Introduction
Temple History & Information
Playing Audio Guide
Founding story
The Qingshui Temple was originally built facing east. During the Japanese colonial period, the temple was forced to relocate twice due to military fortification and artillery installation needs. In 1939 (Showa 14), the colonial authorities regulated the temple's religious artifacts, forcing the surrender of the Second Patriarch's statue. The temple hall in Gangshan District was repurposed as a Japanese imperial citizens' training center, and the temple's orientation was changed to face south. The foundation of the original flag platform still remains today. During World War II, a 500kg bomb fell next to the temple. After the end of Japanese rule and before the KMT government relocated to Taiwan (1948), devoted followers resolutely rebuilt the temple. In 1966, due to the aging structure, believers collaborated with the community center on a joint reconstruction project. By 1995, after 30 years without renovation, locals and overseas devotees united once again, pooling their resources and expertise for another comprehensive reconstruction.
Create vision
With over a hundred years of history, Zhouzi Qingshui Temple stands as both a spiritual anchor and cultural hub for the local community. While it has become a renowned tourist destination at the scenic Lotus Pond, its true significance lies in its role as a sanctuary of faith, preserving cherished local traditions and serving as a spiritual haven for residents.
The temple plays an integral role in community life by actively participating in Zuoying's grand annual Wannian Festival. Its first-floor community center serves multiple purposes: hosting elderly care programs, offering space for light exercise activities, and organizing community dining events. Additionally, the temple serves as a significant venue for local elections, showcasing its commitment to both public affairs and cultural development.
Beyond its religious role, Zhouzi Qingshui Temple actively promotes the legendary tales of the Qingshui Patriarch. The temple unites the community and preserves spiritual heritage through diverse religious activities and cultural festivities. Guided by its dual mission of safeguarding devotees' spiritual well-being and advancing public welfare, the temple continues to strengthen its community roots and enrich local residents' lives.
Temple records
Located in Zuoying, the Qingshui Temple of Zhouzi (also known locally as Zhouzi Temple, Zhouzi Patriarch Temple, or Lotus Pond Patriarch Temple) is dedicated to the worship of the Qingshui Patriarch.
The early settlers of "Zhouzi" initially lived at the southwestern foot of Banping Mountain, in an area marked as "Zuoying Village" on Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period maps. This location, approximately north of today's Mingtan Road and Cuihua Road intersection, is also where the "Zuoying Archaeological Site" was discovered during the Japanese colonial period. This ancient settlement was primarily inhabited by families with surnames Xu, Huang, Hong, and Li, with the Li family being the most numerous. In 1844 (24th year of the Daoguang Emperor), after the construction of the Cao Gong New Canal, water from the Xiadanshui River flowed continuously from Dashu and Renwu to the eastern side of Banping Mountain. The "Zhouzi Irrigation Canal" and "Zhouzi Yang Ban Canal" fed into Lotus Pond. By this time, the settlers of Zhouzi had relocated from the southwestern foot of Banping Mountain to their present location. The area was named "Zhouzi" (meaning sandbar or islet) because its terrain resembled a muddy alluvial sandbar. During the Qing Dynasty, this section of the Cao Gong New Canal became known as the "Zhouzi Irrigation Canal."
According to legend, during the Qing Dynasty, early settlers enshrined both Mazu and the Qingshui Patriarch in a grass shrine at the foot of Banping Mountain. Initially, Mazu was the main deity, and the shrine attracted many worshippers seeking divine guidance. One day, a devotee from Fengshan came to seek help for his sick mother, requesting to temporarily bring the Mazu statue home. As Mazu's divine power was renowned in Fengshan for healing illnesses, the statue was kept there and never returned. Although villagers from Zhouzi made several attempts to retrieve the Mazu statue from Fengshan, they were unsuccessful. Subsequently, they elevated the Qingshui Patriarch, originally a secondary deity, to the position of main deity. In the early Japanese colonial period, Qingshui Temple was located 100 meters behind its current site, in a simple grass shrine facing south. As the number of devotees grew, the temple was relocated to the area behind the present temple site, where a modest temple hall was built facing east.
