Qualla: Tanzhe Temple

Tanzhe Temple: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DING *_^, CC BY 2.0. There is a saying in Beijing: 'First came Tanzhe Temple, then came the city.' The chronology is not quite metaphorical. Founded in 307 during the Western Jin dynasty, the temple predates Beijing's establishment as an imperial capital by more than eight centuries. Nestled in the Western Hills about 45 kilometers from the city center, surrounded by mulberry trees and built above a dragon pool -- the two features that give the temple its name -- Tanzhe Temple has survived 1,700 years of dynastic cycles, and its more than 900 rooms and 638 halls still carry the architectural imprint of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

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Image: DING *_^ | CC BY 2.0

Tanzhe Temple: A Temple That Outlasted Dynasties

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit user:smartneddy, CC BY-SA 2.5. When the temple was first established in the first year of the Yongjia period, it was called Jiafu Temple. It would be renamed multiple times over the centuries, eventually becoming Xiuyun Temple under the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty. But the popular name stuck: 'Tanzhe' c...

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Image: user:smartneddy | CC BY-SA 2.5

Tanzhe Temple: The Princess Who Prayed Through Stone

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kikolipu, CC0. The Hall of Guanyin holds one of the temple's most evocative stories. Princess Miaoyan, a daughter of Kublai Khan, is said to have renounced the Mongol court in the 13th century to enter nunnery at Tanzhe Temple. According to tradition, she spent so many years kneeling in prayer ...

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Image: Kikolipu | CC0

Tanzhe Temple: Dragons on the Roofline

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Mahavira Hall, the temple's central structure, is 24 meters long and 33 meters wide, topped with double-eave hip roofs covered in yellow glazed tiles -- a designation of high status in Chinese architecture. Under the eaves, the Qianlong Emperor inscribed a plaque reading 'Fuh...

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Image: N509FZ | CC BY-SA 4.0

Tanzhe Temple: A Forest of Stone and Memory

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0. Beyond the main courtyards, nearly 70 tomb pagodas from different dynasties stand in a grove known as the Pagoda Forest. Built in styles ranging from stone columns to Tibetan overturned-bowl shapes, the pagodas house the remains of eminent monks and mark centuries of continuous B...

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Image: N509FZ | CC BY-SA 4.0