Zi Yun Yan ( zh, t=紫雲巖, p=Zǐyúnyán, l=purple cloud temple), alternatively romanized as Tzu Yun Yen, is a temple located in

Qingshui District Qingshui District (), also spelled as Chingshui District, is a coastal suburban district in western Taichung City, Taiwan. Geography Qingshui is located on the Qingshui Plain of Taiwan. It borders the Taiwan Strait to the west, the Dajia R ...

, Taichung, Taiwan. The temple is dedicated to Guanyin.

History

According to temple officials, Zi Yun Yan was built in 1662 during Kangxi Emperor's reign in the Qing Dynasty. From tradition, a traveling

roofer A roofer, roof mechanic, or roofing contractor is a tradesperson who specializes in roof construction. Roofers replace, repair, and install the roofs of buildings, using a variety of materials, including shingles, bitumen, and metal. Roofin ...

passed by the current site, where he hung his Guanyin statue on a tree. When he left, he forgot to take the statue with him. Local residents then saw a bright light emitting from the tree, so they built a temple for worship. However, according to a Japanese survey in 1897, the temple was built in 1870. The

1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake The 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake occurred with a Richter magnitude of 7.1 (7.0 Mw) in April 1935 with its epicenter in Taichung, Taiwan (then Shinchiku Prefecture). It was the deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's recorded history, claimi ...

heavily damaged the building, but this was not repaired until 1946. Between 1972 and 1980, the temple underwent a major renovation to coincide with the construction of the

Port of Taichung The Port of Taichung (), also Taichung Port, is a port located in Wuqi District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is the second-largest port in Taiwan after Kaohsiung Port and operated by Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Taiwan's state-owned harbor m ...

. During this time, the temple was transformed from having only one floor to the current five-story building.

Structure

Zi Yun Yan has a total of five stories and multiple altars contain many different deities. On the first floor, the main hall is dedicated to Guanyin in the middle, along with Wenshu and Puxian on the sides. On the second floor, there are halls for

Huangdi Huangdi () may refer to: *Yellow Emperor (黃帝), a legendary Chinese monarch who supposedly ruled before the Xia dynasty *Emperor of China (皇帝), the imperial title of Chinese monarchs; and the superlative monarchical title in the Sinosphere ...

, Shennong,

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 ...

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...

Wenchang Dijun Wenchang Wang (), also known as Wenchang Dijun (), is a Taoist deity in Chinese mythology, known as the God of Culture and Literature. He is also at times referred to simply as Wen Qu, or Wen. The literal translation of his name would be King () ...

, and others. On the third floor, there is a hall where the temple will place one of sixty Tai Sui statues in its possession. The statue changes every year according to the sexagenary cycle. A pair of three-story bell towers are placed beside the front entrance, and there is a small garden behind the temple. Across the street from the temple, there is an administration building owned by the temple that contains a museum, library, and lodging for pilgrims.

Traditions

The largest festival of the year is Ghost Festival. Each year, the temple assigns one of the thirty-two villages in Qingshui as host, and the residents are tasked with preparing the offerings. In 2020, Qiaotou Village prepared 1,950 tables of offerings, which were all placed in the temple's plaza. In the ninth month of the lunar year, a festival is held in the five villages in the Gaomei Region (near

Gaomei Wetlands Gaomei Wetlands (), officially Gaomei Wetland Preservation Area (), is a wetland in Qingshui District, Taichung, Taiwan. History Gaomei Wetlands was established on 29 September 2005. In August 2015, Typhoon Soudelor destroyed 6 out of 18 wind tu ...

), where Zi Yun Yan sends out a convoy transporting a Guanyin statue named Erma (二媽) to tour the villages. According to legend, a Gaomei resident found a glowing piece of wood, which he donated to Zi Yun Yan. The temple then carved the wood into the Erma statue today. Historically, Zi Yun Yan was a major stop on the annual

Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage The Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage is an annual celebration of the Taoist sea goddess Mazu held in Taiwan. During the festival, a statue of Mazu is placed in a litter and carried by foot on a round-trip journey from Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia, Taichung t ...

. However, in 2006, Zi Yan Yan was hosting a table tennis tournament on the day and turned down the procession, and the procession has never returned since. Other Mazu pilgrimages, like the Baishatun Mazu Pilgrimage, will occasionally stop at Zi Yun Yan. Worshippers may purchase a small candle (known as guangmingdeng), in which the temple will put on display for the entire year. In 2009, there were 79,214 candles that were lit.

Gallery

References

{{reflist 1662 establishments in Taiwan Religious buildings and structures completed in 1662 Temples in Taichung Guanyin temples Buddhist temples in Taiwan