aeeble

Liu Hsing Temple was founded by General Wang Delu. It is said that its origin is closely related to Hsin Kang Fengtian Temple and Beigang Chaotian Temple, as all three inherited the three Mazu statues from the original Bengang Tianhou Temple. Legend has it that in the 2nd year of the Jiaqing era (1797), the Bengang River (now Hsin Kang River) flooded, destroying the streets of Bengang and the earliest Mazu temple in the Chiayi region—Bengang Tianhou Temple. Before the completion of the new Hsin Kang "Fengtian Temple" in the 16th year of Jiaqinq (1811), the three Mazu statues originally enshrined in the temple had to be temporarily placed in a Tudigong (Earth God) shrine. In the 6th year of Daoguang (1826), Hsin Kang Fengtian Temple and Beigang Chaotian Temple competed to enshrine the Mazu statues. General Wang Delu mediated the dispute: the eldest Mazu was enshrined in Hsin Kang Fengtian Temple, the second Mazu in Beigang Chaotian Temple, and the third Mazu was taken by General Wang to his own residence north of the river for worship. Later, the general built a new temple to the left of his house (now No. 3-1, Xibei Village, Hsin Kang Township), hoping that the six villages around the temple—Xibei, Yueimei, Yuehtan, Anhe, Houtsuotzu, and Lioutouzai—would prosper, hence the name "Liu Hsing Temple" ("Six-Villages-Prospering Temple"). In 1906, the great Chiayi earthquake toppled and destroyed Liu Hsing Temple. In 1914, Wang Shun-chi, a descendant of General Wang Delu, together with Chiang Chi-chen and Li Wu-sha, funded the reconstruction at the present site (No. 65, Xibei Village, Hsin Kang Township), hiring the renowned craftsman Chen Ying-pin. Expansion began in 1951 and was completed in 1961, giving Liu Hsing Temple its current appearance. In 1989, Taiwan Television broadcast the drama "The Legend of Mazu," making Liu Hsing Temple's "Black-faced Third Mazu" a household name.