Wen Wu Temple
Wenkai Academy began construction in 1824 and was completed in 1827.
Photo: Wenkai Academy Source: shot by this team
After the establishment, more and more people took imperial examinations and the collected books were numerous. It became a well-known and important academy in Taiwan. The academy cultivated hundreds of xiucai for Lukang from Daoguang Period to Guangxu Period.
Stepping into Wenkai Academy, we can see the stone drums on both sides of Wenkai Academy's main entrance. The drums look like the shell of a snail, which symbolizes flourishing population. It also looks like an elephant's nose, and an elephant is a sacred animal in Buddhism, so it also has the meaning of avoiding evil spirits, seeking happiness and expelling evil spirits. In the past, there was a legend, said that who can knock the stone drum sound could be the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was originally a monk, knocked on the stone drum one day because of curiosity, and the stone drum not only made a great sound, but also disintegrated. Finally, he becomes an emperor by fate.
On the Wenkai Academy floor tiles there are Chinese characters "人("person" in English)" and "入"("enter" in English)" on them, which have the meaning of welcoming, and the "丁", which has the meaning of not entering without authorization and keeping quiet. On the pillars of the academy, we can see the turtle, which has a dragon's head and carp body, and represents the hope that the students in the academy can come out top.
Photo: a fish with a dragon head and a carp body in main hall Source: shot by this team
When entering Wenkai Academy and the temples, one should go in from the left and out from the right ( in the direction of gods), because in the ancients' concept this means "enter the dragon's throat and take good luck." and go out of the tiger's mouth and expel bad luck.
Wenkai Academy, a very important public building in Lukang in the late Qing Dynasty, is equivalent to a university, bringing up many talents for Lukang. It can be said that it is a concrete representation of Lukang people's craze for imperial examinations.
After Wenkai Academy was built, Lukang culture and education entered a glorious period from Daoguang Period to Guangxu Period. It brought up 6 jinshi(es), 1 wujinshi, 17 juren and more than 100 xiucai, which is a great event for Lugang people to be proud of. During the Japanese rule, the Japanese set up a public school in Lukang, and Wenkai Academy's lecturing activities were forced to stop. Later, because Japan's Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa stayed here, it was once changed to Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa's house. At present, in the left wing there is still a monument to Prince Kita Shirakawa Yoshi Hisa.
During Japanese rule, the Japanese set up a public school in Lukang, fearing that Confucian scholars' gathering would easily lead to trouble, and forbidding all activities of the academy. Later, it was renamed Beibaichuan Palace Memorial Hall due to the visit of Japanese Prince Kita Shirakawa Yoshi Hisa.
After retrocession to China, Wenkai Academy became more and more dilapidated. A big fire in 1975 even destroyed it. The current building was restored in its original forms in 1984.
Photo: 2005 Wenkai Academy Source: shot by this team