【Tainan, Taiwan】 Sicao Dazhong Temple 四草大眾廟

Please refer to the audio introduction with this link.

Welcome to this audio tour of Sicao Dazhong temple.

Photography is permitted at the temple, but guests are asked to please speak and act in a respectful manner while on the temple premises and are reminded not to enter or exit the temple through the central door, which is reserved for the gods.

Sicao Dazhong Temple is dedicated to the worship of Dazhong Yeh, the only person of Taiwanese birth ever to be deified at the command of a Chinese emperor.

The temple is also located on the site of a former battleground between Taiwan’s Dutch colonists and the forces of the Chinese general Zheng Chenggong, also known as Koxinga.

On our tour today, we will learn about Dazhong Yeh and the other gods who are worshipped at the temple and explore the events surrounding that historic battle.

But before we do, let’s take a few moments to talk about the early origins of the temple and introduce its architecture.

The temple’s early history

The first known mention of Sicao Dazhong Temple in historical records occurs in the year 1700, although a Dutch map drawn in the first half of the 1600s shows that a temple of some sort existed at this location even then.

When the temple was first established, the site was a part of Beixianwei, or Baxemboy, Island, a long, dune-covered island that once divided the Bay of Tainan from the waters of the Taiwan Strait. The bay has since completely silted in.

Now, let’s take a look at the outside of the temple.

In front of the temple

The temple building you see in front of you is actually fairly new.

In fact, Sicao Dazhong Temple, which has been in existence for three or four centuries, has been rebuilt several times.

Construction on this most recent version of the temple was completed in 1987. The god effigies enshrined within are, of course, much older.

Traditional temples were typically constructed as a series of 3 halls divided by courtyards.

Newer designs such as this, however, enclose the entire temple within a single building.

This enclosed design protects the temple and the valuable artifacts inside from the weather.

Modern design notwithstanding, the roof of Sicao Dazhong Temple is still a great example of the southern Chinese building style.

The three-tiered roof is awash in colorful lions, dragons, and phoenixes.

Look closely, and you will discover that many of the dragons and phoenixes have riders: men on the dragons and women on the phoenixes!

The peak of the roof is finished off with a steep “swallowtail” ridge.
In between the swallowtails, you will see the three Star Gods.

You will find these three deities presiding over most local temples.

Together, they confer good fortune, prosperity, and long life on the temple and its worshippers.

To the sides of the main roof are two pagoda-like towers.

These are the bell and drum towers.

Temple drums and bells are rung as a mark of respect whenever a god effigy enters or leaves the temple, and they certainly command the attention of anyone who is nearby!

Now, let’s head toward the temple’s front entrance, where we will view the dragon columns and wall carvings.

The temple’s eight dragon columns have been hand-carved in three layers.

It can take temple artisans several years to carve out these intricate columns.

The dragon motif is deliberately chosen to stabilize the temple, both physically and spiritually.

Now, take a look at the carvings on the right- and left-hand walls just outside the main entrance.

You will notice that a dragon is depicted on the right-hand wall.

On the opposite wall is a tiger.

Visitors to the temple entrance on the dragon side and exit from the tiger side, and we will do the same.

In this way, we will be welcomed into the temple by the benevolent spirit of the dragon, and escape danger by walking out of the tiger’s mouth when leaving.

Temple interior

The first thing you will probably notice upon entering the temple is the door gods, who stand out in 3-D relief.

These temple guardians keep watch over the temple and prevent evil from entering.

Note that Sicao Dazhong Temple has complete English language instructions showing visitors how to use the temple’s moon blocks to ask questions of the gods and how to divine their answers.

The answers, known as fortune slips, have also been translated into English.

Once we have introduced the gods of the temple, if you wish to seek their help with your own questions, please feel free to do so.

Chen You

In the large fenced off area in the center of the temple, you will see the main god of Dazhong Temple sitting majestically in his golden shrine, with four faithful retainers standing guard in front.

