Wanshou Temple

The Wanshou Temple (万寿寺) is a temple located at the Suzhou street in Beijing. In addition to being a Buddhist temple, the Wanshou Temple also houses the Beijing Art Museum.

It was built in 1577 during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty to store Chinese Buddhist scriptures; it also later became a permanent celebration place for the imperial families of the Ming and Qing dynasties. [http://www.world66.com/asia/northeastasia/china/beijing/museums Beijing Museums] ]

The Wanshou Temple was known as one of Beijing's most important temples, and it was declared as one of Beijing's "Key Cultural Heritage of Preservation" in August of 1979. The Beijing Art Museum housed in the Wanshou Temple has also collected and preserved precious historical relics such as bronze and jade articles of Shang and Zhou Dynasties (17th-3th centuries B.C), and ancient art treasures such as porcelains, earthenwares, enamels, carved lacquer ware, ivory carving, wood carving, and many relics from past dynasties.

Among the most important items displayed in the museum includes Chinese paintings and calligraphies from the Ming and Qing Dynasties since 1368 A.D, Chinese weavings and embroideries of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and ancient coins of China and foreign countries. Modern Chinese, Japanese and other Asian arts and crafts and paintings are also displayed in the museum.

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