The Temple of the Five Concubines (), known also by alternative names including the Temple of the Five Noble Ladies, is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

West Central District West Central District () is a District (Taiwan), district located in the center of Tainan City, Taiwan. It is home to 76,983 people. History The district was founded on 1 January 2004, which merged with West District and Central District.. ...

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It was built in front of the tomb of the five

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

s of

Zhu Shugui Zhu Shugui (1617 – 21 July 1683), courtesy name Tianqiu (天球) and art name Yiyuanzi (一元子), the Prince of Changyang (長陽王; 1645–1646), later the Prince of Ningjing (寧靖王), was a royal member of the Ming and the last of t ...

, the Ming Prince of Ningjing, who killed themselves in 1683 to accompany him in death. It is registered as a first-class historic site by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

government. In 1683, the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

forces invaded

and defeated the

Kingdom of Tungning The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Ta ...

, prompting Zhu Shugui to commit suicide. Rather than be left to an uncertain and inglorious fate in the hands of the Qing, the concubines elected to end their own lives as well. The names of the five concubines were Lady Yuan, Lady Wang, Xiugu, Sister Mei and Sister He; their full names are unknown.

References

Chinese concubines Taoist temples in Tainan National monuments of Taiwan {{Taiwan-religious-struct-stub