Folk Religion

Qingshan King Festival (2022青山王祭)

December 03, 2022 in Photo Post, Taipei, Temples

The annual Qingshan King Festival (青山靈安尊王), one of Taipei’s most important religious and cultural attractions, successfully wrapped up for another year in early November, and once again I was there for most of the day taking photos with both my digital and film cameras.

The festival, which seems to get bigger and better every year continues to cement its position as one of the most important religious festivities on the nation’s calendar of events, and once again attracted large crowds of people, helping to keep both old and new traditions alive.

The revival of the festival over the past decade, and the popularity it currently enjoys (especially with regard to attracting the youth of Taiwan to come out and enjoy this cultural experience) is an amazing success story, and not only has it helped garner more interest in the cultural, historic and religious history of the district, it has also helped show that Bangka can be a pretty cool place to live.

One of the reasons for the surge in youth interest in the festival (and the district itself) is in large part thanks to Bangkha’s rockstar legislator, Freddy Lim (林昶佐), who has worked tirelessly to promote the festival with events that have brought young people back to the district to celebrate its history.

Bangkha has suffered for decades due to its aging population and for it’s reputation for having a seedy environment and the decline in the district has been a problem for the local government for quite some time. In recent years however, the youth of Bangka have started to come back and investing in their neighborhood - opening up hip new restaurants, cafes, and bars, which in turn is helping to bring the district back to life after years of neglect.

Link: TokyoBike Taipei Cafe

Helping in his capacity as the district’s legislator, Freddy has helped to promote the Qingshan King Festival on an official level ensuring that government funding and support is available for these events.

For most politicians, that would be where their support comes to an end, but Freddy has gone back to his roots as the frontman of the black metal band Chthonic (閃靈) and helped to organize the Roar Now Bangkah (萬華大鬧熱) indie music festival, which lasts for about a week leading up to the Qingshan King Festival, bringing youth from all over Taiwan to the district.

Link: Celebrating a God’s Birthday with a Temple Rave (No Man is an Island)

If you weren’t already aware, the Qingshan King Festival, falls on the days between October 20-22 (on the Lunar Calendar) and is essentially an event where a Taiwanese folk-religion deity, known as the “Qingshan King” (青山王) comes out of his temple to inspect the neighborhood he calls home.

Coincidentally, it’s also a celebration of the his birthday!

Filling a role similar to that of the City God (城隍爺), the Qingshan King and his entourage parade through the streets of Bangka, inspecting homes and businesses, banishing evil spirits and bringing good luck to the locals.

As the sworn protector of Bangka, part of his role is to visit all of the places of worship within his territory to say hello, and every temple in town makes sure to prepare for his arrival. While some might wonder why a god from a deity the size of Qingshan Temple (青山宮) is so important, especially when it has neighbors such as Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) and Qingshui Temple (艋舺清水巖), the historic and cultural importance taking place here is something that cannot be understated.

All of this activity makes for a pretty lively event with loud music, fire crackers, fire works, and thousands of people parading through the streets, bringing traffic to a standstill. While this might all sound like a great time, not every resident of the district appreciates all of the noise created by the several day-long festival. So as the festival has grown in popularity, officials have had to come up with ways to streamline the event and reduce the impact it has on the general public - and it seems that some of these efforts have been working as 78% of people polled in 2021 were satisfied with the steps that were taken to improve the festival.

Nevertheless, the event tends to be a loud one, so if you plan on attending in the future, a good pair of earplugs might be a good investment.

Being that I’ve written about this event on a few occasions, my plan is to keep this one short - Today I’m just here to share some of my photos of the event, which I’ll split up between my digital photos and my film shots.

Over the years, I’ve taken part in this festival on several occasions and have more or less figured out how to navigate the massive crowds with ease. This year, I spent all of my time following Qingshan Temple’s Eight Generals Troupe (艋舺青山宮八將團) on their procession through the city.

As part of an ongoing project of mine, I’m a bit more keen to follow them around than the rest of the parade, which I’ve seen in years past.

To briefly explain, the “Eight Generals” (八家將) are literally translated into English as the ‘Eight Home Generals’ and at Qingshan Temple, the group consists of eight officers and one young boy (引路童子), who serves as their guide through the streets of Bangka.

Each of the generals carries an ancient weapon used for torture, and they are meant to appear quite menacing as they are gods of the underworld who have evolved over the century to act as spiritual bodyguards for important deities such as the City God (城隍爺), Mazu (媽祖), Wangye (王爺) and the Qingshan King (青山王) or any deity who has a role in managing our world and the underworld, which corresponds to the theory of yin (陰) and yang (陽).

Every one of the generals is tasked with performing a specific role, which can be likened to supernatural policeman for both the living and the dead. Some of them are in charge of investigating and catching evil spirits (lock generals) while others are in charge of judging them and dealing out punishment (cangue generals) to whatever evil supernatural forces might be lurking in the district.

Their primary duty during the Qingshan King Festival is to clear the area of evil spirits as they make their way through the streets of Bangka in preparation for the arrival of their master. Their job is a serious one, so you are unlikely to see them smile (they do from time to time).

The number of generals that appear in these groups tends to vary, but at Qingshan Temple, you’ll find four generals with green faces (lock generals) and another four with red faces (cangue generals). For reference, the names of the generals who form the front of the line are General Gan (甘爺), General Liu (柳爺), General Xie (謝爺) and General Fan (范爺). The four in that make up the rear are named after the seasons, the General of Spring (春大神), the General of Summer (夏大神), the General of Autumn (秋大神) and the General of Winter (冬大神).

Link: Ba Jia Jiang (八家將), the Generals (Gods of Taiwan)

If you find all of this as fascinating as I do and would like to learn more about the festival, I recommend reading the other articles I’ve written about the festival in the past so you can get a better idea of what’s going on.

Qingshan King Festival: Part One | Part Two | Part Three

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Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple (臺灣府城隍廟)

November 13, 2021 in Photo Post, Tainan, Temples, Travel

Given that you can find a City God temple in every major city, town or village in Taiwan, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to know that there are close to a hundred of these places of worship throughout the country, celebrating an ancient Chinese folk religious tradition.

Having already published articles about the Xiahai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟), one of Taipei’s most important places of worship, and Hsinchu’s City God Temple (新竹城隍廟), the headquarters of all City God Temples in Taiwan, I figured it was about time to do another deep dive about one of the nation’s other ‘most influential’ City God temples - the one that started it all, namely the Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple (臺灣府城隍廟) in Tainan.

With a history spanning several centuries, the temple originated during the Kingdom of Tungning era, and has continued to thrive through the Qing era, the Japanese era, and the current Republic of China era.

To put it simply, this City God temple has lived through some of the most tumultuous periods of Taiwan’s modern history, and continues to stand today as one of the nation’s most important places of worship, a national treasure if you will.

That being said, when you see someone claim that it’s three and a half centuries old, it’s true, but not necessarily true at the same time.

Link: List of City God Temples in Taiwan 臺灣城隍廟列表 (Wiki)

Surprisingly, there are few articles that go into much detail about this important place of worship, both in Chinese or English, so I’ll be doing a bit of a deep dive on this one having spent a considerable amount of time researching its history and architectural design. So with that in mind, I’m just going to get right into it.

Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple (臺灣府城隍廟)

Few places of worship (or any building for that matter) in Taiwan can claim a history of over three and a half centuries, but if you’re looking for some, look no further than the southern city of Tainan

Tainan as an organized city has changed considerably over the various periods of Taiwan’s modern development, but starting from the Dutch era, the city became an important trading port for the European powers. Things changed considerably however when Koxinga (鄭成功) and his band of pirate ships showed up and forcibly removed the Dutch. The large fleet of ships (fleeing dynastic regime change back in China) arrived in Taiwan hoping to ‘regroup’ in order to go back to China and restore the Ming Emperor.

Koxinga, and his family quickly established a Chinese-style settlement in Tainan, which (at that time) was referred to as ’Hú-siâ’ (府城) in Hokkien, which is where the temple derives its name.

