Toucheng Kaicheng Temple

A combined Guanyin and Chenghuang temple in Toucheng, Yilan, and one of the primary venues for the town’s famous Toucheng Qianggu (搶孤) festival at the close of the Ghost Month. It traces its origins back to Han pioneer Wu Sha (吳沙), who led an unsanctioned invasion of Lanyang Plain (蘭陽平原) in 1796, bringing a Guanyin idol with him to establish a small shrine at the site of the intended settlement. After Wu’s death in 1799 his followers added an auxiliary shrine in his memory that survives to the present day alongside a spirit tablet for future prefect Yang Tingli (楊廷理) added in 1872.

In 1845 a Chenghuang idol rescued from a flood was installed alongside Guanyin. The complex was destroyed by flooding in 1864 and rebuilt at its present site under the name Kaicheng Temple (開成寺) the following year. A separate Chenghuang temple was completed on the adjacent lot in 1920 and was formally merged with Kaicheng in 1989.