Located on the relics of a Jin dynasty (1115–1234) palace, Jingming Garden was established in the 19th year of the Kangxi reign of Qing Dynasty (1680) on Yuquan Hill as a detached palace, originally named Chengxin Garden and later renamed Jingming Garden. Jingming Garden is 1350 meters long from north to south and 590 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of approximately 650,000 square meters with six gates. The main gate, Nangongmen, has five pillars, while the West Chamber has three pillars each with left and right covered gates. It also has a square formed by three archways in front of gate. There are over 30 scenic spots in the garden, including ten temples and monasteries. Many of the rock caves and grottoes are related to Buddhist and Taoist, with four different forms of pagodas built on the hill, showing the strong religious atmosphere in the garden.

In the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign (1860), the gardens in the northwest suburb of Beijing were ravaged by Anglo-French allied forces, and Jingming Garden was not spared. Most of the buildings in the garden were destroyed, and some were partially restored during the Guangxu reign. Empress Dowager Cixi frequently visited Jingming Garden by boat during her residence in the Summer Palace. After the Revolution of 1911, the garden was briefly opened to the public, with some buildings restored. The scenic beauty of the lakes and mountains remains largely intact, still retaining its original characteristics as a palace garden.