Wuqii Chao Yuan Temple Introduction
The early residents of Wuqii mainly relied on "sea hunting" for their livelihood. The plaque "Yongkang Sihai" above the main hall of Chaoyuan Temple is the best reflection of this, located on Wuqii Old Street, and is affectionately referred to by local villagers as "Mazu Temple." The main deity worshipped in the temple is the Heavenly Mother, commonly known among the people as Mazu, and the belief in Mazu is very important in Wuqii. This is because the early residents of Wuqii started with fishing; whether it was for trade with China or directly battling the ocean through fishing and coastal aquaculture, they all had to pray for the sea guardian Mazu to bless them with calm seas and smooth sailing. Chaoyuan Temple currently preserves a statue known as "Kaiji Ma," which was bestowed from the Tianhou Temple in Meizhou, Fujian Province, China. It is said that Lin Yinde, the salt officer, rented the temple from Meizhou to respectfully invite the sacred image to Wuqii for worship. Subsequently, during the Xianfeng period, a Mazu temple was built on the west coast of Wuqii, and because the Mazu statue enshrined there was one of the six foundational Mazu statues from the Ascension Cave of Meizhou's ancestral temple, the believers all refer to this statue as "Kaiji Ma."
