【Address】No. 201, Wufei Street, West Central District, Tainan City.
【Brief Introduction】
The Temple of the Five Concubines, built in 1977, faces northeast and sits southwest. It was built as a courtyard house with a single entry gate and a flush gable upturned roof. In the great centre hall sits the statues of the five concubines. On the wall behind them, the words ''The Tomb of the Five Concubines who Accompanied the Death of Prince Ningjing'' are inscribed.
【History】
The Temple’s location was previously called Gueizih Hill (or Kuei Dou Hill). It is the resting place of Lady Yuan, Lady Wang, Siou Gu, Sister Mei, and Sister He, the con-cubines of Prince Ningjing, Jhu Shu-guei, of the Jheng Period. From the sacrificial perspective, the two servants who were also martyrs were buried here, in The Right-eous Spirit Shrine. Prince Ningjing, or Tianciou (courtesy name), also known as Yi Yuan-zih, was the ninth generation descendent of the Ming Dynasty, the 15th son of the Prince of Liao- Jhujhih. Jhu Shu-guei was promoted in his ranking and finally granted the title of Prince Ningjing (Prince of Ming dynasty). He was born in 1617 and passed away in 1683, aged 67.
When the Cing army invaded, Prince Ningjing moved southward and together with Jheng Hong-lu, were forced to take refuge in Jinmen, Siamen, meeting Jheng Cheng-gong. In 1664, Jheng Jing invited Prince Ningjing to Taiwan, settling at Sidingfang. The residence was called Yiyuanzih Pavilion or the modern-day Grand Mazu Temple (Datianhou Gong). As Taiwan was then a new settled territory and the land was fertile, dozens of hectares of land were developed for farming at Jhuhu Village of Wannian Prefecture (modern-day Lujhu District of Kaohsiung city).
In June, 1683, Shihlang (granted the title Jing Hai-hou) conquered Taiwan when the Cing army defeated Penghu with the Jheng army being defeated and Jheng Ke-shuang surrendering. The patriotic Prince Ningjing was determined to martyr himself for his country. Subsequently, he made his intentions known to his five concubines, to whom he told to seek their own survival after his passing. His five concubines, who decided that it was more honorable to preserve their fidelity, subsequently hanged themselves in the central hall. Prince Ningjing buried his five concubines at Kuei Dou Hill (the modern-day Wufei Temple), outside the South Gate. After bidding farewell to Jheng Ke-shuang, he, too, hanged himself, followed by the suicide of his two loyal servants.
The Wufei tomb was originally one without a mark but in 1748, a censor acting as an inspector official for Taiwan and a Han censor, ordered the Taiwanese Maritime Mag-istrate Fang Bang-ji, to reconstruct the tomb and build a temple (The Wufei Temple) in order to honor the martyr and his concubines. A monument 'The Tomb of the five concubines' was also set up outside the South Gate with a poem entitled 'Diao Wufei Tomb' inscribed on it. This stone monument still stands at Beilin at the South Gate.
【Features】
In front of the temple is a four-pillar pavilion with a horizontal-ridged roof. The pa-vilion acts as the entryway to the temple and has four door slabs with painted Door Gods. To the left and right of the door red wall surrounds the courtyard and, together with the curved horizontal ridge of the rooftop, gives it an outline that heaves up and down. Not far from the temple is the single entryway ''The Righteous Spirit Shrine''. Though small in size, its meaning lies deep. At the back of the temple, the grave mound, curving slightly upwards, is accompanied by ancient trees and lush greenery, attracting all that visit it.