ちょっと前風神廟に行ってみた。台南の風神廟は台湾での唯一の風神を祀る廟。清朝時代に、中国から船で渡ってきた人が多いため、かなり大事な神だった。（でも大事だからこそこの神の廟がここにしかないのは不思議に思う。資料で調べてみたら、みんな「台湾の唯一風神の廟」って書いているけど、なんでこれが唯一かは全然書いていない。）
昔この廟の前に運河があって、中国から渡ってきた官僚はここで船から降りて、無事に渡台できたことを廟で感謝した。または、中国に戻ろうとする官僚は出発する前にここで海上安全を祈ってから行く。
しかし、日本統治時代に入ったら、台南の運河がほとんど埋め立てた。それに、この廟は道路拡大の邪魔になったため、撤去されてしまった。当時の建物はかなり凄かったそうだ。その後再建された廟は今の規模が小さいものだ。
I went to the
Wind God Temple a little while back. This temple is unique in Taiwan for being the only temple in the country dedicated to the Wind God. I'm not sure why this is. The Wind God was a very important god back in the day when Chinese settlers were crossing the dangerous Taiwan Strait and hoping for a safe journey. This is a major reason why Mazu, a goddess associated with safety at sea, is so popular in Taiwan. So why is there only one temple to the Wind God? I actually have no idea; I haven't seen any sort of explanation given in the literature I've looked at.
At any rate, this temple was built to help ensure safety at sea, and the gate in front of it actually used to face onto a canal where officials sent from the mainland would alight and give thanks to the gods for making it to Taiwan, or where they would board after praying for a safe journey back to China. In the 1920's, while the Japanese government was modernizing the city, they filled in most of the canals, including the one in front of this temple, and they demolished the large temple complex that had been here. The temple was rebuilt on a much smaller scale, and that's the building that we have here today.
最近我去參觀台南的
風神廟。是全台唯一主祀風神的廟。以前上船過來台灣的人很重視風神。（所以我不知道為什麼風神廟只有這裡而已。那麼重要應該建更多吧？有人知道原因嗎？）當時從中國過來的官員到了這裡就下船感謝風神。對，剛好這座廟的前面當時有運河！後來日本政府把運河填補了。還有為了把馬路擴大，廟被拆除了。現在的建築規模較小。
右側の赤い塀は廟の外側。奥の石門は官僚が使ったものだ。真ん中の石でできたものは鐘か太鼓か、どっちかを設置する建物だ。（廟のどっち側にもあるけど、どっちが鐘かどっちが太鼓かはわからない。）昔巨大な黒い亀がいて、海に出た人をいたずれたから、その亀を抑えるために、前足に鐘と太鼓の塔を建てて、首に官僚接待する門を建てたという話がある。
The red building on the right is part of the temple, the gate in the back is the one I mentioned above, and the middle structure is either a bell tower, or a drum tower. There's one of each on either side of the entrance to the temple. Apparently there is a legend that a giant black turtle caused trouble at sea, and that in order to lock it in place and subdue it, the bell and drum towers were constructed on its two front legs, and the main gate for welcoming officials from the mainland was constructed on its head.
右邊紅色的是廟的牆。裡面的門是到了台灣的官員會經過的。中心的東西是「鐘鼓樓」。
鐘鼓樓
The bell/drum tower up close.
鐘／太鼓の塔
...and inside
台湾の廟に必ずついている様な炉
Next to it is a furnace.
官僚を接待する門。「接官停石坊」という。
And here's the main gate.
好厲害的門！
廟の向こうの壁にあるアート。
An artist's work on the wall across from the temple.
廟對面有藝品。
立っている場所は運河があった場所だ。ここで船から降りたわけだ。
Where I am standing is where the canal was. Officials would get off their boat here and pass through this gate. The temple was in the same place it still is now, but it was much larger and stretched way back from here, whereas now it is just this one small building.
以前我站的地方是運河。當時廟比較大，但是地方差不多一樣。
バナナの木
Banana trees nearby
香蕉樹
廟の横
The temple from the side.
Empty space
The gate as seen from the temple.
廟裏看的門
オランダっぽい人物が廟の天井に描かれている。
Some Dutch-like figures painted on the roof beams.
荷蘭人？
雷の神（音の方）
The God of Thunder
雷神
雷の女神（光の方）この二人は夫婦だ。旦那が悪者を殺る前に奥さんは光を発して、それで旦那ははっきり見えて間違っていい人を殺すことを避ける。
The Goddess of Lightning. The God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning are a married couple. Before the God of Thunder strikes down evil-doers with his terrible thunder, the Goddess of Lightning flashes lightning across the sky so that he can see clearly and not mistakingly kill someone good.
電母。雷神和電母是夫婦。雷神很忠義，想把壞人殺死了。但是以前有殺錯人，所以現在祂攻擊之前電母發光幫祂看清楚。
接待の門の彫り物
Some of the carvings on the gate seen up close.
向こうの廟はたまたまこの日になんかの祭りしよった。
There's another temple just across the street. They were having some big event on the day I visited.
對面也有廟。當天有活動。
この廟は台南の歴史的な「七寺八廟」の一つとされている。「寺」は仏教を指して、「廟」は道教を指す。
"Seven Buddhist Temples and Eight Taoist Temples" There's a list of 15 major, historic temples in Tainan, 7 of which are Buddhist and 8 of which are Taoist. This temple is one of them.
風神廟是台南「七寺八廟」之一。
向こうの廟の祭りに車上でポールダンスしている女性が登場した。台湾ではこれが珍しくない。台湾の神は人間が好きなものが好きだかららしい。日本に天照が隠れた時女神が裸になって踊ったという神話があるので、日本もこんなお供え物を取り入れたらどう？
A parade from the temple across the way. Gods in Taiwan are surprisingly earthly in their tastes. Parades in the honor sometimes feature women pole dancing on top of cars. The reason I've heard given is "People like it, why wouldn't gods?"
廟活動。看車上跳舞的女生，大部分的美國人嚇了一跳。在教會不會看到的事情。
腹に穴が開いて、着ている人はそこから顔が出せる。
These guys also usually make an appearance in religious parades. The people inside the costumes look out from the stomach.
That's it for now.
