East Taiwan Temples
Explore representative temples in Eastern Taiwan, including main deities, history, and cultural features.
Jiaoxi Sietian Temple
Where other Guan Di temples enshrine a gilded statue, Jiaoxi Sietian Temple holds the only 'Silk Guan Gong' in Taiwan — an image of Guan Sheng Di Jun built up layer upon layer from silk. This is the largest and most incense-thronged Guan Di temple in northern Taiwan, dedicated to Guan Sheng Di Jun (Guan Gong) and one of the most important centers of faith in Yilan. Its graceful 'Chunqiu Tower' is a quiet delight, while the 'Turtle King' turtle-begging rite on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month is anything but quiet — worshippers borrow a fortune-turtle from Guan Di and return it, doubled, the following year. For anyone hoping to pray for career, for justice, or for peace, this is a must-visit on the way into Yilan.
Penghu Tianhou Temple
Step into Penghu Tianhou Temple and the ground beneath your feet belongs to the oldest Mazu temple in Taiwan — founded before 1604 and, by documentary evidence, the very first Mazu temple on Taiwanese soil, dedicated to Mazu (the Empress of Heaven). It holds the oldest stone stele in the Taiwan-Penghu region, the tablet recording how the Ming general Shen Yourong 'ordered the withdrawal of the red-haired barbarian Weimalang' — that is, expelled the Dutch — in 1604; in 2022 the Ministry of Culture designated it a national treasure. A National Monument since 1983, the temple preserves a wealth of intact Qing-dynasty wood carving, stone carving, and painting — a living textbook for anyone wishing to see the architecture of Taiwan's earliest temples.
Hualien Shen An Temple
Folk tradition holds that in the seventh lunar month of 1948, the Queen Mother of the West — Wangmu Niangniang, known affectionately as Mu Niang or Yaochi Jinmu — manifested and descended at Ji'an in Hualien; and so the Hualien Shen An Temple became the birthplace of the 'Queen Mother of the West' faith in Taiwan. Glittering and regal in style, the temple enshrines Mu Niang and holds an exalted place among the faithful. Shen An Temple and the nearby Cihui Tang share a single origin, later dividing into the Yellow-Robe and Green-Robe branches — yet as the wellspring of it all, Shen An Temple still draws countless pilgrims back to seek their roots. For anyone wishing to reach the source of Mu Niang worship, this is a stop in Hualien not to be missed.
Hualien City God Temple
During the Japanese colonial 'kominka' campaign, many temples across Taiwan were forced to close or be torn down — the Hualien City God Temple slipped through with one clever move. The temple quietly began enshrining Koxinga (Guoxingye, whose mother, Lady Tagawa, was Japanese, so the colonial authorities regarded him as part-Japanese) and even set Koxinga's cap upon the City God, and so the temple was saved. One of the oldest temples in Hualien City, it is dedicated to the state-protecting City God (Chenghuang) and has witnessed a century of the region's change. Its architecture blends Minnan style with Japanese elements — the roof of the opera stage across the plaza still carries a distinctly Japanese flavor — and together with local snacks like the famous temple-front black tea, it anchors a lively neighborhood, a fine place to pay respects to the City God and eat well in Hualien.
Yilan Sanqing Temple
Stand before Yilan Sanqing Temple and the whole shimmering sweep of Meihua Lake opens up before you — a rare Taoist temple in Yilan where you can offer prayers and gaze out over the water at the same time. Though the temple takes its name from its principal deities, the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing Daozu), what truly keeps the worshippers coming is Ji Gong, the 'Living Buddha,' renowned for answering prayers. Set against the mountain and beside the lake, Sanqing Temple sits in quiet, lovely surroundings — a well-known spot in Yilan for both faith and sightseeing, and just right for anyone who wants to pray to Ji Gong and unwind with a gentle wander.
Ji'an Qingxiu Yuan
Walk into Ji'an Qingxiu Yuan and for a moment you may think you've crossed to Japan — this is the most complete Japanese-style temple still standing in Taiwan, formerly the 'Shingon-shu Yoshino Mission,' dedicated to Fudo Myoo and listed as a Hualien County historic monument. Its square 'hogyo-zukuri' pyramidal roof breathes a strong Edo-period air, and within stand the wish-granting 'Hyakudo Stone' and eighty-eight stone Buddhas modeled on the Shikoku pilgrimage circuit, lined up one by one in the deep calm of a Japanese temple. It is a lovely, quiet corner of Hualien in which to slow down.
