The Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu is a temple located in

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...

, Taiwan and was built during the time of the

Kingdom of Tungning The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in ...

. It is dedicated to City God or Cheng Huang Ye (城隍爺), who is believed in Chinese religion to record the good and bad deeds of every people residing in the particular city. Common prayers made within the temple are for better lives, to seek for justice and to avoid flood and drought.

History

The Chenghuang Temple of Hsinchu was built during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, during the time of the Kingdom of Tungning. Due to the influence of the Chinese Emperors Hsinchu became a prefecture and as such, the temple also rose in status. In 1891, prior to the

first Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

and the subsequent

Japanese rule of Taiwan The island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu Islands, became a dependency of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The shor ...

, the

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...

held a large prayer meeting in Taiwan and chose the temple as the meeting place. After the ceremony Guangxu presented the temple with a sign board reading "Golden Gate Protection", which signifies that the Chenghuang of Hsinchu protects and gives blessings to the entire country.

Story

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the emperor's son supposedly took a boat with his wet nurse to fish. Then, they got lost on the sea. The boat kept floating on the sea and stranded on shore of a small island off Taiwan. The wet nurse got sick and died, however the emperor's son was saved by the chief of the island. Then, the emperor's son went to the Fragrant Hill of Hsinchu in Taiwan. At that night, the magistrate of Hsinchu dreamed that the City God of Hsinchu told to him that the emperor's son was at the Fragrant Hill. Then the magistrate found the emperor's son and brought him back home. After this event, the emperor gave the Chenghuang of Hsinchu a praise, “Awesome and magical Duke, City God of Hsinchu”

Feature

The temple features six halls, each of which have their own meaning. The names of the halls are “Bell and Drum Tower”, “Main Hall”, “Back Hall”, “Horenji”, “Sanchuan Hall”, and “Protection Room”.

Activities

Twelve activities are held yearly at the temple, which includes the parade of the Chenghuang. During this parade many Taiwanese will leave home in order to join in the festivities and some will set off fireworks and pray to Chenghuang.

References

{{coord missing, Taiwan Religious buildings and structures in Hsinchu Taoist temples in Taiwan Temples in Hsinchu