A zhaitang (齋堂), or fasting hall, of the Cai Agong (蔡阿公) sect of the Jintong (金幢) branch of Zhaijiao (齋教), established in 1796 in the hills above Xinpu, Hsinchu. The congregation is predominantly Hakka, reflecting the hall’s location in the borderlands of Yangmei and Longtan. During the 1895 Japanese takeover the hall served as a base for the anti-Japanese resistance led by the Xinpu headman Jiang Shaozu (姜紹祖) and Hu Jiayou (胡嘉猷) of Pingzhen and was burned down in the fighting, before being rebuilt in 1897. The current concrete building preserves the traditional five-bay, three-sided courtyard layout.
Map
Links
- Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank (文化部國家文化記憶庫)
- Rook Back (倒車)
Themes
- Temple Culture in Taiwan (台灣的寺廟文化)
- Zhaijiao in Taiwan (台灣齋教)
Nearby Locations
Author
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I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.