Fangqiaotou Tianmen Temple ( zh, t=枋橋頭天門宮, p=Fāngqiáotóu Tiānmén Gōng) is a temple located in Fangqiaotou, Shetou Township,

Changhua County Changhua County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''Zhānghuà Xiàn''; Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴ Hsien⁴''; Hokkien POJ: ''Chiang-hòa-koān'' or ''Chiong-hòa-koān'') is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest ...

, Taiwan. The temple is dedicated to the sea goddess

Mazu Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Re ...

, and is protected as a county-level monument.

History

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

began migrating to Changhua in the late 17th century, with the Changhua area primarily inhabited by settlers from

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefec ...

. In 1755, a merchant moved from

Lukang Lukang, formerly romanized as Lugang and also known by other names, is an urban township in northwestern Changhua County, Taiwan. The township is on the west coast of Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait. Lukang was an important sea port in the 18t ...

to Fangqiaotou. He invited the Mazu from

Lukang Tianhou Temple The Lukang Tianhou Temple (, alternatively "Tienhou"), also known as the Lukang Mazu Temple,. is a Chinese temple dedicated to the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the Goddess of Sea and Patron Deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to sea ...

to divide her spirt and travel with him. Then, he built a small temple, which was initially named Fangqiaotou Tianhou Temple. The temple was enlarged in 1798. In the 18th century, conflicts between Zhangzhou,

Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...

, and

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

settlers worsened all over the west coast of Taiwan. In Changhua, seventy-two Zhangzhou and Hakka villages banded together to defend themselves against Quanzhou attacks in an alliance named the "Seventy-two Villages of Fangqiaotou" (枋橋頭七十二庄). In 1845, the villages collectively refurbished and enlarged the temple as a sign of their unity and moved their own Mazu statues to inside. Additionally, Zhen'an Temple was built nearby to worship the

Lords of the Three Mountains The Lords of the Three Mountains (, also Kings of the Three Mountains) are a triad of Taoist deities worshiped in Southern China among the Teochew people and some Hakka people in Taiwan. The Three Mountains refer to three mountains in Jiexi Cou ...

, their hometown deity. The temple was renamed to Tianmen Temple in 1890 when worshippers made their first pilgrimage to Lukang Tianhou Temple. Between 1959 to 1961, Tianmen Temple was renovated again with the help of the seventy-two villages. On 19 January 2012, Tianmen Temple was protected by the

Changhua County Government The Changhua County Government (CHCG; ) is the local government of Changhua County, Taiwan. Organization * Magistrate * Deputy Magistrate * Secretary-general First Class Department * Department of Civil Affairs * Department of Finance * Depar ...

as a county-level monument for its historical importance and the relics inside.

Worship

Worshippers from the seventy-two villages will periodically make pilgrimages to Lukang Tianhou Temple on foot. The timing of the pilgrimages is unique: they occur three years in a row, then do not occur for seven years. The pilgrimages always occurs on two

lunar months In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Europ ...

, meaning that they leave at the end of the third month and return on the fourth. This practice began as a reference to how in the past, the difficult road conditions often stretched the trek past a month.

References

{{reflist 1755 establishments in Taiwan Religious buildings and structures completed in 1755 Mazu temples in Changhua County Historic sites in Taiwan