Chaotian Palace in Beigang

Chaotian Palace in Beigang is the most famous temple in Yunlin and the general temple of Mazu in Taiwan. The Chaotian Palace was built in the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. After many repairs, it is now listed as a second-class historic site. The front hall is a Xieshan double eaves building, with "Sanchuan gate" in the center and "dragon" and "tiger" Gates on both sides. The top of the roof is covered with cross toed pottery scissors. The second entrance hall is a triple hard mountain building for worshiping 30 Mazu statues, such as the goddess of heaven, zhendianma and Meizhou Mazu. The third hall is mainly dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva, with Wenchang emperor and Sangong emperor on the left and right. There are stone drums at the middle gate and stone pillows at the left and right gates. In the fourth fall, the sacred parents worship the middle room, which opens on the left, around Nanhua Pavilion, and Wucheng Pavilion is where the Nanguan music club of Chaotian Palace is located.

Chaotian Palace in Beigang

Chaotian Palace in Beigang is the most famous temple in Yunlin and the general temple of Mazu in Taiwan. The Chaotian Palace was built in the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. After many repairs, it is listed as a second-class historic site. The front hall is a Xieshan double eaves building, with "Sanchuan gate" in the center and "dragon" and "tiger" Gates on both sides. The top of the roof is covered with cross toed pottery scissors. The second entrance hall is a triple hard mountain building for worshiping 30 Mazu statues, such as the goddess of heaven, zhendianma and Meizhou Mazu. The third hall is mainly dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva, with Wenchang emperor and Sangong emperor on the left and right. There are stone drums at the middle gate and stone pillows at the left and right gates. In the fourth fall, the sacred parents worship the middle room, which opens on the left, around Nanhua Pavilion, and Wucheng Pavilion is where the Nanguan music club of Chaotian Palace is located.

essential information

Every year, from the first month of the lunar calendar to March 23, Mazu's birthday, there are many good men and women from all over the province. They are surrounded by incense, gongs and drums, and there is a lot of excitement.

Chaotian Palace in Beigang, formerly known as Tianfei temple or Tianhou palace, was renamed Chaotian Palace in memory of Fenling's ancestral temple Chaotian Pavilion. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Linji Zen master Shu Bi came to Taiwan to worship the statue of Mazu in Meizhou temple. He landed on the North Bank of Bengang and was worshipped by the people in the street. So he built a temple at the present site in the 39th year of Emperor Kangxi (1700). Because of his miraculous deeds, he has become the leading Temple of Mazu belief in Taiwan!

history

The Chaotian Palace in Beigang was built in 1694, the 33rd year of Kangxi reign. Monk Shubi invited Mazu to come to Taiwan from Chaotian Pavilion in Meizhou, and built a small temple in Bengang for people to worship. In the 39th year of Kangxi reign (1700), the local gentry donated money to build the temple, which is called "Tianfei Temple". After the reconstruction in the 8th year of Yongzheng reign (1730), it was called "bunganghouhou Palace".

Qianlong 40 years (1775) "rebuilt Zhuluo County Bengang queen Palace" inscriptions mentioned that " Tianhou palace was built in the year of gengxu of Yongzheng and was built in the year of Xinwei of Qianlong. In addition, "Yunlin interview book" records: "Tianhou palace, in the street, was built in the year of Yongzheng gengxu...". Yongzheng gengxu year, Yongzheng 8 years, shows that the Mazu temple in Bengang was still a small temple in Kangxi years. It was built in Yongzheng 8 years and began to take shape. It was rebuilt again in Qianlong 16 years (1751).

In 1774, Xue Zhaofan, the Prime Minister of Bengang County, proposed to rebuild the palace. Gongsheng Chen Ruiyu and Jiansheng Cai Dacheng raised more than 15000 yuan. Since the reconstruction in 1774, the palace was completed in 1775. At that time, the main hall and Guanyin hall were built. In 1837, Wang Delu, the governor of Fujian Navy, and Wen Zhaofeng, the guerrilla of Taiwan Navy, led the army to cross Taiwan. When the ship was hit by wind, Wang Delu prayed for Mazu's protection. Later, due to his successful arrival in Taiwan and the pacification of Zhang Bing's incident, he presented the plaque of "sea sky lingfu" and the ancient bell to Chaotian Palace.

In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Wang Chaolun, the second son of Wang Delu, and CAI Ruzhang, the tutor of Jiayi County, initiated the renovation and started the construction in October of the lunar calendar in the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855). In 1859, the temple was rebuilt.

In 1894, a fire broke out in Beigang street, which affected the Sanchuan Hall of Chaotian Palace. The temple of Chaotiangong was damaged by the Jiayi earthquake in 1906. Fortunately, it was rebuilt by Cai ranbiao, the head of Beigang District, Zeng Xizhen, the local gentry, and CAI Peidong. The construction started on August 26, 1908. Chen Yingbin, a craftsman, was employed to take charge of the project. The total reconstruction cost was more than 79000 yuan, which was completed in January of the first year of Dazheng (1912).

