Dingguang Gufo (Ancient Buddha of Steady Light)

Introduction

In Tamsui stands a temple with a half-moon pond dug before its gate, and for two hundred years it has been both a temple and a hometown-association hall: Yinshan Temple, whose principal deity is Dingguang Gufo, the Ancient Buddha of Steady Light, also called Dingguang Fo or Dingguang Dashi, the guardian of the Tingzhou Hakka. Dingguang Gufo was born Zheng Ziyan (934–1015), a monk of Tingzhou, Fujian, at the turn of the late Five Dynasties and early Song, who in life preached the Dharma, gave free medical care, and delivered people from hardship, and after his passing was deified as a local guardian. When Tingzhou Hakka crossed to Taiwan during the Ming and Qing, facing miasma, plague, and conflict, this "god from home" was their greatest source of comfort. Tamsui's Yinshan Temple, built in 1822, is the only surviving temple in Taiwan with Dingguang Gufo as its principal deity and is a designated national monument — one temple holding up both faith and homesickness at once, the most tangible witness to the history of Hakka migration to Taiwan.

Legend & Origin

Legend says Zheng Ziyan was born at the close of the Five Dynasties in Fujian, took the tonsure at eleven, and after roaming the famous mountains settled at Nan'an Cave in Wuping, Tingzhou, where he preached and practiced medicine for the rest of his life.

His most famous legend is the subduing of a serpent-demon. A great serpent, tens of zhang long, was said to be plaguing Tingzhou — spitting poison mist and ruining the crops. Zheng Ziyan walked to its very lair and, relying not on force but on compassion, subdued the serpent and brought it into the Buddhist fold, so that it harmed people no more.

Another tale is of rainmaking: one year a severe drought withered Tingzhou's crops and drove the people to desperation, and Zheng Ziyan set up an altar and prayed for rain over seven days and seven nights. On the eighth day the sweet rain came, and from then on he was revered as the "living Buddha whose prayers for rain never fail."

In 1015, Zheng Ziyan passed away in seated meditation at Nan'an Cave, at the age of 82. The people cast his body in gold to enshrine it, and successive courts honored him as "Dingguang Gufo" — the two characters "Dingguang" meaning "a mind steady as a mountain, its wisdom-light shining everywhere."

Eight centuries later, the Tingzhou Hakka carried his incense across the sea to Tamsui, Changhua, and Hsinchu. The people left their homeland, but the god never left the people — and that is the story of Dingguang Gufo in Taiwan.

Worship Guide

Dingguang Gufo is offered chiefly vegetarian fare — fresh flowers, fruit, clear tea, and pastries — and the Hakka often add rice foods such as mugwort cake, rice cake, and red tortoise cake, the offering table itself revealing the ethnic character. The sutras chanted are usually the Heart Sutra, the Great Compassion Mantra, or the deity's holy name (Namo Dingguang Gufo).

His worship is bound tightly to the Hakka calendar: "praying for blessing" at the start of the year for peace, "returning the blessing" at year's end to give thanks, and the birthday celebration and procession on lunar 1/6 — three key moments across the year.

At the historic Yinshan Temple in Tamsui and the Dingguang Buddha Temple in Changhua, you can also see the "ritual estate" (jisi gongye), a form of communal temple-property management shared among Hakka lineages — for the temple is not only a place of worship but a two-century-old network of mutual aid among the Tingzhou Hakka.

Festivals

The 6th day of the 1st lunar month marks the birthday of Dingguang Gufo. Yin Mountain Temple holds a birthday blessing ceremony, drawing Tingzhou Hakka descendants from across the region to gather in worship. The temple also organizes exhibitions and cultural activities related to Hakka heritage, promoting awareness of Tingzhou Hakka history and religious traditions.

Famous Temples

⛩️ Tamsui Yin Mountain Temple (Yinshan Si) 🔗

New Taipei City

Yin Mountain Temple was built in 1822, funded collectively by Tingzhou Hakka immigrants. It is the only surviving temple in Taiwan with Dingguang Gufo as its principal deity and is designated a national historic monument. The architecture retains a complete Southern Fujian-style layout with a distinctive half-moon pond in front, a classic feng shui design. Beyond its religious function, Yinshan Si also served as a community hall for Tingzhou Hakka people, providing mutual aid and social connection among fellow immigrants from the same hometown.