Lin Fung Temple

This expansive temple complex played a pivotal role in one of the most consequential events in modern Asian history, and its story begins not with religion but with politics and the global opium trade. The Lin Fung Temple, also known as the Temple of the Lotus, was built in 1592 during the Ming Dynasty, and while it served as a traditional place of worship, it had a very unusual secondary function. It was the official lodging house for visiting Mandarins, the high-ranking Chinese officials who periodically travelled to Macao to oversee the territory's relationship with the Qing imperial court. It was in this capacity that the temple hosted its most famous guest. In September 1839, Commissioner Lin Zexu arrived in Macao and stayed at the Lin Fung Temple while carrying out one of the most dramatic diplomatic missions in Chinese history. Lin Zexu had been dispatched by the Daoguang Emperor to end the British opium trade that was devastating communities across southern China. He had already confiscated and destroyed over twenty thousand chests of opium in Canton, an act that would help trigger the First Opium War between China and Great Britain. During his stay at this temple, Lin Zexu...