While developing the city, which would ultimately become the capital of the Kingdom of Tunging (東寧王國), it was important for the ruling class that a ‘Chinese style societal structure’ was imposed on the people of the newly formed kingdom. So, they founded a Confucius Temple, the first in Taiwan - which was tasked with training civil servants. It is said that Koxinga placed quite a bit of importance on Confucian thought and philosophy, and the construction of a shrine, where Imperial Examinations (科舉) could be held was important to the fledgling ‘kingdom’ seeking to maintain the traditions of the Ming dynasty.

With the Confucius Temple constructed in 1665, one of the next steps for the Zheng Family was to construct a City God Temple for which they could better instill the values of the newly formed system of governance. One of the things that you have to keep in mind about City God worship (I’ll explain more later) is that the City God is essentially a celestial civil servant, like a governor or a mayor - and it is the role of his court to oversee everything that is taking place within his territorial boundaries. The human rulers of a specific area were required to pay homage to the local City God, while at the same time using his example to teach people about traditional Chinese styles of governance. That being said, life in the early days of an undeveloped Tainan was harsh, and even Koxinga himself died of Malaria, so even though City God worship was beneficial to the ruling elite, it might have also been to their detriment if they weren’t living in a military dictatorship.

Constructed in 1669 as the “Sêng-thian-hú Prefectural City God Temple” (承天府城隍廟), the temple, like its Confucius Temple counterpart, was the first of its kind in Taiwan, and the City God enshrined within was considered to be the highest ranking in the ‘prefecture’, which pretty much meant the entire island of Taiwan.

Language note: The words “Sêng-thian-hú” are the Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation for “Cheng-tian fu” (承天府), which was the term used at the time to refer to the governing territory of Taiwan. Similarly, Chinese capitals Nanjing (南京) and Beijing (北京) were referred to as “Ying-tian fu” (應天府) and “Shun-tian fu” (順天府) respectively.

When the temple was constructed over three and a half centuries ago, it was a considerably smaller place of worship than it appears today - As you’ll see in the timeline provided below, there have been numerous occasions where the temple was renovated, expanded upon and restored, culminating in it doubling in size with additional shrines and decorations added later.

With regard to architectural changes though, I’ll touch more on that later.

What I think is important to note about the City God temple was the special relationship it maintained with regard to the ever-changing political situation over the various eras of Taiwan’s modern history. The temple was regarded as the most important City God temple during the Kingdom of Tungning era, which lasted from 1661–1683. When the Qing took control of Taiwan, it maintained its role as the highest-ranking shrine in Taiwan until 1891 when the Qing court officially recognized the Hsinchu City God Temple as the highest-ranking temple in Taiwan. Not much changed in this regard during the Japanese-era, but when the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, they constructed the “Taiwan Provincial City God Temple” (臺灣省城隍廟) in Taipei and attempted to shift the balance of power away from the Hsinchu temple, but it doesn’t really seem like many actually paid attention to those efforts.

These days we have a bit of a delicate situation with three high-ranking City God’s presiding over the nation - but when it comes to people’s attitudes about these temples, the Hsinchu Temple is probably the most popular as it maintains its role as the ‘headquarters’ of all of Taiwan’s nearly one-hundred City God temples. The Tainan temple on the other hand is highly respected as it is the first of its kind in Taiwan, and its history and architectural design are considered to be a national treasure, which is why it has been permitted to keep its name.

And the temple in Taipei… Well, I suppose it was useful for propaganda purposes, but it’s neither historic, nor as widely frequented as the other two.

Below, I’ve created a timeline of some of the most important events in the temple’s long history:

Timeline

1661 (永曆15年) - The Kingdom of Tungning (東寧王國) is established in Tainan by Koxinga and his army of Ming loyalists.
1665 (康熙4年) - The Tainan Confucius Temple is officially established nearby in an effort to promote Ming Dynasty-style governance and cultivating a local civil service.
1669 (永曆23年) - The “Chengtian Prefectural City God Temple” (承天府城隍廟) is constructed in an eastern area of the city then known as ‘Tong-an-hong’ (東安坊) near the East Gate (東門).
1683 (康熙22年) - The Kingdom of Tungning is annexed by the Qing, who take control of parts of Taiwan.
1693 (康熙32年) - The temple undergoes its first of many renovation and restoration projects.
1752 (乾隆17年) - Official records indicate that the renovation project started decades earlier is completed and the the temple design is officially a ‘Two Hall’ (兩段式廟宇) layout.
1758 (乾隆24年) - 1777 (乾隆42年) - Once again, the temple is renovated and expanded on and pretty much doubles in size transforming into the layout that we see today (四進兩廂房式的廟宇建築).
1827 (道光7年) - The temple undergoes a period of repair (natural disaster related)
1828 (道光8年) - The temple is officially renamed “Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple” (臺灣府城隍廟).
1862 (同治元年) - The temple undergoes a period of repair (natural disaster related)
1890 (光緒16年) - The temple undergoes a period of repair (natural disaster related)
1891 (光緒17年) - Hsinchu is upgraded as a city in Taipei Prefecture, and the Hsinchu City God temple is upgraded into a prefectural-level temple.
1895 (明知28年) - Japan takes control of Taiwan.
1907 (明知40年) - Due to Japan’s urban renewal plans, the road in front of the temple is modernized and widened for cars, reducing the size of the front court yard.
1934 (昭和9年) - The temple undergoes another period of extensive restoration and modernization with celebrations held at the end of the project.
1937 (昭和12年) - The '爾來了’ plaque is gifted to the temple.
1945 (民國34年) - Japan surrenders control of Taiwan and the temple starts a long restoration project.
1947 (民國36年) - The Taiwan Provincial City God Temple (臺灣省城隍廟) is constructed in Taipei and the City God once again is ranked the highest in Taiwan, another awkward situation.
1952 (民國41年) - After seven years, the restoration project is finally completed.
1975 (民國64年) - The temple undergoes another period of restoration and new Door Gods are added by a famed local artist named Pan Lishui.
1982 (民國71年) - Qingnian Road is widened to 15m, reducing the size of the front courtyard (廟埕) and putting the road next to the front door.
1983 (民國85年) - The temple undergoes a period of restoration paid for by the government.
2005 (民國94年) - The temple is officially designated as a protected historic site (國定古蹟).

Now that we’ve talked a bit about the history of this temple, to better understand the deities enshrined within, I’ll introduce them individually as briefly as I can. Before I do, keep in mind that even though this temple is primarily a Chinese Folk Religion place of worship, you’re also going to find figures commonly associated with Taoism and Buddhism. The great thing about this is that unlike other areas around the world, here in Taiwan the mixing of religious traditions isn’t a big deal, and everyone has happily gotten along for the past few hundred years.

The City God (城隍爺)

Most often referred to as the City God (城隍) in English, "Cheng Huang Ye" (城隍爺) is an influential figure in Taoism, and even though he’s considered a ‘tutelary’ deity (and isn’t one of the figures that frequents the Jade Emperor’s celestial court), he is still an important figure within the hierarchy of deities, especially within Chinese Folk Religion.

Worship of the City God is thought to have originated over two thousand years ago, but is a religious tradition that has evolved over time with changes in political ideology, in addition to societal changes, and the concept of a modern city or town. Once a minor figure within Chinese Folk Religion, worship of the City God was popularized during the late stages of the Ming Dynasty, and continued well into the Qing Dynasty.

Considered to be a protector deity, the City God acts as a liaison between the living and the supernatural and plays an important role in assisting the earthly bureaucracy in making the ‘right’ decisions in addition to assisting governments in maintaining order. The function of the City God, whose name literally translates as the god of "walls and moats" (城 means 'city' while 隍 is a 'moat') was to act as a supernatural 'magistrate' who would make decisions about a city's governance (along with human colleagues). He was also responsible for acting as a judge for those citizens who lived within the borders of the city, in addition to working to keep it safe.

