【Introduction】
Taiwan Prefecture City God Temple (Chenghuang), the earliest official temple dedicated to the city god, was reportedly built in 1669, in the 23rd year of Emperor Yongli. After renovation in 1759, later in 1778 Prefecture Governor Jiang Yuanshu launched a project to expand the floor scale, making it a four-hall and two-wing complex. Nowadays, the current Taiwan Prefecture City God Temple is a three-door, three-hall and two-wing structure. In 1982, with a city streets’ plan, the entire courtyard in front, its outer gate, and the stage for performance all gave way for the road expansion; the temple is now located right next to the road. In the front, hall stone columns are adorned with impressive dragon sculptures, and the gate piers feature sculptures of a fisherman, a woodsman, a farmer, and a scholar. On two sides, stand the courtyard walls with doorways leading to the wing rooms. The main hall is dedicated to worshipping the City God who is flanked by his Literary and Martial Judges on the left and the right sides. On the sidewalls - both to
the left and right - statues of the 24 ministers subordinate to the City God are enshrined. The stone counter, being deemed as an important cultural artifact, standing in front of the shrine used for people to place their offerings, was erected in 1785, the 50th year of Emperor of Qianlong in the Qing dynasty. The City God Temple represents the function of a prefecture government office where the deity takes on duties to protect the state and to eradicate evil and punish criminals. The layout of the temple is similar to a court house, even the resemblance of the furniture. In a traditional Chinese society, with the combination of the present life and afterlife judicial systems, people believe that worldly human affairs can be well governed. The combination can help the leaders to closely observe public perception and to have the effect of showing their governing power to the citizens.