Yeliu Baguashan Temple Introduction
The Bao'an Temple, located next to the Yehliu Fishing Port in Wanli District, is dedicated to the deity "Kaizhang Shengwang," who is the most revered god among the local fishermen and serves as their spiritual support. According to the oral traditions of the elders, the origin of the deity dates back to when the ancestors accidentally discovered a ship at sea, filled with materials for building the temple and a statue of the god. The villagers sought a place for the deity and chose the current site of Bao'an Temple. The former temple was smaller in scale, primarily made of stone, with materials that were transported from afar. After numerous repairs and expansions, many of these materials have now disappeared, and only some stone bases and platforms remain for later generations to remember the past. The faith in "Kaizhang Shengwang," the guardian deity of the Wanli area, has a long history. The "Yehliu Deity Port Cultural Festival," held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, has a history of over a hundred years and is one of the few registered intangible cultural assets of the folk category. It is a festival that ranks alongside the "Northern Sky Lanterns and Southern Firecrackers" during the Lantern Festival. Its biggest feature is "coming from the water, going through fire," and the ceremony includes four main activities: "Cleaning the Sea and Sailing," "Bountiful Catch," "Deity Cleansing the Port," and "Deity Passing Through Fire," making it a unique centennial religious ritual in Taiwan.
