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The Grand Matsu Temple is also called the Tainan Matsu Temple. It was originally the residence of Zhu Shugui, the Ming Prince of Ning-jing. When the Qing Naval Commander, Shi-lang, led his troops to raid Taiwan in 1683, the Prince of Ning-jing and his five concubines committed suicide following the defeat of the defending Cheng Army. His residence was bequeathed to the monk Sheng-zhi and renamed the Tian-fei Temple, where Guanyin is currently worshipped. After Shi-lang returned to Mainland China, he pleaded with the Qing court to confer the title "Heavenly Goddess" on Matsu, attributing the victory to the goddess’ intervention. It became the first temple in Taiwan to be officially dedicated to the Goddess Matsu. The Grand Matsu Temple has an elongated architectural style featuring three doors, four halls, and two corridors. The back of the temple connects with the State Temple of the Martial God. On the right side is a Buddha hall which houses an image of the Bodhisattva Guan-yin. The obeisance hall is separate from the main hall and features a round-ridge wooden structural format and a striking, majestic visage. On the roof truss is a hidden wooden sculpture depicting Liu-hai playing with the golden toad. The inner walls of the Grand Matsu Temple are embedded with many stone tablets. The oldest one dates back to the 24th year of Kangxi’s reign (1685) which records the account of Shi-lang’s military success in Taiwan. In front of the hall the cloud-dragon stairway tablet and dragon pillars are located. They have a decisive look and are valuable assets to the temple. The two statues standing beside Matsu are “Thousand Miles Eye” (Qianli Yan) and "With-the-Wind Ear" (Shunfeng Er). They are all very fine artifacts.