Wenzhengong Temple

　　The Wenzhengong Temple was built in honor of Wen Tianxiang, a renowned national hero and patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty.

　　After leading resistance efforts against the Yuan Dynasty in the final years of the Southern Song, Wen Tianxiang was captured and taken to the Yuan capital (present-day Beijing). He was imprisoned in the Earth Prison of the Military Command Headquarters for nearly four years, and was executed at the Caishi execution ground in 1283.

　　In the ninth year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1376), a memorial hall was constructed under the direction of the deputy surveillance commissioner. It was officially included in the state ceremonial calendar in the sixth year of the Yongle reign (1408). The site underwent renovations during the Xuande and Wanli eras of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods of the Qing Dynasty, and continued to be maintained through the Republican era.

　　The temple faces south and consists of three parts: the main gate, the hallway, and the main hall, covering an area of nearly 600 square meters. The hallway hosts an exhibition on the life of Wen Tianxiang, while the main hall displays preserved relics from the original temple as well as calligraphy and other artifacts by Wen Tianxiang. In the courtyard stands an ancient jujube tree whose branches lean toward the south, said to have been planted by Wen Tianxiang himself.

　　In 1979, the Wenzhengong Temple was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Beijing. It was renovated and opened to the public in October 1984. In 1995, it was refurbished primarily through donations from descendants of the Wen family.