Qingshui Zushi (Patriarch of Clear Water)

Nearly every chapter of Qingshui Zushi's legend comes with its own vivid picture.

Start with the black face. As Chen Zhaoying meditated in the mountains, sprites who wanted him gone set fires to smoke his face. He sat unmoving in his meditation, letting his whole face blacken, and in the end subdued the sprites through compassion alone. Ever since, every statue of the Patriarch is black-faced — that dark face a badge of being "unmoved by outer things."

Then the rainmaking. One year a severe drought struck Anxi; crops withered and the people fell into famine. Chen Zhaoying climbed the mountain himself, set up an altar, and fasted and prayed for seven days and seven nights. On the eighth day, sweet rain fell. From then on the people held Qingshui Cave to be sacred ground, and the Song court honored him four times, finally as the "Bright-Responding, Wide-Benefiting, Compassion-Salving, Beneficent Master."

In Taiwan he acquired his most famous marvel of all — the "falling nose." Legend says that whenever plague, earthquake, or war is about to strike, the nose of the Patriarch's statue drops off on its own as a warning, and Sanxia Changfu Yan is especially famous for its "Nose-Dropping Patriarch." A statue that pulls off its own nose to wake everyone up — that is how, generation after generation, Taiwanese came to place their trust in Qingshui Zushi.

Qingshui Zushi was originally a monk, so his offerings are chiefly vegetarian — fresh flowers, fruit, pastries, and clear tea — and it's best to avoid meat (unlike most folk deities, so take care not to get it wrong). His incense burns hottest around his birthday on lunar 1/6, with some temples also holding celebrations on lunar 5/6, his traditional "ascension day."

Common rites include the incense-passing parade, pilgrimage, and lighting blessing lamps, and the Zushi temple system also has an especially complete set of fortune sticks to draw. The most distinctive event is the Sacred Pig Competition held every lunar 1/6 at Sanxia Changfu Yan: residents raise temple pigs for several years and, on the deity's birthday, carry them to the temple to be weighed and ranked — the largest ceremony of its kind in Taiwan. It has drawn debate in recent years over animal welfare, but it remains Sanxia's most important act of faith. If you want to catch the excitement, arrive early on the morning of the 6th.

**Qingshui Zushi's Birthday**: lunar 1/6. The most important festival in this cult, with all Patriarch temples in Taiwan holding celebrations.

**Sanxia Changfu Yan "Sacred Pig Competition"**: held annually on lunar 1/6, with several centuries of history. Residents raise temple-dedicated pigs (specifically fed to extreme weight) over several years; on the deity's birthday they are slaughtered and paraded to the temple, where they are ranked by weight. While controversial under modern animal welfare frameworks, it remains one of Taiwan's most thoroughly preserved traditional folk events.

**Patriarch's Ascension Day**: lunar 5/6. Some temples (notably Tamsui Qingshui Yan and Bangka Qingshui Yan) hold smaller secondary celebrations on this day to commemorate his death and ascension.

**Lunar New Year**: Throughout the Lunar New Year period, descendants of Anxi-Quanzhou migrants visit Patriarch temples to worship — an important opportunity for observing the persistence of migrant-religious community organization in modern Taiwan.