Violent conflicts often broke out between immigrants from Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou during Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing era. To protect their homeland, 72 settlements from 8 village clusters in Shetou formed a lianzhuang (community watch) organization and went to Lukang's Tianhou Temple to ask for a Matzu statue that would look after their land. Fangqiaotou's Tianmen Temple is a Matzu temple shared by the lianzhuang organization. Unlike other notable Matzu temples in Taiwan, it enshrines not one Matzu statue, but 8 separate statues, each carved by one member village. The 72-member lianzhuang organization transcended ethnicity and territory. It bound people of all backgrounds together by their shared faith in Matsu, with members of each village cluster worshiping Matsu under different names but all in the same Matsu temple. Tianmen Temple served as a religious hub for the lianzhuang organization, bringing residents from scattered locations together through religion.
Looking from the main hall to Sanchuan Hall, the pillars on the left and right water passages are all millstone pillars, and the pillars are all cylindrical.
The "Haiguo Anlan" plaque during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1796-1820 AD) is the most important plaque in Tianmen Palace
The melon tube design of the main hall is full, and the load-bearing structure adopts three links and five melons.
Tianmen Temple in Fangqiaotou is dedicated to not only one Mazu, but the Mazu of the 72 settlements of 8 Zhuangtou.
The dragon pillar and side door of the main hall. On the floor between the dragon column and the back column, there is marble for floor decoration
Yuanguang (bend bow) design of Sanchuan Hall, carved with lion and phoenix
A lot of cut sticks are used on the wall to show the artistic decoration. The picture shows the story of "Zhao Zilong's Savior, Riding Alone."
At that time, Wu Ping, a talented scholar at the show who was born and died (years of birth and death unknown) generously donated to sponsor the reconstruction of the Tianmen Palace. In order to express its virtue, the rebuilding of Tianmen Palace in the 50th year of the Republic of China (1961) is also commemorated by a stele in the temple
The stone inscription "Wu Song Fighting the Tiger" on the left side skirt of Sanchuan Hall is dedicated to the people of the Xiao family, who is the surname of Shetou.