A small museum within the scenic area that documents the long history of imperial exile at Tianyahaijiao, tracing the stream of officials, scholars, and intellectuals who were sent here over fourteen centuries of Chinese dynastic history. The most famous of them — Su Dongpo (Su Shi), the Song dynasty poet and statesman who spent three years in Hainan after a political reversal — has a dedicated exhibit.
The museum is modest in scale but makes a genuine effort to explain the mechanics of imperial banishment: the offences that warranted it, the journey south, and the conditions of exile. Several poems composed here by exiled officials are reproduced in their original calligraphy, which gives a direct line to voices that were writing from a place they believed they would never leave. The English explanations are thin, so a basic knowledge of Chinese history helps.