Taiwan Religious Culture Map

The Luermen Mazu Temple complex and its temple halls occupies forty hectares of land. The south-facing temple has a large front gate and three halls along a north–south axis, as well as wings and cloisters on either  side that connect the various structures together. The temple is topped with eaves richly decorated using beautifully colored glaze. The temple complex include several structures such as the Wang Ye Hall, the main hall dedicated to Mazu), and the rear hall, which enshrines the Buddha and various bodhisttvas on its first and second floor and the Jade Emperor on its third floor. All the halls feature a high ceiling supported by eight large red pillars, thus creating a unique and modern temple style. With buildings that imitate the design of Beijing’s Forbidden City the temple is also surrounded by a moat. With a towering appearance rivaling that of ancient palaces, the temple is the largest of the many Mazu temples around the world.

The first and second Mazu statues in the Luermen Mazu Temple are ‘flexible’ statues (i.e., the bodies of the statues are supported by a wooden structure) of about life-size. The statues were made without the use of nails, exemplifying the extraordinary  mortise and tenon joinery of Imperial China. The first Mazu statue has a part of her hair made into a bun with two tails running along the sides, while the other part formed a ponytail that droops down the middle of her back. Solemn, dignified, and true-to-life, the statue seems to smile back at her visitors. According to the appraisals of art historians, the statue was built during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644).

Yue Lao, whose full name literally means “old man under the moon,” is the god of marriage and love in the Chinese pantheon. Legend has it that he uses an invisible red silk thread to unite all predestined couples, and that after being united in this way, nothing can prevent their union. The Yue Lao at the Luermen Mazu Temple is said to be particularly repsonsive to the prayers of the faithful; more than twenty thousand couples have come here to pray for marriage have gone on to successfully tie the knot. On the couple register boards in the corridors and stairwells in the back hall, countless marriage cards that signify Yue Lao’s successful work can be found.

The Tucheng Pilgrimage organized by Luermen Mazu Temple involves a large crowd of worshippers offering incense and prayers was designated an intangible cultural asset by the Tainan City Government in 2013. The pilgrimage is made by various performance troupes, among which the centipede troupe of Qingcao village best represents the union of the temple and the locals. It is believed that the centipede troupe has the divine power to ward off evil, dispel disasters, protect the well-being of the local vicinity, give hope tothose in need and resolve calamity. Therefore, the head and tail parts of the centipede costume are kept inside the shrine of the Buddha Hall in the Luermen Mazu Temple. The full centipede costume is reattached three days prior to the tour of the pilgrimage. A centipede toupe requires thirty-six members, most of whom are children whose costumes are made by their family and friends. Competition between the children has resulted in increasingly gorgeous costumes being made. This in all makes it one of the most distinctive features of the centipede troupe.

In 1831, Luermen Mazu Temple was hit by a flood from the nearby Zengwun River. Soaked and corroded by the flood, the the temple began to subside and the walls started to crack. To protect the temple, the Sanjiao Public Bureau and followers from the Luerman Village built the Ji Leopard ritual stele in the temple square, as the Ji Leopard was believed to be a constellation with the power to control water. In addition, ceremonies were held to pray for the suppression of the flood. The Ji Leopard originates from the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Chinese constellations depicted in Daoism. The Ji Mansion is related to water and is symbolized by a leopard; it is therefore referred to as the Ji Leopard. The ritual stele is evidence of Daoism’s flood-suppressing ceremony and records a history of the floods that have hit the temple. Despite all this, the temple later experienced further damage and collapsed, burying the stele underground. In 1999, excavation attempts were made to recover the old Luermen Mazu Temple, during which the stele resurfaced. The location where the stele was discovered was also where the two major Mazu temples in Luermen, the Orthodox Luermen Mazu Temple and the Luermen Tienhogong, were established.