Yiu Ming Temple, Alexandria悉尼要明会馆洪圣宫
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Australia · New South Wales · Alexandria, Sydney · 16–22 Retreat Street, Alexandria, City of Sydney
- Coordinates
- -33.9025, 151.2007 Map ↗
- First built
- Built 1908–1909 · Interior fitting-out completed in 1917; listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register (No. 1297) on 24 September 1999
- Heritage status
- NSW State Heritage Register #1297(1999)
Overview
The Yiu Ming Temple was built between 1908 and 1909, with interior fitting-out completed only in 1917; it was founded by immigrants from the counties of Gaoyao and Gaoming in Zhaoqing, Guangdong — "Yiu Ming" being formed from the final characters of the two place names. Its principal deity is Hung Shing Tai Wong (Hongsheng Dawang, a sea god of the South China Sea), with the God of Wealth and Guandi also venerated; the temple's iconography and furnishings all belong to the Daoist system. The building is of exposed red brick, with mosaic floor tiles bordered in marble; the ceramic roof tiles were specially ordered from the Shiwan kilns of Foshan and shipped to Sydney. Inside can be seen a Chinese timber roof structure with exposed rafters and purlins, painted wall panels and carved wooden altar tables, with a skylit courtyard at the center and a sunken incense-burning pit below it. This temple and the See Yup Temple in Glebe are the only two Chinese temples in Sydney listed on a heritage register, and the two face in exactly opposite directions. It was extensively restored after fire damage in 1997–1998, with the roof tiles again specially ordered and reproduced from China. It remains in use today as a place of folk worship for the Gaoyao and Gaoming native-place community.
Highlights
- Founded by immigrants from Gaoyao and Gaoming counties
- Principal deity Hung Shing Tai Wong (a sea god of the South China Sea)
- Roof tiles from the Shiwan kilns of Foshan
- Extensively restored after fire damage in 1997–1998
- New South Wales State Heritage Register No. 1297