【Tainan, Taiwan】Sikunshen Longshan Temple 四鯤鯓龍山寺

Please refer to the audio introduction with this link.

Welcome to this audio tour of Sikunshen Longshan 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 god effigies.

Introduction

Sikunshen Longshan Temple was the first temple in Taiwan dedicated to the worship of Master Qingshui 清水祖師, a Buddhist monk who lived in China during the Tang Dynasty, around 1000 years ago.

On our tour of the temple, we will introduce you to the history of the temple and to the gods that are enshrined here.

We will also talk about the temple decoration and the use of fortune sticks, moon blocks, and spirit mediums to communicate with the gods.

Finally, we will discuss the role of the temple in the surrounding community.

Early temple history and connection to Zheng Cheng gong Sikunshen Longshan Temple is located in the village of Sikunshen 四鯤鯓. Today, the village is a quiet seaside community and part of Tainan City.

But in the 1600s, when the temple and community were first established, the land here was part of a long, narrow island that was separated from Tainan by a bay so wide that locals called it the Inland Sea.

At that time, the Dutch occupied Tainan and used the sheltered bay as a base for trade with China and Japan.

Then, in 1661, the Chinese warlord Zheng Chenggong, or Koxinga, invaded and laid siege to the Dutch fort nearby.

For nearly a year, he had his headquarters here at Sikunshen 四鯤鯓. It was also here that the Dutch leaders signed the surrender documents ceding the island to Chinese control.

After Koxinga’s victory, some of the men under his command were rewarded with land in Sikunshen 四鯤鯓 and settled the area with their families.

It was these settlers who first constructed the temple, in 1665.

The temple was built to enshrine an effigy of the god known as Master Qingshui 清水祖師, which they had brought over with them from China.

It was the first such temple ever built in Taiwan and is the ancestral temple of all other Qingshui temples on the island.

We will introduce you to Master Qingshui 清水祖師 and the other gods enshrined here in a moment, but first, let’s have a look at the temple itself.

Temple construction, decoration, and artifacts

We’ll begin by walking down into the square in front of the temple to get a broader view.

Sikunshen Longshan Temple has been renovated several times over the years. In 1987, the temple was almost entirely rebuilt, although the god effigies and the temple’s ancient artifacts were carefully preserved.

Traditionally, temples in Taiwan are constructed as three separate halls divided by courtyards. However, here, the sanchuan 三川門 or entry hall, the prayer area, and the main shrine have all been combined into a single large, enclosed space.

This type of design is frequently seen in modern temples and protects the temple and its treasures from the effects of weather.

The two pagoda-like towers on either side are the temple’s drum and bell towers.

When worshippers at other Qingshui temples bring their god effigies here to visit and pay their respects, the drum and bell are sounded to announce their arrival and the central door is opened to allow them to enter

The ornate temple rooftop is covered in auspicious dragons, phoenixes, and Chi-lins 麒麟.

On the peak of the roof over the entry hall, two dragons rear up on either side of the three Star Gods, Fuxing, Luxing, and Shouxing, who together confer good fortune, prosperity, and long life on the temple and its worshippers.

There is a second, higher roof behind this over the temple’s main shrine.

That roof ridge is topped by a pagoda. Nothing unusual about that… but on top of the pagoda stands an archer with his bow drawn and arrow aimed at the nearby village of Yancheng!

There has been an archer on this rooftop for generations now.

Yancheng also has one, ready to fire at Sikunshen 四鯤鯓. These days, the archers are a beloved tradition, but in the past, the two villages were in a state of constant conflict that lasted for some 200 years.

The archer on the temple was a show of strength and a prayer to the gods to defend and protect the village.

Now, let’s approach the temple doors.

If you look carefully, you will find a carving of a dragon on the wall next to the right-hand door, while the wall next to the left-hand door is carved into the image of a tiger.

These, and the other carvings here, function almost like signboards.

In days past, when most people were illiterate, they gave directions and depicted famous stories and sayings.

The dragon and tiger are like entrance and exit signs, signifying the dragon and tiger gates — the entrance and exit doors of the temple.

Now, take a look at the door gods painted on the doors themselves.

As is to be expected in a Buddhist temple of this sort, the center door is watched over by the two Buddhist generals Heng and Ha.

The side entrances, however, are something else altogether.

They are guarded by demons.

The green faces, fangs, and claws make this quite clear.

Sikunshen Longshan Temple is the only temple in all of Taiwan with demons as door gods.

These are the demons who once challenged the temple’s chief god, Master Qingshui 清水祖師, to a fight for supremacy.

After a week-long battle in a cave full of fire and smoke, the Buddhist master endured and finally subdued the demons, who have since been his most faithful guardians.

The door god paintings are priceless treasures, both for their subject matter and because they were painted by Pan Yue-hsiung 潘岳雄, one of the most famous temple artisans of modern times.

