Beigang Yimin Temple: A place of memory for the common people’s righteous souls

#北港 #云林 The Yimin Temple in Beigang Town, Yunlin, stands quietly not far from the Chaotian Temple, which is full of incense. Although it is not as magnificent as the Mazu Temple, it carries another deeper power - the common people's spirit of loyalty and sacrifice. The Yimin Temple was built to commemorate the righteous people who sacrificed their lives to protect their homes and hometowns during the turbulent period of the Qing Dynasty. Most of these righteous people were local villagers or farmers. In an era without official military protection, they stood up and organized militias to fight the enemy and protect their hometowns. They did not have high official titles, and they might not leave their names, but they wrote the purest interpretation of the word "righteousness" with their lives. Although the Beigang Yimin Temple is not large in scale, it is incense-filled. The tablets of the righteous people enshrined in the temple are solemn and solemn, and the heroic deeds of the righteous people are recorded on the wall, reminding future generations not to forget the blood and sweat shed by their ancestors for their homes. Every year in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the local area still holds a righteous people's festival, welcoming the spirits of the righteous people with tea, fruits and ceremonies, in order to express gratitude for their virtue in protecting the hometown.