Qingshan

Qingshan King Festival (2022青山王祭)

The annual Qingshan King Festival (青山靈安尊王), one of Taipei’s most important religious and cultural attractions, successfully wrapped up for another year in early November, and once again I was there for most of the day taking photos with both my digital and film cameras.

The festival, which seems to get bigger and better every year continues to cement its position as one of the most important religious festivities on the nation’s calendar of events, and once again attracted large crowds of people, helping to keep both old and new traditions alive.

The revival of the festival over the past decade, and the popularity it currently enjoys (especially with regard to attracting the youth of Taiwan to come out and enjoy this cultural experience) is an amazing success story, and not only has it helped garner more interest in the cultural, historic and religious history of the district, it has also helped show that Bangka can be a pretty cool place to live.

One of the reasons for the surge in youth interest in the festival (and the district itself) is in large part thanks to Bangkha’s rockstar legislator, Freddy Lim (林昶佐), who has worked tirelessly to promote the festival with events that have brought young people back to the district to celebrate its history.

Bangkha has suffered for decades due to its aging population and for it’s reputation for having a seedy environment and the decline in the district has been a problem for the local government for quite some time. In recent years however, the youth of Bangka have started to come back and investing in their neighborhood - opening up hip new restaurants, cafes, and bars, which in turn is helping to bring the district back to life after years of neglect.

Link: TokyoBike Taipei Cafe

Helping in his capacity as the district’s legislator, Freddy has helped to promote the Qingshan King Festival on an official level ensuring that government funding and support is available for these events.

For most politicians, that would be where their support comes to an end, but Freddy has gone back to his roots as the frontman of the black metal band Chthonic (閃靈) and helped to organize the Roar Now Bangkah (萬華大鬧熱) indie music festival, which lasts for about a week leading up to the Qingshan King Festival, bringing youth from all over Taiwan to the district.

Link: Celebrating a God’s Birthday with a Temple Rave (No Man is an Island)

If you weren’t already aware, the Qingshan King Festival, falls on the days between October 20-22 (on the Lunar Calendar) and is essentially an event where a Taiwanese folk-religion deity, known as the “Qingshan King” (青山王) comes out of his temple to inspect the neighborhood he calls home.

Coincidentally, it’s also a celebration of the his birthday!

Filling a role similar to that of the City God (城隍爺), the Qingshan King and his entourage parade through the streets of Bangka, inspecting homes and businesses, banishing evil spirits and bringing good luck to the locals.

As the sworn protector of Bangka, part of his role is to visit all of the places of worship within his territory to say hello, and every temple in town makes sure to prepare for his arrival. While some might wonder why a god from a deity the size of Qingshan Temple (青山宮) is so important, especially when it has neighbors such as Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) and Qingshui Temple (艋舺清水巖), the historic and cultural importance taking place here is something that cannot be understated.

All of this activity makes for a pretty lively event with loud music, fire crackers, fire works, and thousands of people parading through the streets, bringing traffic to a standstill. While this might all sound like a great time, not every resident of the district appreciates all of the noise created by the several day-long festival. So as the festival has grown in popularity, officials have had to come up with ways to streamline the event and reduce the impact it has on the general public - and it seems that some of these efforts have been working as 78% of people polled in 2021 were satisfied with the steps that were taken to improve the festival.

Nevertheless, the event tends to be a loud one, so if you plan on attending in the future, a good pair of earplugs might be a good investment.

Being that I’ve written about this event on a few occasions, my plan is to keep this one short - Today I’m just here to share some of my photos of the event, which I’ll split up between my digital photos and my film shots.

Over the years, I’ve taken part in this festival on several occasions and have more or less figured out how to navigate the massive crowds with ease. This year, I spent all of my time following Qingshan Temple’s Eight Generals Troupe (艋舺青山宮八將團) on their procession through the city.

As part of an ongoing project of mine, I’m a bit more keen to follow them around than the rest of the parade, which I’ve seen in years past.

To briefly explain, the “Eight Generals” (八家將) are literally translated into English as the ‘Eight Home Generals’ and at Qingshan Temple, the group consists of eight officers and one young boy (引路童子), who serves as their guide through the streets of Bangka.

Each of the generals carries an ancient weapon used for torture, and they are meant to appear quite menacing as they are gods of the underworld who have evolved over the century to act as spiritual bodyguards for important deities such as the City God (城隍爺), Mazu (媽祖), Wangye (王爺) and the Qingshan King (青山王) or any deity who has a role in managing our world and the underworld, which corresponds to the theory of yin (陰) and yang (陽).