An even greater treasure than these is the original temple doors, now housed in a gallery on the second floor.

Painted by Pan’s even more famous father, Pan Li-shui 潘麗水, they, too, depict the demons, and the younger Pan’s work is in many ways a tribute to his father.

We will view the original doors later on our tour. It is a rare opportunity to compare the styles of these two remarkable artists.

Now, let us enter the temple, through the dragon door, of course.

The section of the hall between the four interior columns is the prayer area.

Notice that overhead is an ornate ceiling well in an eight-trigram design with a tai chi symbol in the center.

Made of precisely carved and fitted wood pieces, it is placed under the highest rooftop. Similar to a dome in a church, the ceiling well extends upward toward the heavens, and the incense that rises up into it carries the entreaties of worshippers into the celestial realm.

The traditional three Buddhist altar tables separate worshippers from the shrine, where the god effigies sit in royal splendor.

There are three gods in the main shrine.

All three were actual Buddhist monks who lived in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, over a thousand years ago, and all were deified after their deaths.

Let us now introduce these three gods, starting with the chief god, Master Qingshui 清水祖師, who is enthroned in the center.

Qingshui zhushi 清水祖師, Xianying zhushih 顯應祖師, and Sanping Zhushih 三坪祖師

Qingshui zhushi 清水祖師 was a monk who was born in the town of Anxi in Fujian province in the year 1047, during the Song Dynasty.

He was a highly knowledgeable medical practitioner who traveled to the most remote villages to treat the sick for free at a time when the disease was rampant.

He also had a knack for successfully praying for rain, and is credited with saving Anxi during a drought.

The great Buddhist master was viewed as a protector and had an almost god-like status even when he was alive.

When he died in 1101, he was buried at the Qingshui Cliffs, near his hometown.

People there began praying to him, and soon built a temple dedicated to this god who could control the rain.

Master Qingshui 清水祖師 is always depicted with a blackened face to represent his fiery, smoke-filled battle with the four demons who now guard the temple entrance.

Master Xianying 顯應祖師, to the right, is also a deified monk. In the year 1124, this Buddhist Master journeyed to Anxi, where he built a hut in the hills and lived as a hermit.

He became a seer with the power to predict future events, and like Master Qingshui 清水祖師, he was very successful in praying for rain.

On the left is Master Sanping 三坪祖師. Born in 781, during the Tang Dynasty, he was a child prodigy gifted with a photographic memory.

At the age of 14, he became a monk and spent many years wandering and learning from the great religious teachers of his time.

Master Shih-ping eventually settled down to teach in Fujian. In the 840s, the emperor Tang Wu-zhong 唐武宗 abolished Buddhism and closed the monasteries.

During this period of religious persecution, Master Sanping 三坪祖師 led the local monks and nuns to a remote area in the mountains called Pinghe 平和, where he taught them farming and irrigation techniques, and kept the religious community safe.

He, too, was deified after his death.

Other gods

To the right of the main shrine is a secondary shrine which houses two gods.

Zhusheng Niangniang 註生娘娘, the goddess of childbirth, is wearing a diadem with five strings of pearls.

Mazu, the goddess of the sea, has seven strings of pearls on her crown.

This reflects her higher rank.

Mazu is accompanied by her two demon guardians, Thousand-mile Eyes 千里眼 and Wind Ears 順風耳, who help her see and hear all that is happening in her realm.

The secondary altar on the left plays host to Fude Zhengsheng 福德正神, the god of land and wealth. He is one of the most common gods in Taiwan and can be found in nearly every temple and in many households.

In front of the main shrine are the traditional three Buddhist altar tables.

If you look on the lowest of the three, you will see General Tiger 虎爺.

General Tiger always sits on a lower altar, because he is in animal form.

He is a god both of children and of businessmen, who pray to him for wealth and good fortune.

On the central altar is an effigy of Marshal of the Central Altar 中壇元帥, also known as Nezha 哪吒.

This child-turned-god is the wild Hercules of China, the superhuman Third Prince 三太子 who commands the celestial army in fighting the forces of evil.

Nezha 哪吒 is the protector of truckers and cab drivers and patron deity of gamblers. If you want to win the lottery, this is the guy to pray to.

Along the walls on either side of the hall, you will find the 18 Arhats 十八羅漢, the original disciples of Gautama Buddha 釋迦牟尼佛, who have already achieved Nirvana 涅槃.

Each has his own interesting life story and is imbued with different powers. Together, they are charged with protecting the Buddhist faith.

Now that we have been introduced to the gods of Sikunshen Longshan Temple, let’s take a few moments to see some of the temple artifacts that are housed in the areas to either side of the Main Hall 正殿.

temple artifacts

First, go through the archway to your left.

