Zuoying Ciji Temple Audio Guide

Zuoying Ciji Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Zuoying Ciji Temple

   Welcome to Zuoying Ciji Temple, a temple beside Lotus Pond in Zuoying District, in the city of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. Its Chinese name is Ciji Gong, and it is also known as the Baosheng Dadi Temple. A word of honesty before we begin. The temple's own detailed history, such as founding dates, builders and renovations, is not part of what I can tell you here. So this guide stays with what is solid: the temple's names, its lakeside setting, the statue that makes it easy to spot, and the story of the land around it. When I talk about the wider area, I will say so. Let your eyes follow the water first. Lotus Pond is where this temple belongs, and it is the key to everything that follows.

2. 02

   One Temple, Several Names

   Temples in Taiwan often carry more than one name, and this one is a good example. Ciji Gong is the name on the signboard, and the same temple is also called Baosheng Dadi Temple. Baosheng Dadi, whose name can be rendered as the Great Emperor who Protects Life, is a deity widely honored in Taiwanese temples. Visitors also describe the temple in a second way. One account calls it a Taoist temple at the northern end of Lotus Pond, dedicated to Xuan Wu, the God Almighty of the Mysterious Heavens. So two accounts exist, one centered on Baosheng Dadi and the other on Xuan Wu. When you stand here, look at the names and figures in front of you and see which story the temple itself tells. The layering of names is typical of how Taiwanese temples grow. A place can be known by its official title, by the deity people pray to, and by the landmark visitors remember.

3. 03

   The Towering Deity by the Water

   The temple is best recognized from a distance by a towering statue of Xuan Wu, the deity of the Mysterious Heavens. The figure is shown with one foot planted on a serpent and the other on a tortoise. The pose reads as a story. The serpent and the tortoise are symbols of chaos, and the deity stands over them, subduing them by divine power. It is a dramatic image, made to be seen across open water, and the lake gives it room. Reflections, sky and a big standing figure make for one of the most photographed scenes in this part of Kaohsiung. Try this as you look: let your eye travel from the statue's feet, up through the figure, to the sky behind it. The sculptor chose the pose so the whole story can be read from afar, without a single word.

4. 04

   Lotus Pond and the Story of the Land

   The temple's setting has a longer story than the temple itself. Kaohsiung did not begin as Taiwan's southern powerhouse. Its first name, Takau, came from the Makatau people, who lived by fishing, hunting and small-scale farming in a land once described simply as a bamboo forest. Chinese settlers under the Ming and Qing dynasties kept the name and bent the pronunciation to their own tongues. That is the story of the wider region, not of this temple in particular. Lotus Pond has its own legend. Tradition says that on a quiet day the Goddess of Mercy appeared in the clouds above the water, riding a dragon. The vision so impressed local people that they built temples and shrines to honor her presence. Take it as a legend, a story told about the place rather than a documented event. There is real history close by as well. The Kaohsiung Confucius Temple near Lotus Pond traces its first incarnation to 1683, when a Confucius temple stood outside the North Gate of the old walled city of Fongshan, in what is now Zuoying District. Today Confucian ritual music is performed there from time to time. Together, these places show how long this corner of Kaohsiung has been a place of belief and learning.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Before you move on, take a slow look around the water's edge. Notice how the temple, the statue and the lake work as a single composition, and how the scene changes with the light on the water. Then carry the questions with you. Which deity's name do you find at the temple itself? What does the statue's pose tell you about how people here imagine order overcoming chaos? And with the Confucius Temple nearby, how many layers of Zuoying's story can you find within a short walk of the shore? The lake keeps offering new angles, so there is plenty more to discover.