Known as Chen You in life, he now goes by the title of Dazhong Yeh, the Marshal of the Sea. Let’s head over and view the god on his altar as we hear his story.

Chen You worked as a porter in the port of Tainan at the end of the 1600s, when Taiwan was under Qing Dynasty rule. Chen drove an oxcart to transport goods to and from the ships that came into port. He was known to be immensely strong.

Chen’s life changed the day an imperial official’s boat ran aground near the harbor.

When a group of soldiers were unable to shift the boat, Chen single-handedly pushed it back into the water. Impressed by his great strength, the official immediately offered Chen enlistment into the Qing navy, and he accepted the offer.

Over the years, Chen moved up the ranks, fighting in several naval battles in the Taiwan Strait. In 1721, a major uprising occurred in southern Taiwan.

The emperor sent troops across the strait on ships to put down the rebellion.

But the channels that led into the Bay of Tainan were shallow and full of sand bars.

The fleet needed a navigator to guide them into the bay.

Chen, familiar with the area, went ahead in a small boat and brought the fleet safely in.

The uprising was put down, and for his loyalty and skill, Chen was promoted to the position of local commissioner.

Unfortunately, he was an extremely upright man in a nest of vipers.

Officials in Taiwan at the time were infamous for their corruption, and Chen’s strict rule cut into their profits.

To get rid of him, they began spreading rumors of corruption about Chen, eventually sending a formal deposition to the emperor denouncing him.

Chen You was ordered to the court in Beijing to determine the truth of the matter.

His honor impugned, Chen boarded the ship for China.

Once the ship was out in the bay, he swallowed gold and then leaped into the sea, committing suicide by drowning.

The dead hero’s body washed ashore here at Sicao Temple.

Legend has it that he floated across the bay standing up.

His body only laid down when the emperor, overcome with grief after hearing what had happened and convinced of Chen’s innocence, decreed that he should be deified and honored with the title Dazhong Yeh, or Marshal of the Sea.

Sicao Dazhong Temple was made his official seat of worship.

Over the years, worship of this great general has spread, and his effigies have been enshrined in over three hundred temples in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Dazhong Yeh rules over those who have died in battle or drowned at sea.

As a leader who rose from humble beginnings, he is also seen as a god of hope and inspiration to the common people.

In fact, you will find that Chen You’s role as a common laborer is stressed in the two murals painted on the walls outside the shrine.

One of these murals depicts Chen the dockworker, while the other conveys Chen’s raw strength in the scene with the beached junk.

Other gods

While Dazhong Yeh is the most important deity here, Sicao Dazhong Temple also houses shrines to a number of other gods.

If you head to the back of the temple, you will find Guanyin, the goddess of mercy; Mazu, the goddess of the sea; Zhusheng NiangNiang, the goddess of fertility; Lady Lin Shui, guardian of expectant mothers; Wenshan Dijun, the god of academic testing; and Fudezhengshen, the god of land and wealth.

Local people pray and make offerings to these gods to seek aid for their education, careers, money problems, marriages, childbearing issues, and more.

The gods enshrined here offer comfort and solutions to some of our most fundamental human problems.

Palanquins and Parade gear

When you have viewed the many shrines here, head over to the back left side of the temple, where you will find some beautifully carved wooden palanquins or sedan chairs.

Feel free to examine these and take photos, but please don’t touch. These are the palanquins used to carry the gods of the temple out in religious processions.

In fact, if you look carefully, you will find that some of the shrines here hold more than one effigy of the same god.

These effigies serve different purposes.

Some, usually the smaller effigies, take part in temple processions, riding in the palanquins you see here, and overseeing their domains.

Other effigies always remain in the temple, to protect it with their power and to hear the prayers of worshippers.

When you were in the main hall, you may have noticed a row of red-painted, long-handled wooden weapons.

These are known as saber-staves or pole-axes.

