County-Designated Historic Site Ziyun Temple. Ziyun Temple is a well-known Class III historic site in the Chiayi area, located at Bantianyán on the edge of the Alishan mountain range, about seventeen kilometers from Chiayi City. Ziyun Temple is a well-known Class III historic site in the Chiayi area, located at Bantianyán on the edge of the Alishan mountain range, about seventeen kilometers from Chiayi City. Among the Buddhist temples in Taiwan, it is a historic site with a long history. The temple was founded in the 21st year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1682), and has a history of over 300 years. Ziyun Temple faces southeast from the northwest and is a temple building with five bays, two courtyards, two corridors, and left and right wing rooms. It has a spacious temple square in front, with bell and drum towers on both sides of the two-story side corridors. The pillars in front of the first courtyard bear the couplet: "Purple light glimpses the colors, cloud shadows reflect the cicada's heart." The exterior decoration is on the front three bays, with a pair of stone-carved qilin looking back on either side of the central door. The carvings in Ziyun Temple are extremely fine and delicate, and the carvings of dragon pillars, phoenix tails, and roof rafters are all admirable. Between the gables are eight ancient steles, including the "Buddha's Lamp Stele" from 1765 (erected by Zen Master Juefeng, clarifying the temple's property boundaries), the "Bantianyán Reconstruction Stele" from 1857 (erected by Guo Zhuohai), the Record of the Construction of Jiqing Hall, and the "Bantianyán Buddha Stele." The inscriptions are still legible today. In front of the temple are two 200-year-old ancient plum trees, known as "Mandarin Duck Plums." Several hectares of paulownia and oil-tung trees are planted around the temple. When the flowers bloom, they form a sea of white flowers with a refreshing fragrance.
Address: 嘉義縣番路鄉嘉義縣番路鄉民和村半天岩6號
Hours: 00:00–23:59
Chiayi County