Last week a group of worshippers at the Fude Temple shared by Fongshan and Shengli villages in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Townhship gathered next to a stage, brandishing white banners during a protest against the imminent relocation of the temple to the land where the stage is located — directly across the street from their housing complex. The planned move allegedly neglects local residents’ concerns that moving the temple to that location would violate serious feng shui taboos. They hope that the county government will not issue a building license. The person who initiated the relocation of the temple says that erecting temples is a common occurence and that it was decided during a vote at a meeting.
The Hsinchu County Government Public Works Department’s Construction Management Section says that the person who applied to relocate the Fude Temple followed all legal procedures. The section also says that while some people have incessantly claimed that it is unreasonable to build a new temple while an old temple is still being used, legislation in the Construction Act provides no grounds for litigation. The county government wrote a letter to the Hukou Township Office to better understand the situation. The office responded by saying that all of the legal construction procedures have been followed, and that no substantial evidence exists that would raise concern that management from the temple — a private organization — has broken any laws. The office has requested that the county commissioner sign off on the project, which is currently awaiting his approval.
Fongshan Village Warden Wu Mei-ying says that the Fude Temple on Shengli Rd, which is shared by the two villages, has 70 years of history. Currently stuck between two housing complexes, the significant lack of space inspired worshippers to raise funds in 1981 to buy a plot of land along Rueian St in Shengli Village, to be used twice a year for religious ceremonies and festivals. Without an administrative committee at the time, the land was purchased under the name of a local villager surnamed Yu. In 1991, the temple built a stage on the land without coordinating with local residents. Not long after, a home owner surnamed Chen living across the street committed suicide by jumping from his building.
Wu says that a group of people, including Yu, set up the Fude Temple Cooperative Development Association for Fongshan-Shengli Villages in 2010, and transferred ownership of the land to the association. They subsequently began making plans to relocate the temple to the plot of land where the stage is located, causing anxiety among local residents that evil forces would be attracted if the temple was relocated there. After a geomancer surveyed the land’s feng shui, he warned that they should be careful when constructing the temple to avoid bringing calamitous misfortune to the entire village.
Since the association has already applied for a building license from the county government, Wu has sent a petition on behalf of the residents, who she alleges are victims because of the temple relocation plan. Wu also accompanied the residents last week, holding white banners next to the stage during a protest. Hopefully the county government will hear the worshippers’ grievances and not grant a building license, she says.
Yu Sheng-tai, the initiator of the temple relocation project, rebuts Wu’s argument by saying that having a temple built across the street from a residential area is commonplace, not anomalous or taboo. Relocating the temple is necessary because the current location is too cramped, Yu says, adding that the committee already voted at a meeting to move it where the stage is located. During weekdays the stage area is used as a private parking lot by residents living in the area, so those opposed to relocating the temple simply wish to continue using this private land which belongs to the temple, he says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
新竹縣湖口鄉鳳山勝利聯村福德宮有部分信眾，上週在戲台前拉白布條，抗議廟方準備在民宅對面重新建廟，無視住家憂心犯風水大忌，盼縣政府不要核發建築等相關執照；但對此，建廟發起人表示是普遍現象，且蓋廟係經開會決議。
新竹縣政府工務處建管科表示，新建福德宮申請人依合法程序提出申請，但陳情人一再強調已有舊廟又蓋新廟不合理，並無法提出違反建築法等相關法令；對此，縣府函請湖口鄉公所協助了解，公所回覆依建築法規定辦理，另民政單位的寺廟管理也無具體違法疑慮，因此全案請示縣長簽辦中。
鳳山村長吳美鶯表示，位在勝利路的聯村福德宮已近七十年歷史，因夾在住家中間缺乏腹地，民國七十年間，信眾集資在瑞安街買下勝利段，作為每年兩次祭拜的場地，當時因無管委會，土地掛在余姓村民的名下；八十年間，廟方未經協調就興建戲台，不久住在對面的陳家主人無故墜樓身亡。
吳美鶯說，余某等人又在二０一０年成立鳳山勝利聯村福德宮發展協會，將地過戶到協會，並發起在戲台處重建福德宮，讓住戶十分憂心會「沖廟煞」；對此，地理師堪輿後曾指示蓋廟要謹慎，否則「搞不好全村的運勢也會遭殃」。
由於協會已向縣府申請建照，吳美鶯除向縣府遞交建廟受害住戶陳情書，上週並偕同村民在戲台周邊拉白布條抗議，盼縣府聽見信眾的心聲，不要核發建照。
福德宮籌建發起人余聲台駁斥吳的說法，他表示，住家面對廟宇的情況很普遍，不是罕例、也非禁忌；因現址空間狹窄，遷廟有其必要性，委員會經過開會決議在戲台處重建。他還說，戲台平日變成周邊住戶的私人停車場，反對者只是想繼續占用廟地。
（自由時報記者廖雪茹）
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