Some Observations on the Spatial Characteristics of Official Tian Hou Temples in Taiwan.

Mazu..., the goddess of sea, not only symbolically protects fishermen and sailors, but also officially serves as a prototype of worship for praying for safety from disaster and disease during the Qing Dynasty. From a local sea goddess, Mazu had ultimately become the official goddess worshipped in coastal provinces after numerous praises by the emperors. This essay will begin with an exploration of the systematic architecture of Tian Hou (..., heavenly empress) temples; this will be followed by a discussion of some examples, including the Hui-ji temple ... in the imperial garden of Beijing , the Sea-god temple ... in Haining county of Zhejiang province and the Tian Hou Temples in Meizhou(... ) and Quanzhou.... By contrasting their architectural space scheme and spatial structure with the examples from Taiwan, this paper shows that some local spatial characteristics can be traced from the official Tian Hou temple. The following conclusions are revealed: (1) The established date of the Tian Hou temple was before the constitution of the local government; (2) The site of the Tian Hou temple was often set near main routes of sea transportation; (3) The type and relationships between the Mazu icons and those of other subordinated gods were similar to those in other local temples; (4)Some other official gods are also being co-worshiped in the Tian Hou temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]