During the period of Japanese occupation, the suburban business organizations in Beigang area were still flourishing and actively participated in the management and reconstruction of Chaotian Palace. At that time, the Mazu society was divided into three groups, namely, the grandmothers' Association - Jin Shunsheng, the second mothers' Association - Jin Shunan, the third mothers - Jin Shengfeng, bujiao, Ganjiao - Jin Xingshun, Yupu Street - Jin Haishun and Butcher - Jin Yishun. When the Chaotian Palace was rebuilt in Meiji, Mazu society and suburban merchants all donated money to participate in the repair.

On the 1000th anniversary of Mazu's birth in 1959, believers initiated the renovation of the main hall. In 1963, the renovation of the main hall was completed, but its traditional space configuration was still in place. In November 1972, the Chaotian Palace was approved by the provincial government as a "religious Memorial tourist area of Taiwan Province".

In 1976, Chaotiangong invested in the construction of Beigang Mazu Memorial Hospital to carry forward Mazu's benevolent purpose, benefit the people of Jianan plain and make up for the lack of local medical care. Chaotian Palace was designated as the second-class national historic site on November 27, 1983. In 1987, when Mazu became a Taoist for thousands of years, Chaotian Palace in Beigang organized Mazu's tour around the island to promote Buddhism, which lasted for 26 days.

On December 20, 1995, a fire broke out in the Holy Father and mother's hall. During the Japanese occupation, Taiwan's governor, Zuo Jiujian, also burned down a plaque entitled "enjoy your loyalty". On January 15, 1998, the temple of the Holy Father and mother was rebuilt and completed. In the same year, Chaotian Palace and Meizhou Tianhou palace presented a 5-zhang-high stone statue of Mazu to each other, which was displayed in the roof garden of Mazu culture building in Beigang.

The temple of Chaotiangong in Beigang was damaged by the September 21 earthquake in 1999. In 2004, it was completely rebuilt and the roof was made by hanging the roof ridge. It is hoped that the architectural art of Chaotiangong can be preserved.

In 2000, Chen Shui Bian visited the first National Games in Chaotian Palace, where he held a ceremony to ignite the flame;

In 2001, Chen Shui Bian presided over the opening ceremony of "Beigang welcoming Mazu" in Chaotian Palace. "Beigang mother" made her first trip to Tianjin for Mazu culture, and went to Quanzhou, Meizhou and other places to visit Beigang Mazu Nantou County for disaster relief and blessing;

(June 28, 2001), the Preparatory Committee built a temple to worship;

On July 28, 2001, Cai Changkui, chairman of Tianhou palace in Tianjin, China, and his party arrived at Tianhou palace for a 10 day visit;

On August 15, 2001, a group of six people from the Macao Chinese Mazu foundation, Yan Yanling, arrived at the palace for a visit;

On August 20, 2001, the ancestral temple of Meizhou in mainland China was led by the former chairman of the board, Ms. Lin Congzhi, and a group of 10 people arrived at the palace for a visit;

On October 5, 2001, Zhang Bingyao, director general of Chaotian Palace in Cape Town, South Africa, and a group of seven people arrived at the palace for a visit, and then went through the procedures of worshiping the Virgin Mary, Qianliyan and shunfenger in South Africa;

On October 27, 2001, at the invitation of Nantou County Government and all walks of life, the Virgin Mary of our palace will go to 13 towns and cities in Nantou County to hold a 10 day tour to relieve disasters, pray for safety and plant blessings;

On November 10, 2001, Vice President Annette Lu arrived at the palace in the afternoon to pay her respects;

(2001.11.20) from now on, the palace will hold the Liang emperor's Dafa meeting for seven days;

On December 29, 2001, the palace held the 7th election of directors and supervisors. There were 6029 electors and 4537 voters present. The voting rate was 75.2. 19 directors and 3 supervisors were elected.

celebration

Ceremony of sending gods

Before the lunar new year, there are a series of sacrificial activities in Chaotian Palace in Beigang. In order to welcome the new year and the celebration of Mazu's birthday, the temple cleans the temple every year on December 20 of the lunar calendar to clean up the dust in the past year, which is of great significance. On December 24 of the lunar calendar, the deacons of the temple held a ceremony to deliver the gods, offering sacrifices to the gods with fruit, and closing the temple door symbolically until the end of the ceremony.

Head snatching incense

At 9:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Chaotian Palace closed its door again to prepare for the activity of "touxiang" at the first son of the first lunar month. When the temple door opened, believers swarmed in, hoping to win the first incense and bring good luck for the coming year. In the festival customs, the fourth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the "day of meeting the gods", and the Chaotian Palace closes the door again to welcome the arrival of the gods.

After the ceremony, the temple gate will be opened. On that day, the temple leader will draw out a public sign (also known as "four seasons sign") to predict the fortune of all walks of life in the coming year. After the public signature is drawn out, it will be posted in the Sanchuan hall.

Welcome spring

During the Lantern Festival, Chaotian Palace held Mazu's "welcome spring around the border" activity. In order to show their piety to Mazu's belief and hope that Mazu can protect their business, businesses will prepare a large number of firecrackers to be placed under Mazu's Phoenix chariot, which is called "fried sedan chair". The more firecrackers there are, the better the business will be in the coming year, which will bring a climax to the activity.

Happy Mazu in March

"Happy Mazu in March" is the annual grand meeting of Chaotian Palace in Beigang. Every year on the 19th day of the third month of the lunar calendar, every family in Beigang will hold a table to invite relatives from afar

Chinese PinYin : Bei Gang Chao Tian Gong