大甲貞節牌坊Lin Clan Chastity Memorial

貞節坊是在撰述清朝年間貞節婦林春娘，其生前貞節事蹟，都雕刻在牌坊上，貞節媽祖林春娘便是鎮瀾宮內受人膜拜的佛像。此貞節坊係於道光二十八年，奉御賜立聖旨碑，以表彰林春媽之貞孝而建立的。現經內政部列為國家三級古蹟。
 
林春娘生於清乾隆44年（1779年），原是大安鄉中庄人氏，小時候因為家貧送給大甲三腳街口余家當童養媳，十二歲那年，丈夫余榮長（十七歲）經商不幸溺斃，林春娘雖未成婚，卻不再嫁並孝順婆婆而名揚鄉里。道光十三年林春娘年五十五歲，鄉紳劉獻廷轉呈淡水廳同知報請旌表、建牌坊，然因家貧，無法籌措經費，遲至道光二十九年張綱任職大甲，得淡水同知黃開基、新竹林問梅率先捐銀響應，才竣工。清同治元年（1862年）台中四張犁戴萬生率眾作亂，部將王和尚、林日成三次圍攻大甲城，斷城水，林春娘三次祈雨皆靈而解危。同治三年（1864年）病歿，享年八十六歲。地方感念其貞節、孝順與為大甲解圍，建祠堂祭祀，成為大甲三神之一（媽祖、鄭成功與貞節媽）後來因祠堂殘破而神像暫祀鎮瀾宮。
Chastity Square is about Lin Chunniang, a chaste woman during the Qing Dynasty. Her chastity deeds during her lifetime are all carved on the memorial arch. Lin Chunniang, the chaste Mazu, is the worshiped Buddha statue in Zhenlan Palace. This chastity square was built in the 28th year of Daoguang reign, when the emperor granted him an imperial edict to commemorate Lin Chunma's chastity and filial piety. It is now listed as a national third-level historic site by the Ministry of the Interior.
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Lin Chunniang was born in the 44th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1779). She was originally from Zhongzhuang, Da'an Township. When she was a child, she was given to the Yu family at Sanjiao Street in Dajia as a child bride because of her poverty. When she was twelve years old, her husband Yu Rongchang (seventeen years old) Unfortunately, Lin Chunniang died while doing business. Although Lin Chunniang was not married, she stopped marrying and was filial to her mother-in-law and became famous in her hometown. In the 13th year of Daoguang, Lin Chunniang was fifty-five years old. Squire Liu Xianting forwarded it to the Tamsui Hall Tongzhi to apply for a banner and build an archway. However, due to his poverty, he was unable to raise funds. As late as the 29th year of Daoguang, Zhang Gang was appointed to the Dajia and was awarded the title of Tamsui Tongzhi. Zhi Huang Kaiji and Hsinchu Lin Wenmei took the lead in donating money and responded, and then the project was completed. In the first year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1862), Taichung's Si Zhangli Dai Wansheng led his people to rebel. His generals Wang Heshang and Lin Richeng besieged Dajia City three times and cut off the city's water. Lin Chunniang prayed for rain three times and the crisis was resolved. He died of illness in the third year of Tongzhi (1864) at the age of eighty-six. In memory of his chastity, filial piety and rescue of Dajia, the local government built an ancestral hall to worship him, and he became one of the three gods of Dajia (Mazu, Zheng Chenggong and Chastity Mother). Later, due to the dilapidation of the ancestral hall, the statue of the god was temporarily enshrined in Zhenlan Palace.


參考資料：台中觀光旅遊網Reference: Taichung Tourism Network
https://travel.taichung.gov.tw/zh-tw/Attractions/Intro/93/%E6%9E%97%E6%B0%8F%E8%B2%9E%E5%AD%9D%E5%9D%8A