Essentially, the City God is not unlike a traditional court official governing from a throne room with a long list of assistants helping to maintain order. As a supernatural magistrate, City God shrines typically appear in a similar design to what you’d expect from a throne room, and the City God is always surrounded by his officials and protectors. From his throne room, the City God would help to oversee development of the city and its defense, and assist in solving issues for the citizens living within his jurisdiction and more importantly handing out judgement for those who have done wrong.

Link: City God | 城隍 (Wiki)

The traditional role of the City God has evolved over time and these days fills the role of an ‘all-purpose’ deity who holds authority with regard to matters of life and death within his specific territory, but also offers assistance to people suffering from poor health, or other contemporary issues. With the societal shifts mentioned above, the City God has changed with the times and has transformed from a simple village guardian to a figure regarded as a protector deity of the modern-nation-state.

One area that sets the City God apart from many of his supernatural colleagues is that in the early days of City God worship, if people prayed for rain and the god failed to 'bring the rain', it was within their ability to hold the god 'accountable' and punish him. Punishments for such heinous inaction on the part of the City God could include leaving his statue out in the hot sun, or having the local governor or magistrate whip him.

This is something that is pretty much unfathomable for the high-ranking members of the Jade Emperor’s Celestial Court, but is an interesting concept where even supernatural beings are able to be held accountable for not holding up their end of the bargain!

These days, worship of the City God has changed considerably, and the notion of dragging him out of his throne room to torture him is probably impossible. Even here in Taiwan where there are ninety-five temples dedicated in his honor, no one mistreated any of his statues during the most recent several-year long drought which caused water shortages around the country.

One thing that most people don’t actually realize about the City God is that his supernatural powers are divided up based on the area that he represents, which is something that is quite significant to this temple; To put it simply, if you come across a City God temple in a small town or city, his influence isn’t as powerful as that of a ‘prefectural’ or ‘national-level’ version.

The City God’s official divisions are as follows:

National Level City God (都城隍、府城隍), known formally as the Duke Xiang (享公爵)
State / Provincial Level City God (州城隍), known formally as the Marquis of Xiang (享侯爵)
County / Town Level City God (縣城隍), known formally as the Earl of Xiang (享伯爵)

Given that this is the ‘Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple’, the City God that is enshrined within is the National Level City God, who is regarded as the “Duke of Wei” (衛靈公) and is one of the highest ranking in Taiwan.

Having already read the history of the temple above, you’ll know that when it was first constructed, during the short-lived Kingdom of Tungning era, where its purpose was to serve in the capital of the kingdom, which was located in present-day Tainan. With that in mind, it’s important to note that there is also a ‘Duke of Wei’ level City God in the Hsinchu City God Temple, which is currently the most influential City God temple in Taiwan as it acts as the headquarters for the rest.

Ultimately when it comes to the City God, there is a considerable amount of politics that needs to be taken into consideration, and that is usually something that takes place here with us humans who use these images to our own advantage.

The Civil and Martial Judges (文武判官)

Accompanying the City God in the main shrine of the temple you’ll find standing statues of two of the City God’s most important officials, the Civil and Martial Judges. Starting on the right, you’ll find the “Civil Judge” (文判官) with the ‘book of life and death’ (生死簿) in one hand and a brush in the other. The function of the Civil Judge is to record both the good and bad deeds in ones life and judge them accordingly when they pass away. On the left, you’ll find the “Martial Judge” (武判官), who is responsible for the enforcement of the City God’s judgements. Holding a mace in his left hand, this judge is a much more opposing and serious-looking figure and is responsible for the scarier aspects of a City God’s duties.

The City God’s Twenty-Four Officials (二十四司 / 司爺)

Located within a glass-covered compartment on walls to the left and right of the main shrine you’ll find twenty-four statues of the rest of the City God’s spiritual assistants. According to tradition, the twenty-four officials are an imitation of the ancient official system of governance in China with each of the officials performing a specific duty. In a contemporary sense, they are basically ‘department heads’ or ministers of each of their respective bureaus. For brevity, I won’t be going into detail about each of their names or their responsibilities, but for example you’ll find someone who takes care of labor rights, household rights, education, national defense, etc.

For reference: Their names are as follows: 陰陽司、速報司、稽查司、賞善司、罰惡司、註福司、註壽司、功曹司、良願司、提刑司、地獄司、驅疫司、感應司、文書司、檢簿司、掌案司、考功司、保安司、查過司、學政司、典籍司、督糧司、巡政司、儀禮司。

Unfortunately there isn’t very much information available about these guys in English, so if I find some time in the future, I might go into a bit more detail about them with a dedicated article. They’re actually quite interesting and are essentially a supernatural mirror into the way people perceived governance a thousand or more years ago.

Generals Fan and Hsieh (范謝將軍)

Located at the entrance to the temple, you’ll find shrines dedicated to General Fan (范將軍) and General Hsieh (謝將軍), who together are more commonly known as the “Seventh and Eighth Lords” (七爺八爺), or the “Black and White Impermanence” (黑白無常), and are common figures within Taiwan’s religious scene, especially at temple festivals.

Often appearing in parades with long waving hands, the two generals are important members of the City Gods court and are charged with carrying out the task of escorting the dead to trial to be judged by the City God.

Link: 范謝將軍 (Wiki)

How does one go about telling the two generals apart?

Well, their name “Black and White Impermanence” as mentioned above is probably one of the best indications given that one of the generals appears in white while the other is black. General Hsieh, who greets you at the entrance to the temple (right side) is tall and thin, and wears while robes with long eyebrows and a beard. His counterpart, General Fan, on the other hand is short and chubby with dark skin and a black robe.

Given that the two of these generals play an important role in carrying out the judgements of the City God, (especially with regard to the afterlife), having them at the front door is a constant reminder to anyone who enters that they should be on their best behavior.

General Hsieh: Wearing white robes and holding a feather fan in his hand.

General Fan: Wearing black robes and holding a square card connected to a chain that has tiger heads painted on it.

Generals Gan and Liu (甘柳將軍)

Accompanying the smaller statues of General Fan and Hsieh are two of their associates, General’s Gan (甘爺) and Liu (柳爺), who are famously part of the fierce Eight Generals (八家將), and can be commonly found roaming the streets (in human form) during temple festivals.

Both generals are part of the “Front Line” (頭排) of the group of underworld immortals and are responsible for carrying out executions.

Interestingly, they take turns supervising people’s good and bad deeds during the day, which means that you won’t often find them appearing together unless there is an important event.

In statue form, they appear quite menacing, but when they’re in human form in front of you on the street with their weapons used for torture, they’re even scarier. Still, they’re part of one of the coolest aspects of Taiwan temple culture, and their appearance at any event is an important occasion.

The City God's Wife (城隍夫人)

In the rear hall, you’ll find a second City God-related shrine dedicated to his wife, who is known simply as “The City God’s Wife.”

Despite the obvious arguments of gender inequality that come with this, the City God's Wife is an important fixture within any City God temple, and a temple dedicated to the City God couldn’t be complete without a shrine to his wife, who also performs official state functions like her husband.

While the City God is busy being the all-important political figure, his wife deals with matters of the heart and is known as a ‘Chinese Cupid’ of sorts. Tradition has it that if you’re praying for love, marriage or having children, she’s the one you’ll want to visit in order to take care of all your needs.

Making things even better, if your husband has undesirable habits such as gambling, drinking or sleeping around - she'll also help take care of that!

While it may come across as a sexist tradition to some, the City God's wife is highly respected, and with a palace of her own, she’s just as important as the City God himself. And as mentioned above, taking into consideration that these temples are often a reflection of the ancient Chinese court-system, their shrines mirror that of the roles that leaders of the past would have had.

Interestingly, in many City God temples you’ll often find photos of happy couples posted nearby the shrine to the City God’s wife thanking her for her assistance in helping people to find true love.

In the case of this temple, the City God’s Wife is located in the Rear Shrine (後殿), but she isn’t located in the main shrine in the centre as you’ll find in other City God temples. Her shrine is to the right of the main shrine, and in another departure from what you’d typically see in one of her shrines, she is accompanied by a statue of her husband, who sits side-by-side with her.

