Iron Lion Lane was named after a pair of iron lions, which once stood outside the gate of one of the important mansions in the street -- the former residence of Tian Wan, the father of one of the concubines of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. The iron lions remained outside this gate for over 300 years until 1926 when they were moved to the Drum Tower (Gulou). During that time, the mansion changed owners several times. In the Ming Dynasty, the Tians’ family home was known as the Garden of Heavenly Spring (Tianchunyuan). Later, under Emperor Kangxi of the Qing, it became the residence of marquis Zhang Yong, who had helped suppress anti–Qing rebellions. In the Daoguang period of the Qing (1821-1850), a man named Zhu Xi bought the Garden of Heavenly Spring for an extremely high price, and following extensive renovations, renamed it the Garden of Increasing Antiquity (Zengjiuyuan). His contribution as the eight major vistas, which still exist today.

To the north of the eastern end of Iron Lion Lane are two mansions that once served as the homes of Qing Dynasty princes. After the founding of the Republic in 1912, the Northern Warlord government’ s Ministry of the Navy and Ministry of the Army kept headquarters here. Sun Yat– sen died here on March 12, 1925. Yuan Shikai briefly had his presidential office in the Ministry of the Army before transferring it to Zhongnanhai (the Central and South Lakes.)

In 1924, following the so–called Zhifeng War between the warlords from Zhili in present Hebei Province and Fengtian (present Shenyang, Liaoning Province,) the Ministry of the Navy became Duan Qirui’ s“interim government”office. On March 18, 1926, outside its gate 42 petitioning students were shot and killed in what became known as the March 18th Student Movement. During the anti–Japanese war, the building served as headquarters of the Japanese army. Now it is part of the Chinese People’ s University, while the former Ministry of the Army is a public guest house.

Iron Lion Lane was formerly closely off at its east end; its western section much narrower than it is today. In 1954, when the east–west arterial roadway was being built, the lane was widened to form part of the 3.5–kilometer road that now stretches from Ping’ anli to Sitiao Street. The princes’ residences were left undisturbed, and the only difference is that the pair of stone lions before the Chinese People’ s University stands slightly further north than their iron predecessors.