Unexpected detours into Taiwan genealogy, art, and religion

November 10, 2026 Ian Lamont

Nicole and visited Taiwan in the spring. We had a great visit with family and friends, and also enjoyed some unexpected cultural experiences, including those with genealogical and historical connections.

The first came midway through a hike near her brother and sister’s apartment. Taipei is ringed by hills, and hiking trails are everywhere. This one ended at a city park. Off to the side was what looked like a traditional temple, behind a gate:

“Do you know what that is?” said Nicole, pointing at the sign on the gate.

I tried to read the characters but could only understand a few. “No,” I said.

“It’s the ancestral temple for the Ye family,” she explained. “For all of the people with that surname on Taiwan.”

Lineage societies have long existed in Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and other Asian countries. In the 1800s and early 1900s, some were established in North American chinatowns as a way for people with a shared surname to connect and build community, no matter where they came from.

Lineage temples take the concept further, incorporating ancestor veneration. While some are focused on a specific male ancestor and his descendants, others like the Ye Family Ancestral Temple are intended for anyone with the Ye or Yeh surname (葉) to gather and pay respects. Ceremonies and other gatherings are held throughout the year.

Another unexpected cultural discovery occurred when Nicole and I were walking near our hotel one Sunday morning looking for a bubble tea shop. On a nearby building, we spotted the edge of a painting. We wandered over and saw that murals were painted along the entire length of the alley. You can see the video here.

We later determined it was part of a local cultural program, the Bei’an Li Humanities Lane (北安里人文巷), that brought artists to beautify alleys in the area after a neighborhood sewer renovation. The murals were done in traditional Chinese painting styles, showing landscapes, animals, and calligraphy. Many were playful, incorporating butterflies, ladybugs, turkeys, or cats.

Our adventure was not over. A few steps away from the street murals we saw a local temple. It was small compared to other temples we’ve seen, but it was in fantastic condition.

In the courtyard, a nun chatted with a group of art students who were painting pictures of the structure. We asked if we could go inside. She not only invited us in, she also offered to give us a guided tour!

Her name was Star, one of two nuns assigned to the temple’s upkeep and mission by the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order. The Jiantan Old Temple (劍潭古寺) is one of the oldest in the Taipei, dating from the 1700s. She said the main hall was dedicated to Guanyin, a Bodhisattva sometimes known as the Goddess of Mercy in the West (her statue is shown above, just behind the altar). In the 1930s, during Taiwan’s Japanese occupation, the temple was relocated from another area of the city, but rebuilt on a smaller scale owing to the smaller footprint of the lot.

The details were incredible. Bells, paintings, carvings, statues and other items filled the space. As with ornate Christian churches, many items and colors in Taiwanese temples have symbolic meaning.

For instance, a banner with the character for “fortune” or “blessing” (福) hung above the entrance, symbolically bestowing visitors with good fortune. Above it was a painting showing a scene from the Western Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, bordered by ornate woodwork typical of Taiwanese temples.