The Goddess of Child Birth (註生娘娘)

Following along with shrines that are predominately dedicated to women, visitors will find a statue dedicated to the ‘Goddess of Childbirth’, also known as the ‘Goddess of Fertility’ (註生娘娘), who is of the most highly respected fertility deities in Chinese Folk Religion, especially for those hailing from the Southern Fujian region of China - where many of the first immigrants to Taiwan originated.

Holding a notebook in one hand and a brush in the other, she is in charge of recording the births of every household, and does her best to assist anyone having trouble having children.

Ms. Linshui (臨水夫人)

Sitting next to the Goddess of Child Birth, you’ll find another Southern Fujianese goddess, “Ms. Linshui” (臨水夫人). With regard to the English translation of her name, I decided to go with “Ms.” instead of “Wife” as is the case with the City God’s partner above.

This is due to the fact that I’m not particularly sure who her husband is supposed to be and the word “夫人” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “wife” as it was a sign of respect (for women) hundreds of years ago.

According to legend, Ms. Linshui was a well-known Taoist priest named Chen Jinggu (陳靖姑) who became a goddess after death. Known to the Hokkien people as a protector of villages, she is also known as the patron saint of women and children.

Mazu (天上聖母)

Rounding out the shrine dedicated to Southern Fujian goddesses, I’ve saved the most important for last - Mazu (媽祖), or the Goddess of Heaven (天上聖母) is arguably the most important religious figure in Taiwan, and is regarded as the patron saint of the country.

Finding a shrine dedicated to the ‘heavenly mother’ is a pretty common thing in Taiwan, and even moreso in Tainan, but it’s important to remember that when this shrine was constructed, Mazu worship in Taiwan was still relatively new.

The statue of Mazu here certainly isn’t as grand as what you’d find at the nearby Goddess of Heaven Temple (天后宮), but given that she’s situated next to some other amazing Hokkien goddesses, its a pretty important one that represents the power and important role that women play in society.

Guanyin (觀音菩薩)

Located within the middle shrine in the rear hall is the Buddha of Compassion, known throughout the Mandarin speaking world as Guanyin (觀音菩薩).

Within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the Buddha of Compassion is a Buddha who is constantly reborn with the mission to ensure that all of humanity has the opportunity to reach enlightenment.

In Tibet, the Buddha of Compassion is none other than the Dalai Lama, but in Taiwan, China and other parts of Asia, the Buddha manifests as the mother-like Guanyin. Here in Taiwan, Guanyin is one of the most highly regarded Buddhist figures, and her worship transcends Buddhism, which is why you’ll often find shrines in her honor within Taoist and folk religion temples, like this one.

With that in mind, as the Buddha of Compassion, whenever something bad happens, Guanyin is always one of the first religious figures that people think of, so it shouldn’t be surprising that there is a shrine in her honor in this temple.

What does surprise me however is that her shrine is located in the middle position, which in most cases should be reserved for the throne of the City God’s Wife. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find any explanation as to why it was set up in this way.

The Eighteen Arhats (十八羅漢)

Given that the main shrine in the rear palace is primarily dedicated to Guanyin, a Buddhist figure, you’ll find statues of the ‘eighteen disciples’ of the Buddha located along the left and right walls, with nine on each side. The eighteen arhats are interesting figures, so if you’re visiting the temple, I recommend taking a close look at each of the statues as some of them are likely to appear a bit differently than what you’d expect from one of the Buddha’s disciples.

Like the twenty-four judges above, I won’t be going into too much detail about the arhats as there is already an ample amount of information about them online. If you’d like to know more, click one of the links below.

Link: Eighteen Arhats | 十八羅漢 (Wiki)

Ksitigarbha (地藏菩薩)

Kṣitigarbha Buddha, known in Taiwan and China as “Dizang” (地藏菩薩), and Japan as “Jizo”(じぞうぼさつ), like Guanyin mentioned above is another Buddha who has vowed to continue being reborn until his mission is complete. In this case though, Ksitigarbha’s mission is to ensure that all of the people suffering through ‘karmic hell’ are eventually guided through to enlightenment. The role this Buddha plays in countries across Asia differs slightly, but taking into consideration how Taiwan has been influenced by both Chinese and Japanese Buddhist traditions, his worship tends to be a mixture of the two.

Link: Kṣitigarbha | 地藏菩薩 (Wiki)

In Japan, he plays a role similar to Taiwan’s Earth God (described below), and is also a protector of women and children, and pays special attention to unborn children. In the Chinese tradition, he is the person people visit to pray for blessings to the souls of their ancestors.

The Earth God (福德正神)

Located along the passageway to the right of the rear shrine you’ll find a shrine set up another one of Taiwan’s most important deities, the Earth God (福德正神).

If I was to make an analogy about deities in Taiwan, shrines dedicated to Mazu would be a bit like Family Mart (全家) while shrines dedicated to the Earth God are like 7-11 convenience stores. This is to say that there are certainly more 7-11’s around the country, but Family Mart is still pretty awesome.

Even though Mazu is regarded as the patron saint of Taiwan, the Earth God remains to be one of the most highly worshiped deities around the country, and temples and shrines in his honor can be found pretty much everywhere. Shrines to the Earth God are likely to be found in almost every major temple, so even though the shrine here isn’t at the forefront of the temple, his inclusion is still a necessity.

Accompanying the Earth God is one of my favorite folk religion figures, the Tiger General (虎爺將軍), who you’ll find located just below the shrine to the Earth God. Legend has it that the Tiger General is so ferocious that only the Earth God can contain him. While it may appear that the Tiger General is the Earth God’s pet, I wouldn’t say something like that out loud.

When it comes to evil spirits, the Tiger General is especially skilled at scaring them off. He’s also known as the protector of children, and is known for his skills when it comes to helping people make money.

The God of Matchmaking (月下老人)

Last but not least, the temple features a modest shrine to the ‘God of Matchmaking’, known literally as the “Old Man Under the Moon” (月下老人) or “Yue Lao” (月老). You might be thinking, “Hey doesn’t the City God’s Wife already cover that?”, and you’d be right. But within Chinese Folk Religious traditions, the God of Matchmaking is your go-to person for all romance-related problems, whereas the City God’s wife focuses much of her power on taking care of women.

The shrine to the God of Matchmaking is located along the western wall of the rear hall, and you’ll notice that there are lots of photos of couples next to the shrine. Sometimes the photos of these couples are fun to look at, because they’re all people who visited the shrine looking for love, and came back later to thank the god when they found someone.

Architectural Design

Even though the layout of the temple has changed considerably over the past three and a half centuries, it continues to maintain what you’d consider a traditional architectural design. Constructed in a North-facing-South (座北朝南) direction, the layout consists of ‘three hall and two-passage-way’ design (三殿兩護龍). What this means in layman's terms is that the temple was constructed according to Feng Shui, and is rectangular in shape with three different sections, a common design for temples.

With regard to the three ‘halls’ (殿), the front reception area (山門) acts as the one of the halls, while the City God shrine is located in the ‘Main Hall’ (正殿), and the ‘Rear Hall’ (後殿) is located behind that and features another shrine room. The two ‘passage ways’ on the other hand are located along the east and west-side walls, and in contemporary terms would be referred to simply as ‘walkways’ (走廊), but in a folk religion setting they are given the official name, ‘protector dragons’ (護龍), and allow visitors to make their way from the front entrance all the way to the rear courtyard in a counter-clockwise direction.

Starting from the front of the temple, you’ll find that the entrance has three doors, known locally as the Dragon Door (龍門), Middle Door (中門) and Tiger door (虎門). Located on either side of the Middle Door you’ll find a pair of beautifully carved Stone Lion Guardians (石獅), each of which date back to 1937 and amazingly continue to have their Japanese-era dates displayed on the base, which reads “Showa Era Year 12” (昭和丁丑).

