Waliao Yongan Temple

A village temple at Waliao (瓦寮) in Xuejia, Tainan, where the primary deity is a Taiwanese man who died within living memory. Lifu Yuanshuai (李府元帥) is commonly taken for the Tang dynasty general Li Daliang (李大亮) but is in fact Li Dazai (李大再, 1875–1945), who founded the settlement around 1900 and went on to become the largest landowner in the Beimen (北門). He is fondly remembered for his generosity, waiving rents after poor harvests. When Yongan Temple was established in 1974 the site was chosen by divination, and at that time a spirit calling itself Lifu Yuanshuai appeared, taken at first for the Lifu Qiansui (李府千歲) of Nankunshen Daitianfu Temple and identified only afterwards as Li Dazai. When the hall was rebuilt as a formal temple in 1987, Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝) of Ciji Temple was asked to settle the matter of the presiding deity and named Li Dazai ahead of Chifu Qiansui (池府千歲), Guanyin, Chenghuang (城隍), and Huye (虎爺).