Temple to Prince of Yanping

Temple to Prince of Yanping

The Temple to Prince of Yanping is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Temple to Prince of Yanping is located in Shijing Town, Nan’an City. In the 38th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1699), an imperial decree was issued to relocate the remains of Zheng Chenggong to his ancestral burial ground in his hometown of Nan’an, where a temple was built in his honor.

The temple faces northeast and sits southwest, fronting the sea and backed by Aoshi Mountain. Along its central axis from north to south are, in sequence, a screen wall, a mountain gate, and the main hall, with auxiliary structures on the sides, and flagpole stones are placed at the front entrance.

The main hall is three bays wide, with a post-and-lintel wooden frame structure, a flush gable roof, and swallowtail-shaped roof ridges.

The hall hangs plaques inscribed with phrases such as “Five Titles Across Three Generations” and “Majestic and Heroic Valor.” Its columns are engraved with couplets of praise from various dynasties, including a couplet composed by imperial decree of the Kangxi Emperor when the remains of Zheng Chenggong and his son were relocated. It reads: “Though the princes held not an inch of soil, they mustered troops on two isles, daring to contest half the southeast; though four garrisons wavered in loyalty, one stronghold held firm, proving that overseas still burned a loyal heart.”

The temple was rebuilt in the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), damaged by Kuomintang aircraft bombing in 1949, and restored in 1987.

In 1996, it was designated as a fourth batch provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the People’s Government of Fujian Province.

Zheng Chenggong, originally named Sen and childhood name Fusong, courtesy name Damu, also known as Mingyan, was a native of Shijing, Nan’an. He was born on July 14 of the 4th year of the Tianqi reign in the Ming Dynasty (1624) in Shirahama, Hirado, Japan. His father was Zheng Zhilong and his mother was the daughter of the Tagawa family of Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan. In the 3rd year of the Chongzhen reign (1630), at the age of 7, Zheng Chenggong returned from Japan to Anping (now Anhai Town, Jinjiang) to study and was given the name Sen.

At the age of 11, Zheng Chenggong once wrote an essay on the topic assigned by his tutor, “Sweeping, Greeting, Responding, Advancing, and Retreating,” composing the striking sentence: “The campaigns of Tang and Wu were but sweeping; the abdications of Yao and Shun were but advancing and retreating.” Later, he studied the classics, history, and military strategy intensively... More details about Zheng Chenggong ++

Shijing Town: The hometown of the renowned national hero Zheng Chenggong, the ancient port town of Shijing in southern Fujian is located at the southernmost tip of southeastern Fujian, just 6 nautical miles from Kinmen. Shijing’s Majiang is the only seaport in Nan’an City and a key maritime hub for external transport along the western coast of southeastern Fujian. To the east across Majiang lies Dongshi in Jinjiang; to the south, Wujian faces Kinmen across the water; to the west, it connects with Guishan and borders Xiangdong in Xiang’an District, Xiamen; to the north, it adjoins Shuitou. The town covers a land area of 83 square kilometers and a sea area of 50 square kilometers. It has a population of over 72,500, including more than 30,000 migrants, and over 60,000 overseas Chinese, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

... More details about Shijing Town ++