Central Temple

Central Temple

The Central Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Central Temple, located between the Shenyang Imperial Palace and Zhongjie Street, is a renowned structure at the central coordinate point of the Ming and Qing-era Shenyang ancient city. Since the Qing Dynasty, many legends have circulated among the locals about this temple, with one of the most widely told being the story of Guan Yu in the Central Temple protecting the emperor. The temple also enshrines the God of Land and the God of Mountain, and there are many widely circulated folk tales about them.

Some say it represents the "Taiji" at the center of the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams of Shenyang, while others claim it is one of the "Two Modes" in the Taiji diagram — one eye of the "Yin-Yang Fish."

The Central Temple is the smallest temple in Shenyang, covering an area of only half a mu. However, due to its location directly north of the Dazheng Hall of the Shenyang Imperial Palace, it sits precisely at the center of the Ming and Qing-era Shenyang ancient city, making it a site of great significance. Nowadays, visitors to the Central Temple often notice one phenomenon: although the temple is very close to the palace, the northern palace wall deliberately curves here, leaving a small open space outside the red wall behind the Dazheng Hall for the temple’s entrance. Legend has it that when the emperor built the Forbidden City, rather than demolishing this small temple located so close to the palace, he showed reverence for the deities enshrined within by issuing an imperial decree to “grant three feet of respect” to each of the deities worshipped there — Guan Yu, the God of Land, the God of Mountain, the City God, and the God of Wealth. Together, these amounted to a total of fifteen feet, and when combined with the existing street in front of the temple, they formed the open space seen today.