Temple of the Five Concubines Audio Guide

Temple of the Five Concubines: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to WuFei Temple

   Welcome to WuFei Temple, known locally as 五妃廟, tucked along quiet Wufei Street in the West Central District of Tainan. Most temples you meet in Taiwan are loud with firecrackers and crowds. This one is different. You climb a flight of stone steps, old trees close in around you, and the city seems to drop away. The temple honors five women: Lady Yuan, Lady Wang, and the attendants Xiugu, Meijie, and Hejie. They were the consorts and companions of Prince Ningjing, Zhu Shuguei, a member of the fallen Ming royal house who lived in Taiwan in the last days of the Zheng family regime. In 1683 they chose to die with him rather than live on after defeat. What makes this place unusual is that it is both a temple and a tomb. The shrine you step into stands in front of the burial mound itself. Over the next few minutes I will tell you what happened in 1683, how the tomb became a temple, what to look for in the architecture, and how this hillside has changed over the centuries.

2. 02

   WuFei Temple: The Last Days of Prince Ningjing

   Let us go back to 1683. The Qing admiral Shi Lang had defeated the Zheng forces at Penghu, and the Zheng regime on Taiwan was collapsing. Prince Ningjing, Zhu Shuguei, understood that the cause was lost. He gathered the women of his household and told them they were young and should plan their own futures. They refused. The five replied, in the words handed down in the record, that if the prince kept his honor they would rather lose their lives than their loyalty, and that where he lived they would live, and where he died they would die. One after another they hanged themselves in the central hall of the prince's residence. Zhu Shuguei prepared their bodies himself and buried them outside the south gate of the city, on a hill called Kuidou. Afterward he bade farewell to old friends and to Zheng Keshuang, who was seeking terms of surrender, and took his own life. Two attendants of the household, eunuchs, are said to have followed their master in death as well. Their remains were laid near the five ladies, and a tiny shrine for them, the Yiling Jun shrine, still stands beside the temple. Later generations read the whole episode as a model of loyalty and fidelity, which is why the place was remembered long after the regime vanished.

3. 03

   WuFei Temple: From Humble Grave to Temple

   For decades the burial of the five ladies was just a tomb. Early on it was the kind of grave left without a raised mound or planted trees, and it went by names like the Tomb of the Five Faithful Women. The hill itself, Kuidou Hill, was a lonely rise outside the city wall. Because the word for Kuidou sounds like the word for cassia, poets liked to call it Cassia Hill. Locals, seeing the graves and the wild grass, used a darker nickname that means Ghost Hill, and many avoided it after dark. The change came in 1746, in the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, when an official named Fang Bangji was ordered to restore the tomb. He built a temple in front of it so the women could be honored with offerings, and that is how the site became WuFei Temple, a temple and a tomb in one. He also had a stele set up outside the south gate carrying a poem mourning the five ladies. That stele survives today among the stone tablets at the Great South Gate. A common question is whether this is one of those so-called yin temples for unnamed wandering spirits. It is not. The five women are named, their story is recorded, and the state itself had the temple built, so they are honored as the Five Ladies, much like respected figures rather than forgotten ghosts.

4. 04

   WuFei Temple: Doorways, Halls and Small Details

   Now look closely at the building. WuFei Temple is a compact structure with a single main hall and two protective wings on either side, facing northeast. Inside the main hall stand statues of the five ladies. In front of the burial mound is set a tablet naming it the tomb of the five who died following Prince Ningjing. In front of the hall rises a worship pavilion held up by four pillars. The best detail is on the doors. Temple doors are usually guarded by fierce generals with weapons and glaring eyes. Here the painters chose something gentler: palace maids and eunuchs, because the ladies being honored lived a refined palace life. The eunuch carries peonies and an incense burner, offering flowers and incense to the ladies, with the peonies standing for wealth and the passing on of a family line. The maids carry trays with a teapot, longevity peaches, and pomegranates, which stand for long life, blessings, and many children. On the right side, look for the little single-door shrine of the Yiling Jun, the loyal servants. It is tiny, but its meaning is large. Behind the temple, the grave mound rises under old trees. Some worshippers bring cosmetics as offerings and then take them home, believing the ladies' blessing will make them more beautiful.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   The temple has been mended many times, and each repair tells you something about its era. In 1927, during the Japanese period, a women's organization led by a woman named Aiji pushed for a major restoration, and the governor of Tainan Prefecture set up a commemorative stele with a poem praising the five ladies. In the 1960s, however, the grounds were crowded with unauthorized buildings, and by 1969 people were making coal briquettes in front of the temple and hanging laundry nearby. Restoration work followed in 1975, in time for the city's tourism year, and again in 1977 and 1978. Today the setting is calm again, with a green park around it. The temple stands not far from the Great South Gate, Fahua Temple, and other historic sites in this part of Tainan, so it fits naturally into a slow walk through the old city. Before you leave, pause on the stone steps and look back at the roof, then at the painted doors. Ask yourself why a temple built for the dead chose servants with teapots to stand guard. The answer may change how you see the whole place.