在地藝文

Mr. Yan Shui-long(顏水龍先生) was one of the most famous painters Tainan has produced. Born at Hongmaocuo(紅毛厝, Xiaying), he was encouraged by a Japanese, Mr. Sawada Takeo(澤田武雄先生), to study painting in Japan and he later studied in Paris. He was a pioneer of oil painting in Taiwan. After Yan passed away in 1997, to commemorate his contribution to public art and fine art, the memorial garden was established. The park has a memorial hall and family temple; the master’s life’s experience are introduced and his works displayed in the hall.

Visiting the old train stations of rural Tainan is one way to tour Tainan. A white wooden building standing, amidst green paddy fields, Linfengying Station(林鳳營車站) was built in 1933. Sitting on the wooden bench looking at the old building and hearing the bells as a train arrives at or departs from the station, it’s easy to feel as if time has gone backwards.

Kabuasua (吉貝耍) is a beautiful little village beside the Taiwan County Road 165 (市道165號). The name means "kapok tree" in the Siraya language, signifying an abundance of kapok trees. While the village's kapok trees have slowly disappeared over the course of history, the blood that flows in their veins occasionally reminds them: "you are Siraya, Alid (God in Siraya language) and the ancestral spirits still protect you, Alid’s blessings let the tribes’ people coexist in peace with the beautiful plains".

Situated in the foothills of Mt. Zhentou in Baihe District(白河區枕頭山麓), Dasian Temple(大仙寺) is nicknamed “old temple.” Built during the 40th year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1701, it enshrines Sakyamuni, San Bao Fo Zu (Three Treasure Buddha), Guanyin Bodhisattva and Di Zang Wang Ksitigarbha(地藏王菩薩) and also has the ashes of the founding priest for tourists to worship. Dasian Temple is a Municipal Heritage Sites. It is also a temple of one of the nine schools of Buddhism in Taiwan.

Built in 1798, Huoshan Biyun Temple (火山碧雲寺) remains much the same as it looked originally. The ancient temple has a mixed Minnan and Japanese architectural style and has a backdrop of the Pillow Mountain range, giving it a simple and elegant look. There is a hole in front of the temple that has a central role in a legendary story; it is said that just enough rice for the temple occupants to eat used to flow out of “rice gushing hole” every day. One day, a greedy monk wanted to have all the rice to himself and dug down into the hole, after which rice never came out again.

Houbi Train Station (後壁車站), built in 1902 during the Japanese Colonial period, is a noted scenic spot of Houbi District (後壁區). Tourists visiting Houbi District will invariably get on and off at the train station, and it is a good location to rent bicycles to meander through the abundant fields and old streets of Jingliao (菁寮). The square in front of the train station features bronze statues of the four main characters and one cow from the documentary film known in English as Let it Be (無米樂), and which depicts many of the cultural elements of Houbi. The characters of Mr. and Mrs.

Houbi Township (後壁鄉) is a small village which rose to fame thanks to the documentary Wumiler(無米樂). The documentary's key figures, local seniors Uncle Kun-bing and Uncle Wen-lin, embody the social spirit and life philosophy of Tainan village life.

Jingliao (菁寮) was an important courier station on the only road to Tsulou County (諸羅縣) during the Qing Dynasty, and bustling businesses developed all around the intersection of today’s Provincial Highways 82 and 85, such as pool halls, hotels, merchants, taverns and theaters. The unusual Jingliao Catholic Church, designed by Pulitzer Prize winner Gottfied Bohm in 1966, is also worth a visit. Jingliao Old Street has always preserved the old-fashioned setting without any changes.

Jingzhong Temple was built in 1791 and enshrines Yue Wu Mu Wang (Yue Fei) (岳武穆王(岳飛). It most special feature is its lottery poems, said to all be written by a monk who resides at the temple. The verses of the poems are all seven characters long. To understand the lottery poems, the representative figure and content of the allusion must first be understood. The lottery poems are a real test of people’s ability to understand Chinese ancient poetry. If you are interested, why not visit and challenge yourself?

Located in Wushulin (烏樹林) in Tainan’s Houbi District (後壁區), Taisugar Wushulin Park (台糖烏樹林園區) was built in 1910, and even though it no longer produces sugar, its original sugar equipment system and the Taisugar mini-trains are still on display. Following the decline of the sugar manufacturing industry, the miniature trains transporting sugar canes were deactivated. Originally Wushulin Train Station (烏樹林車站) served as a hub between Dongshan (東山) and Baihe (白河) in the Xinying (新營) area. After the line transporting people was deactivated in 1979, the station also closed its doors.