Step out of Longshan Temple Station in Wanhua District, Taipei, pass through the mountain gate carved with dragons and tigers on Guangzhou Street, and you will hear the gentle rush of the artificial waterfall beside Jingxin Pond before entering the wide bluestone forecourt of Lungshan Temple of Manka. Ahead stands the Sanchuan Hall with its triple-tiered sweeping eaves inlaid with colorful cut porcelain, flanked on the east and west by bell and drum towers crowned with hexagonal palanquin-shaped roofs, while at the center of the front porch rise a pair of cast-bronze pillars with coiling dragons in relief, a work of architectural metalwork unique among the historic temples of Taiwan.
Established in the third year of the Qianlong era (1738) by merchants and pioneers from Quanzhou who crossed the Taiwan Strait to settle the river port of Manka along the Tamsui River, the temple takes its name from its ancestral monastery, Anhai Longshan Temple in Jinjiang County, Fujian. Having endured nearly three centuries of earthquakes, typhoons and the devastating air raid of 31 May 1945 that reduced its main hall to ashes while leaving the central statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva untouched, this sanctuary remains the most enduring spiritual heart of Taipei.
IOffshoot of Anhai Longshan Temple and syncretic worship
The name Manka (艋舺, pronounced Báng-kah in Hokkien and romanized as Bangka or Manka) derives from the word used by the indigenous Ketagalan people for the dugout canoes that gathered to trade along the banks of the Tamsui River, later adapted during the Japanese administration into the characters Wanhua (萬華), which sound similar and mean ten thousand years of prosperity. In the early eighteenth century, immigrants from the Three Counties (Sanyi) of Quanzhou Prefecture in Fujian Province, namely Jinjiang, Nan'an and Hui'an, crossed the sea to cultivate this river port and trade in tea, rattan and farm produce.
According to temple archives and the Bureau of Cultural Heritage under Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, during the Yongzheng reign (1723 to 1735) a rattan merchant from Quanzhou passing through a bamboo grove in Manka hung his incense pouch brought from the ancestral Anhai Longshan Temple (安海龍山寺, an ancient monastery founded in the Eastern Han or early Tang dynasty in Jinjiang County, Fujian) on a bamboo branch and accidentally left it behind. At night the pouch emitted a radiant glow among the bamboo, drawing local residents to pray before it with remarkable efficacy. In the third year of the Qianlong reign (1738), the Sanyi merchant and community leader Huang Dien-mo (黃典謨) raised more than twenty thousand taels of silver to build a grand temple on that very spot, welcoming a divided spirit of Guanyin Bodhisattva from Anhai Longshan Temple and naming the new sanctuary Lungshan Temple of Manka.
At its core, Lungshan Temple of Manka is a sanctuary of Mahayana Buddhism centered on the Yuantong Precious Hall (圓通寶殿), which enshrines Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteshvara). The title Yuantong (All-Pervading Perfection) comes from the chapter on Guanyin's ear-organ enlightenment in the Shurangama Sutra, signifying the wisdom that hears and relieves the cries of sentient beings across the ten directions. On the left and right altars of the main hall stand Manjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Skanda (Weituo), Sangharama (Qielan) and the Eighteen Arhats.
What gives this historic temple and many early Taiwanese sanctuaries their distinctive character is the harmonious coexistence of Buddhist veneration in the front and main halls with deities of Taoism, Confucianism and Minnan folk religion throughout the Rear Hall and the two side wings. While the main hall was jointly funded by the Sanyi settlers to honor the Buddha, the Rear Hall was originally constructed by merchants of the Lin clan from Wurong (Nan'an County, Quanzhou) to enshrine Tianshang Shengmu (Mazu, the goddess who protects seafarers), Wenchang Dijun (the deity of literature and civil examinations) and Guansheng Dijun (Guan Yu, the embodiment of commercial trustworthiness and righteousness). Over nearly three centuries, more than one hundred statues of Buddhas, bodhisattvas and folk deities presiding over peace, scholarship, childbirth, medicine and marriage have come to dwell peacefully beneath a single roof.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Lungshan Temple served not only as a place of prayer but also as a civic council hall, the headquarters of the merchant guilds (known as the Quanjiao and Beijiao) and a court of arbitration for the Quanzhou community in northern Taiwan. The three great surname clans of Manka, the Huang clan controlling Daxikou, the Lin clan controlling Wanggong Gongkou and the Wu clan controlling the Huwei ferry, took turns managing temple affairs and collecting port dues known as koujuan to purchase temple lands that funded rituals and public charity. Together with Bangka Qingshui Temple and Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Lungshan Temple is revered as one of the Three Great Temple Gates of Taipei.
