Nantou Chung Tai World Museum Tickets

Chung Tai World Museum, affiliated with Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Puli, Nantou, houses a rich collection of Buddhist historical artifacts. The museum's exhibits are organized around three main categories: "Text," "Images," and "Scriptures," featuring carefully selected rubbings of inscriptions, Buddhist statues and artifacts from various dynasties, Confucian classics, stone scriptures, and Buddhist scriptures, conveying the three main themes of "Text conveying the Way, Images imprinting the heart, and Scriptures transmitting the Dharma." "Text conveying the Way" primarily uses rubbings of inscriptions from various dynasties to showcase various aspects of traditional Chinese culture, including its orthodox traditions, rituals, literature, and art. "Images imprinting the heart" focuses on the museum's collection of Buddhist artifacts, statues, and steles depicting images, presenting the religious spirit, meaning, and artistic forms of Buddhist culture. "Scriptures transmitting the Dharma" primarily uses rubbings of stone scriptures from various dynasties, the museum's collection of Buddhist sutras, and the Classic of Filial Piety, with the "Scriptures transmitting the Dharma" exhibition hall on the second floor explaining the cultural transmission of classics and the significance of sutra carving.

The Chung Tai World Museum complex showcases the beauty of Chinese architecture using a "Chinese-style Western architecture" approach. Its exterior resembles Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and evokes the Buddhist concept of a "city that strictly protects the Dharma," a city dedicated to preserving Buddhist and historical artifacts. The hip-and-gable roofs and imagery of ancient city walls represent the fusion of tradition and modernity, East and West, and Buddhism and Chinese culture across time and space.

The Wood Carving Branch (formerly Chung Tai Shan Museum) is located about 800 meters from the main museum in the northeast corner of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery complex. It was renovated from the original building of the Chung Tai Shan Museum and displays Buddhist wood carvings from various dynasties. Among them, the Liao and Jin dynasty carvings are particularly exquisite and very rare.