Grand Mazu Temple, Tainan台南祀典大天后宫

Type

Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)

Location

Taiwan, China · Taiwan · West Central District, Tainan · No. 18, Lane 227, Section 2, Yongfu Road; originally the residence of Prince Ningjing, Zhu Shugui, of the Ming

Coordinates

22.9969, 120.2011 Map ↗

School

Daoism in Taiwan

First built

The building itself was the 1665 residence of Prince Ningjing; it was converted into a Mazu temple in 1683 (22nd year of the Kangxi reign) · Elevated to "Empress of Heaven" in 1684; included in the official sacrificial rites register in 1720 (the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi). After a great fire in 1818, it was rebuilt under the direction of the Three Merchant Guilds of the old walled city, completed in 1830 in its present form.

Heritage status

National Monument (1985)

Overview

The Grand Mazu Temple, Tainan, formally titled the "Sacrificial Rites Grand Mazu Temple," occupies a building originally constructed in the nineteenth year of the Yongli era of Ming (1665) as the residence of Prince Ningjing, Zhu Shugui. In 1683, when Shi Lang led Qing forces into Taiwan and Prince Ningjing died for his cause, sacrificing his residence, the building was converted into the Dongning Tianfei Temple; in 1684, at Shi Lang's request, the Kangxi Emperor further elevated Tianfei to the title "Empress of Heaven" (Tianhou); in 1720 the temple was included in the official sacrificial rites register and renamed the Grand Mazu Temple, making it the earliest officially built and sanctioned Mazu temple in Taiwan and the center of Mazu worship in Qing-dynasty Taiwan. Recent research suggests there may already have been a Tianfei temple on this site during the Ming loyalist period. A great fire severely damaged the temple in the twenty-third year of the Jiaqing era (1818); it was rebuilt under the direction of the Three Merchant Guilds of the old walled city, completed in 1830, establishing its present appearance. It principally enshrines the Empress of Heaven (Tianshang Shengmu), with the Four Dragon Kings of the Seas and the Water Immortal Sovereign as attendant deities; its rear hall was formerly the main hall of Prince Ningjing's residence. The temple preserves plaques bestowed by successive emperors from the Kangxi era onward, together with numerous Qing-dynasty steles, making it a primary source for the study of the relationship between religion and government in early Qing Taiwan. In 1895, Liu Yongfu, the second president of the Republic of Formosa, used the temple as his office. In 2004 the golden image of Mazu in the main hall was damaged, and it was restored and re-consecrated on February 17, 2006. It was designated a nationally protected historic monument (formerly first-grade) on August 19, 1985.

Highlights

• Former site of Prince Ningjing's residence
• Elevated to "Empress of Heaven" by the Kangxi Emperor and included in the official sacrificial rites register
• Rebuilt by the Three Merchant Guilds of the old walled city (1830)
• Plaques bestowed by successive emperors and numerous Qing-dynasty steles