Note: So as not to over-load these image-galleries, I’ve put photos from other shrines at the same town on a separate page, accessed here.
Structure Type: Village Temple 村廟 。
Location: Ever-Peaceful Town, Yanqing District, Beijing City 北京市延慶區永寧鎮. The temple is located on a side-street in the south-west quadrant of the old walled town.
Period: 17th century. The present keeper of the keys at the temple told us that, in his childhood, a plaque hung on the wall of the temple which gave the following story. The temple was originally a Ming Dynasty military banner temple 旗纛廟. When the Qing armies took the Beijing area, the military temple was re-purposed as a Temple to the Fire God 火神廟. Thus the murals should date from this early Qing period (1644 onward), when they were repainted by an artist familiar with the temple’s original use. I have no proof that this story is true, but I would tend to believe it – the style of the murals seems early-Qing to me, and the murals have a unique combination of the Fire God 火神 in the upper register and scenes of late-Ming/early-Qing warfare in the lower registers.
Artist: Unknown.
Mural Contents: These murals are very unique. On the upper level (the world of the gods) we see the God of Fire 火神 processing out with retinue and magic fire-wheels 火輪. On the lower level (the world of humans) we see an extraordinary panorama of troops at war. On the left-hand wall they march out out from fortress gates, blasting at each other with arrows and early “fire-gourd” 火葫蘆 firearms. On the right-hand wall they return, marching in good order. I’ve never seen anything like these elsewhere; among other things, it’s a beautiful confirmation of the suggested link in many of these “procession” or “capturing the evil ones” murals between the exorcistic expeditions of the gods and actual human violence.
Other Notes: The murals are faded and the surface is slightly reflective, making it difficult to get good images with the flash. I’ve upped the light and contrast in most of the below images so the details are visible.
Highlight Gallery
Full Gallery
