Shoutian Temple
Shoutian Temple, also known as Mingjian Shoutian Temple, is a Taoist temple in Songboling, Mingjian Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. It sits on the Bagua Plateau in the Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area, near the border with Changhua County.
The temple honors Xuantian Shangdi, a major Taoist god, and it has more than 5,000 affiliated temples across Taiwan.
Shoutian Temple was founded in 1657 by Chinese settlers from Fujian. Local tradition says that in 1737, on Xuantian Shangdi’s birthday (the third day of the third lunar month), the deity appeared and told them to build a larger temple. He is also said to have visited Lukang and ordered a sculptor to make three statues of him, which are kept at the temple.
The temple was renovated in June 1973. It suffered heavy damage in the 1999 Jiji earthquake and was further damaged by a large fire on June 17, 2000. Reconstruction was completed in 2008.
The biggest celebration at Shoutian Temple is on Xuantian Shangdi’s birthday, when many temples from around Taiwan come for pilgrimages and tribute. In 2017, more than a million worshippers visited during this festival.
Around the Lantern Festival, worshippers carry pieces of a large rice cake on poles and parade around the temple—a tradition started about twenty years ago. In 2019, the total weight of the rice cakes was 8,888 kg, because eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture.
Shoutian Temple is viewed as a powerful spiritual center, and several branch temples have been created by sharing incense with Shoutian Temple.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 09:34 (CET).