凌霄殿

March 14th, 2018

The ruins of the former Língxiāo Temple (凌霄殿) can be found in the foothills of the Central Mountain Range (中央山脈) just outside Puli, Nantou. Likely named after the Chinese trumpet creeper, Campsis grandiflora (凌霄), it was founded in 1983 by local philanthropist Chen Chou (陳綢), famous across Taiwan for her charity work. The temple is quite remote, more than 10 kilometers down an old forestry road with no other exit, perched on the hillside at an elevation of 1,300 meters; for reference, the Puli Basin (埔里盆地) is around 500 meters above sea level.

The entrance to a ruined temple in the foothills of Puli.

The nameplate over the barred entrance is missing a character.

Lingxiao Temple was damaged beyond repair in the catastrophic 921 Earthquake that struck central Taiwan in 1999. Slope failure caused parts of the temple to slide down the hillside—and what remains more or less intact has settled at a disconcerting angle, rendering the entire complex unfit for human use. Nobody was harmed in the collapse, insofar as I know, and the ruins of the former temple were sealed after the disaster, presumably because the cost of demolition would be prohibitively expensive this far into the mountains.

Inside the former main hall of Lingxiao Temple. The gods have been reinstalled in a newly built temple just uphill from here.

Look closely and you’ll notice bats hanging from the well in the ceiling of the earthquake-damaged temple.

Much of the front of the temple has been lost to slope failure. This photo captures one wing of the former temple that was sheared off and slid down the hillside relatively intact.

There were no problems raising money to rebuild the temple—but the parent organization, presumably the Liang Hsien Tang Welfare Foundation (良顯堂社會福利基金會), directed those funds toward other relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake. Only in 2007 was the new temple consecrated about 50 meters uphill from the wreckage of the old temple. Nowadays it attracts nature-lovers, mountain bikers, and pilgrims willing to make the long trek up the disaster-prone mountain access road.

The former kitchen has been emptied out.

This elevator is definitely out of service.

To put things in perspective, the little orange dot on the left side of this image is the new temple built next to the ruins of the old. There is nothing else around here except mountains and forest.

I visited the site of the former Lingxiao Temple in the summer of 2017 after hearing rumours of an earthquake-damaged temple in the mountains surrounding Puli. Nobody warned me about how dangerous it would be so I’ll be blunt: this is not a place for casual exploration and I take no responsibility for anyone who might visit. You’d be foolish not to bring proper safety gear or a drone if you go check it out—but again, I do not recommend it. If you’re interested in seeing something similar I strongly suggest visiting Wuchang Temple in nearby Jiji.

Warning: this location is abandoned, hazardous, or otherwise neglected and may be unsafe and even dangerous! Exercise appropriate precautions when visiting.

警告：此處已廢棄或長期無人管理，可能存在潛在危險。造訪時請務必提高警覺，並做好相關安全防護措施。

Map

Themes

Temple Culture in Taiwan (台灣的寺廟文化)
Urban Exploration in Taiwan (台灣城市探險)
921 Earthquake (九二一大地震)

Series: Taiwan Summer Road Trip 2017

In the summer of 2017 I borrowed a scooter to ride to a music festival in Nantou and only returned it several months later. It wasn’t a continuous road trip—I’d leave the scooter parked at various HSR stations as I slowly made my way around central and southern Taiwan—but each leg of the trip usually involved 3 or 4 days of riding. In the end I gathered enough material for 60 or 70 posts, only some of which have been published.