Yilan Wenchang Temple

Originally established in 1818 as the Wenchang Altar (文昌壇) by sub-prefect Gao Daxiong (高大鏞), this site was expanded into twin temples revering the gods of literature and war in 1845, and is still sometimes known by its alternate name Wenchang Temple (文武廟), literally “civil and martial” temple. From around 1825 until the early Japanese colonial period the east wing housed Yangshan Academy; the buildings were subsequently used as police dormitories and then as classrooms for the Yilan public school until 1923.

After the war the abandoned compound was occupied by mainland veterans and other squatters who divided up the halls and operated the temple informally for decades, with the current management committee taking over only in the 1980s. The bronze horse standing in the western courtyard, traditionally identified as Guangong’s mount, was salvaged after the war from a warehouse near the former Yilan Shinto Shrine; the Taiwan Government-General emblem still visible on its belly betrays its colonial origin, and exam-takers customarily rub its head and tail for good fortune.