Skip to content

Confucius Temple Cultural Park / 孔廟文化園區 Multi-Cache

Hidden : 3/24/2022
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:


There is no cache at the posted coordinates, it's where the Confucius Temple is.

The distance of the entire trip is around 1~2 km, and would go through a few historical buildings in the cultral prak.

 


Down below is part of the map titled "Plan de la ville de T'aï-ouan-fou", drawn in 1874 by students of Fouzhou naval college, they came to Taiwan with French officer MM. P. Giquel, who assisted the imperial commisioner Shen-Bao-Zhen (沈葆楨) in fortifying Taiwan after Mu-dan-she incident (牡丹社事件).

All the stages except the final one can be seen on the map, they are:

  1. Confucius Temple / 孔廟 (府文廟)
  2. Yong-Hua Temple / 永華宮
  3. Koxinga Shrine / 延平郡王祠 (開山王廟)
  4. Great South Gate / 大南門城

Do you see them on the map? Zoom in and see if there are some other familiar places!

 


Confucius Temple

 

Tainan Confucius Temple was built in 1665, under the suggestion of Chen-Yong-Hua (陳永華) to cultivate talents. It had gone through numerous repairs and expansion since Qing dynasty took over Taiwan, including those done by the Japanese and the current government. It's the earliest Confucius Temple in Taiwan, and it's also called "first ever school in the entire Taiwan" (全臺首學).

There are lots of stories behind the buildings, take a walk around and see what you've found! In the main hall of the temple, there're plaques written by each Qing emperor and, after Japanese era, each president, also there are exhibition rooms on the side; it opens from 8:30 to 17:30, but to get the answer, you don't have to buy tickets to enter.

 

台南孔廟建於1665年,由陳永華負責建造,它是全臺第一座孔廟,有「全臺首學」之稱。在孔廟周遭有禮門、義路、泮池、下馬碑等建築,在正廳中有清朝歷任皇帝和國民政府來台後歷任總統所題的匾額,廟內也有一些相關的展覽,進入廟內需收費,開放時間為8:30到17:30,但如果只找這題的答案則不需入內。

 

At the posted coordinates, it's the main gate of Confucius Temple. There are three doors, and normally only the right one opens. Please count how many golden dots are on a single door plank.

底下提供的座標是孔廟的大門,由三扇門構成,通常只有右邊的門會打開。請問"一片"門板上有幾個門釘?

The answer is A.

 


Yong-Hua Temple

 

In Yong-Hua Temple people worship Guangze zunwang (廣澤尊王), he is the guardian of people from Quanzhou (泉州) and southern Foujian (閩南). Legends says he was originally a cowherd boy, so many idols of him look like a boy.

The temple is the first in Taiwan that worships Guangze zunwang, it's said that it's the imperial secretary Chen-Yong-Hua (陳永華) who built it. He had many great achievements during his career. He instituted a farmer-soldier conscription program(屯田制度) to secure steady food supply. He built the first Confucius Temple in Taiwan for those seeking office or taking government exams. In addition, he taught sugar-making, salt-making, and masonry to help the local economy.

At first the temple was called Fong-Shan Temple (鳳山寺), just like many other temples that also worship Guangze zunwang in other places; after a period of time, in order to commemorate Chen-Yong-Hua's(陳永華) contribution in early development in Taiwan, the name of the temple is changed to Yong-Hua Temple.

The temple was at the location where is currently occupied by bank of Taiwan, it was moved to the current location in Japanese colonized era, so the relative location of the temple and other landmarks don't correlate on the map, since it's drawn before the temple was moved.

 

永華宮主祀廣澤尊王,在1662年,陳永華由福建南安鳳山寺隨軍恭迎來台,廣澤尊王為閩南地區的守護神,相傳祂原本是一個牧童,因此其神像多以孩童形象雕刻;永華宮原名鳳山寺,後因紀念陳永華對台灣的貢獻,後更名「永華宮」。其在日治時期由今日台灣銀行的位置搬遷至現址,因此在前面的地圖裡,它和其他地標的相對位置和現在不同。

陳永華對早期台灣貢獻良多,他推行屯田制度、建孔廟,以及引進製糖、製鹽、石匠技術等,促進當時社會的發展。

 

Stand in front of the Yong-Hua Temple and take a closer look at the "six" red round pillars in the middle at the front part of the temple, how many big Chinese characters are on them in total (don't count the small ones! ).

