Tianning Temple contains astronomical instruments.

It is reported that Tianning Temple in Changzhou has two astronomical scientific instruments, which are unique among the temples in China. It is placed on both sides of Danyong in the Hall of Ursa Major, with a stone tablet on the east side, which is called "face-to-face sundial"; The first thing in the west that looks like a countertop is called a "flat sundial". It can read out the time and solar terms according to the fan-shaped line diagram of the sun shining on the wall. It was designed in the 25th year of Jiaqing (1820) by Zhang Zuonan, a historian and former magistrate of Yanghu Lake (now Changzhou and Wujin), using the principle of astronomical calendar and absorbing the advantages of the European sundial introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty, according to the latitude of Changzhou.

According to experts' research, this kind of sundial is rare in the existing ancient sundials in China, so it has been included in the catalogue of ancient astronomical instruments in China.

Daxiong Hall is the most majestic and solemn hall of Tianning Temple. The temple is 25.8m high, with a building area of 103 1 m2. Surprisingly, the Hall of the Great Hero is so high and the roof load is so heavy that it is supported by 12 iron pear trees (Douglas fir) with a diameter of 80 cm and a length exceeding 10 m.. In the main hall, three resplendent altars and three glazed lamps hanging in the air are carved and assembled from basswood and camphor wood. The contents of the sculpture include flowers, beautiful fruits, birds and animals, operas and stories, scrolls and so on. Almost all the ridges and ridges on the roof are embedded with brick carvings. Its quantity and quality are beyond the reach of other temples in the south of the Yangtze River.