Tin Hau Temple and the adjoining buildings in Yau Ma Tei form the largest temple compound in Kowloon. As a multi-functional place for worship, arbitration and study in the past, the compound was at the core of the lives of both Chinese boat people and land dwellers in Yau Ma Tei. The nearby Temple Street was named after it. The temple compound consists of five traditional Chinese buildings linked by interconnecting corridors. Tin Hau Temple was the first building constructed within the site and was completed in about 1878. The other four buildings – Kung Sor, Fook Tak Tsz and two Shu Yuen (schools) – were completed between 1894 and 1920.

In the early years of Hong Kong, free schools were operated in the form of private study halls. Temple donations were used to support traditional Chinese education and solve the problem of the shortage of school places. The Shu Yuen in the north end of the compound was built in 1897. It bore witness to the establishment of communal schools by the residents of Yau Ma Tei as early as the late nineteenth century to provide free education for the children of both boat people and land dwellers in the area. The Shu Yuen in the south end was completed in 1920. According to the historical records of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Tung Wah Hospital zealously supported the operation of the two Shu Yuen. The Shu Yuen in the north end housed Tin Hau Temple No. 1 Free School and Tin Hau Temple No. 2 Free School, and the Shu Yuen in the south end was named Man Mo Temple No. 14 Free School.

The curriculum of the Tung Wah free schools followed the education reforms and developments in the Mainland. For instance, owing to the abolition of the Imperial Civil Service Examinations in 1905, coupled with the New Culture Movement in the early twentieth century, education in the Mainland underwent a series of reforms, and the free schools of Tung Wah evolved accordingly. While reforms were implemented, the directors of Tung Wah demanded a revision of the free school curriculum, for they believed that the teachings of the Four Classics shall be everlasting and that the subject should not be withdrawn from the curriculum.  The curriculum of Tung Wah free schools thus retained the subject of Chinese Classics.

The free schools in Tin Hau Temple, Yau Ma Tei, were the epitome of education development in Hong Kong. They narrate a chapter in the history of the city, about the perpetuation of traditional Chinese education by private free schools, illustrating the diversified development of education in Hong Kong.

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday: 8am - 5pm

Address:
Temple Street near Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.

Enquiry Hotline:
(852) 2915 3488