During the Japanese rule period, the Japanese constructed many shrines in Taiwan. Shrines were places where the Japanese worshipped deities. These shrines were further categorized as official shrines and local-level shrines. The Yuanlin Shrine was built in Showa 6 (1931). Initially an unclassified shrine, it was officially elevated to the status of a village-level shrine (mura-sha) in Showa 17 (1942), making it one of the shrines of Yuanlin District during Japanese rule.