Temple of Ancient Monarchs 历代帝王庙
阜成门内大街131号
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of West of the Imperial City
Another product of the Míng Jiājìng emperor’s revision and expansion of religious observance, the Lìdài Dìwáng Miào, its main hall long visible from the street, finally reopened to the public in 2001 after a 60-year period as a series of schools and a brief time as the headquarters of a Chinese version of the Red Cross.
When this temple was set up in 1530 it revived a tradition begun by the first Míng emperor in Nánjīng, and displayed for worship wooden tablets representing the founding emperors of the Hàn (汉, 206 BCE–220 CE), Táng (唐, 618–907), Sòng (宋, 960–1279), and Míng (明, 1368–1644) dynasties.
As the Qīng took over Běijīng in 1644 they moved to ease panic and provide a sense of continuity by placing a tablet here for the last Míng emperor (Chóngzhēn, r. 1628–44), who had hanged himself. They later added tablets for the Liáo (辽, 907–1125), Jīn (金, 1115–1234), and Yuán (元, 1271–1368) dynasties the Míng had ignored as aliens but from whose earlier ownership of Míng territory the related Qīng claimed legitimacy. By the time of the Qīng Qiánlóng emperor (ruled 1736–95) various halls had been added, which between them contained a total of 188 tablets representing past emperors and 79 other eminent ministers and generals. These dated right back to the mythical ‘three emperors and five sovereigns’ (三皇五帝, sān huáng wǔ dì) of pre-history, the creators of agriculture, writing, and other essential knowledge.
The wooden tablets were all destroyed during the 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, but the red and gold replicas are set out with the ‘three emperors’ in the centre and successive dynasties to either side forwards through history. The Jiājìng emperor built on a grand scale, and the magnificent double-eaved tablet hall is similar to those at the Tài Miào and Altar of Agriculture and worth seeing in its own right. The interior ceiling is unrestored, with some of the beams and other structural members left visible. Some subsidiary halls have been rebuilt, one containing an exhibition about the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns (this phrase is variously translated), and others exhibitions on various dynasties with touch-screen displays in English. Around the site there are grand stele pavilions, stoves for burning prayers, drum and bell towers — overall the atmosphere of a cast-off chunk of the Forbidden City.
There’s still potency in the idea of imperial power in China, let alone in that of the early founding deities, and it’s not unusual to see Chinese kow-towing here.
▶ Lìdài Dìwáng Miào, Fùchéng Mén Nèi Dàjiē 131, t 6612 0186, www.lddwm.com, 9am–3.30pm, Wed–Sun. ¥20. m Xī Sì (Line 4), Fùchéng Mén (Line 2) exit B. b to 白塔寺 : 13, 42, 101电车, 102电车, 103电车, 409, 603, 604, 612, 685.
The White Dagoba Temple is a short walk further west on the same (north) side of the road, across the next major junction (赵登禹路/太平桥大街, Zhào Dēngyǔ Lù/Tàipíng Qiáo Dàjiē) which together supposedly form Běijīng’s longest xiéjiē, or street at an angle to the main grid. The Guǎngjì Sì is just to the east.
Next in West of the Imperial City: Sex and the Citizen (story)
Previously: Guǎngjì Sì
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
