Da Tian Hou Gong

Located in the central and Western District of Tainan City, Datou temple is a Taoist temple dedicated to Mazu. The temple was originally the residence of Ningjing King Zhu Shugui in Ming Dynasty. In 1683, when Taiwan entered the Qing Dynasty, the residence was transformed into the Queen's palace. It was the first official Mazu temple in Taiwan. The most special one in the hall is a lifelike and huge statue of Mazu. In addition, there are a lot of historical relics in the Da Tian Hou palace. It's like being in the palace of art. It's so beautiful that people can't help but wonder.

Da Tian Hou Gong

Datouhou palace, commonly known as Taizu temple in Tainan, was built in 1684 A.D. in the 23rd year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. It was originally the residence of Ningjing king of the Ming Dynasty. It was built by Zheng Jing, the son of Zheng Chenggong, to show his courtesy to Zhu Yougui, king of Ningjing. Later, Shi Lang led his army to capture Taiwan and attributed the peace to Mazu. So he worshipped Mazu in the palace of Ningjing king, and renamed it Tianhou palace, and expanded it into a majestic Mazu temple. After several renovations, datouhou palace was listed as the first class historic site in 1985 for its historical and cultural status. Among the nearly 400 Mazu temples in Taiwan, datianhougong has a noble status. It is the first official Mazu temple in Taiwan and the only Mazu Temple listed in the official spring and Autumn Festival. The statues and sculptures in the temple are all made by famous craftsmen. The precious and rich ancient plaques and couplets are rare in the temples of Taiwan.

brief introduction

Mazu belief originated from Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian Province. As the patron saint of fishermen on the sea, it is in the southeast of China

It is a popular folk belief in Taiwan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. In Taiwan, Mazu is regarded as an omnipotent goddess who answers every request. Mazu belief is very common and is one of the main folk beliefs of Taiwan compatriots. Empress Dowager's palace and Mazu temple are all over the island. The earliest Mazu temple on Taiwan island is Taiwan's datianhougong.

When you walk into the Da Hou palace in Tainan, you find that the grand and majestic style of Da Hou palace has exhausted the luxury and magnificence of the palace buildings. Looking inside from the gate, through the courtyard and the narrow space of the house, you can see the statue of Mazu under the golden curtain. The temple is magnificent with many believers and incense. Due to the renovation and protection of the ancient government, there are many cultural relics in the palace. The statues of gods and Buddhas in the temple are also mostly famous sculptures. The columns, windows and beams of stone and wood carvings are of high artistic value. There are also many precious cultural relics, such as ancient steles, plaques and couplets. It is said that there are more than 200 plaques alone, which can't be hung up at ordinary times. The most valuable ones are the "shenzhao sea watch" given by Emperor Yongzheng, "demou Houzai" given by Emperor Xianfeng, "tonggong with heaven" given by Emperor Guangxu. It can be seen that compared with ordinary Tin Hau palace and ordinary temple, Da Tian Hou palace has the feeling of heaven and underground.

history

After Shi Lang attacked Taiwan, he entered Ningjing palace. Later, because of Emperor Kangxi's comments on him, he withdrew from the palace for fear of causing death. He asked Emperor Kangxi to take Mazu's protection when attacking Taiwan, and asked Emperor Kangxi to change the palace into "grand Princess Palace" to show his intention of not taking credit.

In the 23rd year of Kangxi reign, Mazu was promoted to "Queen of heaven", and the great imperial concubine palace was immediately renamed "great queen of heaven Palace".

In the 59th year of Kangxi reign, it was included in the official spring and Autumn Festival ceremony, and since then, it has established the extraordinary and noble status of the Da Tian Hou palace.

Later, during the reign of Qianlong and Jiaqing, they were renovated.

During the Japanese occupation period, due to the decline of the former management unit "San Jiao", the datianhou palace was once faced with the fate of being auctioned. Just at the critical moment, officials from the culture and Education Bureau of the governor's office of Taiwan came to Tainan to inspect the historic sites and met the auctioneer in the datianhou palace. After understanding the historical background of the datianhou palace, they reported it to the higher authorities and ordered the auction Only when the sale is stopped can a cultural crisis be solved.

In 1935, after the great earthquake in Xinhua, Tainan, the temple was also affected. Taking advantage of the renovation, the believers decided to demolish the original wooden grating facade and add a false four vertical roof on the three line ridge of the single eaves to enhance the style of the temple, which has become the scene of the temple eaves today. In 1974, the Da Hou Hou palace was listed as a first-class historic site in Taiwan and Fujian area for its historical and cultural status.

internal structure

Datianhougong can be divided into four parts: Sanchuan hall, worship hall, main hall and houdian, which are called "four entrances". The most important feature of this palace is the lifelike and large-scale statue of Mazu, which was made by a Quanzhou master in mainland China about 300 years ago. It can be said that it is one of the representatives of clay sculptures in Taiwan.

