Yi Tung Temple, situated on Minghu Road in East District of Hsinchu, was originally built in Qingcao Lake, Wanzi; it is, inside what is now the desolate forest on the front left of the current gate. Yi Tung Temple was formerly Yi Tung Tang, built in 1892 (the 18th year of Guangxu Emperor’s reign of Qing dynasty), established as a simple private Buddhist study by the wife (Cheng Chen-Jun) of a Hsinchu gentry, Cheng Ju-Lan. In 1915 (the 4th year of Taisho, Japanese Emperor’s reign), Yi Tung Tang was handed over to another Hsinchu gentry, Jueming Upāsikā (her worldly name being Chenlin Jinzhi), who was once the president of the Tongcao (meaning “Rice Paper Plant”)Company and has since become the abbot managing the temple until 1935 (the 10th year of the Showa, Japanese Emperor’s reign) when she handed it over to her granddaughter, Master Xunshen.
Yi Tung Tang was originally a place of study for Zhaijiao as part of Longhua Sect. Later on when Jueming Upāsikā went to study under Master Jueli, the founding abbot of Fa Yun Temple, Yi Tung Tang was thus renamed as “Yi Tung Ch’an Tang”, in connection with the sect under Master Jueli’s Fa Yun Temple. Then, Yi Tung Tang was transformed from the format of Zaijiao to a Buddhist temple. Jueming Upāsikā studiously managed Yi Tung Temple and her granddaughter, Master Xunshen, took over the management with equal earnestness and diligence. She adhered to the spirits of managing the temple to be the pillar of its time, and so she did so zealously and the temple was thrived, developing into Taiwan’s stronghold for Buddhist education. In 1990, when Master Xunshen passed away, Master Rulin succeeded her as the next abbot who carried on with Master Xunshen’s vision in the ethos of “Master’s mission and dedication be my guiding compass.”
Right from the days of Jueming Upāsikā, Yi Tung Temple has established the tradition of “Lectures in the Temple”. Master Xunshen, during her time in Yi Tung Temple, once started the “Women-Only Buddhist College” in Hsinchu that ran courses for 3 years per tenure. Master Rulin as the temple abbot continued with Master Xunshen’s ideals and founded the “Yi Tung Women-Only Buddhist College” in 2002, which has been in operation to this day.
