Xuanwang Temple
Xuanwang Temple, formerly known as Yunti Academy, is a temple in Xihu Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. Established in 1829 as the first privately owned school in Miaoli, it was subsequently converted into a temple of Confucius under pressure from the Japanese government. In the temple, a tower for joss paper named Jingshengting and a Tudigong shrine are protected as county-level historic buildings.
History
In 1829, Liu En-quan moved from Hui'an County in Fujian to Xihu. Liu established Yunti Academy at the current site of Ruihu Elementary school, making it the first shuyuan in Miaoli. In 1840, he moved the shuyuan to its current site, where he also set up shrines for Confucius and the five major literary gods.After Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Japanese government pressured private shuyuan to close in favor of Japanese education. In 1900, Yunti Academy closed and the building was turned into a Confucian temple named Xiusheng Temple, but still served as a meeting place for local scholars. In 1976, the temple was rebuilt and renamed to Xuanwang Temple.