Old Fengshan City Confucius Temple Chongsheng Shrine 鳳山舊城孔子廟崇聖

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The Old Fengshan City Confucius Temple Chongsheng Shrine in Zuoying, Kaohisung dates back to the 17th centruy and is the second oldest Confucious Temple in Taiwan. The temple has survived typhoons, revolts, and allied air raids. Now only a part of it sits in the middle of an elementary school yard.

Historical Background:
The Old Fengshan City Confucius Temple Chongsheng Shrine dates back to 1685 when the first part of the Confucious Temple was built in Fengshan during the Qing Dynasty. It survived revolts, typhoons, other natural disasters, and was constantly repaired and expanded. 
During the Japanese era in 1914, a new public primary school was built and the Confucious temple was incorporated as part of the school. Later, in order to expand dormitories, the sides of the courtyard, main entrance, and main temple were torn down. The spirit tablets were transferred to the Tainan Confucious Temple. 
During allied air raids in Kaohsiung, what was left of the temple was completely destroyed except one building, which was the Chongsheng Shrine.
After the ROC took over Taiwan, the Chongsheng Shrine acted as Kaohsiung's confucious temple until the new Zuoying Confucious Temple could be built in 1976, and most of the important shrine artifacts were moved to the new temple. 
In 1982, the shrine was renovated. Later, more temples were built around Lotus Lake.
Now the shrine sits in the school yard at Fengshan Old City Elementary School, and is thought to bring good luck to the students. 

Hours:
Anytime besides school hours (7:30 AM to 4 PM on weekdays).

Price:
Free

How to Get There:
By Car/Scooter: From central Kaohsiung, go north on provincial highway 17 and then turn north on Zuoyingxia Road. The temple is on your right in the Elementary school yard and is hard to miss. There is free and paid parking all around near Lotus Lake. 
By Train: From the north you can walk to the pond from Zuoying HSR station, or from the south you can walk there from Zuoying Jiucheng TRA Station. 

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

I have been to the Chongsheng Shrine once out of curiosity. There is not much to see and your visit will probably take less than ten minutes.

The temple lies at the back of the school and can be accessed easily if the gate is open. If the gate is not open, the wall around the back is small enough to walk over. 

A row of stone steles that date back to the early Qing Dynasty or even late Ming Dynasty.

A broken stone stele. 

Another stone carving.

Another stone carving.

View of the temple from the front.

View inside the shrine; there is still one spirit tablet.

View of the schoolyard in front of the temple. 

If you have time, you can also check out the magnificent Zuoying Confucius Temple which replaced the Chongsheng Shrine in 1976. Check out our full blog of the temple here. 

You can also check out the Lotus Pond nearby which is one of the most beautiful scenic areas in Taiwan. Much of the lake is full of traditional Chinese temples, gardens, and architecture. Because of its size, it cannot be properly appreciated by only going there for one afternoon; there are simply too many things to see and do there. For our full blog on the lotus pond, click here. 

If you have time, you can also check out the magnificent Qishan Confucius Temple also in Koahisung, which is the largest Confucius temple in Taiwna. 

Thanks for reading and be sure to stay tuned for more of our blogs in the future!

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