Taitung Tianhou Temple
Each Lantern Festival, the streets of Taitung stage an astonishing scene: a bare-chested strongman stands atop a palanquin and lets the crowd hurl strings of firecrackers straight at his body — this is 'Bombing Master Handan,' a folk spectacle spoken of in the same breath as 'the sky lanterns of the north and the beehive fireworks of the south.' Its stage is the Taitung Tianhou Temple, the oldest Mazu temple in Taitung, dedicated to Mazu (the Empress of Heaven), and the only official Qing-dynasty temple in all of eastern Taiwan. The temple keeps many precious plaques and relics, and its Lantern Festival 'procession of the gods' and Bombing of Handan draw tens of thousands each year, setting the faith of the 'back mountain' region ablaze.
Matsu Tianhou Temple
Of every Mazu temple in the world, only this one has — just a few steps before the shrine in the main hall — the 'spirit cave' where Mazu's own body is said to lie. Matsu Tianhou Temple stands beside Matsu Harbor in Nangan, facing the open sea, the single most important center of faith in the Matsu Islands, dedicated to Mazu (the Empress of Heaven). Legend tells that when Mazu's father and brother failed to return from a fishing voyage, Lin Moniang threw herself into the sea to save her father and drowned; her body drifted to the Magang inlet of Nangan, and the villagers, moved by her filial love, buried her there and raised a temple over the spot. Even the name of the Matsu archipelago comes from 'Mazu' — as early as 1894 a British naval chart marked this island as 'Matsu,' the earliest documentary appearance of the name. The annual 'Mazu Ascension Festival' on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the grandest religious celebration in Matsu.
Kinmen Wudao City God Temple
Every year on the twelfth day of the fourth lunar month, the whole island of Kinmen erupts in a grand island-wide parade — art-floats and performance troupes stretching endlessly down the roads. This is the 'Kinmen City God Welcoming,' ranked among 'Taiwan's Hundred Religious Sceneries.' Its star is the Wudao City God Temple, the largest and most incense-thronged temple in Kinmen, dedicated to the City God (Chenghuang) and the island's most important center of faith. Built in a three-bay, two-hall layout beneath an imposing hip-and-gable double-eaved roof, the temple carries a long memory: the day's revelry commemorates the year 1680, when the Kinmen garrison commander Chen Long moved the administrative seat from Kinmen City to Houpu — and the City God moved with him, an incense fire now more than three hundred years old.
Hualien Gang Tian Temple
Hualien Gang Tian Temple is the largest Mazu temple in eastern Taiwan, dedicated to the goddess whom locals affectionately call 'Gang Tian Ma' (Mazu, the Empress of Heaven), and an important center of faith for Hualien City. Its grounds are vast and its presence commanding, its architecture blending southern and northern styles in ornate detail — the enormous archway (pailou) and the wide temple plaza make an immediate impression. When Mazu's birthday comes around, the temple holds a grand celebratory procession that gathers up all the warmth of Hualien's people — a place not to be missed when you come to worship Mazu in Hualien.
Tafalong Ancestral Shrine
In Guangfu, Hualien, lives Tafalong — an Amis (Pangcah) settlement more than 1,500 years old, one of the oldest and largest Amis communities in Taiwan. At its heart stands the ancestral shrine (kakita'an), the core of Tafalong's spiritual life and cultural transmission. Within it are kept ceremonial vessels and the symbols of the ancestral spirits, handed down through the generations, while the shrine's pillars are carved with exquisite wooden motifs recounting the Amis creation myths and the stories of the ancestors — a precious treasure of Taiwan's indigenous art. The grandest event of the year is the Harvest Festival (Ilisin) held in July and August, when the whole community gathers to sing and dance, offering their respect to the kawas (ancestral spirits) and giving thanks for the protection of the people and the gifts of the natural world. The festival's songs and dances, its shared feasting, and its rigorous age-grade system reveal the full depth of Amis social structure and culture.