When Lin returned home to Chiaotou after leaving his job with the county government, he staged Taiwan's first ceremony to honor a tree spirit, dedicated to an old dead tree. By commemorating the tree in this way, Lin was attempting to focus attention on the preservation of local culture.
1994 年，辭掉縣政府回鄉的林敬堯舉辦全台首見的「樹靈祭」，藉由懷念一棵枯死老樹，聚集思考鄉土文化保存問題，而這樣的原生關懷也感染了蔣耀賢。