During Incense Presentation Festivals of centuries past, the Five Lords centered their activities on Lianghuang Temple (today, near Ximen Road). The air in the temple, heavily laden with the smoke of incense burning for the Five Lords during festivities, led to an order to craft a separate censer exclusively for the ‘Five Kings of Nankunshen’. An original censer of porcelain was replaced in the early 1800s with one carved of stone. The characters ‘The Lords of Nankunshen’ are inscribed horizontally, with the date (the 9th reign year of Qing Dynasty Emperor Jiaqing [1804]) inscribed on the upper right and the name Hsu Yi-sheng marked on the lower left. Both censers, today preserved at Lianghuang Temple, are invaluable reminders of the long-running but no longer practiced Tainan Incense Presentation Festival.
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