Zhinan Temple
Main Deities
About
"Couples who visit Zhinan Temple together will break up." That is the most widely told urban legend about this Xiangong Temple on the slopes of Mount Zhinan in Muzha, Taipei's Wenshan District. Zhinan Temple has long been called "the most sacred mountain under heaven." It is a well-known Taoist holy site in Taiwan, and also one of the rare temples that brings Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism together. Built into the mountainside on a grand scale, it lets you look out over the whole Taipei Basin from in front of its halls. From the Chunyang Hall honoring Lü Dongbin (Lüzu) and the Lingxiao Hall of the Jade Emperor to the Mahavira Hall and the Dacheng Hall, it gathers immortals, buddhas and sages on the same mountain. As for the breakup legend, worshippers have since turned it around: the temple is now sought out for cutting off bad romantic ties and praying for the right partner, and people who want to clear up their love lives and start over climb the mountain on purpose to pray here.
History
In 1882, the eighth year of the Qing Guangxu reign, Wang Bin-lin, an assistant county magistrate in Manka, brought the incense of Lü Dongbin (Lüzu) to Taiwan; in 1890, local people built a temple on the present site. It was expanded generation after generation: the Lingxiao Hall was built from 1963 to 1966, and the Mahavira Hall (Buddhist) and the Dacheng Hall (Confucian) were completed one after another after the war, gradually growing into today's grand complex uniting Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Zhinan Temple sits high on the mountain, and the climb up runs along more than a thousand stone steps under towering old trees, which is how it earned the name "the most sacred mountain under heaven." As for the popular saying that Lü Dongbin is strict about romance and will split up couples who visit together, it is groundless, yet by a twist of fate it has become the best-known anecdote about Zhinan Temple.
Zhinan Temple
Wenshan District, Taipei City
Visitor Info
Address
No. 115, Wanshou Rd, Wenshan District, Taipei City
Region
Wenshan District, Taipei City
Plan Your Visit
- When to Go
- On lunar 4/14, the birthday of Lü Xianzu (Lü Dongbin), Zhinan Temple holds a birthday Dharma assembly, along with cultural events such as poetry recitals and calligraphy exhibitions.
Checked on 2026-10-13 · Sources: Google Maps