Five Gentlemen Temple

Known as “the First Building of Hainan”, the Five-Gentlemen Temple is located in 169, on Haifu Road in Qiongshan District of Haikou City, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the city center, which was initially built in the Ming Dynasty ((1,368- A.D.-1,644 A.D.)) for commemorating 5 great officials who were exiled to Haikou during the Tang Dynasty (618 A.D.-907 A.D.) and the Southern Song Dynasty (1,127 A.D.-1,279 A.D.) with their names are: Li Deyu of the Tang Dynasty(618 A.D.-907 A.D.); Li Gang, Li Guang, Zhao Ding and Huquan of the Southern Song Dynasty(1,127 A.D.-1,279 A.D.), so the temple was called the Five-Gentlemen Temple. The governor of Hainan built “the First Building of Hainan” in 1889 for their great contribution to development of the culture and economy of Hainan Province. As a matter of fact, it is composed of several parts: the Five-Gentlemen Memorial Hall, Guanjia Hall, the School Gardening Hall and the East Wing-Room as well as Sushi Memorial Temple, General Fubo Memorial Temple, Dongzhuo Pavilion, Suquan Pavilion and the Wandering-Immortal Cave.

The Five-Gentlemen Temple has a history of 1,000 years, which gestates profound and colorful culture to the temple, and it is a mirror reflecting the history, politics and culture of Hainan Province. The pavilions, attics and corridors are distributed one after another as well as rockeries, springs in the temple, which have not only scientific researching value , but also have aesthetic value. It was enlisted as the key culture relic under state protection in 2001.

The main features of the Five-Gentlemen Temple
Covering an area of 66,000 square meters (78,935 square yards) with construction area of 6,800 square meters (8,133 square yards) and, the whole building is supported by 18 wooden pillars and 10 stone pillars in all, and the architecture in the temple is characterized by an obvious style of Southeast Asia.

The architectures in the temple are classical with a pebble-stone path in the yard and ancient trees standing along the path. The statues of the five gentlemen in the Five-Gentlemen Memorial Hall are vivid with thoughtful looks. On the right of the Hall is the School Gardening Hall displaying the bronze bells and drums since the Han Dynasty (206 B.C-220 A.D), where was the original site for giving lectures by the famous scholars. Guanjia Hall is on the left of the Five-Gentlemen Memorial Hall, which was a good position for observing the conditions of crops in ancient times. Sushi Temple is next to the Five-Gentlemen Temple, displaying the steles of Su Shi the greatest poet in the Northern Song Dynasty (960 A.D.-1,127 A.D.), with a memorial archway, an arched bridge, a lotus pond and a pavilion in the front of the temple. Besides, in the east of Sushi Temple are attraction ssuch as Fusu Spring, Suquan Pavilion and Wandering-Immortal Cave. The art of fine handwritings by the famous people are also displayed in the temple as well.

Getting there
The Five-Gentlemen Temple is located in 169, on Haifu Road in Qiongshan District of Haikou City, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the city center, and you can take a bus No. 1 to get there directly. You can also take a medium-sized bus from the bus station to Fucheng, and then stop at the gate of the temple directly, too. It is open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm every day.