Taiwanfu City God Temple, Tainan台湾府城隍庙

Type: Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
Location: Taiwan, China · Taiwan · West Central District, Tainan · No. 133 Qingnian Road
Coordinates: 22.992, 120.2091 Map ↗
School: Daoism in Taiwan
First built: 1669 (23rd year of the Yongli reign of Ming) · Originally named the Chengtianfu City God Temple, Taiwan's earliest officially built City God temple; a major renovation by Jiang Yuanshu, Prefect of Taiwan, in 1777 established the four-hall, two-wing layout
Heritage status: National Monument (originally designated a Second-Grade Monument in 1985, upgraded in 2005)

Overview

The Taiwanfu City God Temple was built in the twenty-third year of Yongli of the Ming (1669), originally named the Chengtianfu City God Temple, and is Taiwan's earliest officially built City God temple, renamed to its present name after the Qing took control. It is dedicated primarily to the City God of Taiwan Prefecture, Duke of Awesome Numen, whose birthday falls on the eleventh day of the fifth lunar month, with Guanyin, Ksitigarbha, the civil and martial judges, the Seventh and Eighth Lords, and the Twenty-four Bureaus worshipped alongside. The earliest surviving record of renovation dates to 1693; a large-scale renovation presided over by Jiang Yuanshu, Prefect of Taiwan, in the forty-second year of Qianlong (1777) established the four-hall, two-wing layout. In 1907, urban renewal turned the temple's forecourt into a road, reducing its layout; following a major renovation from 1997 to 1999 it took its present three-hall, two-wing form, with door-god paintings by the renowned Tainan artisan Pan Lishui. The temple's most famous artifacts are the "You Have Come" plaque hanging in the main hall (inscribed by Liao Yuting in 1937) and the giant "Great Abacus," both representing the moral-exhortation imagery of City God worship's principle that "good and evil are repaid"; the "You Have Come" plaque, together with the "One" plaque at Tainan's Temple of Heaven and the "Understanding the World" plaque at Zhuxi Temple, is counted among the three famous plaques of the old walled city. It was designated a second-class historic monument in 1985, and was upgraded to a national historic monument after the 2005 revision of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.

Highlights

The "You Have Come" plaque and the Great Abacus
Jiang Yuanshu's major renovation in 1777
Door-god paintings by Pan Lishui
Taiwan's earliest officially built City God temple

References