Today we had the opportunity to tour a Confucius temple. I was really looking forward to this excursion because up until this point, we have focused mostly on Buddhism and Daoism, and I wanted to see how the two religions differ from Confucianism and how their places of worship differ.
In the Confucius temple, there wasn’t a figure to represent Confucius. Instead, there was a plaque with his name written in Chinese. This differs from Buddhism and Daoism where a main part of their worship is facing the gods and goddesses and praying to an actual figure. The Confucius temple also seemed to be more spread out than the other temples we’ve visited, and contained a lot of natural greenery. The Confucius temples are also more focused on educating people than about worship. This could clearly be seen in the various rooms in which there were videos, posters, and interactive elements to teach visitors about Confucianism. Confucianism also tends to be more focused on this world and life and about family and social governance while Buddhism is about the afterlife and spiritual life.
Although the places of worship differ between Confucianism and Buddhism and Daoism, the bottom line of the three religions are vastly similar. Each religion preaches basic morals between right and wrong, and encourages purity.
Later in the day, we visited the 228 museum, where we learned more about the massacre that happened on February 28th, 1947. It was shocking to read the stories of the victims and victims families, and the brutality that they faced. I read one story about a man who was the first person from Taiwan to receive a PhD in his field. After he became a teacher, his car was stolen, he was kidnapped, and then murdered. It is difficult for me to imagine and comprehend this type of violence, and I hope nobody has to go through anything like this in their lifetime.
In the last part of our day as a group, we walked by the Presidential office. It had very pretty architecture, but we could not go inside. I could tell it was a highly respected place in Taiwan due to the intense security surrounding the building.