Hukou Old Street

Hukou Old Street

Old Hukou is centered around Sanyuan Temple and consists of three streets: "Street End," "Cross Street," and "New Street." Among them, Street End was the earliest to be established, while New Street was built latest, around 1920. New Street is what we now refer to as Hukou Old Street.

The houses on Hukou Old Street are all built with red bricks. The architectural style of the old street is quite special—the facades of the archways are in the Roman Baroque style, while the structures follow the Southern Fujian style, with long, rectangular shop-houses on both sides.

The interior layout of the houses on the old street is adapted for mixed residential and commercial use: the first section serves as the storefront, the second as the living quarters, and the deep courtyard between them functions as the kitchen.

Among the existing old streets in Taiwan, the architectural façades of Hukou Old Street may not be the most elaborate, but they are the best preserved. The arched doorways of Hukou Old Street face each other house by house, and the street-front buildings are uniform, all featuring covered verandas. The first floor has single-arch corridors with columns, while the second-floor windows and parapets are adorned with cement moldings that display the names of businesses—simple yet elegant. Walking through Hukou Old Street feels like experiencing a blur of history.

Religious Beliefs of the People of Hukou There are several ancestral shrines of different surnames on the old street, and to this day, Sanyuan Temple at the end of the old street has always been a center of community cohesion.

Sanyuan Temple was constructed in the 3rd year of the Republic of China (1914, the 3rd year of the Taisho era) and was completed in the 7th year of the Republic of China (1918, the 7th year of the Taisho era). It faces south and is oriented toward the north. The temple primarily enshrines the Three Officials (San Guan Da Di)—commonly known as the Gods of the Three Realms (Heavenly Official - Yao; Earthly Official - Shun; Water Official - Yu). It has a history of 80 years and holds considerable historical value. The temple also enshrines Guanyin Bodhisattva, Mazu, Goddess of Childbirth (Zhu Sheng Niang Niang), and the God of Earth (Fude Zheng Shen, commonly known as Tudi Gong or Earth God).