The roof of the front hall is designed with a traditional single-layered swallow-tail design (單脊燕尾造型), and is decorated with green porcelain dragons on each of its rising ridges. On the apex of the roof you’ll find the famed ‘Sanxing’ (三星) deities Fu, Lu and Shou (福祿壽) who are considered to the be embodiment of ‘Fortune’ (福), Prosperity (祿), and Longevity (壽), and are commonly found on temple roofs all across Taiwan. You’ll also find other cut-porcelain carvings (剪瓷雕) along the roof, which have become indicative of traditional Hokkien-style architecture in Taiwan.

Links: Sanxing | 三星 | Hokkien Architecture | 燕尾脊 (Wiki)

It’s not often that I actually learn new words when I write these articles, but as you enter the temple you are met with an area reserved for prayers referred to as a ‘Chuan-tang prayer pavilion’ (川堂拜亭), admittedly a loose translation.

This part of the temple features an area where guests are free to sit on one of the provided cushions to worship the City God. The reason why I’m learning a new word here is due to the fact that these prayer areas aren’t as common in temples anymore as most people complete their prayers while standing.

Coincidentally in a lot of temples, this particular area would be a roofless court-like area that allows for natural light to come into the temple and the burning incense to leave. However, as this is a City God Temple, it differs in its design as temples like this are traditionally constructed to be a bit ‘darker’ than your average temple, creating what should be a more solemn and mysterious space like that of a governmental office.

With this in mind, you’ll probably also notice that the elaborate designs and bright gold decorations that you find in other Taiwanese temples aren’t utilized here as the City God prefers a much more subtle throne room given that he has little use for luxurious decorations.

Taking into consideration that there is an open space along the eastern and western walls between the Front Hall and the Main Hall, its important to take note of the network of pillars located between the ‘Chuan-tang’ pavilion and the Main Hall. In total there are eight stone pillars, with four on each side, and while they are decorative they serve a more functional purpose in helping to keep the roof above in place.

Once you’ve passed through the Main Hall and go to the rear, you’ll find a much more open space and brighter space featuring an open roof that allows an ample amount of natural light into the rear shrine room. One of my favorite features of the rear hall though isn’t its more bright and spacious design but the round open passage doors along the eastern and western walls. These round doors can be found in some of Taiwan’s older places of worship, but it is an architectural design that has been lost over time, which is a shame.

Although the rear hall is a lot more spacious and brighter, it is also a bit cramped as it features three shrines in the center, with two more to their sides and another against the wall. With more than eighteen deities featured within the rear hall, its spaciousness can also come across as a bit busy, especially if there are a lot of people visiting.

Finally, if you continue walking beyond the rear hall to the back of the temple you’ll come across something that is quite odd in Taiwan - grass!

The temple is home to a ‘backyard’ of sorts where there is a very nice public washroom, and a large paper burner next to a garden with grass and a beautiful Chinese-style open air pavilion. The area is quite nice, but with the recent construction of a luxury apartment building to the rear of the temple, the view from the garden isn’t as nice as I’m sure it used to be.

That being said, if you’re doing a walking tour of the area and require a nice washroom to relieve yourself, I highly recommend this one!

While this is more of a general description of the architectural design of the temple, I do want to focus on a few of the decorative elements that really stand out. If you visit, it’s important that you take note of these things as they’re important cultural relics here in Taiwan.

Stone and Wood Carvings (石雕/木雕)

While the temple might differ from other temples in Taiwan with regard to its decorative elements, it’s important to note that the major difference is that it doesn’t go over the top. The decorative elements in the temple are subdued, but also aged at the same time. So while you don’t experience the over-saturation of color that you get at most temples, if you pay close attention, you’re going to notice that there is considerable artistic mastery on display throughout the temple, but the devil is in the details, and you really have to take some time to notice it.

With regard to the stone carvings, you’ll want to pay attention to the pillars mentioned above, each of which feature stone carvings. Located between the Middle Door at the front entrance you’ll find two beautifully carved dragon pillars and several murals along the walls nearby.

Likewise along the eastern and western walls between the Front Hall and the Main Hall you’ll find two large murals of a dragon (天井龍堵石刻) and a tiger (天井虎堵石刻). The murals position, following the tradition of the ‘dragon’ door and the ‘tiger’ door with the dragon on the right side and the tiger on the left.

When it comes to the wooden carvings, you’ll have to look to the sky to find them. The wooden carvings, which have been masterfully crafted are located along along the network of trusses and beams that help to keep the roof in place and distribute its weight. You are going to find various designs within the carvings, which are usually of ancient Chinese mythical creatures, but are all really beautiful and have been part of the temple for hundreds of years.

The most obvious of all the wood carvings, or at least the one that is at eye-level is the beautifully crafted wooden panel window (木雕門版) on either side of the middle door. When it comes to these hand-carved wooden panel windows, they’re somewhat of a dying art in Taiwan, and in most cases you’ll find them today made of cement, which is a shame.

For foreign visitors looking at the mural, you might think its just a hodge-podge of images, but in actuality both murals, if put together are telling the story of the ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’ which is one of the most popular Taoist myths.

Link: The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea (The Daoist Encyclopedia)

The Iconic Plaque (爾來了匾額)

As soon as you enter the temple, you’re met with one of it’s most well-known, and highly-regarded decorations, the “You’re finally here!” plaque.

Considered to be one of Tainan’s ‘four famous plaques’ (臺南四大名匾), it is one of those things that most locals in Taiwan are aware of, even before they visit the shrine as it is often covered in history textbooks in Taiwan’s schools.

For reference: The other three plaques are: 「一」at Tiantan Temple (天壇), 「了然世界」at Zhuxi Temple (竹溪寺), and「大丈夫」at the Martial Temple (祀典武廟).

The black plaque features beautiful golden calligraphy that, as mentioned above, translates as “You’re finally here!” (爾來了) a phrase that is used somewhat ironically, or in a condescending tone.

The reason for this is quite simple - the City God is pretty much always watching you, and he knows the good things you’ve done, as well as the bad. For westerners, I guess this is comparable to Santa Claus, but unfortunately for children Santa doesn’t have a temple where you can go to apologize for your transgressions. As a judicial deity, the City God has control over Yin and Yang (陰陽), and its his role to deal out demerits for any karmic misdeeds in your life.

So, when people arrive and see this beautiful plaque, its a reminder that you not only have to be a better, more righteous person. You should likewise come often to confess those sins to the City God so that when you pass away, your demerits don’t outweigh the good things that you’ve accomplished.

The Abacus (大算盤)

Located in the rafters directly opposite the plaque, you’ll find a giant abacus, which is another one of the most important decorative elements of the temple. Considered to be one of the City God’s most important tools upon which he comes to a conclusion about a person’s life, the abacus is a reminder to people, like the plaque, that you should always be on your best behavior.

Both the plaque and the abacus were donated to the temple upon the completion of a major restoration project in 1937

Door Gods (門神)

The Door Gods at the shrine are classified as“Martial” (武將) and “Literary” (文官) with Qin Shubao (秦瓊) and his counterpart Yuchi Gong (尉遲恭) located on the middle door (中門). Qin is the lighter-skinned man carrying a sword while Yuchi has dark skin and carries batons.

The two figures are legendary figures who lived the Tang Dynasty (唐朝), and are commonly displayed as door gods on temples thanks to a story that explains how they once stood guard at the door of the emperors bedroom to protect him from angry ghosts, allowing him to rest peacefully.

On the Dragon Door (龍門), you’ll find a ‘Eunuch’ (宦官) holding a peony and an incense burner while the Tiger Door (虎門) on the other side features a ‘Palace Lady’ (宮女) holding a teapot. Both of these door gods are used to indicate that there is a royal palace on the inside.

Even though the temple itself is hundreds of years old, these beautifully painted Door Gods only date back to 1976 when they were repainted by famed Tainan artist Phuann Lē-tsuí (潘麗水), whose work can be viewed all over Taiwan today in many of the nations most important places of worship.

