Basic situation of Mazu Tempel in Beigang

Mazu belief is an important part of Fujian and Taiwan culture and folk customs. Mazu, also known as "Tian Fei" and "Tianhou", is the deification of Lin Moniang. Lin Moniang, the sixth daughter of Meizhou, Putian, Fujian, was born in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. I gave birth to a moon and didn't smell crying. I named it Maureen. Shi Zai, when she was a teenager, a Taoist visited her home and taught her to learn Qigong. Since then, she has used kung fu to predict the weather changes and treat diseases for others. People are very grateful to her and respect her as a goddess and a dragon girl. Moline Niang died at the age of 28, and the fishermen nearby were very sad, so they automatically built a temple to worship her. Most residents in Fujian, Taiwan Province and other places believe in Mazu and regard her as the patron saint of navigation and a symbol of bumper harvest and environmental safety. The temples dedicated to Mazu are called "Mazu Tempel" or "Tianhou Palace", with Mazu Tempel in Meizhou Island in Putian, Tianhou Palace in Tianjin and Mazu Tempel in Beigang, Taiwan Province as the three major ancestral temples, and March 23rd of the lunar calendar is the anniversary of Mazu's birthday every year.

Located in Beigang Town, Yunlin County, western Taiwan Province Province, Beigang Chaotian Palace is the largest Chaotian Palace in Mazu Tempel, Taiwan Province Province. In the thirty-third year of Qing Emperor Kangxi, a man named Fu from Fujian moved to Taiwan Province Province, and it is said that it was founded in the thirty-third year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1694). At that time, Shu Bi, the 34th generation monk of Buddhism and Lin Ji, welcomed the Mazu statue of Meizhou Ancestral Temple in Fujian to Taiwan Province Province and landed on the island in Hong Kong (now Beigang). When Shubi first came, he rented a humble house to worship the gods. In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, bamboo was trimmed and a small temple was built. In the eighth year of Yongzheng (1730), Mao Yi became a tile and took on a new look. Later, it was repaired many times, and the incense became more and more prosperous.

In the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905), an earthquake occurred, the main hall of Chaotian Palace was damaged and pavilions collapsed. After that, the people raised huge sums of money and rebuilt it in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, which became today's scale. The Palace is a palatial complex in China, with four entrances. There is a square in front of the palace with stone walls and front, left and right entrances and exits. There are a pair of small stone lions on both sides of the main entrance, and there is a stone statue of the Four Seas Dragon King on the wall. The palace gate is divided into three parts, with the mountain gate in the middle, the Longmen on the right and the Humen on the left. In front of the mountains and rivers, there are a pair of huge dragon pillars and a pair of stone lions. There are a pair of stone shields under the pillars of the second gate of Longhu. The walls of Sanmen are decorated with various carvings. The second entrance is the main hall, the Madonna Mazu Hall, which is nearly13m deep and divided into two sections. From the outside of the main hall, it seems that there are three floors on the top of the main hall, glazed tile roof, Kirin pine nuts and two phoenixes on the roof of the front roof are plastic. The East-West hatchback is dedicated to Queen Zhu Sheng, the owner of the kingdom and Fu Zheng. The third hall is Guanyin Buddha Hall, dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva. The room on the right is Sanjie Palace, dedicated to three officials, and the room on the left is Wu Wenchang Hall, dedicated to Wu Wenchang. There are a pair of stone dragon pillars in Guanyin Hall, which are engraved with the words "Long Yi Rong in the twelfth lunar month". In front of the steps of Wu Wenchang Temple, there is a piece of Shuanglong Dan engraved with the words "Daoguang Geng Zi Li Sun and Moon". The last entrance is the Temple of the Holy Parents and the Kaishan Hall dedicated to the abbots of past dynasties. The Mazu Tian Fei crown made in Kangxi period is still preserved in the palace. 1972, Chaotian Palace was designated as a tourist area of religious sites in Taiwan Province Province. 1985, Taiwan Province provincial authorities designated it as a provincial second-class monument.