Saber-staves are a traditional Chinese weapon of war.

The ones here are carried out in temple parades in a show of strength.

There are also signs with the names of the various gods in the temple.

Each sign is carried in front of the corresponding god in the procession to announce its arrival to the crowd.

Now that we have had an overview of the temple and the gods worshipped here, let’s turn our attention to the temple’s important historical connections.

We’ll begin by heading out of the temple through the door at the back right corner.

Sicao green tunnel and Fort Zeeburg

Once outside the temple, you will see a small canal that runs by the right side of the temple.

This is the Sicao Green tunnel, part of a wetlands reserve created to protect Tainan’s mangrove forests and its many rare bird and wildlife species.

Here, we’ll cross the footbridge over the canal and check out the large stone marker on the other side. Remember that this was once Baxemboy Island, and a broad bay separated it from mainland Tainan.

Now, most visitors to the city know that during the mid-1600s, the Dutch occupied Tainan.

Most also have heard of the Dutch-built Anping Fort and Fort Provintia, now popular local tourist destinations. What you might not know is that there was actually a third fort, called Fort Zeeburg — and you are standing on it now.

Fort Zeeburg was built to defend the northern channel into the Bay of Tainan.

But in 1656, the fort was destroyed in a typhoon. Five years later, in 1661, the Chinese general Koxinga brought his fleet into the bay through the now unprotected northern channel to begin his invasion of Taiwan.

If you had stood here on that day, you would have seen the entire fleet — hundreds of ships — as they sailed right past you in the bay.

It was also near this spot that the Battle of Baxemboy was fought.

It was the bloodiest battle of Koxinga’s campaign, and it did not go well for the Dutch.

Now, let us head to the back of the temple for the final stop on our tour, where we will learn about the battle and its connection to the temple.

The Battle of Baxemboy

Right behind the temple, you will see what looks like a large circular cistern made of concrete.

This is, in fact, an ossuary, and it is believed to contain the bones of Chinese and Dutch soldiers killed in the Battle of Baxemboy.

During his landing, Koxinga had stationed 2000 soldiers on Baxemboy, very near this point.

The Dutch, trying to regain control of the island, decided to mount an attack on Koxinga’s troops.

Dutch captain Thomas Pedel led 240 expert musket men up from the south end of the island.

Pedel was convinced that his men could easily defeat Koxinga’s soldiers, who fought using traditional saber-staves, similar to the weapons that you just saw inside the temple.

He was wrong.

As the Dutch moved straight up the island toward the Chinese troops, the Chinese general sent a detachment of soldiers down the western side of Baxemboy, where they could remain hidden by the dunes and wild pineapple trees.

The Dutch passed right by these troops without ever seeing them.
When they aimed their muskets forward to fire on the Chinese soldiers to their front, the detachment fell on them from behind.

The result was a slaughter. Of the 240 Dutch soldiers, only 80 survived. Pedel was killed in the fighting.

The Dutch remains

And so we come full circle, to the new Dazhong Temple building that was completed in 1987.

During construction, workers uncovered over 100 sets of skeletal remains, nearly all of them male.

Local lore had long held that there was a burial ground of war dead here, and that some of the dead were Dutch. The bones have been collected and stored in the ossuary.

The identification of the bones is still tentative.

Perhaps someday they will be tested to determine if some are European and if this is indeed a war grave.

Until that day comes, they will be watched over by Dazhong Yeh, Taiwan’s mighty Marshal of the Sea and god of fallen soldiers.

Conclusion

This marks the end of our tour of Sicao Dazhong Temple.

We hope you have enjoyed your time here.

If you have the time, you might want to take a short stroll through the small park behind the temple to enjoy the scenery and read about the many types of mangroves that flourish here.

If you would enjoy a tour of the Sicao wetlands reserve, just head next door, where you can purchase tickets for a peaceful boat ride through the Sicao green tunnel.