Shiguan Yin Jixian Temple Introduction
In the second year before the Republic era, during the Japanese occupation, natural camphor trees flourished in Wucheng Village Xinxing Village, which were highly valued by the Japanese for camphor oil. The workers handling the camphor oil, known as "Nau-tin," faced difficulties during transport. One day, after a meal, a Nau-tin suddenly felt intense abdominal pain and collapsed at this location. A worker, noticing a little water beneath a rock, hurried to fetch fresh water for him. Remarkably, the abdominal pain disappeared, and his spirits were revived. After three years, on the Dragon Boat Festival in the first year of the Republic, dark clouds suddenly gathered and a violent storm caused landslides, revealing seven stone lotus flowers. The next day, workers from Jiji saw this and promptly spread the news, attracting around thirty Nau-tin to come and visit. Subsequently, a renowned local geographer named the site "Guanyin Zuo Lian" and organized a meeting with the Nau-tin to discuss the construction of a temple. In the second year of the Republic, a wooden Guanyin Temple was built, named Jixian Palace for the Stone Guanyin Bodhisattva. Later, as the railway was developed opposite, a hand-pushed light rail line facilitated transportation, which unexpectedly led to the spread of cold and fever illnesses, causing pale faces and weak limbs among the populace. The Guanyin Bodhisattva of Jixian Palace manifested her mercy, guiding virtuous men and women to fetch fresh water. Between the thirty-second and thirty-fourth years of the Republic, the American military bombed the Daguan Power Plant repeatedly, creating unrest among the people who lived in fear. The temple’s Guanyin Bodhisattva displayed great power, protecting passersby during the bombings without causing any casualties. On October 25th of the thirty-fourth year of the Republic, Taiwan was unconditionally restored, and the people expressed their gratitude for the Bodhisattva’s compassion in saving lives. In the thirty-fifth year of the Republic, the community’s gentlemen discussed rebuilding the temple with bricks. After the completion of the Minghu Pumped Storage Power Plant in the seventy-first year of the Republic, the road was widened to facilitate easier transportation.
