We review our attempt at understanding the phase structure of lattice QCD with the Wilson fermion formulation at finite temperature, based on a spontaneous breakdown of parity-flavor symmetry. Numerical results demonstrating explicitly the spontaneous breakdown of parity-flavor symmetry beyond the critical line at both zero and finite temperatures are reported. The phase structure and order of the chiral transition are reported for N-j = 2,3, and 4 flavors, and the approach towards the continuum limit is discussed.