Taiwan Religious Culture Map

Located within Yongle Market and Shuixian Temple Market, Shuixian Temple is surrounded by vendor stalls. Its location was once Nanshi Harbor, the hub of the old Five Canals area. Enshrined here are the five water deities known as Shuixian Junwang, who were widely worshiped by shipping merchants in the Qing era. Back in the 6th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing era (1741 CE), the sanjiao (organization made up by the three major guilds of Qing-era Tainan) established an office called Sanyi Hall within the temple to handle guild affairs. The once expansive Shuixian Temple had a front gate, baiting (worship pavilion), main hall, and rear hall, and was known as one of the must-visit ""seven Buddhist temples and eight Taoist shrines"" in Tainan. However, the temple underwent several renovations in the Qing era and the 6th year of the Taishō era (Japanese colonial period; 1917 CE). In the 16th year of the Shōwa era (Japanese colonial period; 1941 CE), the rear hall and central hall were removed. The remaining front gate was renovated once more in 1954 CE, forming the temple we see today. Shuixian Temple has a layout consisting in two central structures, with no hallway or courtyard between the front gate and main hall. The interior is an uninterrupted space with a single shrine for worship of one emperor, two kings, and two lords that form the Shuixian Junwang.