Xinying Taizi Temple
Main Deities
About
Xinying Taizi Temple is regarded as the founding mother temple of Marshal Zhongtan — the Third Prince, Nezha — with branch temples spread far and wide that return each year to pay respects to their ancestor. The grandest day comes in the ninth lunar month: around the Third Prince's birthday, sedan chairs from branch temples everywhere arrive one after another to gather incense in Xinying, and the roads overflow with procession troupes. The temple grounds hold two temples, old and new. The old temple is listed as a Tainan City historic site — small in scale, but it is where the roots lie — while the new temple takes in the pilgrim crowds from all over. To see Third Prince worship in its most original form, step into the old temple first: that is where all this celebration began.
History
In 1663, the second year of the Kangxi reign, five believers — Xu Peiyuan, Hong Jizhou, He Shiping, Zhou Yide, and Li Zhongcheng — fled the turmoil of war, bringing their families and the golden statue and sedan chair of Marshal Zhongtan across the sea to Taiwan, landing at Yichagang. After they settled in the Xinying area, the faith gradually took root in the villages, and in 1688 the Taizi Temple was built, regarded as the founding mother temple of Taiwan's Third Prince temples. Over more than three hundred years, branch temples have spread across Taiwan, and every year on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Third Prince's birthday, the deities of the branch temples return here to gather incense — one temple's birthday has become a shared homecoming for Third Prince worship across Taiwan. The old temple building still stands today and is listed as a Tainan City historic site.
IllustrationXinying Taizi Temple
Xinying District, Tainan City
Visitor Info
Address
No. 45-2, Taizigong, Taibei Vil., Xinying District, Tainan City
Region
Xinying District, Tainan City
Plan Your Visit
- Hours
- Daily 5:30 AM – 9:00 PM
- When to Go
- Around Taizi Ye's birthday on lunar 9/9, palanquins and performance troupes from branch temples everywhere return to Xinying for the incense-gathering procession, making it the liveliest time of the year.
Checked on 2026-10-13 · Sources: Google Maps