Koxinga Shrine Audio Guide

Koxinga Shrine: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Koxinga Shrine

   Welcome to Koxinga Shrine, in the heart of Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan. You're standing at the corner of Kaishan Road and Fucheng Road, where a red-toned shrine honors Zheng Chenggong, known to the wider world as Koxinga. The Chinese name is Yanping Junwang Temple, and it was originally called Kaishan Temple, a name that echoes in the street outside. Look up and you'll spot a statue of Koxinga on the horseback roof, gazing out over the neighborhood as if he were Tainan's own protector god. For many locals, that is exactly what he is. This guide is about the shrine itself: how a small temple from 1662 became a government-built landmark, how each era left its fingerprints on the place, and what to look for in the courtyards and the museum next door. Along the way you'll meet his mother, some surprising doorkeepers, and a building that has been rebuilt more than once.

2. 02

   From a Small Temple to a Landmark

   The story begins in 1662, when a small temple was built to commemorate Koxinga. Over the centuries it carried different names and identities. It was Kaishan Wang Temple, then Kaishan Shinto Shrine during the Japanese colonial period, and finally the Koxinga Shrine you see today. Each ruling power reshaped it. In 1875 the Qing dynasty rebuilt the shrine in the southern Hokkien style. In 1914 the Japanese colonial government added a torii gate and a worship pavilion. Then in 1963 the Kuomintang government tore down the Japanese architectural features and rebuilt the shrine in a Chinese imperial-style design, linking it visually to the mainland. That history makes the shrine a layered record of Taiwan's changing politics. In 2010 it was registered as Tainan City's ninth historical landmark. And of more than a hundred temples to Koxinga across Taiwan, this is the only large-scale one raised by the government.

3. 03

   Reading the Architecture

   Take a moment to study the building itself. It was constructed of reinforced concrete in a northern Chinese architectural style, a modern material wearing a classical costume. The city's cultural affairs bureau describes the shrine as a red building in the Fuzhou manner that still carries a Japanese atmosphere, so a visitor may hear it labeled in several ways. That mix is the point: the layers of different periods are all still visible. Then look for one of the shrine's most charming details. The Dutch, whom Koxinga drove out of Taiwan, are shown wearing Ming officials' robes and standing guard at his door. Foreigners turned into doorkeepers for the man who expelled them makes a wonderfully ironic scene, and it reflects the gratitude people felt toward him. And don't forget the roof. The statue of Koxinga atop the horseback roof is a deliberate landmark, visible at the crossing of Kaishan Road and Fucheng Road.

4. 04

   Couplets, Queen Mother and the Museum

   Inside the grounds, words carry as much weight as stone. Antithetical couplets written by imperial decree in 1873, describing Koxinga's journey to Taiwan and his efforts to develop the island, are preserved in the Koxinga Museum. Another pair, written in 1875, praises the self-sacrifice of Koxinga's mother, who let her remarkable son leave China and come to Taiwan. Those couplets flank the spirit tablet of Tagawa in the Shrine of the Queen. The museum next door has its own journey. It was built in 1932 on the grounds of Fort Zeelandia as the Museum of Taiwan History, was later renamed the Tainan City Museum of History and moved to Fort Provintia, and relocated again to its present address when the shrine was rebuilt in 1963. Koxinga ruled Taiwan only briefly, so the collection reaches wider: Tainan ceramics, wood sculpture, documents, money, bills, weapons, portraits, books of rubbings, and Ming and Qing dynasty court uniforms. You'll also find a Japanese-style palanquin from the Kaishan Shinto Shrine era, a leftover from the shrine's earlier life.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you wander out, keep in mind how many different hands have shaped the place. A small temple of 1662, a Qing rebuilding, Japanese additions, a Chinese-style rebuilding and a modern landmark designation all share the same plot of ground. Here's a curiosity to carry with you. Tainan has a second place connected to Koxinga, called the Koxinga Ancestral Shrine, which is a separate site nearby and not to be confused with this one. It is a family shrine with an old well in front of its gate. Comparing the two could tell you a lot about how this city remembers him, as a family man in one place and a protector figure in the other. Before you leave, glance back at the roof statue from the street corner, then see if you can pick out the traces of different eras in the details around you.