Songboling Shoutian Temple

Shoutian Temple sits high atop Songboling at the southern end of the Bagua Mountain range, dedicated to Xuantian Shangdi, a center of faith established by early settlers as they opened up this land in the Qing dynasty. On the strength of its reputation for efficacy, it gradually grew into one of the most important ancestral temples of Xuantian Shangdi faith in Taiwan; over the centuries its divided incense has spread across the whole island to as many as several thousand branches — Xuantian Shangdi temples everywhere organize groups each year to return to Songboling to pay homage at the ancestral temple, forming an unbroken network of pilgrimage. Each year at the birthday of Xuantian Shangdi on the 3rd of the 3rd lunar month, the mountain rings with gongs and drums and gathers performance troupes from across Taiwan, dressing this ancestral temple as the liveliest religious celebration in central Taiwan. The sweeping view of the Songling Vista, together with incense passed down generation after generation, has made Shoutian Temple a holy site in the hearts of Xuantian Shangdi's followers.