Quanzhou Tianhou Temple

天后宫

A Mazu temple first built in 1196 during the Southern Song dynasty. It is one of the earliest and highest-ranking Mazu temples and the ancestral temple of Mazu worship in Minnan and Southeast Asia. It is a World Heritage site.

Quanzhou Tianhou Temple is on Tianhou Road in Licheng District. It was first built in 1196 (the second year of the Qingyuan reign in the Southern Song dynasty). It is one of the earliest and most prestigious surviving Mazu temples. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, merchant ships and migrants departing from Quanzhou would request incense from Mazu here. As a result, many Mazu temples in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia regard it as their ancestral temple. In 2021 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Quanzhou. The surviving Ming and Qing buildings include the entrance gate, opera stage, main hall, rear hall and the Dressing Tower. The wooden structures and stone pillars of the main hall, and the “Buddhist Kingdom of South Quanzhou” inscription in front of it, reflect Mazu worship's status in Quanzhou. The rear hall features Minnan jian porcelain mosaics and painted decorations, and the temple also houses a Mazu cultural exhibition. Free admission. A visit takes about 40 minutes. Just south of the temple are the ruins of Deji Gate (remains of the south city gate and walls of Song and Yuan Quanzhou, open to the air). The Zhongshan Road arcades and the Confucian Temple are about 10 minutes' walk to the north, so you can cover all three in one outing. Getting there: Walk within the old town, about 10 minutes from Guanyue Temple. Tips: Devotees throng the temple on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (Mazu's birthday) and during the Spring Festival. Do not use flash when photographing inside the hall. On the same road, Tianhou Road, is the old Jiangmu Duck restaurant, convenient for a meal.

Quanzhou Tianhou Temple

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