While you’ll find places of worship dedicated to so-called the “City God” all over Taiwan, the Hsinchu City God Temple (新竹都城隍廟) is regarded more or less as the king of them all.

Like Hsinchu itself, the temple has a long history and over the years it has assumed the role of ‘spiritual headquarters’ for the other ninety-five temples dedicated to the deity throughout the country.

The City God, also known as Cheng Huang Ye (城隍爺) is an interesting figure in Chinese Folk Religion and is an important god in the hierarchy of deities within the religion - especially here in Taiwan.

Literally the “Lord of Walls and Moats”, the City God performs the role of a spiritual magistrate and acts as a medium between the real-world and the ‘otherworldly’ bureaucracy.

This is something that will become much more obvious as you read on.

While it would be easy to liken the City God’s role to a modern-day mayor of a city, his role is a much more traditional one that is similar to what a bureaucrat in ancient China would have performed.

Not only is he responsible for order and stability within his realm, it’s also important for him to ensure that justice be swiftly carried out while also offering protection and material benefits to his constituents.