Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History

The Qing'an Temple: History

Of the three main temples, the Qing'an gong is the oldest by far. When people from Zhangzhou County began to settle in the Jilong region in the late 18th century, they established a small temple to Mazu in the hills to the west of the harbor, at least according to one account. Although the early Chinese settlers of Taiwan were famously and often violently divided by native-place loyalties, particularly between those from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, one thing that they all agreed upon was the importance of Mazu, a deity with special connections to sea-faring peoples like those of China's southeastern coast. As the numbers of Zhangzhou residents increased, and they concentrated on the flat lands just south of the harbor, local leaders moved the Mazu temple to its present location and gave it the name of the Qing'an Temple. The temple's early history, like that of the town in which it was built, is not well known, so its position within the network of Mazu temples established across Taiwan is unclear. These institutions exist within hierarchies of parent and branch temples, according to a ritual of "dividing incense" (fenxiang) through which a new branch is established with incense from the parent, to which pilgrims return to renew the connection by burning incense at important festivals. The Qing'an was likely a part of the network centered on Beigang's important Chaotian Temple, but it may have been linked to a different parent institution entirely. Regardless of its institutional heritage, the Qing'an Temple quickly became the most important sacred space in Qing-era Jilong.

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