The history of Yuanshan
The history of Yuanshan ~~ The building of shrine
I. Functional compositions of the space
1. Main sanctuary – the place for worshipping the main gods, dedicated place for god body
2. Sacred food hall – for preparing sacred food of worship
3. Benediction hall – for saying prayer to the gods while worshipping
4. Recreation hall – for playing sacred music and dancing for worshipping the gods (The sacred music is to play for the gods, sometimes a wicked woman could be possessed with a god, with a meaning of purifying the soul)
5. Eradication hall – for eradicating unclean objects (e.g. Hakka R.C. eradication hall, adopted traditional Chinese academic style drawing method, with drawing thin fine line for architectures)
6. Guardian hall – for resident guards with protective responsibilities
II. Shrine facilities
1. Stone dog
2. Sacred arch
3. Stone lamp (This is an object remained during Japanese rule, some with written “Oblation” while others with written “Blessing lantern”. “Oblation” means calling for attention to the gods, and “Blessing lantern” means celebrating the emperor ascending to the throne.)
4. Free life pond (This is a facility provided in many Buddhism temples, which shows the mind of mercy of a Buddhist, and for believers to set free variety of aquatic animals into this pond.)
5. Protection moat (In ancient times, a city was surrounded by a manually excavated river. It presents a defensive role.)
III. Ritual utensils and immolations
1. Stick drum
2. Sacred palanquin (In Japan, while worshipping the gods, local residents will be carrying a palanquin and shouting the same slogans, going around the streets. The palanquin is called sacred palanquin.)
3. Sacred horse
4. Coin
5. Wine
IV. Worshipped gods
1. The god of sky (Also known as “the imperial” or “God”, the master of the universe, in ancient Shang dynasty, people clearly has concept of a ruling god existed, in the divination words, there were phrases of “Instruction from the imperial”, which meant a destiny, in Shang dynasty people had the concept of destiny.
2. The gods of earth (The gods of nature, represented by “the god of land”)
3. Meritorious officials, killed dead and so on. And some are not set in the hall, instead set rock seat (Adopting unprocessed natural stone, forming a spirit as a worshipped god, and called rock seat), rock environment (Adopting unprocessed natural stones, forming an orderly environment, and called rock environment), as well as sacred tree as guardian gods of the shrine, and such forms are quite common.
The shrine does not worship physical human shaped god, instead mainly so called god body (Bronze mirror, sword, jade, tree, mountain and so on). Among those, Japanese shrine values shrine tree (the tree of the shrine), and considers shrine tree as a basis of the gods.
For Japanese, the shrine is a place for worshipping the gods, people go to worship the goes with various reasons, and pray for safety and peace. And the shrine will conduct regular different ritual activities, and open for people to participate, so that people has common place to make benediction for people as well as country.
