Lukang Xingan Temple Audio Guide

Lukang Xingan Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Lukang Xingan Temple

   Welcome to Lukang, the old port town in Changhua County on Taiwan's western coast, and to one of its quietest treasures: Xingan Temple. Lukang is famous for its temples, and this is a compact one. So this guide stays close to what is firmly known about it and about the town around it. Xingan Temple is dedicated to Tianshang Shengmu, the Heavenly Mother, whom most people know as Mazu, the goddess who watches over travelers and sailors. It is the first Mazu temple ever built in Lukang, and it is recognized as a national historic site. Yet it is far less crowded than the town's better-known Mazu temple, so you can often take in the atmosphere at an easier pace. Over the next few minutes we will look at who built it and why, at the clever way it squeezes into the town, and at what it tells us about the many peoples who made Lukang what it is. Settle in, because this small temple has a big story.

2. 02

   A Goddess Carried from Xinghua

   Start with the founding date. Xingan Temple was built in the twenty-third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign in the Qing era, which corresponds to 1684. That makes it the first Mazu temple in Lukang, and it still stands among the town's oldest places of worship. The heart of the story is a journey. The statue of Mazu enshrined here was brought across the sea to Lukang from Xinghua, in Fujian province on the Chinese mainland. That is why the goddess here is often called Xinghua Mazu, and why the temple itself was also known as the Xinghua Mazu Temple. Even the name carries the memory of home. Xingan is understood to mean safety in Xinghua, or peace to Xinghua. Imagine settlers leaving a familiar coast, crossing open water, and carrying their protector with them. A temple named for the peace of their homeland was a way of keeping that homeland close, and of giving thanks for a safe arrival.

3. 03

   A Temple Squeezed into the Town

   Now look at how the temple sits in the street. Most grand temples spread out in wide courtyards, but Xingan Temple could not. Lukang grew quickly, and land was divided into narrow strips. The temple ended up sandwiched between neighboring buildings, which makes it what scholars call a townhouse temple. Within that tight footprint, the layout is neat and logical. A courtyard lies in front. Behind it stand two main structures, together with a baiting, a worship pavilion where devotees gather to offer prayers. The facade is one room wide, and the entrance is a three-door building in the Sanchuan style. There is another detail to enjoy. Like most early Mazu temples, Xingan Temple was built without interior posts and room divisions, which gives it a simple but elegant appearance. As you stand there, notice how a modest frontage opens into a calm, uncluttered space. It shows that a temple's importance has little to do with its size.

4. 04

   A Town of Many Homelands

   To understand why Xingan Temple matters, widen the view to Lukang itself. The area was first home to the Pingpu people of the Babuza tribe. Later, settlers arrived from Fujian's Xinghua, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, as well as Hakka settlers from Canton. Lukang grew into one of Taiwan's biggest commercial and cultural cities of its time. Each group built its own temple, and that is the key to reading the town. Xinghua settlers built Xingan Temple, and it also served as their gathering place. Settlers from Zhangzhou built Nanching Temple, and Hakka settlers from Canton built San Shek Wan Temple. So the temples work like a map of who came from where. While you are in town, keep an eye out for another local peculiarity. Lukang is known for courtyard walls made from empty Shaoshing wine jars, which are both decorative and practical. Between the temples and the jar walls, the town rewards anyone who strolls slowly and looks closely.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Xingan Temple rewards a slow visit. It is not the biggest or the most famous temple in Lukang, but it is the first Mazu temple in town, and it began as a place where homesick settlers gathered under the protection of a goddess they carried across the sea. As you take your leave, try a small observation exercise. Notice how the temple fits between its neighbors, and think about how its narrow frontage hides a courtyard, a worship pavilion and two main structures. Then consider how many other temples in Lukang were built by settlers from other homelands. Each temple you meet is another chapter in how people from different places turned a port into a home.