Kwun Yum Temple in Tin Hau Temple Complex, Yau Ma Tei 05

The Tin Hau Temple Complex is a temple in

Yau Ma Tei Yau Ma Tei is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. Name ''Yau Ma Tei'' is a phonetic transliteration of the name (originally written as ) in Cantonese. It can also be spelt as Yaumatei, ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. It comprises a row of five adjacent buildings: a Tin Hau Temple, a Shing Wong Temple, a Kwun Yum temple, Shea Tan and Hsu Yuen. The nearby Temple Street is named after it.

Location

The Tin Hau Temple Complex is located in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon. A public square, Yung Shue Tau, occupied by the Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden, is located in front of the complex, and is surrounded by the popular Temple Street night market. The northern side of the complex is bordered by

Public Square Street Public Square Street (; formerly ) is a street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Location The street runs in an east-west alignment from Cliff Road to Ching Ping Street (), meeting Nathan Road, Temple Street, Shanghai Street, Reclamation S ...

. At the back of the Complex (east) is the Public Square Street Children's Playground and Rest Garden, itself located along

Nathan Road Nathan Road is the main thoroughfare in Kowloon, Hong Kong, aligned south–north from Tsim Sha Tsui to Sham Shui Po. It is lined with shops and restaurants and throngs with visitors, and was known in the post– World War II years as the Gol ...

, the main thoroughfare in Kowloon. The Garden features a Nine-Dragon Wall.

Features

The temple complex comprises five buildings separated by four lanes. From left to right when facing them: * Kwun Yum temple (), formerly named Fuk Tak Tsz ().

Antiquities and Monuments Office The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was established in 1976 under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance to protect and preserve Hong Kong's historic monuments. Housed in the Former Kowloon British School, the AMO is responsible for ide ...

. Hong Kong Traditional Chinese Architectural Information System
Kwun Yum Temple (Yau Ma Tei) - History
/ref> Built in 1894. * Shing Wong Temple (). Built in 1878. * Tin Hau Temple, the oldest of the temples of the complex * Kwun Yam Lau She Tan (}. Built in 1894.

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

. Historic Building Appraisal
Tin Hau Temple, Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei
/ref> Originally a Kung Sor (, Communal Hall). Originally dedicated to the District God "She Kung" (), other deities were later added. The central Deity of the main altar is Kwun Yum. * Hsu Yuen (). Built in 1897. Disused study hall.

History

The Tin Hau Temple was probably erected at this location in 1864. It originated from a small temple in the present

Kwun Chung Kwun Chung, or Koon Chung in early documents, is an area of Hong Kong, Yau Ma Tei or Tsim Sha Tsui located in the Yau Tsim Mong District. In 1979, the MTR station running through Kwun Chung was named Jordan since it intersected Jordan Road ...

Market area, that was later moved to the present site by boat people and villagers of Yau Ma Tei.Brief Information on proposed Grade I Items. Item #17
Originally facing the Yau Ma Tei waterfront, it is now almost three kilometers from the shore, as a consequence of

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

. The Kung Sor and Hsu Yuen were used until 1955 as a venue for a free school teaching the boat and land people.

Conservation

Before 1914, the temple was managed by the council set up by the merchants in Yau Ma Tei. The temple has been under the management of the

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (), with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong. ...

since 1914, with the transfer of management made official in 1928. The Tin Hau Temple, previously a Grade II historic building since 1987, was listed as a Grade I historic building since June 2000. The Tin Hau Temple and the adjoining buildings were listed as declared monuments in May 2020.

References

External links

Chinese Temples Committee The Chinese Temples Committee () is a statutory body in Hong Kong established in 1928 under the Chinese Temples Ordinance () (Cap. 153). It is mainly responsible for the operation and management of twenty-four temples directly under its management ...

ChineseEnglish
*

entries
The Temple Trail entry about the Temple Complex
including
floor plan360° panorama
{{Coord, 22.30991, 114.170684, display=title Yau Ma Tei Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong Declared monuments of Hong Kong Tung Wah Group of Hospitals