Penghu Tianhou Temple
Main Deities
About
Step into Penghu Tianhou Temple and you are standing in the oldest Mazu temple in Taiwan. It was already here before 1604, and documentary research identifies it as Taiwan's first Mazu temple, dedicated to Mazu (the Empress of Heaven). Inside is the oldest stone stele in the Taiwan-Penghu region, inscribed 'Shen Yourong Orders the Red-Haired Barbarian Weimalang and Others to Withdraw', recording how the Ming general Shen Yourong persuaded the Dutch to leave in 1604. The stele is now listed as a national treasure. In 1983 the temple was rated a first-class historic monument (today called a national monument), and its wealth of Qing-dynasty wood carving, stone carving and painted decoration survives intact. If you want to see how Taiwan's earliest temples were built, this is a living textbook.
History
No one knows exactly when the temple was founded, but a standoff at sea fixed its place in history. In 1604, Wijbrand van Waerwijck, a commander of the Dutch East India Company, arrived in Penghu with two ships. Shen Yourong, a Fujian military commander, came with fifty warships to negotiate and talked the Dutch into withdrawing. The episode was carved onto a stone stele, which then lay hidden for more than three hundred years, until a renovation of the temple in 1919 brought it back to light and confirmed Penghu Tianhou Temple as the oldest temple in Taiwan and Penghu. The temple was rebuilt many times through the Ming and Qing dynasties and was renamed Tianhou Temple in 1684, the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign. The buildings still preserve a great deal of Qing craftsmanship.
Penghu Tianhou Temple
Magong City, Penghu County
Visitor Info
Address
No. 1, Zhengyi St, Magong City, Penghu County
Region
Magong City, Penghu County
Plan Your Visit
- Hours
- Daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- When to Go
- Mazu's birthday on lunar 3/23 is the most important day of the year at a Mazu temple.
Checked on 2026-10-13 · Sources: Google Maps