State Temple of the Martial God

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State Temple of the Martial God
祀典武廟
Location
Location	West Central, Tainan, Taiwan
Architecture
Type	Temple

State Temple of the Martial God, also called Tainan Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple (Chinese: 祀典武廟; pinyin: Sìdiǎn Wǔmiào) or Grand Guandi Temple,^[1] is a temple located in Yongfu Road, West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. This temple was previously the palace of Koxinga and Prince of Ningjing, members of the Ming imperial family who retreated to Taiwan in the dying days of the Ming dynasty.

The temple is dedicated to the deity Guan Gong, whose statue in the building was brought to Taiwan from Fujian Province, China, by relatives of the Prince of Ningjing during the Ming dynasty.

There are some minor temples as well:

• Two smaller temples of Guanyin, a Buddhist fertility goddess.
• The temple of Yue Lao, where single people pray for luck to find their soulmate.
• A horse god temple located across Yong-Fu Road.

The horse god takes the form of a soldier who looks after the horses. Since Guan Gong was always assisted in his work by horses, his followers built this temple to show their respect and appreciation.