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Licness with Cub
Goddess of Mercy Temple Kuan Yin Miao Æ[µ¼q (Makung, Penghu, Taiwan)
In 1887, a pair of lions were commissioned to be placed in front of the new
Government House to ward off evils. As Penghu had no quarry to supply stone
for the statues, the lions were carved out of a solid mass of lime, glutinous
rice porridge and dissolved raw sugar. They were relocated to the present
site when the Government House was demolished in 1935.
With its uncompromising natural environment, Penghu has never been an easy
place to live. The hoplessly poor soil is composed mainly of eroded basalt.
Saturated with sea water, strong winds blow from October to March. The climate
is arid, the result of scarce rainfall combined with a high evaporation rate.
Finally, the relentlessly high waves of the Taiwan Strait are so cruel, and
have taken so many lives that one island was even dubbed Window Island. Nonetheless,
the pioneering spirit of the early settlers transformed Penghu into the proseperous
community it is today. The ingenuity displayed in the making of the lion statues
is testimony to such perseverance.
Text and Photo Jude Lam
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