First-time visitors often wonder why a Buddhist temple houses altars to Yue Lao (the Old Man Under the Moon) for matchmaking, Hua Tuo for healing and Zhusheng Niangniang for childbirth. This practice of venerating deities and Buddhas in the same monastery reflects the settlement history of Minnan pioneers in Taiwan: when neighborhood guildhalls dissolved or small shrines in Wanhua were demolished during early twentieth-century street widening, residents brought their patron statues into the Rear Hall of Lungshan Temple for safekeeping. For example, the statue of the divine physician Hua Tuo was donated by a traditional herbal pharmacy near the temple, while the altar to Yue Lao was formally installed in the Rear Hall in 2001 to meet worshippers' prayers for marriage and harmonious relationships.
IINearly three centuries of building, rebuilding and survival
The splendid form of Lungshan Temple of Manka seen today is the culmination of repeated reconstructions following earthquakes, typhoons, termite damage and wartime fire, above all the comprehensive rebuilding carried out from 1919 to 1924 under the master carpenter Wang Yi-shun.
- 1738 - 1740Founded during the Qianlong reignOn the 18th day of the 5th lunar month in the 3rd year of Qianlong (1738), community leader Huang Dien-mo and settlers from Jinjiang, Nan'an and Hui'an raised over 20,000 taels of silver, invited feng shui master Zhang Cha-yuan to site the land, and completed the temple in the 2nd lunar month of 1740.
- 1815Major reconstruction after the Jiaqing earthquakeIn the 20th year of Jiaqing (1815), a severe earthquake toppled most of the temple structures, leaving only the main altar base standing. The residents of Manka pooled resources to rebuild the complex in a three-hall layout.
- 1867Renovation after typhoons in the Tongzhi eraIn the 6th year of Tongzhi (1867), heavy typhoon and rain damage prompted the Quanjiao merchant guilds and local devotees to fund a comprehensive restoration.
- 1919 - 1924Grand reconstruction designed by Master Wang Yi-shunWhen termites hollowed out the timber pillars, Abbot Fuzhi (Wu Can-ming) donated his entire life savings of 7,200 yen to launch a complete rebuilding. The board invited master carpenter Wang Yi-shun of the Xidi school in Quanzhou along with more than 20 master artisans to reconstruct the entire monastery.
- 31 May 1945Guanyin statue survives the Taihoku Air RaidDuring the Allied air raid on Taipei on 31 May 1945 near the end of World War II, bombs struck the Yuantong Precious Hall and the left corridor, burning down the timber hall and destroying Huang Tu-shui's 1927 wood sculpture of Shakyamuni, yet the central Guanyin statue remained completely intact amidst the ruins.
- 1953 - 1959Rebuilding of the main hall from original blueprintsMayor Huang Chi-jui and local gentry organized the rebuilding of the main hall under master builder Wang Shih-nan (grandnephew of Wang Yi-shun), who followed his granduncle's original drawings, culminating in the consecration ceremony on 20 September 1959.
- 1985 and 2018Second-class historic site and elevation to National MonumentDesignated a Second-Class Historic Site in 1985, Lungshan Temple of Manka was officially elevated to a National Monument by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture on 12 November 2018.
