This temple is located in Shui-Yuan Li, Tamsui Town, Taipei County, which was known as Shui-Zi-Toe, about five kilometers from the downtown. Embraced by the hills of Datun Mountain, it faces the Taiwan Strait to create a magnificent view. After entering from the entrance with the “Wu-Ji-Tien-Yuan Kirin Rock Block”, the visitors will find a spacious parking area alongside with a Mei flower shaped pond named “Wu-Long”. Then they will have to take 21 stair steps up to the “Tien-Shen” gate. On the left side of the temple whose roof is decorated with two dragon statues face to face, there is a path leading to the grandiose and lofty “Tien-Yuan” tower of divinity. Before arriving at the “Jen-Yuan” altar where you can worship the gods, you have to climb the stairs of the “Jo-Long-Shen” road and walk through a grand front yard. The temple covers an area of more than 5 hectares where there were all trees and grasses before the reclamation. Now, however, the whole place has become a green paradise full of various flowers and trees. In spring of every year, waves of tourists from everywhere come for the breathtaking view of the blossoming sakura. In this way, not only religion and human culture are combined, but leisure and tourism are associated with religion as well. The result is that the gap caused by the awe for the divinity between gods and human beings is narrowed, and that religion is effectively fitted into everyone’s life. Not many years ago, the temple was even listed as one of the top spots for temple tours. The valuable devotions to the management and construction of the temple by all of the former presidents and volunteers are recognized by the god, who therefore named the area of the temple as “Tien-Shen-Sheng-Yu” in April, 2008.

Origin of the temple

    In 1971, when the founders of the temple held their gathering in the employee dorm of Tanshui Harbor Bureau, one of them, A-Quan Huang, was then possessed by the God who gave the following divine instruction: “I am hereby assigning a holy mission to all of you”. Enlightened by this, a group of eight people (A-Quan Huang, Wan-Qui Wan, Yu-Yin Yang, Chin-Biau Yang, Ke-Shi, Lee, Yu-Shia Kao, Jen-Yuan Ho, Ju-Hui Wang) was created to take charge of the construction of the temple. They appealed for the spirit of sacrifice, devotion, salvation, and promotion of Taoism. In addition, “Adherence to Taoism” is also an important idea to them. Since the god have assigned a divine mission to construct the following three temples: “Tien-Yuan”, “Jen-Yuan” and “Ji-Yuan”, they completed the drawing of blueprint. However, they did not have enough funds for this, so the god suggested to raise the money from the believers of Taoism all over the world. Besides, the god also advised that Auspicious Lanterns, Dipper Worship, and any form of the drama are prohibited in the temple because it’s a place where Taoism is promoted rather than a mundane temple. This advice has been strictly obeyed since then. The god demonstrated his mercy by digging a well, known as “Double-eight Dragon Well”, even before the temple was built. The water in the well is said to be a gift in the form of rain from the god, adding its unique favor of freshness. Apart from that, the god also assigned the quest for a giant wood in Mt. Tatun and asked it to be carved into the statue of the god “Wu-Ji-Shen-Ju-Shen-Juen”, which is now enshrined in the basilica on first floor of the “Jen-Yuan” altar of heaven for the pilgrims to visit. In the Tien-Yuan basilica, another statue is enshrined for “Wu-Ji-Shen-Juen”, the first avatar of “Wu-Ji-Shen-Ju-Shen-Juen” in Pen-Lai Holy Land. In the same year, the god again required the exploration of another holy land known as “Shi-Ba-Dong-Tien” in Sanshia. On December 18 of every Chinese lunar year, all volunteers of the temple and those who believe in Taoism would pilgrim for this newly developed holy land to enshrine the god “Wu-Ji-Lau-Ju”.

The Process of Construction
    Before the construction of the temple is completed, the site was a wasteland without any inhabitants. Being informed of the plan, enthusiastic volunteers from all over the world soon gathered together to carry out it. It even took no more than 57 days for the foundation of the temple to be built, reflecting the god’s wisdom that the fund needed for fulfillment of missions from heaven could be raised through the donation by believers of Taoism. The ceremony of consecration and settlement for the statues of the gods took place on November 22, 1972. With “Yu-Huang-Da-Di” treated as the main god, there are also several gods (“Wu-Ji-Shen-Ju”, “Maitreya Buddha”, “The Three Emperors” consisting of “Emperor of Heaven”, “Emperor of Earth” and “Emperor of Human”, “Tai-Bai-Shin-Jin”, “Amitabha”, “Lu-Dong-Bin”, etc), and their statues are all enshrined in the Main Hall. One after another, the pious believers of Taoism throughout the country volunteered to join the crew of the temple to provide services for all of the human beings. Every Sunday, the temple crew would provide effective psychic services that have earned the believers’ words of mouth, attracting more and more worshippers to visit the temple. To improve the organization, the temple decided to register with the TPC as a legal entity in 1977. Also, a board was established for management of temple affairs and promotion of the religion. In this way, the Tien-Yuan Temple has become the first officially registered religious group in Tamsui. Bearing the god’s previous direction in mind, the board and the volunteers worked together to embark in the construction of the second temple in 1985, which took more than six years to complete in 1992. In the same year, the god divinely named the new altar of heaven as “Wu-Ji-Jen-Yuan”, and advised the ceremony of consecration and settlement for god statues to be held on the auspicious date, October 10. In addition, the god also designated the same date on the Chinese lunar calendar for the anniversary festival of foundation settlement. With the height of 200 meters and the diameter of 108 meters, the solemn and grandiose “Jen-Yuan” altar of heaven is a five-floored tower. On each floor, there are statues for the divinities from “Wu-Ji” heaven. This altar will be used as an office for the god, who would perform the examination and review on human’s behaviors. In other words, all of the earthly phenomenon is attributed to the power of the idea “Jen-Yuan”. In the end of 1999, the holy land “Ji-Yuan” on the mountain in the back of the temple was acquired to be the site of “Ji-Yan Temple”. On June 6, 2002, the construction of three divine palaces of “Ji-Yuan” as well as the “Wu-Lau” platform began. In the same year, the foundation settlement ceremony for them was held on October 10. In 2008, a philanthropist donated two giant rocks, known as “Tien-Shen” and “Kirin” respectively. This pair was then named as “Wu-Ji-Tien-Yuan Kirin Rock Block of Shen Gate”, and placed at the entrance of the main gate as the landmark of the temple.

Future Prospect
    During the 38 years since establishment, the temple not only consistently provided free physic services as well as vegetarian lunches for everyone, but also offered lectures on “Bai-Yang Exegesis” every Sunday morning for enlightenment of mentality. Furthermore, a lecture group dedicated to the temple was set up for evangelization. For local charity, the temple has funded elementary and high schools in Tamsui for hot lunches, as well as the scholarship and relief programs of the elementary schools in Shui-Yuan Li. Working with the local government, the temple offers its square to support the staging of any civil activity, and will try its best to correct social values as well as purify people by educating them with doctrines of Taoism. This allows religious beliefs to serve as a spiritual support for the society, even for the country, so that the value of morality would be deeply rooted in everyone and every household.
    Since the god has bid that three temples need to be built, and two of them (“Tien-Yuan” and “Jen-Yuan”) have been established, we are planning to construct the third one “Ji-Yuan”. From now on, we are sure to stick to the following three values recognized by the god: loyalty, rectitude, and charity. “Being glad to make sacrifices and devotions”, “modeling the way” and “keeping one’s mind and mouth in accordance” are also the essential spirits when we pursue for the welfares of the humankind. All of your feedbacks and comments are highly appreciated and valuable for our improvement in the future.