【Introduction】
The Mailiao Gongfan Temple was built during the time of Emperor Kangxi. The enshrined goddess statue, Matsu, was brought by a Buddhist monk of the Rinzai (Linji) school, Chunzhen from Meizhou in China. The plaque at the temple is inscribed with words that document its development, “in the building of the temple, support came mainly from the religious locals…the temple was of a rather humble one when first built; it was rebuilt with bricks, tiles and wood during the time of Xianfeng’s reign. Later, there were refurbishments and reconstructions: 5th year of Emperor Jiaqing (1800), 7th year of Emperor Daoguang (1827), 39th year of Emperor Meiji (1906).
The present-day Gongfan Temple was renovated in the period of Emperor Showa. From 1930 to 1937 (5th-12th year of the Showa period), a master carpenter of the Xidi School named Wang Shufa from Quanzhou, China led a team to construct the main hall and the obeisance hall. Another well-known carpenter, Lin Huoyen (apprentice of the master of the Zangzhou School, Chen Yinbin) was responsible for the construction of the front entrance and the rear halls. It was a rare case in the architectural history of Taiwan when two opposing schools competiviely and collaboratively worked together for a temple construction project.
The temple was the finished product of a group of skilled craftsmen, many of whom were the best of their time. For example, the wood carvings were the work of Huang Guili, stone carvings by Jiang Jiuzai, Koji pottery sculptures by Chen Tianqi and Yao Zilai, and painting by Pan Chunyuan. The reconstruction project was thought to be a paragon of Taiwanese temple architecture; it was jointly carried out by the outstanding contemporary artisans of the age. In 1967, the well-known artisans of different styles from Xingang in Chiayi were called upon to work on the clay roof sculpturing. In the 1970’s, the roof of the front entrance hall was refurbished. On top of it, another raised roof (“jia-si-chui” structure) was added, making the roof a double-tiered structure.