The Lama Temple was a palace for eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. In the 33rd year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1694), Prince Yong's Palace was built. In the third year of Yongzheng's reign (1725), it was promoted to a temporary palace and renamed Yonghe Palace. In the ninth year of Qianlong's reign (1744), it was changed to the Upper House of the Yellow Sect of Lamaism and became the center for the Qing government to manage Lamaism affairs.
The Lama Temple faces south and covers an area of ??6.6 hectares. Its architectural style is very unique, integrating the architectural arts of Han, Manchu, Mongolian and other ethnic groups. The entire temple building is divided into east, middle and west roads. The middle road consists of a seven-entry courtyard and a five-story hall forming the central axis. There are also various auxiliary halls and auxiliary buildings on the left and right. ?
Extended information:
The Lama Temple is located in the northeast corner of the inner city of Dongcheng District, Beijing, to the east of Yonghegong Street Road. It is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing. In 1983 It has been designated as a national key temple by the State Council.
On August 23rd of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), Emperor Yongzheng died in the Old Summer Palace, and Aisin Gioro Hongli came to the throne. Emperor Qianlong changed the old system of the Qing Dynasty and placed his father's coffin in the Yonghe Palace in September of the same year. Yonghe Palace thus ended its ten-year history as an imperial palace.
In the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), Yonghe Temple was officially converted into a Tibetan Buddhist temple. From then on, Yonghegong began its glorious history as the first royal temple and as a link and bridge between China's successive central governments and Mongolia and Tibet.
Emperor Qianlong was filled with emotion about this, and praised the Lama Temple as "a blessed place where the dragon leaps over, and the Buddha lurks in the palace forever." During the reign of Xingqing, Buddhist temples were chosen."
In the tenth year of Qianlong's reign (1745), the Tibetan prince and the seventh Dalai Lama agreed to pay tribute to the Yonghe Palace and transform it into a temple, including a gilt bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha preaching and a white sandalwood statue. Three-leaf crown of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The seventh Dalai Lama also presented 41 thangkas from the Jataka of Buddha. These tributes are of exquisite craftsmanship and are among the finest cultural relics in the Lama Temple.
In the 13th year of Qianlong's reign (1748), the seventh Dalai Lama purchased a huge white sandalwood tree from Nepal. It took three years to be transported to the Lama Temple and was constructed by the Building Office of the Yangxin Hall of the Imperial Palace. , the 18-meter-high Maitreya Buddha has become one of the three unique wood carvings in the Lama Temple, and was included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1990.
On August 23rd of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), Emperor Yongzheng died in the Old Summer Palace, and Aisin Gioro Hongli came to the throne. Emperor Qianlong changed the old system of the Qing Dynasty and placed his father's coffin in the Yonghe Palace in September of the same year. Yonghe Palace thus ended its ten-year history as an imperial palace.
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