelers near the land of the Earth God at Anling along the Suashalian Ancient Trail. As a result, the Qing government stationed militia troops to protect merchants traveling between the two areas, which led to the establishment of an armory, hence the name "Cuǒ jǐ." The other story states that after Taiwan was ceded to Japan, residents around Sun Moon Lake defended themselves to prevent Japanese troops from entering. They took a stronghold at Anling near Cuǒ jǐ to resist the Japanese army, thus earning the name "Cuǒ jǐ." Tianbao Hall was built during the Japanese occupation and is mainly dedicated to the Three Benefactors (Guan Gong, Lü Dongbin, and the Kitchen God), with a grand temple structure. In the autumn of 1985, Prince Marshal was commissioned to guard Tianbao Hall. Due to his frequent displays of divine power, he instructed the devotees to build a statue of Prince Marshal measuring 6 feet 2 inches and 7 tenths tall behind the temple to highlight his miracles in protecting the villagers of Shihsi. As the statue is quite towering, it has become a prominent landmark of Cuǒ jǐ.