The event of 31 May 1945 entered Taiwanese cultural memory as a testament of faith. Whenever air-raid sirens sounded across Taipei, neighborhood residents habitually ran into the main hall to shelter beneath the lotus throne of Guanyin Bodhisattva, yet at noon on that day the weather was so stiflingly hot that everyone dispersed to outdoor air-raid shelters instead. When two incendiary bombs struck the main hall and the eastern wing, the blaze consumed the cypress pillars and melted surrounding ironwork, yet the clay-and-gilt statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva seated at the very center of the blast suffered not a single crack, only a coat of black soot. That survival deepened the devotion of Taipei's citizens toward the Bodhisattva's protective grace.
Lost in that same 1945 fire was the celebrated cherry-wood sculpture Shakyamuni Emerging from the Mountains (釋迦出山像), carved in 1927 by Taiwan's first modern sculptor, Huang Tu-shui (黃土水, 1895 to 1930). Fortunately, the artist's original plaster cast had been preserved in Taipei, enabling the Council for Cultural Affairs to cast faithful bronze replicas in 1989 and return one to Lungshan Temple for permanent veneration.
IIIMaster Wang Yi-shun's timber artistry and the bronze dragon columns
The ground plan of Lungshan Temple of Manka follows the classical three-tier four-sided courtyard (三進四合院) arrangement of traditional Minnan palatial and monastic architecture, forming the square shape of the Chinese character Hui (回) when seen from above. Three principal halls align along the north-to-south axis from front to back: the Front Hall (Sanchuan Hall), the Main Hall (Yuantong Precious Hall) standing free in the central courtyard, and the Rear Hall enclosing the northern end. Linking the Front Hall and Rear Hall along the east and west flanks are two long side wings known as the left and right dragon guards (左右護龍), crowned at their southern ends by the Bell Tower on the east and the Drum Tower on the west.
The supreme artistic value of the complex stems from the 1919 to 1924 reconstruction led by chief architect Wang Yi-shun (王益順, 1861 to 1931), the foremost master of the Xidi carpentry school (溪底派) of Quanzhou. He combined mortise-and-tenon caisson ceilings (zaojing) assembled without a single iron nail with carvings of Quanzhou white granite and Yuchanghu bluestone, Cochin ceramics and cut-porcelain mosaics (jiannian) executed by master artisan Hung Kun-fu (洪坤福). Notably, on several stone column capitals and brick piers along the corridors, craftsmen of the 1920s subtly wove Greco-Roman Corinthian acanthus leaves into traditional Eastern lotus and dragon motifs.
The Front Hall opens through three portals (Dragon Gate on the east, Central Gate in the middle and Tiger Gate on the west). Beneath the central bay rises an octagonal wooden caisson ceiling designed by Wang Yi-shun, built of interlocking dougong brackets converging on an Early Heaven Eight Trigrams diagram.
Standing on the front porch of the Sanchuan Hall and cast in 1920 by master metalworker Li Lu-hsing of Xiamen. They are the first and only cast-bronze dragon columns in a historic Taiwanese temple, molded in high relief with dragons riding ocean waves and scenes from the Investiture of the Gods.
The main sanctuary stands at the heart of the courtyard, supported by 42 columns under golden glazed tiles. Overhead spans a circular spiral caisson dome assembled entirely by mortise-and-tenon joinery from more than 18,000 small wooden pieces arranged in seven concentric tiers without a single nail.
Flanking the forecourt on the east and west, these two-story pavilions feature flattened six-sided double eaves shaped like an ancient general's helmet or a bridal palanquin roof. Introduced to Taiwan by Wang Yi-shun, this design became a model imitated across the island.
Surrounding the Yuantong Hall are four pairs of openwork bluestone dragon columns and four corner brackets carved as dragon-fish (ao), created through a traditional side-by-side competition (duichang) between master woodcarvers Huang Kui-li and Tseng Yin-ho during the 1953 to 1959 restoration.
The northern hall is divided into five shrines: Tianshang Shengmu (Mazu) in the center, Wenchang Dijun and Hua Tuo on the east side, and Guansheng Dijun and Yue Lao on the west side, accompanied by altars to Zhusheng Niangniang, the Water Immortal Kings, the City God and the Earth God.