During the early stages of World War II (Showa period), Japanese authorities constructed a "Japanese Language Training Center" next to the temple for Japanese language education. Local elders including Hong Zhenfu, Li Fuxing, Li Xing, Li Jie, Hong Xianzhi, Huang Fang, Huang Lai, Huang Zhong, Huang Xiantong, Xu Xun, and Guo Shefu contributed either land or monetary donations ranging from 20 to 250 yuan for its construction. As the war intensified and to avoid U.S. air raids, classes only continued for four to five months before being suspended. Under the Japanese Imperial Citizenship Policy, the temple was forced to surrender its Second Patriarch statue to the Gangshan District office. However, the villager Huang Zhong managed to hide the Great Patriarch statue in the grass, while Li Xing concealed the Earth God statue in a rice urn, continuing to worship them in secret to avoid confiscation.
After Taiwan's liberation, Mr. Lin Xiquan from Zhouzi visited Mr. Chen Xinfa's home in old Zuoying settlement. There, he discovered a deity statue in the worship hall that strongly resembled the "Second Patriarch of Zhouzi." Surprised by this finding, the host explained that the statue had been retrieved from Gangshan after the war. Through divination blocks, they asked if this was indeed the Second Patriarch statue. After receiving three consecutive positive responses, Mr. Lin was permitted to return the statue to Zhouzi Temple. This story of losing and recovering the Second Patriarch statue became a beloved local legend.
In 1948, during the early post-liberation period, as the training center was built with community funding, villagers proposed expanding it to house the Qingshui Patriarch. The training center was merged with the original temple and named "Qingshui Temple." Captain Chen Fenghua, a Fujian native who was about to retire from his military post at Banping Mountain fortress, was invited to teach at Zhouzi Village's Mandarin supplementary school. He conducted evening classes in Chinese literature and Mandarin, commonly known as "Night School," making significant contributions to public literacy education. In 1966, due to the aging temple structure, Qingshui Temple was rebuilt in conjunction with the neighborhood community center project. In 1977, due to numerous miraculous manifestations of Mazu (the Heavenly Mother) in the village, residents proposed installing a new Mazu statue as a secondary deity in the temple. In 1996, after 30 years without renovation, local residents and overseas supporters united their efforts and resources for another reconstruction. The new temple building was completed in 2002, resulting in its present-day appearance.
The new Qingshui Temple combines Eastern and Western architectural features, creating a magnificent and dignified structure. The stone statue of the Patriarch, standing majestically over the community, measures 50 feet high, 30 feet long, and 28 feet wide. It is constructed with 387 units of red granite and installed on top of the temple's fifth floor, overlooking Lotus Pond and the old Zuoying settlement from the eastern side, creating a spectacular view. The two 20-foot-high Qilin incense burners in front of the temple courtyard and the interior stone carvings are made of Qingdou stone, installed by master craftsmen from Putian and Quanzhou in Fujian Province. When burning offerings in these Qilin incense burners, the rising smoke creates an ethereal effect, as if the mythical Qilin creatures are walking among the clouds. The fifth floor features a ceramic dragon and phoenix artwork, crafted from various ceramic vessels, cups, plates, bowls, and dishes by masters from Zigong City in mainland China, holding significant artistic value. The temple's dougong (bracketing) wooden carvings are intricate and retain their natural elegant color, reflecting the simple and natural beauty of Tang Dynasty and Japanese temple architecture. The third floor houses the Tai Sui Chamber, featuring 60 statues of the Year Deities, each with its own name, representing the traditional belief in zodiac year protection and holding educational significance. Additionally, the fifth floor features special "self-service spiritual cleansing" chairs where visitors can sit quietly to receive blessings and peace of mind from the deities.
written by Guo Jiqing Kaohsiung Old City Cultural Association August 29, 2022
History
I. Qing Dynasty Period
1-1. Origins and Place Name History
1-2. Origins of the Grass Shrine
The Relocation of Mazu to Fengshan (Oral History from Village Elders)
The origins of Zhouzi Village's Heavenly Mother (Mazu) remain unclear. According to village elders, during the Daoguang period (1821-1850), when Zhouzi Village was located at the foot of Banping Mountain, the village temple enshrined Mazu as the main deity and the Qingshui Patriarch as the secondary deity. No written records or oral accounts of the temple's name from this period have survived.
