The monks pay attention to quiet and inaction, so most of the names of Buddhist temples also have a bit of a taste of birth. From this point of view, "Gokokuji Temple" is definitely a positive temple name. In fact, it is not surprising that it has long been associated with politics here. According to old legend, this is the old residence of the Yuan Dynasty Xiang Toto, and the clay sculptures of the Toto couple have been enshrined in the Temple of the Thousand Buddhas. It's just that after the vicissitudes, the clay statue has long been nowhere to be found. Later, the shogunate was changed into a temple and named Chongguo Temple. In the fourth year of Ming Xuande (1429), the temple was renamed Da Long Shan Temple. In the eighth year of Chenghua (1472), the temple was upgraded again, and the emperor gave the name "Dalongshan Huguo Temple", and the common people were troublesome, so they directly called it Huguo Temple.
In its heyday, the temple was large, with nine temples. According to the different functions of use, it is divided into two major building areas. Entering the mountain gate, from the halls of Vajrayogini, Tenno, Yanshou, and Chongshou to the Hall of the Thousand Buddhas, the front of the temple is the front of the temple. To the north from the Weeping Flower Gate, there are three major halls, plus the left and right annexes and stupas, which together form the rear of the temple. The main and secondary of the Huguo Temple are clear and symmetrical, and the design of the "front facing back sleeping" style is highly similar to the layout of the Forbidden City, which is extremely rare in Beijing temples.
On the third day of the first month of May in the 33rd year of Guangxu (June 13, 1907 AD), the lama Li Shibin of the Huguo Temple went to sleep after giving incense, and as a result, the incense burned the shrine, which eventually led to the fire of the Huguo Temple. After the fire was extinguished, a large huguo temple was almost burned down. The Gokokuji King Kong Hall, which is now hidden in the building complex, is the only survivor of the fire. Although the temple was destroyed, its popularity did not diminish. The temple fair here is open every seven or eight times a month, and it is still a place where the people of the old Beijing often come to consume.
After entering the Republic of China, the popularity of The Gokokuji Temple was much less than before. On the one hand, most of the people who come here to visit the temple fair are Manchu families. The Qing Emperor abdicated, and these bannermen also fell ill. Those who have no ability to buy in the middle of the road have gone to shop in new-style stores, and some well-off families have also gone shopping in new-style stores. The Temple of the Protectorate has gone wrong in its commercial positioning and has entered an awkward dilemma. Gokokuji Temple has always maintained the habit of opening the market according to the date of the lunar calendar. A large number of white-collar workers have to commute to work according to the solar calendar date. As a result, the opening day of the Gokokuji Temple is difficult to match with the rest day of mainstream society. Later, most of the people who came here to shop were housewives at the bottom
Flowers at the temple fair are a major feature, selling jasmine in the summer and daffodils in the winter, and more savvy merchants skewers jasmine and magnolias with fine copper wires into "flower strings" for peddling, which suddenly became a sought-after commodity for women to buy. Gokokuji Temple is located in the West City, surrounded by the residences of princes. Therefore, the food sold here can more or less carry some aristocratic elements. Whether it is pea yellow, kidney bean rolls or Ai wo wo, they are all known for their exquisite preparation of materials. After liberation, the government collected the tourist vendors and hawkers at the Huguo Temple and established the Gokokuji Temple Snack Bar. Nowadays, the snacks of Huguosi Temple are all over the capital and have become a domestic "fast food" that the people like to hear.