風神廟｜Fengshen Temple

If you can imagine how important the wind is to sailors, you can probably infer how important a wind god temple would have been in the port area of Taiwan’s main sea gate. Located in the historic Five Channels Cultural Zone, this temple is not only the only Wind God Temple in Taiwan, but it also marks one of the great historic loses of the Japanese push to modernize Tainan. The structure you see now is a humble temple that was built in 1927. The previous temple, demolished by the Japanese in 1918, was considered one of the eight great Chinese temples built during the Qing dynasty.

In addition to the Wind God, Fengshenye, other gods of natural elements are also worshiped here. Fengshenye controls not only the wind, but all the major elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. On either side of him are the deities of fire and water. Also in the main hall are idols for the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning. The idols in Fengshen Temple were saved from the original temple and are among the more unique worship idols in Tainan.

While not the temple it used to be, Fengshen Temple is worth a visit due to its unique idols and cultural history. It is part of the Five Channels Cultural Zone walking tour, so it’s easy to fit it in with several other sites. more...

該廟是在清乾隆四年（1739年），由臺灣道巡道鄂善所建立，就設在臺灣府大西門外面南河港的河道右側、安瀾橋的旁邊。當時的風神廟是一棟四進的建築，其第一進是大門，第二進是官廳，第三進便是風神殿，而第四進是大士殿。是在把原設在赤崁街大井頭的接官亭移到此處後興建，以保佑往來舟楫的行旅安全。

而在這之後臺灣府知府蔣允焄於清乾隆三十年（1765年）對風神廟進行了第一次的整修，而清乾隆四十二年（1777年）時的知府蔣元樞則又再次進行整修。這一次除了對原有建築整修之外，蔣元樞還在廟的東側建置公館以讓來臺的官員暫居，並建設石坊以光大這座進出臺灣的門扉。

而在日治時期，由於日本在大正七年（1918年）進行的市區改正計畫，而導致原本廟後所有的殿舍以及旁邊的公館遭到拆毀。後來在大正十三年（1924年）時，當地的士紳集資在原第一進的官廳地點之上重建，將原本供奉在風神殿的神像移到其中供奉，而成今之風神廟。而在那之後仍進行了幾次整修，目前最後一次是在民國八十一年（1992年）時進行。

2016年2月6日的高雄美濃地震，造成日治時期建的石造鐘樓倒塌，鼓樓結構也有受損，為該次地震中臺南古蹟受創最嚴重者。更多...