Lukang Nanjing Temple Introduction
Nanjing Temple, according to the "Changhua County Chronicles," was established in the 37th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1772 AD). It was built with donations from merchants in Nanjing, Fujian. Located next to the Wangye (god of the land) Temple, it primarily enshrines the deity Guansheng Dijun (Lord Guan). The Nanjing merchants invited the ancestral temple's deity Guansheng Dijun to Taiwan and initially built the temple next to the harbor in Lugang, where boats were docked. Initially, it served as a center of faith for immigrants from Zhangzhou, but as the Zhangzhou community developed inland, it has now become a shared temple for people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. Nanjing Temple mainly enshrines Guansheng Dijun (reverently referred to as Fumo Dadi, the Great Emperor Who Subdues Demons) and is accompanied by the deities Prince Guan Ping and General Zhou Cang as the left and right guardians. It also venerates other deities such as Wenkui Star Lord, Marshal Xie, Ma Ye Gong, the steed Red Hare who runs a thousand miles per day, the legendary Qinglong Yan Yue Dao (the Sky-Dragon Crescent Moon Blade), along with various military officers. Guansheng Dijun is known by the single name Yu, with the courtesy name Yunchang, and his birth name is Changsheng. He was from the Hedong Jieliang Prefecture during the Three Kingdoms period. He is admired for his loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness, particularly for his sworn brotherhood with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. Guansheng Dijun is counted among the Five Wenchang deities and is revered in Confucianism as the Sacred Emperor of Literary Balance. Historical records state, “A person from Shandong wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals (i.e., Confucius); a person from Shanxi studied the Spring and Autumn Annals (i.e., Lord Guan).” Hence, he is referred to as both Confucius and the Shanxi Confucius. He is esteemed as a sub-saint and sub-sage, with exceptional martial skills, noble character, and mastery of both literature and martial arts. As such, scholars revere him as the deity of education and protector of students.
