Treasure Hill Guanyin Temple

A Buddhist temple established on the south face of a hillside in Zhongzheng, Taipei. Its early origins are lost in the mists of time but it emerged as the principal religious institution for Quanzhou settlers in the Gongguan area with a reconstruction dating to 1791. The temple converted to the Sōtō Zen tradition in 1926 but this did not spare it from encroachment by Imperial Japanese anti-aircraft batteries during World War 2. ROC troops occupying the Japanese encampment kept it closed to worshippers from 1949 until a 1973 restoration, after which military veterans began the squatter colonisation of the surrounding hillside, the antecedent of the now-celebrated Treasure Hill Artist Village. The temple was designated a city monument in August 1997.