East Dajie, untill the next large intersection one city block further to the West. Here Luomashi Dajie turns into Guang'AnMen Nei Dajie, the Eastern Section of Guang'An Men Dajie. The Bao Guo Temple is located just one more city block to the West, across the next intersection and about a 100 meters up the Hutong from a white marble and painted PaiLou, one of the few such remaining within the City. Another road would be to come down one city block from XuanwuMen, which is the location of the Southern Cathedral (Nan Tang), turn right and West into Guang'AnMen Nei Dajie, then take the first minor Hutong leading North from the Boulevard. At the end of
The marble Archway designating the Hutong with Bao Guo Temple Gate at end of Alley. Lower inscription : Bao Guo Temple Cultural Market
An easy athmosphere inside the Hutong or Alley. To the South are busstling main roads of Beijing ( Guang AnMen NeiDajie ) and Ox Street with its most well-known Mosque of Beijing ( and possibly China ).
Buying Fresh and Hot Sweet Potato , a favorite Hutong Snack , in Front of Bao Guo Temple Gate. Here, Somewhat off the main boulevard the piece and quiet of the hutong return.
Inside The Temple Gate. Bao Guo Temple is small Temple only wellknown for its Cozy Temple Curiosa Market.
Stone Carved Stele carried on the back of aTurtle , one of the Mythical Animals representing Longevity. Dated to the Ming Dynasty, 1466 AD.
Very Nice Stone Carved Flowery Scrub , a decorative stone-carving found hidden in one of the Fair Grounds Corners.
The regular Traditional Wooden Temple Main Prayer Hall, now in use as a Coin Fair & Trade. Many Chinese Coins and Stamps inside.
The Curiosa Market in the Temple Square closing up after a busy afternoon's trading.
Bao Guo Temple Flea-Market in Beijing. In the Background the Tasteless drab highrises of Modern Xuanwu ( and Fengtai).
Read all about what's going on at Bao Guo Temple around the week and month. Unfortunatly, if you can't decipher Mandarin Chinese it does you no good, whatsoever. Its a coin, stamp and general market with History.
ChinaReport.comat
Not much information is available on the small Bao Guo Temple, located just North off Guang'An Men Dajie', inside a Hutong of the Xuanwu District. The Bao Guo Temple is not listed in any issue of Lonely Planet, nor any other guide book to the City of Beijing, we have come across, so far. The Temple and its grounds are however an interesting attraction, especially when combined with visits to nearby Ox Street (Niu Jie') Mosque and the Temple of the Source of the Law (FaYuan Si), located just a small distance further away. As a local Temple the Bao Guo Temple only serves a minor function, however as a Temple Market this location regularly brings in the crowds from all over the surrounding neighborhood. Find Bao Guo Temple immediatly South of the Xuanwu Art Garden, in the XiBianMen
As you may have already sensed from the above, regardless of its lack of mention in official tourguides to Beijing, Bao Guo Si, meaning Protecting the Country Temple or Recompense the Country Temple, is one of the many famous Temples in Beijing. Originally constructed 540 years ago, in 1466 AD, the second year of Chenghua Reign of the early Ming Dynasty it has a longstanding history and a direct connection with the history of the Silk and Trade Road to Beijing. Still inside the Temple, some distance inside the Main Gate stands a white marble stele carried on the back of a tortoise. The Stele stands as a monument of the of the temple founding in 1466 AD.
neighborhood of North-West Xuanwu District. The Temple is especially easy
to find and
navigate to when
keeping to our directions to nearby Niu Jie Mosque. Initial directions are similar. Find the main traffic artery running east-west through Xuanwu District, south of the Northern District border which runs as the 2nd ring road through HepingMen and XuanwuMen, delineating the north border of Xuanwu District. The Main East-West Artery consists from east to west of Zhushikou East
Zhushikou West Boulevard. From here follow through to the West on Luomashi ->
this Hutong stands Bao Guo Temple and its significant Main South Entrance. It's surroundings are the XiBianMen neighborhood and its Hutong.
Untill at least the year 1937 AD, the main boulevard you have just left, Guang'An Men, was an important road regularly navigated by Camel Caravans arriving into the City through Western Chang I Men (now demolished), heading for Islamic Traders located in this special area of the Xuanwu District, then kown as the LiuHe Islamic Village. Naturally, the nearby Mosque would be an important stop-over point for all arriving Muslim Travelers, after which they might finally have some rest from their rough travels and find some leisure in the nearby Hutong. Just a 100 meters to the East of here leads ChangChun Dajie', winding North and somewhat East, and to the South leads Ox Street, the traditional centre of culture and
community activity of the former Liu He Islamic Village.
