Jubo Harborside Pavilion/Dazhong Temple

Jubo Pavilion

Yanshuei’s Dazhong Temple sits next to Yuejin Harbor, a large waterway that in days past was a major port in Tainan’s lagoon. The lagoon has since silted in and Yanshui has been left high and dry, but the temple and its waterfront plaza still hold reminders of Yanshuei’s past glory days as a large port town. 

Chief among these is Jubo Pavilion, originally built in 1663 after Zheng Chenggong expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and took control of the island. One of Zheng’s officers, He Zhishan, frequently brought his ships into port here. He took to resting under the large banyan trees that lined the harbor, and eventually commissioned a pavilion to be constructed on the spot.

The pavilion soon became a favorite place for shipboard travelers and locals alike to come and enjoy the harbor scenery or spend evenings watching the fishing boats ‘fire fishing’ on the water (lighting flames over the water at night to entice the fish to the surface ). The sight inspired such poetic lines as a thousand stars float in the shadowy waters/their light snaking outward in undulating waves.

Jubo Pavilion has been rebuilt at least five times since that first incarnation. The present version functions as a sort of porch for Dazhong Temple, but even today, you can still sit out under ancient Banyan trees by the waterside and enjoy the pleasant view.

Dazhong Temple

Dazhong Temple was built in 1741 to enshrine Leifu Dajiang (General Lei), the deified form of Lei Wanchun, a real person who lived in the Tang Dynasty. Local sailors believed that Leifu Dajiang could ensure their safety on the treacherous ship passage between Yuejin Harbor and the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou areas in the mainland.

Over the years, the temple grew and steadily added deities, including the Guanyin Bodhisattva. One relatively recent and very notable addition is a shrine made entirely out of mahjong tiles that were built in the 1990s by workers in a mahjong factory. At about one ping (2x2 meters) at its base and 170 centimeters high, the shrine functions as a sort of miniature temple-within-the-temple. The mahjong shrine is rather appropriately dedicated to the god of wealth. Believers leave their business cards at this shrine in hopes that the god will favor them.