According to oral accounts from village elders, during the Qing Dynasty, the Fengshan County Magistrate's elderly mother had been suffering from a long-term illness that no famous doctor could cure. The magistrate and his household were at their wit's end. One day, as the magistrate was sighing with worry over his mother's condition, a yamen runner, knowing of his master's distress, boldly suggested seeking help from the miraculous Mazu of Zhouzi Village.
With no other options left, the magistrate agreed to the suggestion. They respectfully brought the Mazu statue from Zhouzi Village to the official residence in Fengshan New Town to pray for the elderly lady's recovery. After several days, her condition improved dramatically until she was fully healed. News of this miracle spread throughout Fengshan, and the temporary shrine where Mazu was housed became increasingly popular among worshippers.
After Mazu had spent some time in Fengshan praying for the magistrate's mother's recovery, the villagers of Zhouzi began planning to bring her back. Several respected village elders gathered to journey to Fengshan New Town to retrieve Mazu and return her to the temple.
When the villagers arrived at Mazu's temporary shrine in Fengshan County, the local people refused to return the statue. They argued that Mazu's miraculous powers in Fengshan indicated her wish to stay and protect the local people, suggesting that Zhouzi Village create a new Mazu statue instead. The Zhouzi elders, being visitors in foreign territory, had no choice but to return home empty-handed. Subsequently, they elevated the Qingshui Patriarch to the position of main deity. This is likely how the Qingshui Temple of Zhouzi came to be.
II. Japanese Colonial Period
2-1. Early Temple Structure
The ox cart driver is village resident Huang Wandui, with foreign tourists seated in the cart.
2-2. Establishment of the Japanese Language School and the Impact of Japanization
Construction Records of Qingshui Temple - 1966
III. Early Taiwan Retrocession Period
3-1. Recovery of the Patriarch Statue
3-2. Naming of Qingshui Temple and Functional Expansion
IV. Modern Reconstruction
4-1. Multiple Renovations
4-2. Features of the New Temple
New Temple Exterior
Self-Service Spiritual Cleansing Chair
V. Contemporary Development
5-1. The Return of Mazu to Qingshui Temple (Oral History from Elders)
Growing up playing in the temple courtyard and grounds, I knew Qingshui Patriarch as the main deity. In the 1970s, I had never seen a Mazu statue there. During that era, when devotees faced major issues, they would come to the temple to seek the Patriarch's intervention through divination blocks. After receiving three consecutive positive responses indicating the Patriarch's agreement to "descend," they would inform the temple staff to arrange for Taoist priests and sedan chair bearers. It was during these processions that I first learned to carry the four-bearer sedan chair.
During a divination session around 1974-1975, when the four-bearer sedan chair showed intense spiritual movement, the Taoist priest asked which deity had descended into the chair. After inquiring about many local temple deities without success, the spirit directly wrote that it was Mazu, the Heavenly Mother of our temple. All the elders present were astonished, as they remembered the temple's early history with Mazu, which had been nearly forgotten over several decades before this miraculous reappearance. Since then, Mazu has regularly returned to assist with devotees' requests.
Around 1977, during a devotee's consultation, the Patriarch quickly descended to the sedan chair. While the Taoist priest prepared to begin the ceremony, the four-bearer chair unexpectedly rushed out of the village. Followers hurriedly pursued it. The chair traveled along the Tsai-kung Road, crossing the railway crossing. The road was winding like a sheep's intestine, with insufficient lighting at night.
When the chair reached the Peace Driving Training Ground, an elder temple member pleaded with the Patriarch: "Patriarch, we cannot go further - entering Vegetable Village territory wouldn't be appropriate!" The bearers then forcibly stopped the chair. When the Taoist priest arrived and inquired about the Patriarch's purpose, I wasn't paying close attention, but learned it was to welcome Mazu back. I wondered why this was necessary when she had already been returning to help devotees with their problems.
After bringing Mazu back that time, instructions were given that Mazu should return to restore the temple. The word "restore" left a deep impression on me and remains clear in my memory to this day. The elders then began planning various aspects of Mazu's return, including crafting a new statue and performing the consecration ceremony.
5-2. Enshrining Mazu as Secondary Deity
