Huguo Guandi Temple in Beijing

Huguo Guandi Temple in Beijing

Overview

Huguo Guandi Temple (护国双关帝庙, Hùguó Shuāngguān Dìmiao) is a Daoist temple located at 167 Jia, Xisi North Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China.

Historical Background

Huguo Guandi Temple was built during the Jin Dynasty (金朝, Jīncháo) in the Dading era (大定年间, Dàdìng Niánjiān) from 1161 to 1189. Originally, it housed a stele erected in the first year of the Yuan Dynasty’s Taiding era (元朝泰定元年, Yuáncháo Tàidìng Yuánnián) in 1324 by Li Yong (李用, Lǐ Yòng), with the text composed by the Hanlin Academy scholar A’ER Wei (阿尔威, Ā’ěr Wēi). According to the Wu Lu (吴律) inscription from the third year of the Taiding era (1326), there was an old temple in the west market of the capital, which had fallen into disrepair. In the second year of Taiding (1325), it was funded for renovation by the Taiding Emperor (泰定帝, Tàidìng Dì) and the empress.

In the tenth year of the Ming Dynasty’s Zhengtong era (明朝正统十年, Míngcháo Zhèngtǒng Shínián) in 1444, the temple was rebuilt. Subsequently, it underwent renovations during the Ming Dynasty’s Hongzhi era (弘治十五年, Hóngzhì Shíwǔ Nián) in 1502, the Jiajing era (嘉靖十九年, Jiājìng Shíjiǔ Nián) in 1540, the Shunzhi era (顺治十八年, Shùnzhì Shíbā Nián) in 1661, and the Kangxi era (康熙三十九年, Kāngxī Sānshíjiǔ Nián) in 1700.

In the 1980s, the stone tablets from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were collected by the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum (北京石刻艺术博物馆, Běijīng Shíkè Yìshù Bówùguǎn). The temple now serves as a residential building.

Architecture

The temple faces east and is structured as follows:

Mountain Gate (山门, Shān Mén)

There is one gate with a stone archway inscribed with “Huguo Guandi Temple” (护国双关帝庙).

Main Hall (正殿, Zhèngdiàn)

The main hall consists of three rooms (with a projecting corridor). It measures 7.20 meters deep and 10.20 meters wide, featuring single-eaved three-bracket dougong (斗拱, Dǒugǒng) and a hipped roof with a raised ridge. The projecting corridor has a hanging gable roof with tube tiles. The hall originally housed a clay statue of Guan Yu (关羽, Guānyǔ) and a lacquer statue of Yue Fei (岳飞, Yuè Fēi), both of which are no longer present.