Tianning Temple

Tianning Temple, located outside the Guang'an Gate in Xuanwu District, is one »of oldest temples in Beijing. It was called Guanglin Temple during the reign of Xiao Wen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and changed as Hongye Temple in the 2nd year under the reign of Ren Shou of the Sui Dynasty, and changed again as Heavenly King Temple during the reign of Kai Yuan of the Tang Dynasty. A pagoda was built in the temple during the Liao Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the temple was destroyed in wars except the pagoda. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt, and renamed as Tianning Temple in the 2nd year under the reign of Yong Le of the Ming Dynasty (1404).

Tianning Temple feces the south with a horizontal tablet hung over the main gate where the inscription of "Imperial Conferred Tianning Temple" was engraved. Behind the main .gate is the Maitreya Hall with a dragon-head and square-seat stone stele on each side. They were established to record the reconstruction of Tianning Temple during the reign of Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty. The pagoda, behind the hall and in the central axis of the temple, is a 13-storey octagonal brick pagoda with multi-eaves and solid body, totally 57.8 metres high. As a representative of Chinese multi-layer eave brick pagoda, it is a national cultural heritage under special protection.