Taiwanfu City God Temple

　　Taiwanfu City God Temple is a Taoist temple dedicated to the worship of Taiwanfu Chenghuang Weiling Gong, located on Qingnian Road in Tainan City. It is a national second-class historic site. It was first built in the 23rd year of the Yongli era during the Ming Zheng period (1669), when it was called Chengtianfu Chenghuang Temple. It is the earliest officially built city god temple in Taiwan and also the most famous city god temple in the country.

　　The main deity worshipped at Taiwanfu City God Temple is Taiwanfu Chenghuang Weiling Gong, with accompanying deities including the City God’s Wife, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Goddess of Birth, Heavenly Holy Mother, God of Fortune, Old Man Under the Moon, Eighteen Arhats, Civil and Martial Judges, Generals Fan and Xie, Generals Gan and Liu, Twenty-Four Bureaus, Door Gods, among others—the door god paintings are the works of master painter Pan Lishui. The main hall of the temple hangs a large abacus, donated in 1937 by devotee Chen Jiangshan. The upper frame is inscribed with the six characters “Taiwanfu Chenghuang Temple,” the lower frame reads “Dingchou Year, Donated by Chen Jiangshan,” and the sides are engraved with the couplet “Good and evil are determined by one’s own actions; right and wrong are judged by law without leniency.” These words symbolize the City God using the abacus to calculate the merits and demerits of people, conveying a message of discouraging evil and promoting virtue.

　　In addition, Taiwanfu City God Temple is also world-renowned for its large plaque inscribed with the words “You Are Here” (“尔来了”), which, together with the single-character plaque of Tainan Tiantan and the “Clear Understanding of the World” plaque of Zhuxi Temple, are collectively known as the “Three Famous Plaques of Tainan.”

　　Taiwanfu City God Temple Must-visit reason: The earliest officially built city god temple in Taiwan