Every one of the generals is tasked with performing a specific role, which can be likened to supernatural policeman for both the living and the dead. Some of them are in charge of investigating and catching evil spirits (lock generals) while others are in charge of judging them and dealing out punishment (cangue generals) to whatever evil supernatural forces might be lurking in the district.

Their primary duty during the Qingshan King Festival is to clear the area of evil spirits as they make their way through the streets of Bangka in preparation for the arrival of their master. Their job is a serious one, so you are unlikely to see them smile (they do from time to time).

The number of generals that appear in these groups tends to vary, but at Qingshan Temple, you’ll find four generals with green faces (lock generals) and another four with red faces (cangue generals). For reference, the names of the generals who form the front of the line are General Gan (甘爺), General Liu (柳爺), General Xie (謝爺) and General Fan (范爺). The four in that make up the rear are named after the seasons, the General of Spring (春大神), the General of Summer (夏大神), the General of Autumn (秋大神) and the General of Winter (冬大神).

Link: Ba Jia Jiang (八家將), the Generals (Gods of Taiwan)

If you find all of this as fascinating as I do and would like to learn more about the festival, I recommend reading the other articles I’ve written about the festival in the past so you can get a better idea of what’s going on.

Qingshan King Festival: Part One | Part Two | Part Three


Digital Photos

Film Photos


Qingshan King Festival (青山靈安尊王)

The annual Qingshan King Festival (青山靈安尊王), one of Taipei’s most important religious and cultural attractions successfully wrapped up earlier this week - The festival, which continues to solidify its role as one of the most important religious events on the yearly calendar has once again proven quite successful in attracting large crowds of people and more importantly, helping to keep old traditions alive.

More commonly known to locals as the Bangka Temple Festival (艋舺大拜拜), the annual event has played an important historic and cultural role in one of Taipei’s most storied districts for several centuries, but you might be surprised to learn that it was once in danger of almost completely disappearing.

The revival of the festival over the past decade and the popularity it currently enjoys (especially in terms of attracting the young people of Taiwan to come out and enjoy this cultural experience) is an amazing success story and not only has it helped garner more interest in the cultural, historic and religious history of the district, it has also helped show the sons and daughters of the area that Bangka is actually a pretty damn cool place to live.

The festival celebrates the birth of the Qingshan King (青山王), a folk-religion deity hailing from the Quanzhou (泉州) area of Fujian Province (福建省) in China where many of the areas residents trace their ancestry.

Falling on the days between October 20-22 (on the Lunar Calendar), temple followers parade the temple god around the district with his troops, oracles and generals to inspect homes and businesses and banish evil spirits as well as bringing good luck to the locals.

As one of the largest and liveliest temple festivals in Taipei and the entire district looks forward to this special time of the year where residents often celebrate into the early hours of the morning.

Since I’ve already blogged in greater detail about the festival, I’m going to keep this one short.

It is important to note however that as the festival continues to grow, additional events and activities are always being added to the already jam-packed three day schedule.

So if you have a chance to attend you’re going to be treated to something new and exciting.

Qingshan King Festival: Part One | Part Two | Part Three

This year I spent most of my time I did have following the popular “Lead Generals Troupe” (官將首) taking their portraits as they paraded through the streets of Bangka.

The generals are one of the most popular aspects of any of Taiwan’s temple festivals and they always put on a great show.

If you want to know more about this special festival, I recommend checking out the links above.

Likewise, if you want to know more about Taipei’s most historic district, some of the links below may interest you:

Temples: Bangka's Top Three Temples (艋舺三大廟門) | Bangka Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) | Bangka Qingshan Temple (艋舺清水宮) | Bangka Qingshan Temple (艋舺青山宮)

Street Photography Posts: Monga | Bangka | Wanhua

For now, enjoy some of the photos I took.

The Lead Generals (官將首)

The Parade (暗訪)


Bangka's Top Three Temples (艋舺三大廟門)

While Taipei City as a whole is known for its ‘Top Three Temples’, the city’s historic Bangka District (艋舺區), which is now more commonly known as Wanhua (萬華區), boasts (at least) two of those top three, and is so important to the history and development of Taipei that locals will insist that it has its own dedicated list.

