Daguan Institute

Beside the Lin Ffamily Ggarden is the a level three national monument, Daguan Institute, or Daguan Free School. After it was built in 1873, it was used as both a school and a temple, with the central hall dedicated to the god of wisdom and literature, Lord Wenchang. The Wenchang statue is the oldest carved statue of a god in New Taipei City, and on his two sides are boy servants for men of learning and war, Shutong and Jiantong. The temple is also dedicated to Confucius and is an important location for ceremonies to honor the scholar. As you walk through the temple and school, you can see that the beams and pillars are filled with wishes written by students. On the right wall is a tablet that says the Lin family donated money to build the school to eradicate animosity stemming from the Zhang and Quan clan conflict. The Lin family felt that by educating children in the two clans, it could bring different groups together and enhance local culture and civilization. Today the free school continues to serve this purpose, with the wings on each side renovated to form the Daguan Kindergarten.