Xinzhuang Dizang An
About
Those fierce, elaborately face-painted 'Guan Jiang Shou' (Officers of the Vanguard) seen at Taiwanese temple festivals originated right here at Xinzhuang Dizang An. This temple in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City — commonly called the 'Dazhong Temple' — is dedicated to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Wen-Wu Dazhong Ye, presiding over the finding of lost items, the settling of lawsuits, and the driving out of evil, and is a vital center of faith in the Xinzhuang area. On the 1st day of the 5th lunar month each year, the 'Great Xinzhuang Worship' (the Dazhong Ye procession), with its distinctive 'night patrol' rite paired with Guan Jiang Shou performance troupes, is one of the most representative temple festivals in northern Taiwan — well worth a special trip to feel that atmosphere at once fearsome and festive.
History
Dizang An was completed in Xinzhuang during the Qianlong reign (around 1757), one of the oldest Ksitigarbha temples in northern Taiwan. Xinzhuang was in its early days an important commercial port in the north, densely populated but often visited by plague and disaster, and Dizang An became a vital place to deliver wandering souls and pray for the community's peace. The Zhongyuan (Ghost Festival) rites of the 7th lunar month are the temple's grandest moment, with the 'Wen-Wu Dazhong Ye procession' and the 'Guan Jiang Shou' troupe performance the most famous — for Xinzhuang is the very birthplace of the Guan Jiang Shou tradition, those fierce-faced officers charged with awing demons and keeping order between the worlds of the living and the dead, now designated an intangible cultural asset of New Taipei City.
Xinzhuang Dizang An
Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City
Visitor Info
Address
No. 84, Zhongzheng Rd, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City
Region
Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City