| dc.description.abstract | In the hope of representing the history of Wufu Temple and its relations with the local society, the approach of this study is mainly literature research, combined with field research and narratives interview.
Wufu temple is located in Luzhu Town, which was the first place to be developed in Taoyuan county because of the convenience of the Nankan Harbor. It is said that Zheng Chengon’s army carried an icon of the deity of Xuantan Marshal to Taiwan, which became the origin of worshiping Xuantan Marshal and Wufu Temple hence became the oldest temple in Taoyuan County. Since the Ching Dynasty, Wufu temple has become the worshiping center in Nankan Five Districts. According to the inscription of the Miracle Kiosks next to Wufu Temple and also some other related archives, we can know that besides the Chinese immigrators, the local Pingpu tribes also participated the worship, repair and constructing of Wufu Temple. The datum in the temple shows that the local elites regarded Wufu Temple as the place to connect their relations with other places, which suggests the significance of the Wufu Temple as a center of local religion. The principal god in Wufu Temple is Xuantan Marshal, Zhao Gong Ming. He was originally the god of plague, but as the time went by, he became the god who was in charge of many affairs, such as eliminating plague, praying for wealth…etc. When the religion settled in Taiwan, Xuantan Marshal changed to be god of war and also in charge of protecting the field because of the need when people reclaimed the land, and now he becomes the god of war and wealth.
In the process of development, the worshiping activities of Wufu Temple congregated the spirit of the citizens in the five districts in Nankan. The architecture of this temple, the stone sculpture, decoration painting, colored pottery, and couplets are representatives of Taiwan folk art and culture. As the religion changes with time, Wufu Temple not only plays the traditional role of accelerating the development of communities, providing public places for local activities, but providing materials for heritage and culture education, promoting cultural activities and public welfare business. The temple now has a greater diversity of functions than before, and that makes Wufu Temple and Luzhu society thus closely linked and inseparable.
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