Prefectual City God Temple

The Prefectual City God Temple was built in 1669. It is believed to be the oldest city god temple in Taiwan. In Chinese folk religion, the city god acts as a prosecutor in the district court of the underworld. In the world of the living, he keeps people in line through the threat of punishment in the afterlife. Therefore, whenever a new official takes up his office, he must worship the city god first. The belief that the city god is the last line of justice in the world remains unchanged even now.

The temple is solemn and splendid. Its scale is quite big amongst all traditional temples in Taiwan. The gloomy atmosphere of the temple is impressive. Unlike ordinary temples which are spacious and well lit, this temple is long and narrow, spreading a strong sense of gloominess even on sunny days.

Inside the temple, on top of the girders, there is a wooden carving with patterns of the Eight Immortals riding on animals. The patterns are vivid and spiritual, revealing the excellent creativity of the sculptor. Meanwhile, patterns found on the temple's doors are based on two folk tales -- Flood of Jinshan Temple, and Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. These patterns are carefully crafted and have fully captured the expressions of the personages and the connotations of the tales.

Instruments of torture are hung on the columns near the worshipping kiosk inside the temple's gate. They are used by the city god's officials to arrest and interrogate criminals. These instruments include hand and leg cuffs, locks, chains, staggers, wipes and other things. They are frightening and help to warn the public not to commit crime. Also hung on the girders and around the worshipping kiosk are big abacuses. It is said that the sound of abacus was heard in midnight when the city god is calculating the good and the bad of people, while the prosecutor beside him was taking notes.

Finally, the tablet with the characters "There You Come" is hung at the center of the temple's gate. It is black in the background and the characters are in golden color. The shining of the golden characters brings a sharp contrast to the dim atmosphere of the temple's hall. As the meaning, in elegantly written characters on the tablet, is concise and comprehensive, the tablet has become one of the three best known tablets in Tainan City.