Ding Guan Buddhist Temple
Ding Guan Buddhist Temple
Ding Guang Buddhist Temple (see map 
) is a county-level historical relic, whose worshipped god is Ding Guang Buddha. There are two temples which worship Ding Guang Buddha, one is Yishan Temple in Tamsui, the other is this one in Changhua.
Ding Guang Temple (temple, as in “廟(miao)”in Chinese ) was originally called "Ding Guang Study (study, as in “庵(an)” in Chinese). It was built in 1767 by immigrants from Yongding City the Tingzhou prefecture, and served at the time as the Tingzhou Guild Hall. That which only worships Buddha is called a “study” or a “shrine,” but Ding Guang Study, in response to its worshipers’ demand, began also worshipping Mazhu, Fu De God, and smaller earth divinities, and with its development into a mixed worship of both Buddhism and Daoism, it was renamed Ding Guang Temple.
During the Japanese Occupation period, because of the expansion of Guangfu Road, the front hall (Sanchuan Hall), the left and right promenades, and the parts of the storehouse of Ding Guang Temple were torn down, hence its current obscure location among residential dwellings.
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| 「西來花雨」匾與曇光普照」匾 | 廟內主要供奉定光古佛 |
There are several historically valuable plaques in the temple, such as the one which says “rain and blossoms from the west” received in 1762, another which says “island of heavenly light” received in 1771, another which says “blessed be the voyagers from Tingzhou” received in 1773, another which says “showers of endless light” received in 1813, another which says “boundless shine of light” received in 1776, and yet another which says “unobstructed growth of wisdom.”
The main hall is furnished based on the schematic principle known as “Santongwugua,” and in terms of artistic value, the plaques, scroll couplets, ceramic appliques, painted patterns, carvings, and what not, are all superbly fabulous. On the gable to the east side of the temple are engraved a horse whisk and a book, a rare design. At the top of the gable is a ridge rendered with a dragonlike design, embellished not with ceramic appliques but only with calabash clay sculptures; at the base of the ridge is the painted pattern of the three divinities Fortune, Wealth, and Longevity.(Reference to 小西行腳一書P92,P93）
