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Situated in Hanziliao Village of Dongshi Township in Chiayi County, the Bengang Gangkoug Gong Temple was built initially as the place for worshiping Mazu for eleven quarters of six villages. The faith later spread to coastal areas of Yunlin and Chiayi. After World War II, believers migrated and took their religion with them. Their belief in Mazu took root in new settlements, especially in urban areas of northern Taiwan. Although the belief in Gangkou Gong’s Mazu had come with migrants, Mazu have become one of the local guardian deities when the migrant began to call their new places of residency home.
The faithful believe that the deity’s will is expressed through fuji, or automatic writing. Miraculous stories related to the practice have contributed to expansion and branching out of the belief, as well as creation of new temples. This is perhaps a key factor of the rapid expansion of Gangkou Gong Mazu worship in northern Taiwan since the end of World War II. As the belief in Mazu flourished, the visibility and prestige of Gangkou Gong also increased, and the temple became an important source of Mazu spirit-division in Taiwan as well as a landmark shrine for pilgrimage and the offering of incense. However, development of the belief and its transofrmation through spirit division in recent decades have long been neglected by researchers.
This research attempts to examine this topic by studying documents and long-term field investigations, in hopes of establishing the historical development context and religious cultural significance of Port Temple Mazu worship. Based on the aforementioned inquiries, the research will further explore Gangkou Gong’s spirit-division mechanism, and the religious cultural cognition formed by such divided spirit via field studies at various branch temples.
Knowing that branch temples of Gangkou Gong is northern Taiwan has the most sophisticated network, this research will discuss inheritance of the cultural heritage among temples in the network, and migration. This research will also analyze how religious rituals have kept its traditions and imported elements from new localities. Through the expansion of the Gangkou Gong Mazu belief because of post-war migration, we shall see the influence of the domestic migrants on local cultural landscapes.
The unique development model of the Gangkou Gong Mazu belief, and the spread thereof due to Taiwan’s post-war social structure have made Gangkou Gong into a renowned place of origin of the Mazu belief.
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