Taiwan Religious Culture Map

The design of Guanyin Temple today is the work of two famous carpteners from Houkutan near the city of Magong in Penghu—Master Hsieh Jiang  and his son Hsieh Zi-nan (1908 – 1990). The temple, built in 1927, is the biggest temple in Magong. The temple layout has five sections across its façade and two rows of buildings. The entire construction also includes a main gate, two wings running the entire length of the complex, courtyards, and a worship pavilion. The design of the temple roof includes a gable roof with an extended roof ridge on the side structures. The unique roof design enhances the great feeling of depth given by the temple gables. The side wings and hallways surrounding the temple are made up of a unique combination of open walkways, side rooms, colonnades, and courtyards. There are also bell and drum towers on either side of the temple topped with a hexagonal, double-layered tented roof. This overall architectural design is rarely seen in Taiwanese temples, which are usually designed to save space. The temple’s foundations are made of cobblestones and bricks mixed with rammed earth (a combination of red mud, coarse sand, and ash) to increase durability. In terms of the roof structure, Master Hsieh Jiang and his son Zi-nan employed a combination of post and lintel, along with column and tie construction. They used large wooden poles to support the ceiling directly, through which horizontal beams are placed. The beams in turn support the poles used to hold up the rafters and wooden brackets. Traditional Taiwanese architecture often uses layers of wooden brackets to support the weight of roof rafters. Finally, the straining boards are supported by struts.

In front of Guanyin Temple is a pair of pale green lions. Although stone-like in appearance, the sculptures are actually made of a combination of rice paste, ash, and brown sugar. Despite hundreds of years of weathering, the sculpturesremain in good condition. The stone lions used to guard the Penghu Prefecture Hall until 1923, during which year they were removed by the Japanese government and placed in front of Guanyin Temple. No comparable sculptures exist in Penghu or mainland Taiwan.

The original layout of Guanyin Temple is long lost due to war damage. The oldest relics in the temple are the three plaques hanging in the main hall. The oldest plaque, which reads “Protected by Mazu Across the Sea,” has been in the temple since before the Sino-French War in 1884. The plaque was made in 1841 by Zhan Gong-xian (1765 – 1854), a senior officer in the navy based around Penghu. The plaque that reads “Great Mercy” was donated by Cheng Bang-ji, a local official in 1886. The third plaque, which reads “Rest in Mercy of the Goddess” was given by Liu Zhi in 1890 (an officer-in-waiting in the Imperial Qing Army).

An important part of the temple is the bell tower beside the temple square. The bell inside the tower is a remnant of the old Guanyin Temple and had been removed from the temple in 1887 during reconstruction. With the help of the ROC Navy’s second shipyard in Penghu, the bell was repaired and installed in the bell tower in 1980. The pavilion was renovated in 2003.

The Siying Rainbow Bridge in front of Guanyin Temple was completed in 2004. Spanning over two hundred meters long, this is the first steel arch bridge  in Taiwan reserved just for pedestrian use. The bridge is decorated with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple neon lights. This is also where the Penghu Fireworks Festival is held every year.