“Bangka,” which is pronounced as ‘Báng-kah in Taiwanese Hokkien, or simply as “Monga” (艋舺) in Mandarin, is historically-speaking one of the most important areas of Taipei, and it’s long history is steeped in both the culture and religions of Taiwan. Once one of the most commercially successful areas of Taipei, thanks to its proximity to the Xindian River (新店溪), Bangka has served as a centre of commerce for over three hundred years. Originally settled by the tribes of Taiwan’s Plains Indigenous Peoples (平埔族), followed by Hokkien (閩南人) immigrants, and most recently by Chinese refugees of the civil war, the district has been in a constant state of change over its modern history, with the influx of newcomers, who brought with them their own ways of life, and of course, their religious practices.

Nevertheless, despite the district being home to Taipei’s hip and modern Shibuya-like shopping district, Ximending (西門町), as well as a number of night markets and historic attractions, it is a neighborhood that sadly finds itself in decline, with an aging population, high rates of unemployment, and seedy underbelly, all of which are issues that the local government aims at combatting in order to help revive its fortunes. That being said, if you are visiting Taipei and want to experience the history of the city, there is no better place to visit than Bangka - this area is truly unlike anywhere else in the city and walking around, you’re likely to have distinct feeling that you’ve travelled back in time to an older, livelier and somewhat seedier version of one of Asia’s most important cities where its places of worship have been integral parts of the daily lives of its residents for hundreds of years.

Like most of the buildings in the district, the places of worship in Bangka are historical relics that share an interconnected relationship with the various groups of immigrants who have made their way Taiwan over the past few centuries, and made the most of their lives in a new land helping to forge Taiwan into the vibrant nation that it is today.

When it comes to the Top Three temples of Bangka there is a bit of inconsistency in both the Chinese-speaking world as well as that in the opinion of foreign visitors as to which temples actually belong on the list. While others may disagree, my list will take into consideration what the majority consider the 'Top Three' but I'll also include the temples which often make the list as well as provide links to my posts about each of the temples for further details.

Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺)

Longshan Temple is probably Taiwan's most well-known temple - The temple is one of Taiwan's busiest places of worship and is always jam-packed with tourists who come to view this beautifully designed and well-preserved temple.

The temple has a history that dates back to 1738 and like Bao-An temple, also has a close relationship with the Hokkien immigrants who came to Taiwan several centuries ago. Longshan Temple is primarily dedicated to Guanyin (觀音菩薩), the Buddha of Compassion, but like many other places of worship in Taiwan has shrines set up to Taoist and Chinese Folk Religion deities making it a very convenient temple for the faithful of Taiwan.

When it comes to design, this temple is second to none and is one of the most beautiful specimens of Chinese-style temple architecture in Taiwan, if not the whole world.


Qingshan Temple (艋舺青山宮)

Qingshan Temple is one of the most interesting temples in Taipei and its Qingshan King Festival is one of the most lively Temple events on the yearly calendar. The temple dates back to 1854 and if the temple hadn't of been built, Bangka would be a completely different place than it is today.

Interestingly, the temple sits in the middle of what is known as 'Taipei's First Street' (台北第一街) and is near the former wharf which made the Bangka district an economic powerhouse.

The temple is dedicated to the Qingshan King (青山王), a historical figure from China's warring states period and is thought to have the ability to cure sickness and disease. The king is also well known for his ability to drive out evil and when he comes out of his temple once a year to inspect the district, the festival that follows is one of the coolest cultural events that you'll ever experience

If it was left up to me, this temple would be on the list of not only the top temples in Bangka and Taipei, but the top three of Taiwan. A visit to the temple comes highly recommended!


Qingshui Temple (艋舺清水巖)

Qingshui Temple is often considered to be one of the temples on the list of the 'Top Three' in Taipei. The temple is dedicated to Master Qingshui (清水祖師), a popular Buddhist monk and folk-hero whose worship, like the Hokkien immigrants themselves was imported to Taiwan.

The temple makes the list as one of the 'Top Three' due to its age and the important relationship it has played throughout history with a specific group of immigrants who have made the Bangka (艋舺) district the special place it is today.


Honourable Mention: Taipei Mazu Temple (台北天后宮)

Taipei's Tian Hou Temple, which is often also referred to as Taipei's Mazu Temple (台北媽祖廟) is often added to the list of the 'Top Three Temples' of Bangka. Its inclusion on the list is debatable but what isn't is the interesting history the temple has experienced since its construction and how it has been able to endure over the past 270 years.

The temple is situated within the busy Ximending Shopping District (西門町) and is unlike the other larger temples as it is somewhat hidden from the street. The temple is extremely popular with tourists from Japan and although guide books don't spend much time talking about it, it is one of the more interesting temples in the city to visit!