The Tianhou Temple,
[.] also known as the Kaitai Tianhou
[.] or Mazu Temple,
[.] is a
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 va ...
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
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 ...
, who is the Goddess of Sea and Patron Deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to sea/ocean. The temple is located in the
Anping District of
Tainan on
Taiwan.
It is open to the public from 4:30 am to 10 pm 7 days a week.
[
]
History
The temple was erected at the Anping Ferry in 1668, on the site that is now occupied by Anping District's Shih-Men Primary School.[.] Erected soon after 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 ...
's successful invasion of Dutch Taiwan in the name of the Southern Ming resistance to the Qing Empire
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-speak ...
,[ it is thought to be the oldest extant Mazu temple on Taiwan Island.][ It housed statues of the Deities brought by Koxinga from Meizhou off the Fujian coast, the site of Mazuism's chief temple.][ The chief idol of Mazu is soft-bodied, with jointed feet, hands, and fingers and bound feet.][ It holds a fan in its right hand and a handkerchief in its left.][ It has tablets from the Guangxu Emperor of the ]Qing
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-speaki ...
() and from presidents Li Denghui Li Denghui may refer to:
* Lee Teng-hui (1923–2020), fourth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (1988-2000)
* Li Denghui (educator)
Li Denghui (, 1873–1947, courtesy name ''Téngfēi'' ()), also Lee Teng Hwee, was the president o ...
and Chen Shuibian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
of the Republic of China
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 northeast ...
.[ It was demolished by the Japanese][ and has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1976][.] and 1994.[
]
Legends
The primary statue is said to be more than a thousand years old.[ It is sometimes said to have been one of three personally brought to Taiwan by ]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 ...
,[ although the temple itself claims that a "Cheng Cheng-kung" brought it to Taiwan years earlier in 1661.][ ]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 ...
is credited with various miracles around the temple, including appearing to lead Anping's initial settlers,[ protecting it from bombing during World War II, producing miraculous sweat, and protecting her statue during the temple's 1990 fire disaster.][
]
Gallery
File:安平開臺天后宮正殿.jpg , The main altar
File:安平天后宮石將軍.JPG , The Stone Generals
File:安平開臺天后宮四海龍王.jpg , The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas
File:安平開臺天后宮水仙尊王.jpg , The Five Kings of the Water Immortals
References
External links
* .
{{coord, 23.0006, N, 120.1607, E, type:landmark_region:TW, display=title
1668 establishments in Taiwan
Mazu temples in Tainan