Beijing Dongyue Temple

The Beijing Dongyue Temple (zh-cp|c=北京东岳庙|p=Beijing Dongyue Miao) is a
Daoist (Taoist) temple in the Chaowai area, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. The temple is dedicated to the God of Mount Tai (zh-cp|c=东岳大帝|p=Dongyue Dadi). Founded during the
Yuan Dynasty, it is the largest temple of the Zhengyi school of Daoism in northern China and protected as a National Key Cultural Relict. The temple also serves as the Beijing Folk Customs Museum.

History

Dongyue Temple was founded in 1319. Zhang Liusun (1248-1321), a Yuan official and descendant of the daoist founder Zhang Daoling, raised money and acquired the land for the temple, who died shortly afterwards. His disciple, the daoist master Wu Quanjie (1269-1346) continued the construction. In 1322, the main halls and the main gate was completed. The temple was repaired and given its present name in 1447 during the reign of the Ming emperor
Yingzong. During the Qing Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt twice, in 1698 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and again in 1761 during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. The temple also underwent expansion during the Qing Dynasty. The temple was damaged during the 20th century. It served as a school, government offices, and housing for hundreds of people until 1996, when it was declared a national treasure (State Council resolution number 4-113 of November 20th, 1996). The temple was restored in 2002 at a total cost of 5.8 million yuan.

Layout

The temple is organized around 3 main courtyards, it has 376 rooms and covers 4.7 hectares. The courtyards hold a collection of stone tablets. About 140 stone tablets dating from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties as well as from the Republican of China are thought to have once stood in the temple, 90 tablets remain today. Among the remaining tablets is a Yuan-Dynasty tablet with calligraphy by Zhao Mengfu. This tablet is the only remaining piece in a set of four, its inscription give an account of the life of the temple founder Zhang Liusun and consists of 2786 characters in total. The three main halls of the temple are Yude Hall, Daizongbao Hall, and Yuhaung Hall. Yude Hall displays statues made from Jinsi Nanmu wood, among them statues of the gods of heaven, earth, and water. The temple once contained more than 3000 steles in total of which about 1000 have been preserved. Surrounding the central courtyard is a succession of snallrooms that open to the courtyard and each display an ensemble of plaster statues depicting oneof the "departments" of the Daoist supernatural world. An archway with three gates and a cover of green and yellow glazed tiles that also belongs to the temple complex has been separated by the public road.

Location

The address of the temple is 141 Dongyue Miao, Chaowai Dajie, Chaoyang District, Beijing. It is located about 500 meters east of the Chaoyangmen subway station.

ee also

*Other Dongyue temples

References

* [http://www.geissfoundation.org/insider_beijing/temples_graphics/dongyue/dongyue_temple.htm article by the Geiss Foundation]
* [http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_24224.htm article at chinaculture.org]