全國最大－泰山石敢當 The largest “Taishan stone” of Taiwan
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石敢當具有納福、驅風、避邪、止煞、防水、消災的功能，位於延平路頭堤岸上，建造於1827年（清道光七年）。昔日濁水溪氾濫，鎮民用來防患水災，祈求平安。其高五尺六吋，連基座上有一丈多高，特色為上端刻獅頭，額頭上刻「王」字，口含寶劍，鬚眉表現無遺，鎮民俗稱「獅子咬劍」。細看此座石敢當，可以看到三個別字各有涵義，「泰」字的水少一點，意喻溪水少一點，以免氾濫成災，「石」字多一點，意喻石頭重一點，可以止煞。「敢」字的耳沒下突，意喻站得穩固一些。伴隨著此座泰山石敢當，有許多的鄉野傳奇故事在西螺流傳著！
The Taishan stone tablet, which was erected to ward off evil spirits, has the function of bringing the luck of enjoying the life of ease and comfort, redirect the wind, stop demons, prevent the water damage and help to avoid natural disasters. It was built in 1827 (the seventh year of Daoguang reign, emperior of dynasty Qing) and is located on the embankment of Yanping road. In former days Zhou Shui river sometimes overflew and inundated the town, for this reason the inhabitants had to take preventative measures against floods and pray for their sake. Its hight is 5 Chinese foot and 6 inches, but the pedestal which supports the tablet makes it gain some extra height. Its distinguishing feature is the lion head in the upper part of the stone, which has the character of “Wang” (“Emperior”) on its forehead, a sward in its mouth, a beard and eyebrows that make him look strong. For this reason people from the village gave it the name “Biting Sward Lion”. Examining carfully the Taishan table, you can see three different characters and each one has its own meaning: the character “Tai” (“peace”) doesn’t have a stroke, which represents the hope for lowering the river water in order to avoid disasters caused by overflows; “Shi” (“stone”) has one stroke more to give a better idea of the weight of the rock that can stop evil spirits, while “Gan” (“dare, be brave“) is unexpectedly flat at the bottom to symbolize stability. This is the legend that is told here, in Xiluo, about the Taishan stone table.
