Hsinchu Chenghuang Temple Audio Guide

Hsinchu City God Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Hsinchu Earth God Temple

   Welcome to Hsinchu Earth God Temple, known locally as 新竹都城隍廟, which stands at number 75 Zhongshan Road in the North District of Hsinchu City. If you have ever asked a local where visitors should go to pray in this city, this is the answer you would most likely get. The temple honors the City God, the divine magistrate of a town. This one has an unusually grand title: Capital City God. This is a living temple and a city-designated monument at once. Incense curls through its halls, and the carved beams above are the work of a famous master craftsman. Beside the main temple sits a Buddhist hall called Falian Temple, hidden behind the City God's courtyard, so you are really visiting a small cluster of sanctuaries. Over the next few stops I will take you through the temple's founding in the days of the Qing dynasty, the rise in rank of its god, the 1920s rebuilding that gave it its present look, and the seventh-month festival that sends the City God out into the streets. Stand where you can see the front hall, and let's begin.

2. 02

   Hsinchu Earth God Temple and the Birth of a Walled Town

   The story of Hsinchu Earth God Temple begins with the story of the town itself. In 1733 the local Qing official Xu Zhimin had bamboo thorn planted around the settlement of Zhuqian, the old name for Hsinchu, and built four wooden gate towers. Chinese settlers had been opening up the land since 1711, led by Wang Shijie, who is remembered as the first man to develop the area, and who built the Long'en irrigation channel. Then in 1747 the Tamsui sub-prefect Zeng Riying decided to move the seat of his district government from Shalu, in today's Taichung, to Zhuqian. Along with that decision he proposed building a City God temple. Construction began that year and was completed the next, which is why you will see both 1747 and 1748 mentioned in connection with the founding. Wang Shijie is credited with donating the land, and the temple stood on West Gate Street beside the government office. A City God temple was a standard part of any Qing administrative town, because the City God was thought of as the spirit-world counterpart of the local magistrate. The temple was enlarged more than once: it became a two-hall temple in 1792, and a rear hall dedicated to Guanyin was added in 1799. Few buildings in Hsinchu can claim to be this old, and its story and the city's are very hard to pull apart.

3. 03

   How the City God Earned the Title Capital City God

   Here is the part of the story that makes this temple stand out. At first, Hsinchu's City God held the standard rank for a sub-prefecture town, with the title Xianyou Bo. In 1875 Taipei Prefecture was created, but its government still sat in the old Hsinchu government office. The City God was therefore raised to prefectural City God, with the title Suijing Hou. A further promotion came in the late Guangxu years. A large ritual of national protection and blessing was held in Hsinchu, and the City God went on to be granted the rank of provincial-level Capital City God, with the title Weiling Gong. Hsinchu's city government describes the temple as the only provincial-level capital City God temple in Taiwan, and it is said to be the highest-ranking City God in the island. A saying that has long been popular puts the temple beside another great pilgrimage site: Hsinchu's City God, Beigang's Mazu. Look for the plaque reading Jinmen Baozhang, a gift of the Guangxu Emperor, which is counted among the temple's most important treasures. People also come to this god to swear oaths and seek justice when they feel wronged. Local news has reported cases of financial disputes and property quarrels brought before him. The belief goes that good deeds are reported to heaven, and evil deeds to the underworld.

4. 04

   Hsinchu Earth God Temple: Carved Stone, Wood and Incense

   The temple you see today took shape in 1924. The building was falling into disrepair, and the wealthy Zheng family of North Gate, led by Zheng Zhaoji, paid for the rebuilding. Their fundraising reached more than 100,000 Japanese yen, and the work took about three years. The master carpenter was Wang Yishun, born in 1861 and died in 1931, from Huian near Quanzhou. His rebuilding of this temple followed his work on Bangka Longshan Temple in Taipei, and it is counted among the high points of Taiwanese temple art from the 1920s. The layout is three halls in a row, three bays wide, with two courtyards and side corridors, and the Guanyin hall attached on the left. The front hall has a gateway-style double-eaved roof. Look up to find the octagonal caisson ceiling, so densely carved that even though incense smoke has blackened it, the craftsmanship still shines through. The woodwork and the stone carving use round carving, openwork, relief and line carving together. The pair of stone lions at the front hall are famous. They were carved from bluestone from Huian, by sculptors brought in from Fuzhou, and generations of hands have worn them to a glossy sheen. They were even the first stone lions ever to appear on a Taiwanese postage stamp. The temple was designated a city monument of Hsinchu in 1985.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Hsinchu Earth God Temple

   If you are visiting to pray, local custom follows a route through four halls and five incense burners. You start at the Heaven God burner in front of the main hall, then the City God's burner inside it. Then you move left to the Guanyin burner at Falian Temple, to the Maitreya burner behind it, and finally to the City God's wife in the rear hall. There you will also find the matchmaker god, the Old Man under the Moon, and the goddess who watches over childbirth. If your visit falls in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the temple comes into its own. The Zhuqian Zhongyuan City God Festival grew out of the traditional ghost-month offerings. On the fifteenth day the City God tours the old town to give relief to wandering spirits, and he stops at the Zheng ancestral hall on North Gate Street, where he is offered tea and water to wash his face. This honors Zheng Yongxi, Hsinchu's first jinshi degree holder, who helped with the temple's 1828 renovation. Legend says that water the god has washed in brings safety to those who take it, which is why worshippers scramble for it. Before you leave, step out front and notice the lively food stalls at the temple's entrance. Then take a short walk toward North Gate Street, where two more of Hsinchu's great temples, Shuixian Temple and Changhe Temple, stand side by side.