Located next to Anping Old Fort, the Anping Kaitai Mazu Temple is Anping’s religious center, and also one of the main center of worship for Mazu and Jheng Cheng-gong (Koxinga). It is said that this temple is one of the earliest Mazu Temples ever recorded in Taiwan history.
Kaitai Mazu Temple was built in 1668 during the Ming Dynasty at Anping Ferry Landing (present location of Shimen Elementary School). The Mazu statue in the temple was moved here from the original Meizhou (Mazu) Temple in China before Koxinga attacked Taiwan.
Kaitai Mazu Temple is the oldest Mazu temple in Taiwan and is mentioned in many stories and legends, such as the story of the "299" consecutive divine blocks, the legend that Mazu changed the direction of airstrikes during wars which caused the Mazu statue to sweat because of exhaustion, and the story of the massive fire that happened in 1990 - the main hall was nearly engulfed in flames but the Mazu statue was miraculously unharmed...these are all tales that Anping locals love to talk about.
The Mazu statue of this temple is “soft-bodied” (the hands, legs and fingers all have joints and can be posed in different ways). Mazu holds a handkerchief in her left hand and a fan in the right. Her look is the typical way of how a Ming Dynasty woman would dress, and the most interesting thing is that this Mazu also has bounded feet!
Special features: two stone generals, one tall and one short, stand guard in front of the temple. Look closely and you will see one of them is wearing curly wig just like a Western judge! The stone generals are closely related to the rise and fall of Anping and its fengshui. The temple also has plaques with text written by Emperor Guangxu, former President Lee Teng-hui and former President Chen Shui-bian.
※Location: No.33, Guosheng Rd.