During January and February, over the Chinese New Year period, great numbers of local folk go to Taiwan's temples to ask the gods to bless and protect them in the year to come. Beyond the famous temples such as Manka Lungshan Temple, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, and Xingtian Temple, local folk love to visit many other old temples that are key centers of community worship and also architectural works of great character. Now is a great time to mingle with the crowds and visit these unique city attractions.
Bangka's Venerable Temples, Symbol of the City's Origins
The original Taiwanese name of the area known today in Mandarin as Wanhua (萬華) is Bangka. This is present-day Taipei's original place of settlement. During the Qing dynasty immigrants from China settled here, transplanting religious beliefs and icons from their home areas. Many district temples are thus centuries old, and the queen of the cluster is Manka Lungshan Temple, today still a vibrant place of worship, and a well-known international tourist attraction.
Manka Qingshan Temple (艋舺青山宮), established in 1856, is another temple in Wanhua with a pedigree that puts it in a similar league. It is said that in 1854 a plague broke out in what was then called Bangka, and local fishermen who had emigrated from China's Huian (惠安) area in Fujian province (福建省) went home and then brought back to Taiwan an icon from the Quanzhou Qingshan Temple (泉州青山宮). Local plague sufferers who prayed to the King of Qingshan (青山王) were returned to health and peace. The original Qingshan Temple was built on today's Xiyuan Road (西園路), but an ever increasing number of worshipers led to a decision to rebuild the temple on today's Guiyang Street (貴陽街); the present temple was completed in 1859. With a facade just off the busy street in front, it is laid out in the form of a street house. The vivid, awe-inspiring door gods are in traditional Huianxi style, and the stone lions in front were carved from granite and bluestone in 1938, during the Japanese era, in classic, meticulous Japanese style.
The large-scale King of Qingshan Festival (青山王祭) is held each year from the 20th to 23rd day of the 10th lunar month, and is commonly called "Great Bangka Sacrificial Ceremony" (艋舺大拜拜). It is one of Taipei's three biggest annual temple fairs, and is a key annual event for the local community. During this year's four-day celebration, there will be a King of Qingshan night-inspection procession on each of the first two nights, one through southern and one through northern Wanhua. The procession is customarily called an anfang (暗訪) or "night visit." On the third day is the festival's main event, the "Greeting the King of Qingshan" (迎青山王) raojing (遶境) or "tour of inspection," with zhentou (陣頭) or "battle-array" performance troupes from all Wanhua temples, large and small, participating. The entire Wanhua district is filled with believers, and there is great noise and commotion. On the 4th day, the King of Qingshan's birthday, anniversary rites and celebrations of colorful grandeur are staged. Recognizing the temple's historical and cultural importance, the Ministry of the Interior (內政部) declared it a Historical Relic of the Third Rank in 1985, and in 2010 the Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture (文化部文化資產局), placed the anfang and raojing on the country's list of Folk Customs and Related Cultural Artifacts of official cultural heritage.
Another Wanhua temple tucked away within busy Xichang Street Night Market (西昌街夜市) is the Manka Dizang Temple (艋舺地藏庵). Built in 1760, it has recently undergone a full renovation. Though small, it has many distinctive architectural elements, such as a Qing dynasty-style single-hall layout and simple, austere carvings. Its most visually compelling element is the decorative lanterns hung from its crossbeams, and at either end of the beams are colorful, painted stories, something not often seen in temple decoration. Beside this temple is another, independent one, Zhaoxian Temple (昭顯廟), which is customarily called Dazhong Temple (大眾廟), where souls with no one to worship them are honored. Most are the souls of immigrants who came to Taiwan alone in its pioneer days to open land, but died before creating a family.
Busy, Flourishing Songshan and Xinyi Temples
The densely populated Songshan and Xinyi districts also have their own fair share of well-known temples. A prime example is Songshan Ciyou Temple (松山慈祐宮), near Raohe Street Night Market. Built in 1753, the main hall has a triple-eave roof, atop which are many auspicious figurines, such as dragons, phoenixes, and figures from historical tales, crafted using the cut-and-paste (剪黏) and cochin pottery methods. Though the temple has undergone repair and rebuilding on numerous occasions through the years, many heritage artifacts possessing historical and cultural significance have been preserved, notably a pair of carvings on either side of the central door crafted in the early 18th century, lifelike stone lions, and a carved stone censer over 200 years old.
