The Wuta Temple in the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum was originally named Zhenjue Temple., Next to the Beijing Zoo, it is located near Baishi Bridge outside Xizhimen, Haidian District, Beijing. It is a very hidden place and a very small museum. Free tickets every Wednesday.

Many people don't know about his existence. This museum was formerly a royal temple. With a long history, the Jingang Throne Tower of Zhenjue Temple is a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture that absorbs foreign architectural culture. Audiences who like stone carving art can learn a lot. There are many real cultural relics stored in the museum, with detailed introductions and are indeed very instructive. The indoor exhibition hall also has a multimedia introduction with pictures and texts.

The yellow-brown tower body faces the gate. In front of the tower, two thousand-year-old ginkgo trees with golden leaves guard the ancient tower, seemingly telling the vicissitudes of hundreds of years.

During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Bandida, a Buddhist monk from India who traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers to Beijing from the Western Regions, presented five golden Buddhas to Emperor Yongle. Zhu Di was moved by his pious spirit. It was ordered to build Zhenjue Temple in the suburbs of Changhe and was completed in 1473. During the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed "Zhengjue Temple" to avoid the taboo of Emperor Yongzheng. Qianlong held two birthdays for his mother here.

There are three theories about the destruction of Zhenjue Temple: The first one was burned down by the Anglo-French coalition forces in 1860, leaving only the King Kong Throne Tower built in the ninth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty. Second, during this period, the temple was damaged due to the Boxer Rebellion incident. The third type is that in 1927, the Beiyang government sold the temple to a merchant surnamed Huang for 2500 yuan. This man demolished all the halls and sold them as wood, destroying the royal temple that had lasted for more than 400 years. Today, only the King Kong Throne Tower and the two towering ancient trees in front of the tower are left.

King Kong Throne Tower This King Kong Throne Tower is entirely built of white marble and is covered with carvings. Due to the oxidation of the iron in the stone, it shows a light orange-yellow color. Among the five square towers with dense eaves, the one in the center is 13 stories high, and each at the four corners is 11 stories high. Just south of the middle tower, there is a glazed pavilion with two-story eaves. It looks very attractive. Facing south is the main entrance. You can enter the main entrance to visit some of the historical evolution of Zhenjue Temple.

There is a small compound bowl tower on top of the five towers, the large tower in the middle is made of copper, and the other four are made of stone. After the tower was completed, in order to protect the King Kong Throne Tower, all the stones on the surface of the tower were protected with "blood material". It is said that the "blood material" is completed by using pig blood, putty, flour and glutinous rice juice to mix well, and then brushing it on the body of the tower. After applying linen multiple times and painting it with large paint. Dark red traces can still be seen in the carved depressions.

There is a ginkgo tree in front and left of the main entrance of King Kong Tower, which is about the same length as the tower. It has been around for hundreds of years. It requires three people to hug it together and can be called a treasure of Zhenjue Temple. In autumn, the ginkgo leaves are half yellow, and the photos look super beautiful on the camera. Under the cover of two towering trees, it seemed that the edge was completely retracted. It is said that these two ancient ginkgo trees have been standing on both sides of the tower door since the completion of the King Kong Throne Tower, like two generals, guarding this Buddhist holy land.

Walking closer, I saw two stone lions on both sides of the road leading to the tower gate, which looked powerful and extraordinary. One of their left front paw caressed the lion cubs, saying "a chiseling cub"; the other front paw caressed the hydrangea ball, saying "rolling chiseling hydrangea ball." Behind the stone lion is the King Kong Throne Pagoda, which is covered with Buddha statues. It is said that this pagoda was built in the ninth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (1473). It consists of a tower base, a pavilion and five four-corner dense eaves towers. Walking to the tower gate, looking up, there was a plaque reading "Imperial Construction of the King Kong Throne Tower" on the main entrance of the tower. Exquisite animal patterns are carved on the eaves of the ticket door.

These animals are, from top to bottom, the roc golden-winged bird, the dragon girl, the divine whale, the auspicious beast, the lion, and the elephant. After careful observation, I found that the dragon girl next to the roc seemed to be dodging. Why do you have such an expression? It turns out that the dragon girl's predecessor was a snake, and the roc and golden-winged bird ate on snakes, so it had this attitude.

Since these six animals are put together, there will naturally be a unified name in Buddhism. What is this name? It turns out that when translating Sanskrit into Japanese, the last word of its name was "", so it was called "Six".

On the base, there are five floors of Buddhist shrines, and each shrine has a beautiful sitting Buddha embossed. The demeanor and gestures of each sitting Buddha embossed in each row are different. According to the commentator, Buddha's footprints are a treasure of the temple, and there is only one place in Beijing. However, due to cultural relics protection needs, it is no longer allowed to climb the tower, so it is impossible to see it. The Buddha's feet are engraved with a pair of convex carved Buddha's feet in the middle of the waist of Sumizuo in the south of the middle tower, with the center of the feet facing outwards and the blooming lotus flowers supported below. This kind of convex carved Buddha foot is the only place in temples in Beijing, and the Buddha foot in other places is concave.

There are some stone carvings or stone tablets on the east and west corridors of the entire Stone Carving Museum and the open space in front of them. There are always hundreds of them, large and small. Many of them were relocated here without place during the demolition process in Beijing City. Most of them are from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The more famous ones are the Shengsi Monument built for Wei Zhongxian. Many of the sculptures in the courtyard are authentic at first glance, and they are weathered and have no edges and corners.

The Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum was built here in 1987. This museum is different from other museums. Most of the collections here are collected from various places and are a collection of stone carvings. The Stone Carving Art Museum restores some historical culture and humanistic stories. It is a special museum for the collection, display, research, protection and utilization of stone carvings and cultural relics. The King Kong Throne Tower can be regarded as a representative work of the Ming Dynasty's architecture and stone carving art, and is also a model of the integration of Chinese and foreign cultures.

If you are not interested in stone carvings, it is worth the ticket price to visit the King Kong Tower. In the best time of autumn, under the blue sky, yellow ginkgo leaves surround the simple stone tower, and the persimmons on the persimmon trees are ripe and red, which is very beautiful. There are also many fine inscriptions standing quietly in the courtyard, waiting for people to discover their secrets.

[Transportation] Subway National Library Exit C, turn left along the river and walk for seven minutes. On the left side, on the right side is the gate of Beijing Zoo.
[Opening Hours] 9-16:30, closed on Mondays.
[Tickets] 20 yuan, free on Wednesday.
[Explanation] A deposit of 100 yuan for voice, and free explanations are available at 10:00 and 14:00 for manual explanations.
[Parking] There is a Beijing Zoo parking lot next to it, but the space is not large.
[What to watch] The best museum I have visited cannot be more beautiful in autumn, highly recommended! Qianlong once set up a venue here for Zhen Huan's 70th birthday!
[Five Pagoda Temple] combines Eastern and Western architectural styles and thought it was in Cambodia. You can visit the tower (no photos are allowed), but you cannot climb the tower. There are countless exquisite small Buddha statues carved on the tower, and the meditation gestures of every five Buddha statues are a cycle
[Ginkgo Tree] There are 600-year-old male and female ginkgo trees on the left and right sides of the temple. Now the leaves are yellow and green. The persimmon trees in the courtyard are covered with golden persimmons.