Lungshan Temple of Manka also preserves a treasury of Chinese calligraphy and stone inscriptions. Beams and stone pillars bear the brushwork of late Qing and early twentieth-century luminaries, including a single-stroke cursive plaque reading Buddha attributed to Liu Ming-chuan (劉銘傳, the first Qing governor of Taiwan Province), couplets on the bronze pillars composed by the poet and historian Lien Heng (連橫, author of the General History of Taiwan) and calligraphy by the scholar Chiu Feng-chia (丘逢甲). Readers interested in comparing major East Asian urban Buddhist sanctuaries may also consult our entries on Sensō-ji in Tokyo and Bulguksa in Gyeongju.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
Unlike Western religious structures, Lungshan Temple of Manka is explicitly documented in historical records as having been sited in 1738 by the feng shui master Zhang Cha-yuan (張察元). The section below combines the historical record of that 1738 geomantic survey with the library's own reading of the surrounding topography through traditional feng shui.
In terms of the macro-topography and dragon vein (long mạch), the old port of Manka lies at the southwestern corner of the Taipei Basin, right where two major waterways, Xindian Creek flowing from the southeast and the Dahan River flowing from the southwest, converge to form the Tamsui River immediately west of the temple. In classical landform reading, the confluence of two great rivers is known as two waters embracing to lock the true qi, preventing vital energy from scattering. Farther to the northwest across the Tamsui River rises Guanyin Mountain (Mount Avalokiteshvara), whose silhouette resembles a reclining Bodhisattva, sharing the name of the temple's principal deity and serving as a protective outer mountain screen for the basin.
As for the facing and the node (huyệt), at the verified coordinates of 25.03725° N, 121.49988° E, the entire architectural axis of Lungshan Temple sits in the north and faces south (specifically sitting on the Gui-Zi line and facing Ding-Wu, approximately 185 degrees south-southwest). When feng shui master Zhang Cha-yuan surveyed the site in 1738, he identified the land as forming the Node of a Beauty Looking in a Mirror (Meiren Zhaojing Xue). To activate this node and gather water in the bright hall (minh đường) to the south, the founders excavated a large crescent-shaped lotus pond directly in front of the temple gate, known as the Lungshan Temple Pond, to act as the mirror reflecting the sanctuary. When municipal authorities opened Guangzhou Street across the old pond site in 1919, the outer pond was filled in to create Bangka Park, yet the temple preserved a fountain and later constructed the waterfall of Jingxin Pond in the southeastern forecourt to maintain water that gathers qi in the inner bright hall. On the left and right, the eastern wing and Bell Tower form the Azure Dragon on the left, while the western wing and Drum Tower form the White Tiger on the right, establishing the ritual circulation of entering through the eastern Dragon Gate and exiting through the western Tiger Gate so that qi flows clockwise around the Yuantong Precious Hall.
VLantern festival, Guanyin holy days and the Ghost Festival
Ritual life at Lungshan Temple of Manka follows the traditional lunar calendar across all four seasons, blending daily Mahayana sutra chanting with Taipei's grandest folk celebrations, notably the Mengjia Zhongyuan Ghost Festival, which is officially registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Taipei City.