請觀察寺廟前半部分的六根紅色柱子,上面有書寫對聯,請問六根柱子上的對聯總共加起來有幾個字?(小字不用算)

The answer is B.

 


 

Koxinga Shrine

 

Koxinga(國姓爺) is also known as Zheng Cheng Gong(鄭成功), in 1661, he drove away the Dutch people and took over Taiwan, transforming it into his base to keep fighting against Qing dynasty. Though he passed away just a few month later than his victory, people built a temple to commemorate his bravery and contribution to Taiwan, which is the Kai-Shan-Wang Temple(開山王廟). In 1874, the imperial commisioner Shen Bao-Zhen(沈葆楨) refurbished the temple and made a plaque "明延平郡王祠" for it, which is what the temple currently known as in Chinese.

The temple transformed into Kai-Shan Shrine under Japanese reign, they expanded and renovated the temple; after WWII, the temple went through some renovation again and became what it looks like right now.

If you are interested in the story about Koxinga and the building, there are some information boards inside introducing his family background, his fight against Qing dynasty, and telling more stories!

 

鄭成功於1661年打敗在台灣的荷蘭人,於幾個月後過世,民間奉祀為「開山王」。1874年,沈葆楨奉朝庭旨意整建,提匾「明延平郡王祠」。

在日治時期,此地變為開山神社,後國民政府再加以整修,變成今日樣貌。現在裡面除了祭祀之外也有設置展覽,一旁的鄭成功文物館現正整修中,預計2023年上半年完工。

 

In the main hall beside the Koxinga's idol hangs two dark-colored wood planks, a famous couplet is written on them. Please count how many characters are there in this couplet. (Just big characters, don't count small ones!)

在正廳裡鄭成功的神像兩旁掛有一副對聯,請問對聯中總共有幾個字?

The answer is C.

 


 

Great South Gate

 

The Great South Gate was built in 1725, and it's made of wood; it then be replaced by a brick-and-stone one in 1736. In 1788, the gate was expanded into a two-story structure.

Currently, the Great South Gate is the only gate in Taiwan with a barbican(甕城), which serves as a buffer zone when the enemy breaks through the outer gate. In the japanese colonized era, the Great South Gate was repaired and became part of a park; in 1963, the gate collapsed due to a typhoon, it was then rebuilt in 1970s and became what it looks like right now.

 

大南門建於1725年,為木造柵門,1736年改為磚石城門,1788年擴建為兩層建築。大南門城為現今台灣僅存帶有甕城的城門,在日治時期周遭被畫為公園並加以整修;大南門於1963年因颱風倒塌,經重建後現為國定古蹟。

 

some other related stories

In the map above, there is a place called "御碑亭"(royal stelae pavilion) near the south gate, over there were 9 bi-xi stelae(贔屭碑)(one was missing on their way to Taiwan) describing how Qing dynasty became victorious in Lin-Shuang-Wen incident(林爽文事件). In japanese colozined era, they were moved to the vicinity of the Great South Gate along with some other Qing dynasty stelae; now the bi-xi stelae have been moved to Chikan Tower(赤崁樓), and those other stelae are still where they were near the Great South Gate.

 

在最開始的地圖中,南門附近有一座御碑亭,在清朝時期存放紀錄乾隆平定林爽文事件的九座贔屭碑,它們在日治時期和一些其他的清朝石碑被移置到大南門城旁,並於1961年再被移放到赤嵌樓;而其他的石碑則留在南門公園,現在成為「碑林亭」。

 

At the posted coordinates for stage 4, it's the Great South Gate. Take a walk around the building on the gate, how many red pillars are there in total?

請繞著城門上的建築走一圈,請問總共有幾根紅色柱子呢?

The answer is D.

 


 

After going through all the stages and with the number A, B, C, D, the final stage is at 

N 22° 59.XXX E 120° 12.YYY

XXX=A+B+2C

YYY=3A-2B+C+5D

 

You could check if the final coordinates are correct and get hints here:

 

Flag Counter

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

uvagf ner va Trbpurpx

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)