Qualla: Princess Babao Temple

Princess Babao Temple: Introduction

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sgroey, CC BY-SA 4.0. The worshippers bring coffee and red wine. This is not typical temple protocol in Taiwan, but the Princess Babao Temple is not a typical temple. Tucked beside a beach in Kenting National Park, it enshrines a woman named Margaret — a foreigner, by all accounts Dutch, who died on this coast centuries ago after a shipwreck. No one knows precisely when she lived or whether the legend is literally true. But the eight belongings taken from her body — a pair of wooden clogs, a silk scarf, a pearl necklace, a gemstone ring, a leather suitcase, earrings, a feather pen, and paper — gave the shrine its name: babao, meaning "eight treasures." And so she became Princess Babao, honored with offerings suited to her origins rather than the traditions of the land that claimed her.

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Image: Sgroey | CC BY-SA 4.0

Princess Babao Temple: A Ship, a Shore, and Eight Things

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0. The legend at the center of the temple begins with a Dutch vessel wrecked off the coast of Hengchun. The survivors who came ashore encountered indigenous people of the Guizijiao community — the group now known as the Paiwan people of the Sheding area. According to the tradition, ...

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Image: Outlookxp | CC BY-SA 4.0

Princess Babao Temple: History Hovering Near the Legend

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sgroey, CC BY-SA 4.0. Historians have noted a significant parallel. In 1867, the American merchant ship USS Rover shipwrecked off Taiwan's southern coast, and the survivors — including Mercy G. Hunt, wife of the captain, Joseph Hunt — were killed by indigenous people. The Rover incident became an inte...

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Image: Sgroey | CC BY-SA 4.0

Princess Babao Temple: Three Halls, One Portrait

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Princess Babao Temple is a small structure, its scale intimate rather than grand, divided into three halls. The central hall holds an altar to Wanyinggong — unnamed, unknown souls, the spiritual residue of all who died without proper burial or remembrance. On one side, Prince...

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Image: Outlookxp | CC BY-SA 4.0

Princess Babao Temple: What the Temple Tells You About This Coast

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Hengchun Peninsula has always been a place of crossings. It is the southernmost reach of Taiwan, surrounded by open ocean, positioned where the Taiwan Strait meets the Pacific. Ships have moved through these waters for as long as ships have sailed the South China Sea. Wrecks ...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0