Keelung was extraordinarily valued during the Japanese colonial period. After years of construction, Keelung has become the largest port in Taiwan. With Keelung’s resource development and lively commercial activities, the development and evolution of Buddhism in Keelung are influenced by Mainland China and Japan. Besides, Keelung is a major transportation location, so this paper selects five Buddhist temples in Keelung as the research objects to explore the contemporary Buddhist development in Keelung.
The five monasteries selected in this paper have their own characteristics and backgrounds. Xian-dong-yan Temple was a scenic spot that attracted lots of attention during the Qing Dynasty and was also a stronghold of Japan’s Rinzai Sect, and it became a Buddhist site after Taiwan’s Restoration. Jile Temple is the one created and left by the Japanese; its former name was Guang-zun Temple, which belonged to the Honganji sect of the Pure Land. Today, Jile Temple belongs to the Fo Guang Shan system. Lingchuan Zen-Temple is a monastery founded by Taiwanese and belongs to one of the four major lines of Buddhism in Taiwan. Jin-shan Temple in the Nuan-nuan District was originally a “Fasting Religion”, and was later transformed into a Buddhist temple. It is also the only Buddhist temple in the Nuan-nuan area. The founder of Shifang-Dajue Temple, Master Ling-yuan, came from Mainland China and is a disciple of Master Xu-yun. Shifang-Dajue Temple, belonging to the line of Rinzai sect, is a monastery built after Taiwan’s Restoration and has attracted much attention in northern Taiwan.
This paper explores the evolution of monasteries in Keelung by means of discussing the historical backgrounds of these five monasteries, the evolution of the past dynasties, the inheritance of the dharma, the operations of legal affairs, and the directions of dharma propagation. After decades of changing, Taiwan has entered a stage of low birthrate, and all levels of society are being tested. Similarly, Buddhist monasteries are also facing these dilemmas. Through the discussion in this paper, it is hoped that the problems which are faced by these five monasteries today and how to deal with them are supposed to be clarified and solved.
