Lecheng Temple ( zh, t=樂成宮, p=Lèchéng Gōng) is a temple located in East District,

Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...

, Taiwan. Mazu is the main deity worshipped in the temple, and the sea goddess is known as the "Hanxi Mazu" ( zh, t=旱溪媽祖, p=Hànxī Māzǔ) after the nearby Han River.

History

During the reign of Qianlong Emperor in the 18th century, the

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family migrated from mainland China to Taiwan. They brought a statue of Mazu from Tianhou Temple in

Meizhou Meizhou (, Hakka Chinese: Mòichû) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, China. It has an area of , and a population of 3,873,239 million as of the 2020 census. It comprises Meijiang District, Meixian District, Xingning Cit ...

, which is the original Mazu temple, and brought it along for safety. When they settled along the banks of the Han River, the statue was housed in a hut near its current site. According to legend, the traveling settlers placed the statue on a rock while they were resting. When they tried to pick it up again, the statue suddenly became very heavy, which was interpreted that the deity wanted them to settle there. A small temple was erected at the site, which was replaced by a formal temple in 1790. None of the original temple structure remains; the current temple was built between 1921 and 1928. On November 27, 1985, the

Taichung City Government The Taichung City Government () is the municipal government of Taichung, Taiwan. History Taichū City Government was established by the Governor-General of Taiwan and the Japanese colonial authorities on 1 October 1920. Following the hand ...

protected Lecheng Temple as a city monument. The last hall constructed was the rear hall in 1991.

Architecture

Lecheng Temple has three central halls and two long halls running down the sides. In the main hall, Mazu sits in the center accompanied by

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

and on the sides; the surrounding halls contain other deities as well. The temple is also decorated with elaborate wooden sculptures by , one of the most celebrated woodworkers of his era. In the main hall, there is a

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 ...

wooden plaque (''bian'e'') inscribed with ''Fǎyǔ Hóngshē'' (法雨宏施) that was created by , who is remembered as the last ''

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'' in Chinese history.

Eighteen village pilgrimage

Every third month of the Chinese calendar, Hanxi Mazu embarks on a twenty two day pilgrimage to the eighteen neighboring villages. The practice dates back to 1823 when farmers were facing a pest infestation. Farmers in Xializi (下哩仔, in modern-day

Wuri District Wuri District () is a suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. Both of the two north–south freeways (National Freeway 1 and National Freeway 3) pass through Wuri. Wuri is also home to a large military training centre, Chengkungling, as w ...

) asked Lecheng Temple to bring Mazu to their village and get rid of the pests, which the temple agreed to. Gradually, neighboring settlements began asking the temple to visit their villages as well, which became a yearly tradition. During the pilgrimage, Hanxi Mazu visits many temples and covers a total of ten districts: Wuri, Dali,

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

, Wufeng, East, South,

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

Nantun Nantun District () is an urban district in Taichung, Taiwan. It was a part of Taichung before the City and County were amalgamated in 2010. History The district used to be part of Taichung provincial city before the merger with Taichung County ...

, and Beitun. On August 12, 2008, the Taichung City Government recognized the tradition as an "intangible cultural heritage".

References

{{authority control 1790 establishments in Taiwan Religious buildings and structures completed in 1790 Mazu temples in Taichung