Also known as “Little Sea Goddess Temple”
Established : 1647
Temple Address: No.12 Ji-Chiang street, Tainan City
This temple was first built in the Ming dynasty Yong-Li era (year 1647), and it is now a class 2 listed heritage in Tainan. According to folklore,because Taiwan is an Island, the connection to the sea is very strong, especially when mainland migration started in the Song dynasty till late in the Ming Dynasty when Cheng Cheng-Kung moved to Taiwan with a lot of followers.
During “Hsien Feng” time, the riot of the Taipin Heavenly along the south-eastern coastal FuJian, Canton provinces, a lot of fishing people try to escape to the south, and sailing was difficult on the sea at that time, so people though it was with the blessing of the Sea Goddess (Mah-Chu) that they were able to arrive safely. So people raised funds to build the temple at what was then called “Cheng-Bei-Fang-Shuei-Tzi-Wei”, and it is believed that the temple is the first Mah-Chu Temple builtin Tainan city. According to Taiwan chronology “Little Mah-Chu temple was built by villagers after Shuei-Tzi-Wei was cultivated” and was the official god of worship ever since the Ming-Cheng times. This temple was built a long time ago during Ming Yong-Li era, and after the original Goddess idol has been moved to Taiwan, villagers of Shuei-Tzi-Wei raised funds to rebuild the temple, and numerous repairs and maintenance were conducted before and after recovery of Taiwan by the people in the area.
During the Japanese occupation, the royal citizen scheme was introduced in Taiwan, promoting “All gods return to heaven”, oppressing people’s religion, and many small temples were destroyed, but because of the long history of Kai-Ji Sea goddess temple, the Japanese did not dare touch it, and so it was saved from disaster. Some idols were left with no place to stay after some small shrines were destroyed, and were hosted in this temple for protection. After the recovery of Taiwan, these other temples then became “interrelating temples”, right now these temples are “San-Lao-Yeh Gong”, “Da-Shi Dien”, “Jing-Shin Tan”, “Yuan-He Gong”, “Xing-Ji Gong”, “Jin-An Gong”, “Hsin-Shih Yong-An Gong”, “County Cheng-Huang Miao”, “Chia-Yi Da Tien Hou Gong”, “Shen-Fo Tan”, “Chong-Tze Tang”, “Pu-Ji Dien”, “Ching-An Gong”, “Xing-Shen Gong”, “Chia-Yi Di-Mu Miao”, “Kuang-Chou Gong”, “Chia-Yi Nan-Yin Gong”, “Ching-Ji Miao”, etc.。