Link: Pan Li-shui's art (The Bradt Taiwan Taiwan Guide)

Getting There

Address: No. 133, Qingnian Rd., West Central Dist., Tainan City (臺南市中西區青年路133號)
GPS: 120.20906/22.991987

Located a short distance from Tainan Train Station, getting to the City God Temple is relatively easy if you’re coming from out of town.

That being said, if you’re staying closer to some of the city’s larger attractions like the Confucius Temple, or Chikan Tower, there is a bit of a distance between them. Unfortunately, given the temple’s proximity to the railway station, there aren’t too many buses available that will bring you directly to the temple.

Train / High Speed Rail

If you’re taking a train to Tainan, the temple is less than a ten minute walk away from the railway station, so if you’re not carrying too much with you, you’ll probably just want to make your way on foot. To get there, you’ll turn left from the station front and walk down Beimen Road (北門路) until you reach Qingnian Road (青年路) where you’ll turn right and walk until you get to the temple.

If you’re arriving in Tainan from the High Speed Railway Station (台南高鐵站), you’ll have to first take the free shuttle bus to the Tainan Railway Station and then follow the steps above.

Bus

Most local travel sites recommend you take Bus #2, 5, 6, 7, 15, 19, 25, or 26 and get off at the Tang Te-chang Memorial Park bus stop (民生綠園站) and either walk or take a taxi from there. One thing you’ll want to note is that the park itself is located within a traffic circle, so when you get off the bus you have to be careful about which direction you head in when you are making your way toward the temple.

Link: Tainan City Bus Website

Scooter / Bicycle

While in Tainan you unfortunately won’t have access to Youbikes like other cities around the country, but the city has its own version called “T-Bike,” which you are encouraged to make use of during your visit. Likewise, if you have a drivers license you can also sign up for the convenient GoShare scooter service that’ll allow you to cheaply scoot around the city.

Links: GoShare | T-Bike

As is the case in most of Taiwan’s large cities, you’ll also find scooter rental shops near the railway station where you can rent a scooter for the duration of your stay. The prices per day are usually pretty fair, but if you don’t have a local license, you might be refused.

If you’re asking me, Tainan is a very walkable city and one of the best things about a visit to the city is that as you walk around town you’re able to find so many secret crevices in alleys that are hidden from your average tourist. With a distance of less then 10-20 minutes walking from anywhere you’ll want to visit in the historic district, you’ll certainly enjoy your visit better if you walk.

While in Tainan, you’ll also want to check out the Koxinga Shrine (延平郡王祠), the Confucius Temple (台南孔廟), and the Tainan Martial Arts Hall (台南武德殿), all of which are nearby. Likewise, you may have already heard that it’s pretty much the culinary capital of Taiwan, so if you are wondering where or what to eat, I recommend checking out this article about how to Eat Like a Local in Tainan to help guide you through the city.

Hours: Open daily from 06:00 - 21:00

References

臺灣府城隍廟 (TW CITY GOD)
臺灣府城隍廟 (Wiki)
臺灣府城隍廟 (Taiwan Gods)
臺灣府城隍廟 (Taiwan Digital Archives)
臺灣府城隍廟 (臺南宗教藝術)
臺灣府城隍廟 (台灣文化部)
臺灣府城隍廟 (台南咬一口)
台南-台灣府城隍廟 (Just a Balcony)
台灣城隍廟{二} （台南顯佑堂安溪城隍爺的部落格)
Taiwan Fu City God Temple (TW CITY GOD)
Taiwan City God Temple / 臺灣府城隍廟 (Travel Tainan / 台南旅遊網)
City God Temples (Premier Hotels)
Chenghuang—City God, Judge, and Underworld Official (Digital Taiwan)

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Photo)

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Linkou Guanyin Temple (林口竹林山觀音寺)

February 29, 2020 in New Taipei City, Photo Post, Temples, Travel

While having a conversation with my family recently, my sister noted that my grandma’s church had closed down and that she had to find a new place of worship to devote her weekends. As I chatted with them, I couldn’t help but laugh as I thought to myself, “You mean, it went out business?”

I have vivid childhood memories of my parents giving a loonie (one dollar coin) to my sister and I every Sunday morning when my grandma rolled up in the driveway to take us to sit through our hour of misery.

I remember sitting there in church bored of my mind and when they started passing around the collection plate I always wanted to make an attempt to just pretend putting my dollar in and passing it along.

I could have done so much with that dollar, but I had to give it to the church and I had no idea why.

If you’re like me and were forced to sit through church services like this in your youth, its likely that the decline of the church in recent years doesn’t really surprise you all that much. They tried to change and make it something that the youth of today could enjoy, but the larger public seems to be of the opinion that it was too late. Few people these days want to waste one of their precious days off being lectured to by some guy who lives a life of luxury.

The fact that churches are closing and congregations are shifting from one place to another should be a pretty good indication that not only are the number of church-goers in decline but so is funding.

Here in Taiwan, the situation is almost the exact opposite.

There are well-over ten-thousand places of worship squeezed into this tiny country and it would be considered extremely rare for anything remotely similar to happen to them. In fact, despite there being more temples than there are convenience stores in Taiwan, new temples are constantly being opening up.

Taiwan has its fair share of historic places of worship, but when it comes to the “new” temples, it seems like the pervasive attitude is to “go big or go home” as it would appear that every new construction project attempts to outdo the others in terms of the size of opulence of these palace-like structures.

I’m not really sure when this trend actually started, but I’m guessing it might have been around 2012 when the newly expanded version of Linkou’s Guanyin Temple opened to a considerable amount of fanfare and nationwide attention.

The temple, which a decade earlier was a small and simple (yet popular) place of worship, transformed into one of the nations largest and most opulent. When it reopened, people came from all over the country to line up and check out what all the fuss was about.

In the years since, the Linkou Guanyin Temple has been recognized as one of Taiwan’s ‘100 Most Important Places of Worship’ and continues to attract visitors from far and wide as a place of pilgrimage, a tourist attraction and a model for all the others to emulate.

For most tourists, an excursion to Linkou, a suburb of Taipei, was never really that attractive, but now that the Taipei MRT is now connected to the area and the Mitsui Outlet Park is open for business, there is a lot more incentive for people to visit the area.

If you are going to visit Linkou, there is no more important place to visit than this temple.

The sheer size and beauty as well as its adherence to traditional architecture is a sight to be seen and once you do see it, all those ‘miniature’ temples in Taipei might not seem as impressive anymore.

“Linkou Guanyin Temple” (林口觀音廟)

While the official name of the temple is “Zhulinshan Guanyin Temple” (竹林山觀音寺), if you ask a local, you’ll probably also hear it referred to as the “Linkou Temple” (林口廟), “Linkou Guanyin Temple” (林口觀音廟) and “Zhulin Temple” (竹林寺), among others.

The official name however is actually very interesting - geographically speaking.

Of course the “Guanyin Temple” (觀音寺) part of the name just speaks to what you’ll find inside the temple.

The first three characters though, “zhu” (竹), “lin” (林) and “shan” (山) literally (and conveniently) translate as “Bamboo Forest Mountain,” but doesn’t actually mean what you think it does.

Each of the three characters are taken from the names of the neighbouring villages in the vicinity of the temple, namely Luzhu (蘆竹), Linkou (林口) and Gueishan (龜山). Even though the temple is situated in the area of New Taipei City (新北市) that we know today as Linkou District (林口區), in the past, geographic divisions were quite different, so it was intended as a place of worship to serve the people of those three villages.

Like the name, the history of the temple is just as interesting.

Even though the building we see today was the result of a one hundred million dollar reconstruction project that started in the year 2000, the history of the temple (claims to) dates back to 1738 when the early waves of Hokkien immigrants started settling in the area. The dates you will find in literature about the temple however are somewhat convoluted and exaggerated, so let me take a minute to explain its history.

Does the temple actually date back to 1738? Not exactly.

The ‘1738’ date actually refers to the year when three statues of Guanyin were brought to Taiwan from the original Longshan Temple (龍山寺) in China’s Fujian Province (福建省) and placed within the newly constructed Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺). What does that have to do with this temple you might ask?

