Guozijian Street

Guozijian Street

Guozijian Street is a cultural heritage conservation site of Beijing.

Located in Andingmennei, Dongcheng District, Beijing, Guozijian Street is an east-west alley. During the Qing Dynasty, it was called "Chengxian Street" (Street of the Accomplished), named after the nearby Confucius Temple and the Imperial College (Guozijian), and also known as Guozijian Hutong. On June 14, 2008, this historic street with over 700 years of history regained its “former face.” After restoration, the Confucius Temple and the Imperial College were returned to their historical layout and regulations, and were officially reopened to the public. The Beijing Confucius Temple and Imperial College Museum was also formally inaugurated.

Guozijian Street had already taken shape during the Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, it was called "Guozijian and Confucius Temple." In the Qing Dynasty, it was called Chengxian Street. After the Republic of China, it was referred to as Guozijian. In 1965, it was officially named Guozijian Street. There are four memorial archways on Guozijian Street — one at each of the east and west entrances, inscribed with “Chengxian Street.” During the Cultural Revolution, they were temporarily renamed “Hongri Beilu Jiu Tiao” (No. 9 Hongri North Road), but later reverted to their original name. The street is lined mostly with single-story residential houses, preserving the old Beijing alleyway ambiance. In 1984, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural heritage conservation street. Many of the surrounding hutongs are related to the Guozijian, such as Guoxue Hutong and Jianchang Hutong.

Guozijian Street is the only remaining street in Beijing that still has memorial archways. There are four archways on the street — one at each of the east and west ends, inscribed with “Chengxian Street,” and one on each side near the Guozijian, inscribed with “Guozijian.” There are also several notable structures along the street, including the Han Wen Gong Ancestral Hall dedicated to the great Tang Dynasty literary figure Han Yu, the Huoshen Temple originally built in the Ming Dynasty, and the Zaojun Temple dedicated to the Kitchen God.

This street features a total of four overstreet memorial archways: one at each of the east and west ends, both inscribed with “Chengxian Street”; and one on each side near the Guozijian, both inscribed with “Guozijian.” On the north side of each archway, there are stone tablets inscribed with “All civil and military officials must dismount here,” carved in both Manchu and Chinese. Since the east side houses the Confucius Temple and the west side the Imperial College (Guozijian), it conforms to the ancient layout regulation of “temple on the left, college on the right.”

In addition to the above structures, there are several temples on this street. In Guoxue Hutong No. 31, located behind the Guozijian, there is a temple dedicated to Han Yu, known as the Han Wen Gong Ancestral Hall. Han Yu (768–824), from Nanyang, Dengzhou (in today’s Henan Province), style name Tuizhi, passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of the Zhenyuan era (792 AD) during the Tang Dynasty. He held positions such as Censor-in-Chief, Libationer of the Imperial College, Vice Minister of War, and Vice Minister of Personnel. His erudition spanned the Six Classics and various schools of thought, and his writing was vigorous and powerful, earning him reverence and the posthumous title “Han Wen Gong.” A temple was established here, likely because students studying at the Guoxue wished to receive Han Yu’s blessing. The temple faces south and consists of a temple gate, main hall, and east and west wing rooms, forming a traditional courtyard structure. The temple gate features a large hip-and-gable roof with decorative ridge tiles; the main hall has three rooms under a similar roof with painted brackets. Outside the gate stands an iron incense burner, and there is a stone incense burner in front of the hall. The hall enshrines a statue of Han Wen Gong. Today, the main hall remains, but the ancestral hall and wing rooms have been demolished, and the area now serves as storage for the Guoxue Hutong Primary School.

On the south side of Guozijian Street are two more temples. To the west is the Shenmiao Temple (now at No. 78), originally built in the Ming Dynasty. Its main structures include a mountain gate, main hall, front hall, and east and west wing halls. The main hall was used to worship the Fire God, as well as Guan Yu, the God of Wealth, Lu Ban, the Medicine King, and the Medicine Sage. Originally, there were three stone tablets, but they are now missing — repurposed as steps or embedded in walls by residents, so their contents are unknown. Though the halls remain, they have been significantly altered, with makeshift sheds cluttering the courtyard, making it difficult to discern their original appearance. Only the mountain gate retains traces of its former role as a temple.

Further east from the Fire God Temple (now at No. 40) lies the Zaojun Temple. The original temple had a single mountain gate and three main halls, all with hip-and-gable roofs and decorative ridge tiles, featuring front corridors adorned with painted brackets. The rear hall enshrined the Kitchen God. There used to be a stone tablet commemorating the temple’s reconstruction during the Xuantong era, but it has since disappeared. The site is now used by the Guoxue Hutong Primary School. The rear hall still exists, but the mountain gate has been demolished.

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Heritage Conservation Units in Beijing