Taiwan Prefectural City God Temple

Taiwan's oldest City God Temple was established in the 23rd year of the Yongli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1669). The Prefectural City God Temple has been an important temple since the Koxinga regime governed Taiwan. Located next to the administrative facilities of the time, new officials would always visit and offer incense to report to the City God before taking office. This thus created a spiritual landscape where the earthly and the subterranean, the human world and the underworld, are governed separately. The judicial deity of the underworld presides over judgment. Folk beliefs hold that after a person dies, their soul first comes before the City God to be judged. Based on their actions during life, their good and evil deeds are weighed, determining whether the soul can ascend to heaven to enjoy blessings or be cast into the eighteen layers of hell. Therefore, within the Prefectural City God Temple, one can see arrangements full of educational meaning. The famous "Er Lai Le" (You Are Here) plaque reminds visitors to search their consciences for any wrongdoings. The large abacus hanging above symbolizes the City God calculating right and wrong, good and evil. The torture instruments in the main hall are props used during judgment, which look alarming but also serve to warn devotees to live their lives without a guilty conscience.