During the early Ching Dynasty a well-visited Temple Fair was held at Bao Guo Temple each month, following the Lunar Calendar. Later during the Ching Dynasty Bao Guo Temple and Market were the place where flowers were traded. The Flowers were brought in from the then still undeveloped area's and hutong gardens of the surrounding Xuanwu District, where they were grown in large quantities. At that time nearby Ox Street was a wide street along which orchards and flower gardens abounded.
Still later during the Ching Dynasty, the first antique books market in the history of Beijing was opened at Bao Guo Temple, which was considerably earlier than the Antique Shops at Liulichang street, now famous as the antiques street in the City of Beijing. Not much of the original structures remain however.
Originally named Da Baoguo Ciren Si (Si=Temple) upon its founding in 1466 AD, the structures were later renamed as Gu Tinglin Temple. In 1843 AD, during the reign of Emperor Daoguang of the Ching Dynasty, the poets He Shaoji and Zhang Mu were instrumental in collecting funds to convert the house in the Temple into a memorial to Gu Yanwu. In 1922 AD, extensive renovations were done on the Temple, which was by then again known as Bao Guo Si, and the commemorative inscriptions of one Xu Shichang (1855 AD -1939 AD), a president in the Northern Warlord government, were imprinted on a wall inside. Most recently, as a part of the extensive renovations of the Xuanwu District and the Minority Village of Beijing, the Beijing municipal government has undertaken repairs on the Baoguo Temple in the year 2002 AD. In the process the Temple was designated a key Cultural Protected Site
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Currently there is a popular stamp and coin market housed and held daily inside the temple. According to sources the market is liveliest on Thursday and Saturday mornings.
“learned from the text”, “think before acting”, and participated in the struggle against the newly arisen, alien and non-native Han Qing Dynasty. As such, he put himself in considerable danger, which later turned out to be quite literally over his head. After his death by Suicide (on Feb. 15, 1682, Quwo, Shaanxi province), many celebrities attended services and ceremonies held at Bao Guo Temple. Among his famous works titles as Notes on the Daily Accumulation of Knowledge and The Strategic Economic Advantages of Districts and States of the Empire. Even today he is still memorialized at the west-wing of his Former Residence here. In addition, services are held each spring and autumn to commemorate the Scholar and a special service is held on Gu Yanwu's birthday, July the 15th.
Other Former Residences of Celebrities nearby are Yang Jiaoshan Temple, a shrine after the Death of its former inhabitant Yang Jiaoshan, a famous minister in Jiajing regime of the Ming Dynasty. He was dismissed
from his office for writing a “Proposal on Stopping the Horse Market”. After resisting larger powers he was finally forced to commit suicide but interestingly sometime afterwards his righteousness and integrity was praised and worshipped by famous officials and scholars. As such he became a political icon and symbol in use for many hundreds of years, untill this very day.
Another worthwhile Celebrity Residence to visit is the former home of Kang Youwei, some distance away at the Nanhai Guild Hall, a large wooden structure at Mishi Hutong. Or find Shaoxing Guild Hall, the first Beijing Home of great modern literateur, ideologist, and revolutionary writer Lu Xun at No. 7 Nan Banjie Hutong, west of XuanwuMen (Wai), now a museum.
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An example of some of the coins traded at Bao Guo Temple, a silver dollar from the years of Empress-Dowager Cixi at the end of the Ching Dynasty. It's still in reasonable shape.
In the western courtyard of Bao Guo Temple, away from the crowds of the daily market some additional history is hidden. The fact is not very well advertized, not even inside the BaoGuo Si, but it so happens that the Temple Grounds, specifically the west wing, once served as the home of Gu Yanwu. Gu, was a native of Kunshan in current day Jiangsu Province, born in the year 1613 AD. Familiar with national classics, county stories, astronomy, instruments, farmers and soldiers, he was a famous and popular scholar during the early Ching Dynasty, who wrote numerous articles. Among things, he advocated the “integration of learning and application”-
under Government Protection by the City of Beijing.
Dwell around the market enjoying a browse for curiosa, or better yet, find a fine specimen somewhere among the traded coins or stamps. If not in the mood for such, have a look at around the Hutong, stroll down south to Ox Street and its Mosque or move on to FaYuan Si, nearby. As mentioned there are some Celebrity Homes dotting the area too.
