Gua Jia Temple is located near the Haihe River in Hexi District, Tianjin City, originally named Qing Guo Temple. It is said that Emperor Taizong of Tang, after a successful campaign against the Liao Dynasty, hung his armor in the temple, hence the name was changed to Gua Jia Temple. Throughout the dynasties, scholars, literati, civil and military officials have come to the temple to pay homage without hesitation.
In the twenty-eighth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Colonel Zhang Liangxiang, on a mission to the east, admired the reputation of Gua Jia Temple and passed by. He exclaimed: ‘When I return victorious, I will also hang my armor here.’ The plaque on the temple’s main hall reads ‘Universal Salvation,’ and to the left of the main hall is the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats. Gua Jia Zen Temple is very popular during festivals, well-known throughout Tianjin City. Every year on the 19th day of the second lunar month, as well as on the first and fifteenth days of each month, the temple gates are wide open for the devout from all over to burn incense, kowtow, and watch the flower fairs. The temple is open from 1/1 to 12/31 from 08:00 to 16:30.
