The Confucian Temple is where emperors of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties offered sacrifices to the Ancestor Confucius. Facing the Imperial College, the temple was built in the sixth year (1302) of the Dade reign in the Yuan Dynasty and underwent a number of renovations during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. With buildings constructed in three rows, the temple covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. Buildings constructed on the central axis include the Xianshi Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Chongsheng Gate and the Chongsheng Ancestral Temple. The central gate of Xianshi retained the typical style of the Yuan Dynasty, with big and thin dougongs (a system of brackets in Chinese building with wooden square blocks inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam). Roofs of the buildings were originally covered with cyan glazed tiles which were changed to yellow glazed tiles during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. Starting from Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, every new emperor had to write something on a horizontal tablet and hang it inside the Dacheng Hall. On both sides of the Xianshi Gate are 198 stone tablets with inscriptions written by successful candidates in the highest imperial examination of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. A total of 118 tablets were erected between 1646 and 1904, recording 51,624 candidates' names, birthplaces and examination places, providing precious historical insight into the study of the imperial examination system.

The Confucian Temple was rebuilt into the Capital Museum. A Beijing showroom was set up in the museum displaying a great number of valuable relics and documents between the Paleolithic Age and the Qing Dynasty -- all of which have distinct local features of Beijing. Over 80,000 other relics are also kept in the museum.