In general, door gods are painted on the doors of temples. In order to show the dignity of empress dowager, the great Queen's palace does not paint door gods, but uses door nails instead. Due to the lofty status of the great heaven palace, there are numerous plaques contributed by celebrities in the past dynasties, especially those inscribed by emperors in the past dynasties, which are of great historical value.

There are two ancient stone steles embedded on the left and right walls of the hall of worship. The platform stele erected by general Shi Lang in 1685 is the earliest Qing stele preserved in Taiwan, which describes the process of attacking Taiwan, pacifying the people and dealing with the aftermath. With rich architectural features and historical relics, Da Hou Temple is like an art palace, which makes people feel like a treasure.

Characteristic architecture

Because the Empress Dowager's palace in Tainan was rebuilt into the palace of Ming Dynasty, it was magnificent and dignified. The style and characteristics are naturally different from other general temples. In addition to the renovation and protection of the ancient government, more cultural relics are preserved. The statues of gods and Buddhas in the temple are mostly sculptures of famous artists.

In front of the main gate, the first thing you see is a pair of stone lions in front of the gate. They are exquisitely carved and unique in shape. The entrance gate is high and majestic. It does not have the painted door god of the traditional temple, but it is equipped with many protruding wooden milk nails. On both sides are the eight horses and dragon and tiger pictures carved from granite, which are bold and rugged. In front of the hall, there is a Danlong stone wall, carved with flying dragons and flying clouds. It is quite impressive, which is rare in other temples and fully shows the style of imperial architecture.

The Da Tian Hou palace is a three door type. Looking inside from the gate, through the courtyard and the narrow space of the house, you can see the statue of Mazu under the golden curtain. Mazu is kind and peaceful. It is said that Mazu used to be pink noodles, but after a hundred years of incense, Mazu has become a black "cigarette noodles". The clay carvings, which are decorated with two generals, Qianliyan and shunfenger, have delicate expression and vivid posture. The bronze skin and protruding muscles are extremely fierce and dignified. The carvings are delicate and lifelike. They are really exquisite carvings. The shrines on both sides also worship the Dragon King of the East, West, South and North Seas and the Narcissus king. It's weird, it's rugged, and it's all black with smoke. These are all gods related to navigation and rescue at sea. Another feature of the temple is that in addition to the Mazu in the main hall, it is also equipped with the so-called "two mother" and "three mother" statues of Mazu, which are only half the shape of the mother, with pink face and open eyes, different from the drooping eyelids of Mazu.

The layout of each hall is elegant and clean, with the style of an ancient palace. The columns, windows and beams of stone and wood carvings are of high artistic value. For example, there are many changes in the columns in the palace, including columns, square columns and octagonal columns, which are engraved with different font couplets. The stone beads on the base of the pillars are also square, round, octagonal, drum shaped, plum shaped, lotus seat shaped and so on, and are engraved with all kinds of beautiful reliefs. At the back of the second entrance, there is a well called Longmu well, which still has sweet spring.

cultural relics and historic sites

There are many ancient steles, plaques, couplets and other precious cultural relics in the Da Hou Temple in Tainan. It is said that there are more than 200 ancient plaques alone, which can't be hung up at ordinary times. The most valuable ones are the "shenzhao sea watch" given by Emperor Yongzheng, "demou Houzai" given by Emperor Xianfeng, "tonggong with heaven" given by Emperor Guangxu. There is also a plaque on the shrine of Sanguan emperor in the fourth year of Tongzhi reign, which is black in color, carved with cloud patterns and beautiful in calligraphy. There are eight ancient steles, such as Shi Lang's "platform notes", "Jinghai general Hou Shi Gong's merits and virtues" and "rebuilding Tianhou palace and adding dressing booths". There are also bronze bells and censers cast in the Qing Dynasty in the temple.

Address: No.18, Lane 227, 2nd section, Yongfu Road, Zhongxi District, Tainan, Taiwan

Longitude: 120.20158384723

Latitude: 22.996626701785

Tel. + 886-6-2211178

Official website: http://www.tainanmazu.org.tw

Tour time: 2 hours

Traffic information: take bus No.3, 5, 88, 99 to Chigu downstairs, and then walk along Yongfu Road

Ticket information: Free

Opening hours: 6:00 ~ 21:00 on weekdays, 5:30 ~ 22:00 on the first and fifteenth day of each month in the lunar calendar

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