Jiayi Renwu Temple. A bustling city-designated historic site. During the Yongli era of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga established Taiwan as his base, vowing to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. At this time, pioneers from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou on the mainland migrated to Taiwan in large numbers. A bustling city-designated historic site. During the Yongli era of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga established Taiwan as his base, vowing to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. At this time, pioneers from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou on the mainland migrated to Taiwan in large numbers to cultivate the land. At that time, people from Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture, brought with them a statue of Baosheng Dadi to Taiwan for cultivation, praying for Baosheng Dadi's protection. In the 27th year of Yongli (1673 AD), when Zheng Jing launched a western expedition, the Renwu Town troops who were stationed and cultivating land in the Fengshan area (now Renwu Township, Kaohsiung County) were reassigned to the Zhuluo area (now Jiayi City) to garrison. Among them, officers and soldiers from Quanzhou also brought the statue of Baosheng Dadi to the Zhuluo area as a guardian deity for the military and civilians. In the 31st year of Yongli (1677), officers and soldiers built a small shrine to worship it, marking the early stages of Renwu Temple. In the 40th year of Kangxi (1701), the Zhuluo magistrate Mao Fenglun advocated for the construction of a temple and, in commemoration of the main deity being worshipped by the officers and soldiers of Renwu Town at that time, named the temple Renwu Temple, making it the oldest temple in the Jiayi area dedicated to Baosheng Dadi. After the construction of Renwu Temple, it underwent several renovations and expansions during the Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng periods. In the 13th year of Showa (1938), the city mayor Kensuke Shigetomi (birth and death dates unknown), in order to promote the policy of Imperialization, ordered the closure of 63 temples in the city and the confiscation of all temple properties by the Japanese. The statue of Baosheng Dadi from Renwu Temple was moved to Chenghuang Temple, and the temple property was taken by the Japanese businessman Banbashi.
Address: 嘉義市東區北榮街54號
Hours: 00:00–23:59
Chiayi