Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

The main ceremony of the 2009 Northern Taiwan Matsu Cultural Festival took place at the 228 Peace Memorial Park on September 20. This year, a total of 21 temples from eight municipalities in northern Taiwan took part in the event.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, Keelung City Mayor Chang Tong-rong, and a number of top officials from the northern municipalities attended the main ceremony to welcome the “golden face Matsu” back to Taipei City.

During his address, the mayor pointed out that the 228 Peace Memorial Park was built on the site of the original temple housing the “golden face Matsu” 120 years ago. The temple in Taipei served as an important center of religion and culture for locals. In recent years, the Taipei City Government began organizing the Matsu Cultural Festival in the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

He expressed his gratitude to the officials from various municipal governments and temples in northern Taiwan for their support of the event. He led the prayers before the altar at the park, asking the goddess to bestow her blessings to the people on this island and the flood victims in southern Taiwan.

According to the Department of Civil Affairs (DCA), Qing Dynasty Governor Liu Ming-chuan founded the original temple housing the “golden face Matsu” in the 14th year of Emperor Kuang-hsu (1888). However, the structure was demolished by the Japanese colonial government, with the statue of the goddess being relocated to a temple in Sanjhih Township.