15
2025.08
The Chinese culture-based video game Black Myth: Wukong has taken the world by storm. Released in 2024, it sold 28 million copies by the end of the year, generating over 9 billion RMB in revenue. By early 2025, official figures confirmed that sales had surpassed 30 million copies worldwide. The game’s protagonist, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Sun Wukong—is portrayed as intelligent, powerful, and fiercely rebellious, a legendary hero with divine powers and human flaws.
What many people don’t realize is that Sun Wukong is not just a figure from literature or pop culture. In Fuzhou, a historic coastal city in southeastern China’s Fujian Province, there is an actual temple dedicated to him. It is called Qitianfu Temple, or the “Temple of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”
Entrance of Qitianfu Temple in Min’an Ancient Town, Fuzhou.
Photo by Yang Chuyu.
Located in Min’an Ancient Town on the north bank of the Xinggang River, Qitianfu Temple stands beside the centuries-old Huilong Bridge. Inside, the main shrine is dedicated to Sun Wukong. Four statues of him stand at the altar, each painted in vivid colors: red for the First Sage, blue for the Second, and yellow for the Third.
Statue of the “Great Sage Equal to Heaven” (Sun Wukong) inside Qitianfu Temple. Source: Qitian Temple Council.
Locals believe Qitianfu Temple was first built around 1234 during the Southern Song Dynasty, later recorded in the Qing Dynasty and restored multiple times, most recently in the 1990s through donations from Taiwanese compatriots, overseas Chinese, and villagers. While most people know Sun Wukong from the 16th-century novel Journey to the West, Fujian’s worship of the Great Sage dates back centuries earlier, with monkey deity carvings appearing as early as the Five Dynasties and the worship flourishing across the region by the Song and Qing dynasties.
According to local legend, Qitianfu was built to calm the waters of the Min River. Typhoons and floods often destroyed the Huilong Bridge, exhausting the villagers who had to constantly rebuild it. Believing the disasters were caused by demons, they built the temple and asked the Great Sage to protect the area. But when floods continued, people joked that he must have been off playing again. They then built a Guanyin Pavilion next to the temple to supervise the mischievous Monkey King. This story is still fondly shared among villagers today.
Today, Qitianfu remains a site of active worship. On the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, the temple opens for villagers to offer incense, make wishes, and donate to the merit box. These small acts reflect hopes for peace and good fortune. The most important event of the year is Sun Wukong’s birthday on the 27th day of the tenth lunar month. On this day, villagers parade the deity’s statue through the streets, accompanied by firecrackers and cheers. The celebration continues to be one of the town’s most distinctive folk traditions.
Public notice for the parade celebrating the Sun Wukong’s birthday.
Source: Qitianfu Temple Council.
Villagers carrying the statueduring the birthday parade.
Source: Qitianfu Temple Council.
Although fewer young people remain in the village today, those who grew up here know the stories by heart. Raised in a culture shaped by divine figures and temple rituals, they carry with them a worldview rooted in both reverence and resilience.
According to local cultural professionals that Fujian’s religious landscape is shaped by many sources. Migration from northern and central China during times of war brought new beliefs and deities, which took root in Fujian. These transplanted gods were not static—they merged with local customs and became part of Fujian’s folk religion.
Some gods in Fujian were not imported but emerged locally. People who lived virtuous lives—midwives, scholars, soldiers—were often worshipped after death. Chen Jinggu, a midwife in the Tang Dynasty, is honored as the “Child-Giving Lady.” These deified figures are not imposed from above—they are chosen by the people. They reflect a grassroots moral standard that values integrity and selflessness.
Nature-based gods also play an important role. Fujian’s mountains, rivers, and coastline have shaped its culture of environmental respect. Mazu—the sea goddess—is one of the most widely worshipped figures in the region. These deities offer protection in daily life, especially in a province where people have long relied on the land and sea to survive.
In Fujian, divinity is not distant. It is tied to human character and daily behavior. The gods embody qualities admired by the community, and belief in them reinforces social values. Fujian’s temple culture is a living record of what people remember, what they honor, and what they hope for.
Worship here is not just religious—it’s cultural. Through generations of practice, rituals have become part of how people relate to each other and the world. The gods may vary, but the principles endure: trust, respect, humility, and balance.
文字 | 杨思博 杨楚瑜
排版 | 杨楚瑜
图片 | 部分图片由闽镇理事会提供
2023.08.14 13:45
09
2025.06
09
2025.06
09
2025.06
28:32
2025.06.19 08:55
