The Cide Temple on Dianziding Street, also known as the Dianziding, Liujia, Mazu, or Tianhou Temple, is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

northwest of

Lotus Lake Lotus Pond () is an artificial lake and popular tourist destination on the east side of Zuoying District in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Opened in 1951, it is famous for the lotus plants on the lake and the numerous temples around the lake, including the ...

in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. In Chinese, it is commonly distinguished by its location..

History

The temple was originally built as an unnamed temple to the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

earth god An Earth god is a deification of the Earth associated with a figure with chthonic or terrestrial attributes. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra. Egyptian mythology have the sky goddesses, Nut a ...

Tudigong Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...

. In 1821, the temple was renamed the Palace of Kindness and Virtue and rededicated to both Tudigong and Mazu, the deified form of Lin Moniang from medieval

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

who is worshipped as the Goddess of Sea and also honoured as the Queen of Heaven. In 1941, amid the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the Japanese occupation government converted to an agriculture office and later a regimental branch office. The Japanese ordered the demolition of the palace, but it was rebuilt from 1973 to 1976.

Services

On Mazu's birthday according to the Chinese lunar calendar, the temple hosts a Taiwanese opera group who performs on a stage in front of the temple's main hall.

References

1687 establishments in Taiwan Mazu temples in Kaohsiung Religious buildings and structures completed in 1687 Zuoying District {{Taiwan-religious-struct-stub

History

Services

See also

References