Lugang Tianhou Temple
Main Deities
About
There is only one in all Taiwan — Lugang Tianhou Temple enshrines the founding Holy Mother statue from the ancestral temple in Meizhou, the thing this temple in Lukang Township, Changhua County, is proudest of. Dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother), its statue has been darkened to a glossy black by centuries of incense smoke, affectionately called 'Black-Faced Mazu.' The temple is grand in scale, its wood and stone carving all from master hands, and the 'Eight-Trigram Caisson Ceiling' of the main hall is a jewel of Taiwanese craftsmanship. To step inside is to step into the prosperous old dream of 'first Tainan, second Lukang, third Manka.' Each new year, worshippers vie to light 'Bright Lamps' and 'settle the year' (an taisui), so that a spot is often hard to find.
History
In 1725, during the Yongzheng reign, the local gentry of Lukang and Quanzhou merchants jointly funded the building of this Tianhou Temple, dedicated to the Heavenly Holy Mother. Lukang was then the largest trading port in central Taiwan — 'first Tainan, second Lukang, third Manka' says it all — and the Tianhou Temple stood at the heart of the old street, watching over two centuries of commercial rise and fall. It was renovated and expanded many times through the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, then thoroughly rebuilt in the Taisho era under Japanese rule, setting its present layout. The Qing-dynasty plaque 'De Jing Jing Bo' and several stone stelae it preserves are precious relics. Today the Tianhou Temple joins with Lukang Old Street, the 'Breast-Touching Lane,' and the 'Nine-Turns Lane' to form a complete historic district — the finest window onto Qing-era Taiwanese trading-port culture.
Lugang Tianhou Temple
Lukang Township, Changhua County
Visitor Info
Address
No. 430, Zhongshan Rd, Lukang Township, Changhua County
Region
Lukang Township, Changhua County