Yonghe Temple

Categories: Monasteries | China

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

• Chinese :  雍和宮 yōnghégōng
• Manchu :  Hūwaliyasun hūwaliyaka gung
• Mongolian :  Найралт Найрамдах Сүм Nairalt Nairamdakh Suum
• Tibetan :  དགའ་ལྡན་བྱིན་ཆགས་གླིང་ Dga'-ldan Byin-chags-gling, Gàndên Chìnchagling

The Yonghe Temple, also known as the "Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple", the "Yonghe Lamasery", or - popularly - the "Lama Temple" is a temple and monastery of the Geluk School of Vajrayana Buddhism located in the northeastern part of Beijing, China. It is one of the largest and most important Tibetan monasteries in the world. The building and the artworks of the temple combine Han Chinese and Tibetan styles.

History

Building work on the Yonghegong Temple started in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty. It originally served as an official residence for court eunuchs. It was then converted into the court of the Prince Yong (Yinzhen), a son of the Emperor Kangxi and himself the future Emperor Yongzheng. After Yongzheng's ascension to the throne in 1722, half of the building was converted into a lamasery, a monastery for monks of Tibetan Buddhism. The other half remained an imperial palace.

After Emperor Yongzheng's death in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple. Emperor Qianlong, Yongzheng's successor, gave the temple imperial status signified by having its turquoise tiles replaced with yellow tiles which were reserved for the emperor. Subsequently, the monastery became a residence for large numbers of Tibetan Buddhist monks from Mongolia and Tibet, and so the Yonghe Lamasery became the national center of Lama administration.

The temple is said to have survived the Cultural Revolution due to the intervention of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. It was reopened to the public in 1981.

Architecture and artworks

The Yonghe Temple is arranged along a north-south central axis, which has a length of 480meter|m. The main gate is at the southern end of this axis. Along the axis, there are five main halls which are separated by courtyards: the Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Tian Wang Dian or Devaraja Hall), the Hall of Harmony and Peace (Yonghegong), the Hall of Everlasting Protection (Yongyoudian), the Hall of the Wheel of the Law (Falundian), and the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses (Wanfuge).

The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is the southernmost of the main halls, it served originally as the main entrance to the monastery. In the center of the hall stands a statue of the Maitreya Buddha, along the walls statues of the four Heavenly Kings are arranged.

The Hall of Harmony and Peace is the main building of the temple. It houses three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages, the statue of the Gautama Buddha (Buddha of the Present) is in the center, it is flanked by the statue of Kasyapa Matanga (Buddha of the Past, right) and the Maitreya Buddha (Buddha of the Future, left). Along the sides of the hall, the statues of the 18 Arhats are placed. A mural in the hall shows the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

The Hall of Everlasting Protection was Emperor Yongzheng's living quarters as a prince and the place where his coffin was placed after his death. Today, a statue of the Bhaisajya-guru (healing Buddha) stands in this hall.

The Hall of the Wheel of the Law functions as a place for reading scriptures and conducting religious ceremonies. It contains a large statue of Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk School. The hall also contains the Five-Hundred-Arhat-Hill, a carving make of red sandalwood with statues of the arhats made from five different metals (gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin).

The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses contains an 18m tall statue of the Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of White Sandalwood. The statue is one of three artworks in the Temple which were included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1993.

Location

The Yonghe Temple is located in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, near the northeastern corner of the Second Ring Road. The postal address is: 12 Yonghegong Dajie, Beixinqiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing.

Further reading

• Lessing, Ferdinand, and Gösta Montell. Yung-Ho-Kung, an Iconography of the Lamaist Cathedral in Peking: With Notes on Lamaist Mythology and Cult. Stockholm: 1942.

External links

• Lama Temple, Beijing, A Photographic Tour
• YongHeGong Lama Temple Gallery 50 high quality photographs, map and history
• Satellite photo of the Yonghe Temple, centered on the Hall of Everlasting Protection