Beijing Guan-Yue Temple

　　Guan-Yue Temple is situated on the north side of Gulou West Street in Xicheng District, Beijing. It was originally constructed as the Mansion Temple of Prince Chun, based on the regulations for royal residences, and was converted in 1914 to enshrine Guan Yu and Yue Fei, hence it came to be known as Guan-Yue Temple, also referred to as the Temple of Martial Deities.

　　During the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty, this site was originally a family temple built for Prince Chun, the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang. As Prince Chun Zaifeng was both the Prince Regent and the Emperor’s father, his family temple was particularly grand. On November 20, 1891 (January 1, 1892 in the Gregorian calendar), Yixuan passed away, and on December 26 of the same year, Emperor Guangxu issued an edict deciding to build a temple, establish a shrine, and construct a tomb for Yixuan. The Temple of Prince Chunxiang was constructed in the 17th year of Guangxu (1892) and completed by the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), although Prince Chunxiang was never enshrined there. The construction of the Temple of Prince Chunxiang began in the 17th year of Guangxu (1891) and was completed in the 25th year (1899).

　　The temple faces south and is divided into three courtyards, with an east-west wing courtyard in the central courtyard. The central axis features a glazed screen wall, a central gate, outer eight-character walls, and a glazed gate on each side. The central courtyard has an incense burner on the east and a ceremonial utensil pavilion on the west. The main hall consists of seven bays, with a moon platform in front, and five-bay side halls on the east and west. The rear shrine has five bays. The total construction area is over 3,000 square meters. In the third year of the Republic of China (1914), the Beiyang government placed statues of Guan Yu and Yue Fei in the rear shrine and enshrined both Guan and Yue, renaming the site Guan-Yue Temple. In 1939, the Temple of Martial King (Wu Cheng Wang Miao), or simply Martial Temple (Wu Miao), was reinstated. The main hall was renamed Martial King Hall (Wu Cheng Dian), and the former Guan-Yue Hall became Martial Virtue Hall (Wu De Tang). The northern, eastern, and western walls of the hall are inlaid with stone carvings commemorating 80 historical generals who were honored as attendants of the Martial King, 16 of which still survive.

　　In May 2006, Guan-Yue Temple was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level as a Qing Dynasty architectural heritage.

Beijing Guan-Yue Temple is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.