Story of the 'Jing: What's the Deal With the Old Red Gate on Ghost Street?

In Story of the 'Jing, we look at the history and tales of our fair city and how they inform the capital as we know it today.

Ever walked (or stumbled) down Gui Jie and wondered why there is a red doorway and a stone tablet right in the middle of the sidewalk? The doorway doesn't go anywhere, and the stone stele is almost completely faded. Still, there they are, blocking your journey to 24-hour spicy crayfish/stewed bullfrog/Chongqing hotpot Nirvana.

These architectural relics of an earlier time in the city's religious history are all that remains of the Eastern Temple to the Medicine King, built over four centuries ago when Beijing was the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

The historian Susan Naquin, whose 2001 door-stopper Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400-1900, is the best English-language resource on Beijing's religious culture in the late imperial period, estimated that there were over 2500 temples and shrines constructed in Beijing during the Ming and Qing era. Of those, well over 1000 were around when the last emperor abdicated in 1912. A few of these temples are still intact — or have been rebuilt — and are open to the public today. Sadly, all that remains for most of the city's historical religious sites are doorways, a plaque, old crumbling steles, or neighborhood memories of "the shrine that used to be around here somewhere; ask Mr. Li, he's really, really old and he might know where it was."

The Eastern Temple of the Medicine King on Dongzhimen Inner Street is part of this latter group. The red gate and stone tablet (commemorating the temple's construction during the Wanli Era from 1572-1620) are all that are left of the original structure.

According to historical records, the Eastern Temple was one of many shrines and temples to the Medicine King scattered around Beijing. A survey in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor listed ten Medicine King temples in the capital. The Eastern Temple was one of the smallest, with the front of the temple stretching from about from where the gate is today east to the front of the Huajia Yiyuan Restaurant.

Despite its relatively small footprint, the Eastern Temple did have three main halls and a few minor side pavilions. As with many Beijing temples, the enshrined deities represented an eclectic mix of traditions. The main halls included altars dedicated to mythological heroes Shen Nong and Fu Xi, as well as revered historical physicians like Hua Tao (140-208), Zhang Zhongjing (150-219), and the sixth-century alchemist and herbalist Sun Simiao. Other halls honored the Bodhisattva Guanyin, contained icons of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas associated with medicine and healing, and housed an image of Sakyamuni. Overseeing this ecumenical emporium of health and healing was a Daoist abbot, who maintained the complex with a small staff.

Perhaps as famous as the altars and icons were the fairs associated with the temple. A regular market was held on the first and fifteenth days of the month. Peddlers and traders set up their stalls, spread blankets on the ground, or wandered the temple's courtyards hawking their wares.

These bi-monthly markets were nothing compared to the annual blow-out on the Medicine King's birthday, celebrated on the 28th day of the fourth lunar month (which corresponds to late May or June, depending on the year). Pilgrims from all over the city visited their favorite Medicine King temple (or even traveled around the capital to da ka at a few different ones). Even though it was smaller than some of the other Medicine King temples, the area around Eastern Temple was still a riot of activity with worshippers, incense sellers, food and beverage stalls (suanmeitang was a particularly popular item), merchants, performers, and, of course, physicians and herbalists touting their never-fails-always-works cures for whatever ails you.

By the 1930s and 1940s, the temple had gradually fallen into disrepair. Parts of the complex were rented out for other purposes, and the buildings suffered from a lack of funds for maintenance. By 1949, only one Daoist priest still lived there. As the new government renovated the area, the temple gave way to residential buildings, newly-widened roads, restaurants, and modern shops. In 2003, the 2.4-meter-tall remnant stone stele was discovered by construction workers, repaired, and placed next to the gate, which also required extensive reconstruction following years of neglect.

So, as you walk down Dongzhimen on your way to Gui Jie or wherever your night takes you, and you see the forlorn red gate on the side of the road, take a minute to consider an earlier time in Beijing's history. This old gate was just one entrance to just one shrine in a city full of temples and religious life, each the center of their own network of merchants, traders, worshippers, and clergy; part of a rich, vibrant mosaic and diverse urban culture that once characterized Beijing.d

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About the author:

Jeremiah Jenne earned his Ph.D. in Chinese history from the University of California, Davis, and taught Late Imperial and Modern China for over 15 years. He has lived in Beijing for nearly two decades and is the proprietor of Beijing by Foot, organizing history education programs and walking tours of the city.

READ: Story of the 'Jing: Just How Old is the City of Bejiing

Images: Jeremiah Jenne