The main deity enshrined within Songshan Ciyou Temple is Mazu, guardian goddess of the sea. Each year on her birthday (on the 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month), as well as on the anniversary of the temple's establishment, believers in great number come to expresses their good wishes and to celebrate. Last year participants from 52 temples around Taiwan took part in the prayer rites and processions for the temple's 260th anniversary celebrations, and over 200 decorated floats and many battle-array troupes added to the magnificent scenes.
At the foot of Taipei's Sishoushan ("Four Beasts Mountain"; 四獸山), known for its popular network of hiking trails, is Songshan Cihui Temple (松山慈惠堂). Positioned at a key trailhead, it is built to resemble a mountain, with a complex of buildings staggered over five levels. Drum and bell towers are on the left and right, and the overall effect is one of majesty. The halls are designed in traditional Chinese temple architectural style, with Ming and Qing dynasty palace-art flourishes. The visual canvas of red brick, yellow roof tiles, and green mountain forest is arresting, and an impressive cityscape panorama can be seen from the main hall's second-floor balcony, with buildings sprouting like the trees of the forest. This temple is a must-visit spot for Sishoushan hikers.
The main deity enshrined in this temple is the Golden Mother of the Jade Pool (瑤池金母), the highest goddess in the Daoist pantheon, responsible in heaven for feting the other gods, and in the mortal world for matters pertaining to marriage and to bearing and raising children. Her likeness, nearly four meters high, has a solemn and dignified bearing. Special activities are regularly staged in the large plaza in front, and each year in the week before Mother's Day (May 2nd to 4th in the Western calendar) "Protect the People Procession Festival" (保民遶境嘉年華) and "Maternal Love Evening Music Concert" (弘揚母愛音樂晚會) activities are held – demonstrations of the Golden Mother's closeness to citizens and her close association with the spirit of maternal love.
Also located at the foot of Sishoushan is Songshan Feng-Tian Temple (松山奉天宮), where the Jade Emperor (玉皇上帝), who sits atop the Chinese pantheon, is worshipped. His birthday is on the 9th day of the 1st lunar month, and worshipers stream in from near and far, creating a grand spectacle. The temple's architecture is in the classic south China style, with a grandiose monumental archway, landscaped courtyard, a "nine-dragon wall" (九龍壁) relief carving, and countless carvings of dragons, phoenixes, and scenes from famous folktales on stone columns and wooden beams. The unusually tall principal columns in the main hall soar more than 20 meters high. Two other special elements among the many to be enjoyed on a visit are a censer cast from the type of nickel and copper normally used in coins, and a golden Eight Trigrams (八卦) pattern on the roof. Note that until February 14th you can also take in the National Palace Museum's digital-collection New Waves of NPM Songshan Feng-Tian Temple Travelling Exhibition (故宮潮．松山奉天宮遊), Taiwan's first ever exhibition jointly curated by a temple and national-level museum.
Temples in Glorious Hillside Settings
Taipei is surrounded by green mountains on its outskirts, and you'll find many temples built on the forested slopes, many commanding superb views over Taipei Basin from their viewing platforms. They're grand spots to visit when walking in the hills. Zhinan Temple (指南宮), in the hills of Wenshan District, was built in 1890. Spread over 70-plus hectares, it is dedicated to Lu Dongbin (呂洞賓), one of Daoism's Eight Immortals (八仙). Legend has it that Lu has the Midas touch, using it to change stone to gold to assist the poor, and thus was revered by Muzha-area mining folk. There are four grand halls in the complex; Confucius and his disciples are worshiped in Dacheng Hall (大成殿). A special attraction of this temple is that although it is one of Taiwan's most sacred Daoist sites, over the years it has become a mixed Daoist/Buddhist/Confucian place of worship. It is perhaps the most important religious site in Zhinan.
