Zhongpu Kaifeng Temple

A community temple in the Shenkeng (深坑) area of Zhongpu, Chiayi, dedicated chiefly to creation goddess Nüwa (女媧娘娘), a deity of the local Hakka people and enshrined since 1840. Her birthday is the occasion for the village’s largest festival, revived in recent years as a Hakka cultural rite that restores older offering customs such as carrying sacrifices to the temple in woven bamboo baskets. Chifu Qiansui (池府千歲) and Mazu are venerated alongside her, their images brought in 1836 and 1901, while the temple in its present form dates only from the early 1980s. A small shrine standing just to the right of the entrance was built for the deified Japanese soldier Second Lieutenant Chiba Takuma (千葉太久馬) before his worship moved to the nearby Zanfu Temple beside the Sanceng Tunnel (三層隧道).