Renwu Temple, Chiayi Introduction
The prosperous and long-standing city-designated historic site, during the Ming Yongli period, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) used Taiwan as a base in his efforts to overthrow the Qing dynasty. At that time, many immigrants from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in mainland China came to Taiwan to cultivate the land. Among them were people from Tong'an County in Quanzhou who brought the statue of the God of Health (Baosheng Dadi) to Taiwan for their settlement, praying for the protection of Baosheng Dadi. In the 27th year of Yongli (1673 AD), during Zheng Jing's western expedition, the troops stationed in the Fengshan area (now Renwu Township in Kaohsiung County) were reassigned to the Zhu Luo area (now Chiayi City) for garrison duty, and the Quanzhou-born soldiers welcomed the statue of Baosheng Dadi to the Zhu Luo area as the guardian deity of both the military and civilians. In the 31st year of Yongli (1677 AD), the soldiers built a small shrine to worship the deity, marking the early establishment of Renwu Temple. By the 40th year of the Kangxi era (1701 AD), the magistrate of Zhu Luo, Mao Fenglun, advocated for the construction of a temple to commemorate the deity worshiped by the soldiers of Renwu Township at that time, naming it Renwu Temple, making it the oldest temple in the Chiayi area dedicated to Baosheng Dadi. After the establishment of Renwu Temple, it underwent several repairs and expansions during the Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng periods. In the 13th year of the Showa era (1938 AD), city mayor Chuan Tianxiu (exact birth and death years unknown) ordered the demolition of temples and the removal of deities as part of the implementation of the Japanese assimilation policy, resulting in the confiscation of all 63 temples in the city, with the temple properties allocated to the Japanese. The statue of Baosheng Dadi was moved to Chenghuang Temple, and the temple property was occupied by a person named Ban Balu, who opened a business. This destruction led to extensive damage to numerous cultural artifacts within Renwu Temple, representing a significant loss for the preservation of historical heritage. After the end of World War II in the 34th year of the Republic of China (1945 AD), local gentry in Chiayi pooled resources to repurchase the rights to Renwu Temple and rebuilt the temple. On the first day of the first month in the 36th year of the Republic of China (1947 AD), the statue of Baosheng Dadi was ceremoniously welcomed back to the temple for re-establishment of worship. In the 50th year of the Republic of China (1961 AD), further renovations were carried out, including repairing the walls of the front hall and the temple roof, and using concrete columns to build new columned pavilions, side corridors, and worship halls, while mixing original wooden columns with concrete ones in the main hall. Renwu Temple boasts an impressive architecture, adorned with intricate carvings and paintings, a colorful glazed roof, and vivid cut-and-pasted floral and bird figures. Today, the entire temple structure is made of camphor wood, preserving its heritage value well. The guardian deities at the entrance are painted by Master Pan Lishui, showcasing artistic value. Despite multiple renovations, the original appearance of the temple has been maintained, and the decorations, stone carvings, wood carvings, clay sculptures, and ridge decorations are quite exquisite, presenting a grand and majestic atmosphere. Inside Renwu Temple, there is a stone incense burner that has been in place for thirty years, originally dedicated to the deity of the Great Dao. Due to the temple's reputed accurate divination, many visitors come to seek omens. According to the temple, there are numerous believers who claim to be "godsons" of Baosheng Dadi, which is a folk custom seeking divine protection.
