Fahai Temple is located at the southern foot of the Cuiwei Mountain, at Shijingshan District of the western suburbs of Beijing which is adjacent to the Moshikou Village, the first post house of the Ancient Camel Road. The temple was first built by the Board of Works in the 4th year of Emperor Zhengtong, Ming Dynasty (1439A.D.), and it took roughly four years to complete the whole construction. The funds for construction was raised by Litong, a favorite official eunuch of the Ming Emperor, Emperor of Yingzong bestowed a horizontal tablet with his inscription “Fahai Zen Temple”.
The ten large well-preserved murals in the Mahavira Hall of Fahai Temple are well known throughout the world. According to the assessment of the experts, the murals of Fahai Temple represent the highest mural art standard of Ming Dynasty as the works made by Royal artists since Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty were rarely left throughout the centuries. The murals of Fahai Temple is not only comparable with the frescoes of Dunhuang and Yongle Palace, they are also sharing the similar standard with the rival Western masterpieces of the Renaissance. They are the marvelous representatives of the ancient Capital-Beijing, and resplendent pearls of the history of art.
The officials of Han and Zang nationality including officials who are monk has contributed a lot in designing the overall arrangement of the yard and Hall of Fahai Temple. As a result, their hard work had therefore outcome with a record of unique temple construction history of Beijing. Besides the murals were painted by gold dust, the design of coffered ceiling is superior as well. Moreover, the old Whitish-barked Pines that aged over one thousand years as well as the Bronze Bell and the Bridge of Four are all unique out of its kind. Fahai Temple is one of the main state protected historical sites of China as well.