Bishanyan

Chen Yuanguang developed the Zhangzhou area of Fujian, is regarded as the guardian deity of people from Zhangzhou and is honoured as Kaizhang Shengwang (the Sage King who Opened Zhangzhou). It is one of the largest Kaizhang Shengwang temples in Taiwan. Legend says that a man surnamed Huang from Zhangzhou Prefecture, crossing to Taiwan with his family to settle, saw that this was a rare auspicious spot, hung the incense charm he carried in a rock cave, worshipped there and moved on. Later, bandits ran riot below the hill, robbing homes and making life miserable for the people. In 1751, as the bandits were about to attack the summit, light suddenly flashed from the hilltop and war drums sounded: the sacred stone where the incense had hung had split into three, the middle piece being the Sage King and the two side pieces generals Li and Ma. Loose stones rolled down the hill, and the bandits dropped their weapons and fled. Hearing of this, nearby residents came to worship and received the god's blessing, and they built a small stone shrine. As worshippers grew in number and the shrine became too small, a main hall was built on the same site. After several natural disasters and repairs, the temple was enlarged to its present size through the efforts of local people, worshippers and the temple management committee. The temple stands high above the Taipei Basin, and from the terrace in front you can see the winding Tamsui River, Liyu Mountain and terraced fields. At night there are views across the Taipei Basin to Taipei 101, the Yuanshan Grand Hotel and Songshan Airport.

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.