Beigang Chaotian Temple

Date CapturedJune 26th, 2014 at 10:44 UTCCameraNIKON D3100LensAF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED or AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED [II]Apertureƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed1/200 secFocal Length31.0 mmISO100Exposure Value13.3 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

Popularly known as Beigang Mazu (北港媽), Chaotian Temple is the most prolific source of Mazu branch temples in Taiwan and claims the title of “Mazu Ancestral Headquarters” (台灣媽祖總本山). It was founded in 1694 by the Linji Buddhist monk Shubi (樹璧和尚), who brought a Mazu statue from Chaotian Pavilion (朝天閣) on Meizhou Island and landed at the old port of Bengang (笨港).

The temple was expanded repeatedly through the Qing dynasty, and a major reconstruction between 1907 and 1912 under master carpenter Chen Yingbin (陳應彬) produced halls so ornate that contemporary newspapers compared them to Nikkō Tōshōgū. During the Kōminka movement (皇民化運動) of the late 1930s several statues were confiscated by the authorities and burned; the temple survived but was reduced to housing only Mazu and the Five Wenchang deities. Designated a national monument in 1985, its annual Mazu procession on the 19th and 20th days of the third lunar month was designated a nationally important folk custom in 2010. It is located in Beigang, Yunlin.