aeeble

Donggang’s Chaolong Temple was founded in the first year of the Yongzheng era (A.D. 1723); at 284 years old it is second only to the thriving Donglong Temple, dedicated to Lord Wen (established roughly 290 years ago). Since the Ming dynasty—especially after Koxinga opened Taiwan—settlers from the mainland arrived in Donggang in ever greater numbers. Crossing-sea vessels usually enshrined Mazu on their poop decks for safe passage, and from the Ming loyalist period onward every dynasty has honored her as “Guardian Deity of Seafarers.” Legend says that when the temple was being built an inexhaustible supply of tiny shrimp suddenly appeared along the Donggang coast; these became the famous Donggang dried shrimp, and every fisherman reaped a bumper catch, so some also call Mazu the “Dried-shrimp Mother.” As times changed, the completion of the Donggang Mazu temple brought increasing prosperity; merchant houses from Minnan on the mainland made Donggang their trading hub, so patrons proposed enlarging the temple, and local firms vied to donate funds, earning Donggang Mazu the additional title “Harbor-guild Mother.” Before putting to sea, merchants and fishermen alike pray at Chaolong Temple for Mazu’s protection. Because the temple faces inland rather than the sea, it is nicknamed the “Land-guild Mother,” even though it is Donggang’s principal Mazu temple.