| Lunar date | Festival or Dharma assembly | Key rites and customs |
|---|---|---|
| 15th day of the 1st month | Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao) | Display of giant zodiac lanterns and traditional dragon lanterns in the forecourt. Worshippers walk beneath the lanterns (zuan dengjiao) to pray for safety and the birth of children. |
| 19th day of the 2nd, 6th and 9th months | Three holy days of Guanyin Bodhisattva | Commemorating the birthday (19/2), enlightenment (19/6) and renunciation (19/9) of Guanyin Bodhisattva, marked by chanting of the Universal Gate Chapter and offerings of fresh flowers and fruit. |
| 23rd day of the 3rd month | Birthday of Tianshang Shengmu (Mazu) | Grand celebration in the Rear Hall honoring the sea goddess who protected the early Quanzhou pioneers crossing the Taiwan Strait. |
| 8th day of the 4th month | Buddha's Birthday (Bathing the Buddha) | Ritual bathing of the infant Shakyamuni statue with fragrant herbal water in the central courtyard before the Yuantong Precious Hall. |
| 7th lunar month (peak on 15th day) | Ullambana and Zhongyuan Universal Salvation | Registered intangible cultural heritage of Wanhua, featuring the raising of the spirit-summoning lantern pole (shu denggao), releasing water lanterns on the Tamsui River and merit-transfer chanting. |
| 15th day of the 8th month | Birthday of Yue Lao (Mid-Autumn Festival) | The feast day of the matchmaking deity in the Rear Hall, drawing thousands of young visitors to cast divination blocks and request red threads for marriage. |
Since 2020, in order to protect the century-old timber joinery and gilded carvings of the National Monument from soot and to improve urban air quality, Lungshan Temple of Manka has completely discontinued the burning of incense sticks and spirit money inside the complex. Visitors now offer prayers with joined palms or present fresh flowers and vegetarian fruit.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 211 đường Quảng Châu (Guangzhou Street), lý Phú Dân, khu Vạn Hoa (Wanhua, tên cổ Mạnh Giáp / Bangka), thành phố Đài Bắc, Đài Loan
- Getting there
- Located at No. 211, Guangzhou Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City. Take the Taipei Metro Bannan Line (Blue Line) to Longshan Temple Station (BL10) and exit via Exit 1 directly to the temple forecourt, or walk 5 minutes north from Wanhua Railway Station.
- Coordinates
- 25.03725, 121.49988
When visiting Lungshan Temple of Manka, please observe the traditional rule of entering through the right-hand portal (the eastern Dragon Gate as seen facing the temple) and exiting through the left-hand portal (the western Tiger Gate), stepping cleanly over the high wooden threshold rather than treading on it. The customary prayer route begins by bowing toward the Three Jewels from the Sanchuan Hall, paying homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva at the Yuantong Precious Hall, turning outward to salute the Jade Emperor of Heaven, and then walking through the Rear Hall from east to west to greet Mazu, Wenchang, Guandi and Yue Lao.
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?Quick Questions
When was Lungshan Temple of Manka founded and who is its principal deity?
Ground was broken on the 18th day of the 5th lunar month in the 3rd year of the Qianlong reign (1738) and completed in 1740 by settlers from Jinjiang, Nan'an and Hui'an counties in Quanzhou, Fujian. Its principal deity enshrined in the Yuantong Precious Hall is Guanyin Bodhisattva, welcomed as a spiritual offshoot from Anhai Longshan Temple in Fujian.
Why does a Buddhist temple also house altars to Mazu, Guan Yu and Yue Lao?
The temple exemplifies the Taiwanese tradition of venerating Buddhas and folk deities within a single monastery. While the Front and Main Halls honor Buddhist bodhisattvas, the Rear Hall was built by Quanzhou merchant guilds to enshrine protector deities of seafaring, scholarship, commerce, medicine and marriage, including Mazu, Wenchang Dijun, Guandi, Hua Tuo and Yue Lao.
What happened to the Guanyin statue during the air raid of 31 May 1945?
At noon on 31 May 1945, during the Allied bombing of Taipei in World War II, incendiary bombs struck the main hall and burned down the entire timber structure and eastern corridor. Amidst the ashes, the central statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva remained standing completely intact, becoming a cherished symbol of miraculous protection in Taiwan.
What are the most important architectural treasures of Lungshan Temple?
The finest features date from the 1919 to 1924 reconstruction led by master carpenter Wang Yi-shun: the octagonal caisson ceiling in the Sanchuan Hall, the circular spiral caisson dome in the Main Hall assembled from over 18,000 wooden components without nails, the hexagonal palanquin-roofed Bell and Drum Towers, and Taiwan's only pair of 1920 cast-bronze dragon columns.
How do visitors request a red thread for romance at the Yue Lao altar?
After paying respects at the Main Hall and the principal shrines of the Rear Hall, stand before the Yue Lao altar at the northwestern corner of the Rear Hall, state your full name, date of birth, home address and wish for a partner, and cast the crescent-shaped wooden divination blocks (jiaobei). Once you receive three consecutive favorable throws, you may take a single red thread from the altar.