What will the reconstructed Chaotian Palace and Mazu look like?
1905, an earthquake occurred in Taiwan Province province, the main hall of Chaotian Palace was damaged and pavilions collapsed. After that, people raised a lot of money to rebuild it. The rebuilt Chaotiangong building in Beigang has quite traditional characteristics. It is a palace-style building complex with four halls and seven courtyards, which is very spacious.
The four halls are Sanchuan Hall, Ursa Major Hall, Guanyin Hall and Notre Dame Hall, while the eight halls are Sanchuan Hall, Ursa Major Hall, Guanyin Hall, Sanguan Hall, Wenchang Hall, Notre Dame Hall, Empress and Underground Palace.
The first courtyard is located in front of Sanchuan Hall and Longhumen, and the seventh courtyard consists of seven courtyards, namely, the courtyard in front of the main hall, the courtyard in front of Xu Lingge, the courtyard in front of Jukui Pavilion, the courtyard in front of Guanyin Hall, the courtyard in front of Sanguan Hall, the courtyard in front of Wenchang Hall and the courtyard in front of Saint's parents' hall.
There are squares, stone walls, front, left and right entrances and exits in front of the Chaotian Palace. There are a pair of small stone lions on both sides of the main entrance, and there is a stone statue of the Four Seas Dragon King on the wall.
The palace gate is divided into three parts, with the mountain gate in the middle, the Longmen on the right and the Humen on the left. In front of the mountains and rivers stood a pair of huge dragon pillars and a pair of stone lions. There are a pair of stone shields under the pillars of the second gate of Longhu. On the wall of Sanmen, there are all kinds of carvings.
The second entrance is the main hall, the Madonna Mazu Hall, which is nearly13m deep and divided into two sections. From the outside of the main hall, it seems that there are three floors on the top of the main hall, glazed tile roof, Kirin pine nuts and two phoenixes on the roof of the front roof are plastic. The east and west hatchbacks are dedicated to the goddess of birth, the master of the environment and the God of Wealth respectively.
The third entrance room is Guanyin Buddha Hall, dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva, the room on the right is Sanjie Palace, dedicated to the Three Emperors, and the room on the left is Wu Wenchang Hall dedicated to Wu Wenchang.
There are a pair of stone dragon pillars in Guanyin Hall, which are engraved with the words "Long Yi Rong in the twelfth lunar month". In front of the steps of Wu Wenchang Temple, there is a piece of Shuanglong Dan engraved with the words "Daoguang Geng Zi Li Sun and Moon".
The last entrance is the Temple of the Holy Parents and the Kaishan Hall dedicated to the abbots of past dynasties. The Tian Fei Crown of Mazu, which was made in Kangxi period, is preserved in the palace.
Chaotian Palace is a magnificent palace-style building in the south of China. The restoration of the past dynasties has left many exquisite antiquities, among which a beam, a column and a tile stone attract people to stop and watch.
In addition to this building, Mazu's incense party also contains profound cultural characteristics and is very famous.
Mazu worship is the main belief of people in Taiwan Province province, China. There are countless Mazu Tempel in Taiwan Province Province, and rural commercial organizations in Beigang often hold Mazu meetings.
At that time, Mazu organized by suburban businessmen included Zuma Hui Jin Shunsheng, Mar Hui Jin Shunan, Ma Sanjin Shengfeng, Bujiao, Gan Jiao Jin Xingshun, Yupu Street Jin Haishun and Butcher Jin Yishun.
Every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Temple of Heaven will hold a ceremony to pray for peace in Shangyuan. In the evening, local organizations and schools held the Lantern Festival. Tourists from all over the country crowded the square in front of the palace and nearby blocks.
On the 19th day of the third lunar month, pilgrims from all over the country will last for several miles. Mazu "outing", that is, when carrying Mazu statue, there are road sacrifices along the way. People who pick up and drop off will hold long incense and wait on the patrol route for several years.
Before the Lunar New Year in Beigang, there were a series of sacrificial activities. In order to welcome the celebration of the New Year and Mazu's birthday, the temple is cleaned every year on December 20 of the lunar calendar to clean up the dust of the past year, which is of great significance to get rid of the old and the new.
On the 24th, the deacon of the temple held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods with vegetarian fruit, paying tribute to all the gods in the temple, and symbolically closing the temple gate until the ceremony ended.
On New Year's Eve, the Chaotian Palace will close the temple gate again to prepare for the "grab the head incense" activity on the first day of the first month. As soon as the temple gate opened, believers flocked in, hoping to grab the first incense and bring good luck to the new year.
In the festival custom, the fourth day of the first lunar month is the "Meeting God Day", and the Chaotian Palace will close again to welcome the arrival of the gods. After the ceremony, the temple gate will be opened again. On the same day, the owner of the temple will draw a public sign, also known as the "Four Seasons Sign", to predict the fortune of all walks of life in the coming year. After the signboard is drawn out, it will be posted in Sanchuan Hall for publicity.
During the Lantern Festival, the Chaotian Palace will also hold Mazu's "Spring Festival" activities. Businessmen show their devotion to Mazu belief and expect Mazu to bless their business.
When Mazu travels around the world, he will prepare a lot of firecrackers and put them under Mazu's phoenix sedan chair, which is called "flower-bursting sedan chair". The more firecrackers there are, the better the business will be next year. This is also the climax of local activities.