Here, you will see three beautifully carved palanquins that are used to carry the gods in temple processions.

All three palanquins date from 1872. There is also a very special bamboo sedan chair that we will introduce to you later in our tour.

If you climb the stairs on this site, you can view the original temple doors painted by Pan Li-shui 潘麗水, and also look into the drum room at the enormous drum.

On the opposite side of the temple, you will see the old temple bell on the first floor and the new bell upstairs.

When you are done looking around, head back to the main shrine, where we will continue our tour.

Seeking advice from the gods

At Sikunshen Longshan Temple, there are several different ways in which temple-goers may seek advice from the gods.

Fortune Sticks 靈籤

The most commonly used is the temple’s fortune sticks.

These are the long, thin wooden sticks in wood containers by the main shrine.

There are four sets of fortune sticks in the temple.

The top ends of the fortune sticks in the first container are painted red.

This set is for questions of a general nature and is used by worshippers at the temple today.

The other sets were traditionally used to find cures for different types of illness.

The container on the back left was for children.

The one on the back right was for problems with the eyes and vision.

For other illnesses, worshippers selected a stick from the front right-hand set.

You may remember that in life, Master Qingshui 清水祖師 was known for curing disease.

For much of its history, this village had no doctor or clinic of any sort, and the island was too isolated from the rest of Tainan for people to travel for medical help.

The only clinic in town was the temple, and Master Qingshui 清水祖師 was the prescribing physician.

To get a prescription for an illness, worshippers would shake the numbered fortune sticks in the appropriate container and choose one at random.

They would then lay the stick on the altar table and use the moon blocks to ask the god if they had selected the correct stick.

If the answer was ‘yes’, the fortune stick would be taken to the board at the right side of the temple under the bell, where they would choose the slip of paper with the same number as the stick.

This paper held the prescription, which was then taken and filled at the pharmacy next door.

Since the passage of the pharmacy act in the 1970s, temples have no longer offered prescription services, but you can still use the moon blocks and fortune sticks to seek the gods’ advice about other matters.

If you only need a yes or no answer, using the moon blocks alone will suffice.

Moon blocks 筊杯

To use the moon blocks, pick up a pair from the altar and pass it over the incense.

Then, holding the moon blocks together between your hands, make a quick bow to the gods and identify yourself by stating your name and date of birth.

Ask your question and drop the moon blocks. If they both fall flat-side down, the answer is a definite ‘no’.

If they both land on the rounded side, the answer is uncertain, and you should ask once more.

If they land with one flat-side up and one down, the answer to your question is yes.

Moon blocks and fortune sticks can be found at all temples.

However, there is one method of divination practiced here at Longshan temple that is very special.

On Mondays and Fridays or by appointment during the week, worshippers can come to the temple for a personal session with the god with the help of a spirit medium.

Spirit Medium Sessions 乩童

In these sessions, the god effigy is placed on a special sedan chair which is carried by four members of the temple. The leader of these four is the spirit medium.

The worshipper asks the god for advice.

The sedan chair shakes and moves back and forth; meanwhile, the medium is holding a long piece of bamboo attached to the sedan chair, whose end has been blackened.

Like the planchette on a Ouija board, the bamboo writes the message from the spirit on the surface of a nearby table. A temple interpreter reads the message.

Temple and community

From medical prescriptions and village defense to advice on everything from personal problems to auspicious wedding dates, Sikunshen Longshan Temple has long played a central role in this once isolated and impoverished fishing community.

And even though Sikunshen 四鯤鯓 has since been absorbed into Tainan and the area has grown and prospered, the temple is still a major part of community life.

Every year, Longshan Temple foots the bill for the tuition and lunch fees of all local school students.

It also sponsors a Longevity Club to encourage healthy aging for the community’s senior citizens.

The gods’ birthdays and New Year celebrations bring residents together and keep them involved in local affairs.

And it is temple historians who research and maintain records of local history.

Longshan temple is an example of the importance and intimate involvement of temples in the life of small communities in Taiwan.

They are the glue that holds the community together, both spiritually and socially.

Small wonder, then, that even in modern times, Taiwan’s temples and religious life are thriving.

Conclusion and nearby places

And here, we will end our tour. We hope you have enjoyed your time at Sikunshen Longshan Temple.

If you have the time, we recommend enjoying a walk around this seaside community.

Just follow the map boards placed at several locations in the area to visit the local fishing harbor and the town’s two old freshwater wells, known as the dragon’s eyes 龍眼.

You can also take a stroll down to the beach for a beautiful view over the Taiwan Strait.

We also invite you to return during the Chinese New Year holiday, when the Master Qingshui 清水祖師 birthday festivities include its time-honored fire-walking ceremony.

Guests may view but are not necessarily allowed to participate in the firewalking. Call ahead for dates and times.