The retaliatory fire was set off in Guandu Temple by the Japanese Army after their entry due to the monks’ involvement in the resistance. Shortly after the incident was appeased, villagers started to renovate the temple in 30 of Meiji period (23 of Guangxu era, 1897). According to Beitou Public School Principal’s Report, in that year, the chairman of the temple’s board of directors, Mr. Lin Da-Chun and Mr. Weng Yuan-Long, negotiated to renovate the temple with the property of the temple 2,000 dollars and only 20% had to be donated by the local personalities. The lead of this renovation was Lin Da-Chun, a merchandiser from Guandu.
In order to raise funds, Lin Da-Chun donated 200 dollars. After the accounts were settled (1,276 dollars in total), Lin made another donation (85 dollars) to round up the number. There were many Mazu temples here in Taiwan at that time. Mazu of Guandu was, however, still very important for the worshipers although temples were in great numbers. In order to highlight the historical significance, after the temple was completed, it was named ‘Guandu Temple’ since then.
The fund of 2,000 dollars and more was not sufficient due to the serious damage. It was until 40 of Meiji period (1907) when Lin Da-Chun raised funds in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Ilan and other places under the permission of Office of Governor-General. More than 8,000 dollars were raised for renovating and expanding the temple as it is now today. As Lin Da-Chun grew older, Wei Tian-Ying helped completing the follow-up construction.
At the beginning of the period of Japanese Colonial Rule, Japanese monk of the Sōtō School Sasaki Sinryo applied for the inclusion of Guandu Temple as its branch temple. In 40 of Meiji period (1905), however, in order to change the strange phenomena of the fact that two masters owned one field exclusively here in Taiwan, Office of the Governor-General canceled the general rent right, and helped the tenants who actually owned the land to become landlords. The government provided government bonds for compensation hence. However, because the bonds could not be cashed, the operation of Guandu Temple became difficult. Possibly because of this, the Sōtō School gave up Guandu Temple as its sub-temple and handed it over to Beitou Administration, with the director as the legal administrator of Guandu Temple.