Today (6/1), we headed back to Taipei. I was excited to return to our origin point, although I liked exploring the southern cities, I think there is some comfort in returning to a place I know.
The first stop in Taipei was to a Confucianist temple. I visiting this temple was extremely interesting to me because I noticed a lot of differences when comparing to a Buddhist temple. One thing that immediately popped out to me was instead of using figures for the Gods, there was their written name. I found this interesting and in contrast to Buddhism because Buddhists believe that these figures are actually their Gods. Additionally I noticed that there was no place for people to kneel down and pray. In Buddhist temples, there is a cushion where people are able to sit down and show their respects to the Gods. I also began to develop the question about why there not Buddha’s in the temple we have visited.
Although, I had not knowledge about Confucianism, I found I gained a lot of knowledge throughout this day. I learned Confucianism is about moral values, education, respect for elders, and social harmony rather than the worship of deities. It emphasizes the importance of human relationships, proper conduct, and the cultivation of virtue over rituals directed toward gods. This helped me understand why the temple felt more scholarly or philosophical in nature, with a focus on honoring important historical figures through writing and symbolism rather than idol worship. Overall, visiting the Confucian temple gave me a deeper appreciation for the diversity within religious and philosophical traditions in Taiwan
When we finished looking at this temple, we took a short trip to another Buddhist temple before heading to the 228 memorial. The Taiwanese massecare was something I have never heard about and it was interesting to uncover this piece of history that is not always talked about. I liked learning from Professor Chen and Peter that this was not something that they talked about schools and I wonder if this was due to the controlling government party. I found the whole history behind this event to be fascinating and eye-opening.
When learning about this history, it makes me wonder why I never learned about Taiwan in my schools circulum. I know that the United States does not think of Taiwan as a country but it makes me interested why we never would have talked about it when learning about Asian history. Most of the history I learned in Taiwan is from being here and I think this is important history that everyone should know.
