Matsu is one of the most widely venerated deities in Taiwan, and there are countless stories about her interceding on behalf of people in need. We grow up listening to these stories, and we know many of them by heart. The merciful expression on her face in a statue of her gives you a feeling of safety. She is the goddess of seafarers, and you will see many a waterman praying to Matsu at Lungshan Temple.

Matsu’s father was Lin Weique, a government official in charge of policing the coastal waters. After retiring he returned to his hometown, where he spent his days doing good deeds. People took to calling him “Lin the Benefactor.” According to legend, Lin’s wife one day received a special medicine from Guanyin, and after taking it she became pregnant. On the day she gave birth, a dazzling red light shone down from the northwest sky, and Lin’s home was filled with a sweet fragrance as the woman gave birth to a daughter. Because the girl never cried in the entire first month of her life, they named her Lin Mo, which means “Quiet Lin.” When Lin Mo was 13 years old she met a Daoist master named Tongxian.

She became his disciple and learned esoteric Daoism from him. At the age of 21 she began to pray for the common people, and at age 23 she defeated two brothers who, in accordance with the terms to which they had agreed before taking on Matsu in battle, became her attendants. These two attendants, known to every Chinese school child, are Qian Li Yan (literally “he who sees from a thousand leagues off”) and Shun Feng Er (“he who hears from far away”). At the age of 28 she took leave of her parents, headed for Mt. Mei, and ascended from there to heaven, where she became a goddess.

None of us were very familiar with King Daffodil, or Shui Xian Zun Wang, so were surprised to learn that this was another name for King Yu, legendary Tamer of the Flood that we all read about in our textbooks. The statue of King Daffodil is located to the left of Matsu. He and Matsu both concern themselves with the safety of those traveling over the waters.

King Daffodil is worshipped at temples throughout Taiwan. If he is the temple’s main god, he’s called Great King Yu. Yu established the Xia dynasty in 2207 B.C. He was the great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. He is credited with taming China’s raging rivers and thus bringing prosperity to the people.

A lot of our parents’ companies have a little altar for the worship of Lord Chenghuang, protector of cities, but we were surprised to find a statue of Lord Chenghuang on a table just to the left of King Daffodil at Lungshan Temple. People believe that Lord Chenghuang is the deity who decides whether people 

will meet up with good luck or bad. Lord Chenghuang occupies a very special position in the Chinese pantheon because there is not a single deity that goes by this name. It is a type of god, and there are many Lord Chenghuangs all over Taiwan, each associated with a particular locality.
Lord Chenghuang is equal in rank to local government officials. The local officials handle everyday affairs in the land of the living, such as crimes and whatnot. Lord Chenghuang handles the passage from this life to the next. To qualify to become Lord Chenghuang, one must be faithful, upright, observant of the rules of filial piety, learned, cultured, and must not engage in evil acts.

To the left of Matsu, off in one corner, is a statue of Fu De Zheng Shen, otherwise known as the Earth God. There are more temples in Taiwan dedicated to the Earth God than to any other deity. He looks after all matters large and small in his local community.

There is a legend about the origin of the Earth God. As the story goes, a very long time ago, perhaps as early as 1700 B.C., a government official had a servant name Zhang Mingde. The official had been assigned to a post far from home, and his daughter missed him very much, so Mingde accompanied the daughter on a trip to see him. On the way they encountered a huge snowstorm. The daughter very nearly froze to death, but Mingde gave up his own clothing to protect her, and he died instead. After his death, a name suddenly appeared in the sky: “Lord Fu De, Immortal Deity of the Southern Sky.” The people, knowing of Mingde’s deed, surmised that heaven had bestowed this title upon him. The government official was very grateful to Mindge, and built a temple in his honor. This was the beginning of his worship.