Magong Chenghuang Temple

Magong Chenghuang Temple is a temple in Magong, Penghu, Taiwan. This temple mainly serves Chenghuangye, a taoist God in charge of the underworld of an administrative district (similar to Hades).

History
Traditionally, only one Chenghuang Temple was placed in each county or city, next to the city hall. An exception to this is in Penghu County, where there are two Chenghuang temples. The original city hall of Penghu (澎湖廳署) was located at Wenao (文澳) district, so the Chenghuang Temple was built there as well.

As Wenao Chenghuang Temple was too small to allow its residents to fully express their respect, in 1777, Xie Wei-Qi (Chinese: 謝維祺; pinyin: Xiè wéi qí ), an officer of Penghu (澎湖海防糧補通判) during the Qing Dynasty, suggested the establishment of another temple in the Magong harbour area. The new temple was completed in 1779.

The temple was damaged during the Sino-French War in 1885. It was said that Chenghuangye was seen protecting people from war and insecurity. After the war was over and the French navy retreated in the autumn of 1885, Chenghuang Temple was repaired. According to folk stories, Guangxu Emperor promoted Magong Chenghuangye's religious rank in 1886.

Afterwards, Magong Chenghuangye was also named Lin Ying Hou. The first character, Lin (靈), means "spirit"; the second character, Ying (應), means "feel" or "answer"; the third character, Hou (侯), means "one of ranks of Chinese nobilIty". Together, Lin Ying Hou (靈應侯) means "this lord of god will show its spirit to answer you", or "you can feel the spirit appear".

Architecture and art
Magong Chenghuang Temple has collected many beautiful wooden carvings, colorful paintings, and historic sign boards and steles.