Lvzu Temple (吕祖宫)

Lvzu Temple was the temple of the god of fire built in the Ming dynasty and Ye heshi, a Taoist, rebuilt the temple as Lvzu Temple during the Xianfeng Period of the Qing dynasty. It is said Lv Dongbin (Lvzu) was born on April 4 of the lunar calendar, so the temple was full of people who believed in Taoism to celebrate the birthday of their god in old times.

Now this place is an un-known place for many people. It is one of the key relic sites of Xicheng District because of the well-preserved Qing-style buildings. There are 3 gods are worshiped here including Lv Dongbin, Zhao Gongming and Sun Simiao.

The god of the Lvzu Temple was Lvyan, also named Lv Dongbin, one of the “Eight Immortals”. It is said Lv was a scholar in the Tang dynasty. Once he failed the Jinshi Examination and came across with Zhong Liquan and Zhong gave him a pillow. Lv fell in asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and had a dream. In the dream, he passed the exam and became a prominent for 31 years then he was waived and had to leave the capital to a remote place. When he was singing about his life, he woke up and realized it was a dream. Then he was bored of his life and followed Zhong to learn Taoism.