Tengxian Dragon Mother Temple

　　    Tengxian Dragon Mother Temple is one of the most renowned temples in the Xijiang River basin, alongside the Yuexing Dragon Mother Temple in Guangdong and the Wuzhou Dragon Mother Temple (Dragon Mother Grand Temple) in Guangxi. It is situated in Shengxi Village beneath the Xijiang River Bridge in Tengxian County, Guangxi, and can be reached via the secondary road from Nanning to Wuzhou leading to the county town. This is said to be the birthplace of the legendary Dragon Mother, the guardian deity of the ancient Xijiang River region.

　　    The Northern Song Dynasty text "Taiping Huanyu Ji" once documented the location of Tengxian Dragon Mother Temple. It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (“0”), but was rebuilt by local communities in 1994. Current relics include the temple’s official seal, a divine beast with the body of a snake and the face of a lion, a lotus-shaped column base, and an incense burner carved with the characters “Dragon Mother Goddess.” Tengxian is one of the birthplaces of Xijiang culture, and many sites associated with the Dragon Mother and related legends—including the Dragon-Rearing Pool, Dragon Neck, Return Dragon Islet, Dragon Pool Gorge, Dragon Bay, Dragon Lane Terrace, Stone Dragon, and Dragon Lane Village—have been recorded in historical editions of the "Tengxian County Annals." These sites are revered by worshippers across the Xijiang basin and even in Southeast Asia.

　　    On the first day of the lunar calendar, known as the “Dragon Mother’s Birthday,” and on the fifth day of the eighth lunar month, known as the “Dragon Mother’s Ascension Day,” devotees gather at the temple to hold ceremonies in worship. On the eve of the “Dragon Mother’s Birthday,” four cleansed, virtuous women from Tengxian are selected to travel to the Yuexing Dragon Mother Temple in Deqing, Guangdong—the place where the Dragon Mother grew up—to bathe and change her clothes. This ritual is shrouded in mystery. The local community holds deep reverence for the Dragon Mother’s virtues of “bringing benefits to all under heaven,” her contributions to the nation, and her moral excellence toward the people, collectively referred to as the “Dragon Virtue and Maternal Demeanor.”