I suppose the reasoning was because when the statues arrived in Taiwan, they went out on tour of the surrounding villages to spread some love - Linkou was one of these neighbourhoods and the arrival of the statue helped to promote Guanyin worship in the area.

Another date you’ll find in the literature about the temple is the year ‘1801’ but once again, that doesn’t actually refer to when the temple was built - That date only refers to when the local community formed a religious organization to help fund and support the Longshan Temple in Taipei.

These close relations became even more important later in 1853 when riots broke out in what is now known as Taipei’s Wanhua District. The infamous “Ting-Hsia Conflict” (艋舺頂下郊拚) or “Bangka Riots”, took place due to ‘disagreements’ between different factions of the areas Hokkien immigrants who were vying for control.

The reason why this is important with regard to the origin of this temple is because the Hokkien immigrants from the Linkou area were requested to come help out with reinforcements. When everything eventually settled down, they were gifted with one of the three statues of Guanyin that came to Taiwan from the original Longshan Temple in China as a gesture of gratitude and a temple was constructed to house the statue.

In 1937, during the Japanese Colonial Era, the government instituted its “kominka” (皇民化運動) policy which purpose was to forcibly convert the people of Taiwan into full fledged Japanese citizens. This meant that all aspects of the local Indigenous, Hokkien or Hakka cultures, languages and religions were banned.

During this time, most of Taiwan’s local religious networks went underground and in this case, the locals successfully hid the statue of Guanyin by passing it around for two years, before it was eventually discovered by authorities.

Once discovered, the people pleaded with the government to spare the statue using the argument that Guanyin is an important Buddhist figure, who is also sacred in Japanese culture. In the end, rationality prevailed and the Japanese relented, but the compromise was that a Japanese-style temple would constructed to house the statue.

With the Japanese takeover, the statue of Guanyin was relegated to secondary status as the temple was primarily dedicated to Amaterasu (天照大神), the Shinto Goddess of the sun. For a short time after, the temple was named “Linkou Longshan Temple” (林口庄龍山寺) but would later be renamed “Zhulinshan Temple” (竹林山寺) in 1939.

When the Second World War ended in 1945 and Japan was forced to relinquish control of Taiwan, the people in charge of the temple held a ceremony to respectfully remove the Shinto elements and restore Guanyin to her former throne. Then, in 1946 it was decided to convert the building into a traditional Hokkien-style temple in a project that took three years to complete.

Over the next few decades the temple became renowned and its base of followers expanded, which in turn meant that the amount of donations coming in were rather significant.

In the 1970s, due to the deterioration of the temple, a restoration project took place to solve some structural issues - it was well-known however that a more permanent solution was required to accommodate the number of visitors as well as ensuring for the future of the temple.

This ultimately meant that a new temple would eventually have to be built.

Planning and fundraising for the massive project started in the 1990s but it wouldn’t be until the turn of the century that construction would actually start. On September 28th, 2000, construction of the new temple commenced and would take over twelve years to complete, costing more than two billion dollars ($65 million USD).

Once completed, the massive 66,000 square meter temple complex consisted not only of the massive new temple but also a library, administrative centre, performance area, large Taiwanese-style garden and a couple of large parking lots.

The anticipation for its re-opening was felt all over the country and people came from all over to check out the newly opened Hokkien-style palace, which boasted some of the most impressive traditional architectural design in the whole of Taiwan.

Official Timeline

1801 - Longshan Temple Friendship Association is formed in Linkou.
1853 - For their assistance in Ting-Hsia Conflict, Linkou is gifted a statue of Guanyin.
1937 - Kominka Policy takes effect in Taiwan and religious activities are banned.
1939 - Japanese-style temple is completed and the temple is renamed.
1945 - The Japanese Colonial Era comes to an end.
1949 - The temple is converted into a Hokkien-style building and renamed again.
1984 - The temple expands by adding an administration centre and library.
2000 - Construction on the new temple starts.
2012 - The construction project is completed and the temple officially opens to the public.

Design

So, I realize I just talked a lot about the history of this temple and yeah, it is important, but we can’t discuss this temple without going into detail about its architectural design - If you ask me, the jaw-dropping beauty of this temple is infinitely more important than its history and it is one of the main reasons that so many people are attracted to visit.

The temple goes out of its way to showcase Taiwan’s traditional architectural design and religious art with beautifully engraved stone dragon pillars, ceramic figures on the roof, wooden sculptures and carved murals of birds, animals, insects and fish as well as one of the biggest and most beautiful traditional ‘octagonal ceilings’ that you’ll find anywhere.

The reconstruction of the temple also spared no expense in the material used for its construction.

It is highly regarded as one of the most prominent examples in Taiwan for its usage of Taiwanese cypress and camphor wood as well as bluestones (青斗石) from China. To prove its unique status in the area, the temple boasts the longest cypress alter in the country measuring almost 13 meters in length.

It is said that it took twenty artisans more than 10,000 days to complete.

It is also the only temple in Taiwan where you’ll find such a large quantity of cypress aged over a thousand years old.

(I feel bad for the trees though)

In general, the temple was carefully designed adhering strictly to the Hokkien style (閩南式) that is common in Taiwan - In this case it follows the ‘Three Hall’ design (三殿式) which consists of the Front Hall (前殿), Worship Hall (拜殿) and Main Hall (正點) with two passage ways (走廊) on the eastern and western sides. If you look at the temple from above, the design makes it look like the Chinese character “回”.

Due to the size of the temple however, the passage ways and the main hall are each three-stories high with only the front hall appearing a bit smaller.

Likewise the roof of the temple, which is often one of the most defining features of the Hokkien-style of architectural design, follows the typical hip-and-gable style. In this case though, due to the length of the temple, the roof is split into five different sections with the two outer sections an equal height while the height of the roof progressively rises until it reaches it apex in the middle.

Each of the four outer sections on either side of the ‘Front Hall’ is home to a door while the middle section has three doors which means that there are seven doors in total - something that isn’t very common in Taiwanese temples.

You’ll want to pay close attention to the beautiful designs near the doors on the far left and far right wings as they are the ‘Dragon Door’ (龍門) and ‘Tiger Door’ (虎門) which are the traditional entrances and exits of a temple.

Note: In Chinese, they say “龍門進虎門出“ (lóng mén jìn hǔ mén chū) which means that you should enter a temple through the “Dragon Door” (龍門) and exit via the “Tiger Door” (虎門). The reason for this is because entering the dragon symbolizes ”praying for happiness” while exiting through the tiger is thought to “ward off bad luck or misfortune”.
It is essentially a symbolic way of purifying yourself before you enter a temple. If you however were unaware of the rules and you entered through the tiger door, it would be considered to be bringing misfortune both for yourself and the temple, and thats not a good thing.
Likewise, the Middle Door (中門) is a space reserved for the gods or high-ranking government officials. If you’re wandering around a temple and you walk through the middle door, it could be considered bad luck because you’re blocking the view of the gods.
So, if you want to enter a temple, you should enter through the ‘Dragon Door’, which is on the far right. If you want to leave the temple, you should exit via the ‘Tiger Door’ on the left and if you want to make the gods angry, just walk through the middle door and try your luck.

Once you enter the temple, you’re likely to automatically feel completely overwhelmed by the beauty of what is in front of you. The covered “Worship Hall” (拜殿) is where most of the visitors to the temple will flock to as it provides ample space for prayer as well as placing offerings. The sheer scale of the ceiling over your head and the intricate designs and decorations on it is jaw-dropping. Likewise, the octagonal ‘Ba-Gua design’ (八卦藻井) on the ceiling is probably one of the largest that you’ll find in Taiwan.

While it is common to have a “Worship Hall” in temples like this, the architects took somewhat of a different approach to its scale and design - and we’re much better off for it.

This is one area where this temple shines and will undoubtedly impress anyone who visits.

While it may not seem like it, the Main Hall (正殿) is actually the highest part of the interior of the temple with the shrine room standing at 23 meters. The interior of the golden shrine room is elaborately decorated and has large thrones for each of the gods enshrined within.

