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Meizhou 梅州
Zanhuagong 贊化宮 (Lüzu temple) in Meizhou is a typical case of the development of Daoism from Guangdong towards Southeast Asia during the 20th century. During the Qing Dynasty, the Lüzu cult was wisespread in Meizhou with several San Di Temples 三帝廟 and Lüzu Temples. However, after the twentieth-century destructions and the post-1980 revival, there were 190 registered religious sites in Meizhou in 1990, including 93 Buddhist temples but only one Daoist Temple, namely the Zanhuagong.
The Zanhuagong was built in 1887 and was well-known for medical prescription slips 藥簽. However, it was banned in 1966. As early as 1905, the Lüzu temple in Meizhou county built a branch hall in Thailand. A group of Lüzu worshippers from Thailand donated funds to rebuild the Lüzu temple in Meizhou in 1985, which marked the beginning of the revival of institutional Daoism in the Meizhou area. In 2006, the number of registered Daoist temples in Meizhou increased to 17. Recently, the Zanhuagong has been acting as a regional centre for the training of the Daoists staffing the newly registered temples.
The T&T project principal investigator in the Meizhou area is Prof. Yau Chi On 游子安 from CUHK who is pursuing a book-length study of Meizhou Daoism, and has already published several articles on this topic. The picture below of the Zanhuagong was taken in 2006.
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