Bao'an Temple Introduction
The Faith Center of Yehliu Fishing Village - Bao'an Temple. Every place has its guardian deities. Many people in Taiwan have eaten the Wanli crab, but have you heard that there is also a guardian deity in the Wanli area? Located next to the Yehliu Fishing Port in Wanli District, Bao'an Temple is dedicated to "Kaizhang Shengwang," the most revered deity among local fishermen and a spiritual support for them. According to the oral accounts of the elders, the origin of the deity comes from the discovery of a ship loaded with construction materials for building a temple and a statue of the king by the ancestors at sea. The villagers searched for a suitable location and chose the current site of Bao'an Temple. The temple's scale was smaller in the past, primarily constructed of stone. The materials that crossed the ocean have undergone multiple renovations and expansions and many have disappeared over time, leaving behind only some stone pillars and bases for future generations to remember and reflect on. The faith in the guardian deity "Kaizhang Shengwang" in the Wanli area has a long history. The "Yehliu Deity Purification Cultural Festival" held on the 15th day of the lunar new year has over a hundred years of history. It is one of the few registered intangible cultural assets in the category of folklore and is a festival event that is on par with "Northern Sky Lanterns, Southern Firecrackers" during the Lantern Festival. Its greatest feature is "coming from the water, going through the fire." The rituals include four major activities: "Purification of the Sea," "Full Hold of Fish," "Deity Purification of the Port," and "Deity Passing Through Fire," a unique centennial traditional religious ceremony in Taiwan.