The thing about the Main Hall though is that it isn’t very easy to appreciate its beauty and all the intricate details inside as it is off-limits to the public. You can however walk up to one of the several doors to take a peak inside - No matter which angle you’re peering in from though, it is difficult to get a very good perspective.

If you have a chance to look inside, you’re going to want to pay attention to the intricately designed wood carvings that surround each of the shrines. You’ll also want to look up at the ceiling where you’ll find yet another beautifully designed octagonal caisson.

Finally, the main star of the show is the giant statue of Guanyin, which in this case is known as the “Eighteen-Armed Guanyin” (十八手觀世音菩薩). You might be wondering why a Buddhist figure has so many arms with each holding what appears to be a weapon - especially since Guanyin is general seen as a source of unconditional love (An Asian version of the Virgin Mary if you will) - but that is an easy question to answer.

As a “Bodhisattva”, Guanyin has vowed to stay here on earth to help ease the suffering of all living creatures and help them attain enlightenment. In each of her hands, she is actually holding an object that is thought to contribute to the different kinds of ‘emptiness’ that prevents people from living happy lives and/or reaching nirvana.

The objects in her hands form a ’wheel’ or a ‘cycle’ that meets on both sides with two hands on her laps that symbolizes her perfect wisdom.

You could spend quite a bit of time looking at the statue and analyzing all its metaphorical and philosophical meanings, but if you ask me, the statue itself is a work of art and just looking at it to enjoy the fine craftsmanship is worth a few minutes of your time.

Shrines

For the untrained eye, it might seem like the shrine room is full of statues that all look relatively similar to each other, but like almost every other temple in Taiwan, this one consists of a healthy mix of figures hailing from Buddhism, Taoism and the local folk-religion coexisting peacefully under one roof.

So, despite this temple more or less classified as a Buddhist temple, you’re still going to find figures from the Buddhist tradition as well as a diverse collection of other important figures from the other local religious traditions.

From the name of the temple, it should be fairly obvious that this is a temple dedicated to “Guanyin” (觀音), the Buddha of Compassion, but who are all the other figures who call this temple home?

Let’s take a minute to introduce the other gods who you’re going to see while visiting.

The main shrine is specifically dedicated to the “18-Armed Guanyin” (觀世音菩薩) who (as the name implies) has eighteen arms. She is accompanied by her guardians Lord Guan (伽藍菩薩) and Skanda (韋馱菩薩).

You’ll also find shrines dedicated to Buddhist figures Mañjuśrī (文殊菩薩) and Samantabhadra (普賢菩薩) directly on either side of Guanyin.

You’ll also find Taoist and local folk-religion deities such as (left - right) the Earth God (福德正神), Mazu (天上聖母), the Goddess of Fertility (註生娘娘), Emperor Xuantan (玄壇真君), Lord Guan (關聖帝君) and the God of Literature (文昌帝君).

Note: At this point you might be wondering why there is a “Lord Guan” guarding Guanyin and then a separate shrine dedicated to the same figure? The thing is that “Lord Guan”, a Chinese historic figure whose exploits were chronicled in the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (三國演義) has since been deified and is one of the most popular Taoist gods. He is also highly regarded in the Buddhist tradition as “Samghārāma Bodhisattva” (伽藍菩薩) and often appears with shrines of his own or as a Protection Deity (護法神) or a Door God (門神).

On both the far left and the far right of the shrine room you’ll also find images of the “Eighteen Arhats” (十八羅漢) against the wall. The mural of the popular Buddhist figures is a little difficult to see, so you’ll have to get really close to one of the doors that open up to the shrine if you want to check them out.

The first floor also has two separate shrines on either side of the main hall - The room on the left is known as the “Taisui Hall” (太歲殿) which is beautifully dedicated to the gods of the Chinese Zodiac with the Goddess Doumu (斗母) leading the group. The shrine room on the far right is known as the “Guangming Hall” (光明殿) and is full of “Guangming Lanterns” (光明燈) which are purchased by those looking for spiritual blessings in different areas of their life. The room is also home to a shrine that consists of another statue of Guanyin (觀世音) as well as some Taoist celestial counterparts, the Lord of the Big Dipper (北斗星君), Kuixing (魁斗星君) and the Lord of the Little Dipper (南斗星君).

On the second floor you’ll find two shrines on both the left and side side wings. The shrine room on the left side is dedicated to Ksitigarbha (地藏王菩薩) while the room on the right is dedicated to Confucius (孔子) and the “God of Agriculture”, who in this temple is known as the “God of Five Grains” (五谷仙蒂), but is more commonly known as “Shennong” (神農大帝).

Getting There

Address: #325 Zhulin Road, Linkou District. New Taipei City (新北市林口區竹林路325號)

If you have access to your own means of transportation, getting to the temple is quite easy as it is a short distance from the Linkou Interchange and getting there doesn’t require you to make too many turns. There is a large parking lot offered to guests, so you won’t have any trouble finding parking nearby. If you are driving a car or scooter, you can simply input the address above into your GPS or Google Maps.

If you are relying on public transportation to get to the temple, there are a number of options, but in each case you are going to have to do a bit of walking to get to the temple.

The bus that gets you the closest to the temple is Sanchong Bus #1210 (三重客運) where you’ll get off at the Zhulin Temple Bus Stop (竹林山觀音寺站) and walk for about three minutes.

You do however also have the option of taking Sanchong Bus #1209, 708, 786, 822, 858, 898, 920, 925, 936, 945 or 946 to the Linkou Farmers Association bus stop (林口農會站) and walking from there.

Link: Sanchong Bus Route List (三重客運路線圖)

Likewise if you are coming from Taoyuan, you can take Taoyuan Bus (桃園客運) #5063, 5069 or 5079 and get off at the Linkou Farmers Association Bus Stop mentioned above.

Link: Taoyuan Bus (桃園客運)

There are also a number of free buses that will take you to the temple but are not operated by the temple, so you’ll still have to walk for a bit to get there. The buses conveniently depart from either the Linkou Government Office (林口區公所) or the Mitsui Outlet (林口三井), so you’ll be able to easily get to the bus stop if you take the MRT into town in order to visit the outlet.

From the Mitsui Outlet you can hop on the Red Line of the Mitsui Outlet Shuttle Bus (林口三井Outlet小巴(紅線)) and get off at the Zhulin Temple Stop (竹林山觀音寺站).

From the Government Office you can take “New Bus” (新巴士) #F231 or F235 and get off at the Ouxiang Community Stop (歐香社區站) or take F250, F233, F238 or F236 to the Zhonghutou Post Office Stop (中湖頭郵局站) all of which are a short walk from the temple.

You could likewise grab a YouBike outside the Linkou MRT Station or at the Mitsui Outlet Park (or any of the other Youbike stations) and enjoy a leisurely ride over to the temple, which conveniently also has a Youbike station in the park nearby. If you choose this option simply follow Wenhua Third Road (文化三路) until you reach Baolin Road (寶林路) where you’ll turn right and soon reach the temple. While this does sound quite straight-forward, it isn’t going to be a quick ride, you’ll probably need half an hour at least.

When anyone asks what my favourite Taiwanese temple is, I usually have no idea what to say because when it comes to Taiwan’s places of worship, I have quite a few favourites. What I’d need to better answer your question is some criteria to help filter some of them out - Are you looking for a cool place for tourists to visit? A historic one? A place to enjoy traditional art and culture? Or are you looking for some bling bling at a giant golden palace?

If you’re looking for the latter, there are hundreds of examples of beautiful golden palaces, but I’m not sure there are any that are actually more beautiful than this one. This temple is not only jaw-dropping in its beauty but its design and the size of the interior are going to impress even the staunchest of critics. Even though it is considered to be a historic, if thats the reason why you’re visiting, you’re probably going to be a bit disappointed. It is however regarded as one of Taiwan’s top 100 places of worship for a reason and I think if you visit you’ll definitely understand why.