Bluestone, with its solid, heavy, stately appearance, has been used liberally throughout Zhinan Temple, complementing the many dragon different columns. A portion of the temple is covered with sturdy copper tiling, giving it an uncommonly elegant bearing. A series of interconnected pavilions and corridors also graces the complex, and the grounds contain over a thousand osmanthus and cherry trees. When in bloom the fragrance of their flowers floats through the air, creating the ambiance of a mountain-garden.
Stately Jinlong Temple (金龍禪寺), built in 1940, is located in Neihu District, beside the Zhongyongshan Trail (忠勇山步道). In his youth, the founder studied in Japan, and brought back a taste for the Japanese Buddhist temple architectural style, reflected in features such as the Japanese Buddhist ornamental figurines on the roof. The ornately decorated interior has a unique elegance. Gilded Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and Calamity-Averting Medicine Buddha icons are enshrined in the main hall, and there is a giant white statue of Guanyin (觀音) almost three stories tall – the temple's main attraction. To one side is a 20-foot-high Wall of Buddhist Scriptures (心經牆), and scattered in the woods along an adjoining pathway are the 18 Arhats. The craftsmanship of the arhats is particularly exquisite, each impressively lifelike.
Also located in the hills of Neihu is Bishanyan Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (碧山巖開漳聖王廟). Enshrined here is Chen Yuanguang (陳元光), patron god of China's Zhangzhou (漳州), who was responsible for many of Taiwan's pioneer-era immigrants. Chen was a Tang dynasty (唐朝) general sent to suppress a revolt in Fujian province. It is said he improved the lives of the local people by teaching improved farming techniques, earning their deep esteem. The original Neihu temple was built in 1814, and originally possessed just three "god stones" (神石). Steadily expanded over the years, today visitors are presented with a much expanded and far statelier complex. Stand on the platform before the temple to soak in the magnificent view over the Taipei Basin, with Taipei 101 (台北101大樓), the Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店), Taipei Songshan Airport (臺北松山機場), and other major city landmarks looking like giant toy models laid out at your feet. The meandering Tamsui River (淡水河), Liyushan (Mt. Liyu; 鯉魚山), and other natural features complete the grand canvas. This temple is visited by great numbers of day-trippers on weekends and holidays, and is a prime site for taking in Taipei's spectacular annual New Year's Eve fireworks show.
According to local folklore, the gate of heaven is opened (開天門) on the 7th day of the 6th lunar month, and the Jade Emperor leads fellow gods down to the mortal world to attend to people's sufferings. Believers can take the opportunity to ask the Jade Emperor for "extended life and replenished fortune" (延壽補運). On this date Bishanyan Kaizhang Shengwang Temple stages the "Gate of Heaven Opening" Extension of Life Ceremony, attracting devotees from near and far.
Many of Taiwan's venerable temples are not only places of spiritual sustenance for local people, but are also places of great architectural beauty and cultural character. They thus serve as centers of local activity, and precious cultural assets that you should be sure to visit when in Taiwan.
Information
Manka Qingshan Temple 艋舺青山宮
Add: 218, Sec. 2, Guiyang St. (貴陽街2段218號)
Tel: (02)2382-2296
Manka Dizang Temple 艋舺地藏庵
Add: 245, Xichang St. (西昌街245號)
Tel: (02)2306-6352
Songshan Ciyou Temple 松山慈祐宮
Add: 761, Sec. 4, Bade Rd. (八德路4段761號)
Tel: (02)2765-9017
Songshan Cihui Temple 松山慈惠堂
Add: 33, Ln. 251, Fude St. (福德街251巷33號)
Tel: (02)2726-1735
Songshan Feng-Tian Temple 松山奉天宮
Add: 12, Ln. 221, Fude St. (福德街221巷12號)
Tel: (02)2727-9765
Zhinan Temple 指南宮
Add: 115, Wanshou Rd. (萬壽路115號)
Tel: (02)2939-9922
Jinlong Temple 金龍禪寺
Add: 2, Ln. 256, Sec. 3, Neihu Rd. (內湖路3段256巷2號)
Tel: (02)2790-2604
Bishanyan Kaizhang Shengwang Temple 碧山巖開漳聖王廟
Add: 24, Bishan Rd. (碧山路24號)
Tel: (02)2790-0657
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