Zhìhuà Sì 智化寺
禄米仓胡同5号
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of North and East of the Imperial City
The temple also houses the Běijīng Culture Exchange Museum (北京文博交流馆, Běijīng Wénbó Jiāoliúguǎn), but this amounts only to a rather superficial display in the rearmost hall. Reopened in 1997, this temple has few visitors and is pleasantly quiet. It was constructed in 1443 as the family temple of a rich Míng eunuch, whose statue stood here until removed by a disapproving Qīng official in 1742. The fúwùyuán say that it was on the orders of the Qiánlóng emperor himself, but that a small stele inside the rear main hall on the left carries his image. According to some accounts, the eunuch was executed only a few years after completing the temple, although there were repairs to it on several occasions later in the Míng and much rebuilding during the Qīng. The sweep of the roofs, with their deep blue tiles still retains a Míng flavour.
There are three courtyards altogether. The left hall of the first has a heavily carved rotating zhuǎnlún zàng (转轮藏), rack for storing scriptures of Míng date. It’s unique in Běijīng, and sits on a carved marble base. The temple’s original owner bought a complete copy of the Buddhist Tripitaka, stored in the Buddha-fronted sliding drawers of this octagonal device. The frame is carved with a zoo’s worth of exotic creatures, including winged goats, and sits beneath a superb red and black caisson ceiling.
The Jewelled Hall of the Great Heroes, or Zhìhuà Diàn, holds statues of Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha), 19 arhats, and others. The caisson ceiling now in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri (www.nelson-atkins.org) has been replaced with a photographic replica. Behind is a hall containing a Ming dynasty period mural (it says).
Towards the rear the two-storey hall, the Rúlái Diàn, contains an impressive 9m coppery seated Maitreya Buddha of the future. Up two short steep flights of dusty stairs the Tathagata Hall contains the Tathagata Buddha (‘Tathagata’ is one of the ten names of Buddha, and means ‘perfect’) sits with two attendants, under a thick layer of dust. It’s also known as the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall — the walls are lined with hundreds of small Buddhas in carved niches (the staff claim there are 9999), and further sutra slots.
This is a peaceful, little-visited site, well worth viewing both for the sutra storage rack and the statuary. The attendants are quite often asleep with their earphones on, and there are courtyard benches for you to take a break. There are views from a balcony down into the courtyard and across the roofs of neighbouring hútòng.
▶ Lùmǐ Cāng Hútòng 5, t 6525 3670, www.zhihuatemple.com, 9am–4pm. ¥20. m Dēngshì Kǒu (Line 5) exit C and walk E. b to 雅宝路: 特2, 机场3线, 特12内环, 特12外环, 44外环, 44内环, 609, 650.
Walk east along Gānmiàn Hútòng (干面胡同), off Dōng Sì Běi Dàjiē (东四北大街), and eventually cross Cháoyáng Mén Xiǎojiē (朝阳门小街) into Lùmǐ Cāng Hútòng.
The first 200 visitors on Wednesdays enter free. There’s an audio tour available for ¥10 (deposit ¥100), and 15-minute musical performances at 9am, 10am, 11am, and 3pm.
Next in North and East of the Imperial City: Poly Art Museum
Previously: Rì Tán Park
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
