Tanzhe Temple existed before the city of Beijing

Tanzhe Temple is located at the foot of Tanzhe Mountain in the southeastern part of Mentougou District, Beijing. It is the oldest recorded temple in Beijing. The temple is commonly known as Tanzhe Temple because it is famous for the Dragon Pool and the wild mulberry trees. Tanzhe Temple was originally built in the first year of Yongjia of Emperor Huai of the Western Jin Dynasty (307 AD), initially named Jiafu Temple. During the Wansui Tongtian period of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (696-697 AD), the monk Huayan rebuilt the temple centered on the dilapidated Jiafu Temple and renamed it 'Longquan Temple'. Emperor Xizong of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Dan, visited Tanzhe Temple to offer incense and worship Buddha in the first year of Huangtong (1141 AD), and allocated funds for the renovation and expansion of Tanzhe Temple, renaming it 'Dawanshou Temple'. He was the first emperor to visit Tanzhe Temple to offer incense. By the Ming Dynasty, Tanzhe Temple underwent several renovations over its more than two hundred years of history. In the thirty-first year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1692 AD), Emperor Kangxi allocated funds to renovate Tanzhe Temple. In the thirty-sixth year of Kangxi (1697 AD), Emperor Kangxi personally bestowed the temple name 'Chijian Xiuyun Zen Temple', and from then on, Tanzhe Temple became the largest royal temple in the Beijing area. Most of the existing buildings in the temple are relics from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Tanzhe Temple is located on the southern slope of Baozhu Peak, facing south with the back to the north. The temple covers an area of 0.025 square kilometers inside and 1.12 square kilometers outside, plus the surrounding forests and mountains managed by Tanzhe Temple, the total area exceeds 1.21 square kilometers. The temple buildings are built according to the mountain terrain, high in the north and low in the south. The entire temple is divided into several major parts: the central route, the east route, the west route, and the pagoda courtyard, forming the core architectural group of Tanzhe Temple. Tanzhe Temple is one of the birthplaces of early Buddhist culture in Beijing, and there is a folk saying in Beijing, 'Tanzhe Temple existed before the city of Beijing.' Its architectural scale is also among the largest of the temples in the capital.