thumb|The Layout of Yonghe Temple

The Yonghe Temple (; ; also known as the Yonghe Lamasery or Lama Temple) is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located on 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China. The building and artwork of the temple is a combination of Han Chinese and Tibetan styles. This building is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in China proper. The current abbot is Lama Hu Xuefeng. Yonghe Temple was the highest Buddhist temple in the country during the middle and late Qing dynasty.

History

Building work on the Yonghe Temple started in 1694 during the Qing dynasty on the site where originally stood an official residence for court eunuchs of the Ming dynasty. It was then converted into the residence of Yinzhen (Prince Yong), the fourth son of the Kangxi Emperor. The Kangxi Emperor awarded this building to Yinzhen in 1702, who was at the time a junwang (second-rank prince). Yinzhen moved into this building in May 1703. Before the Yonghe Temple was converted into a monastery, the Grand Secretariat Ortai had once proposed that Hongzhou (Prince He) should take the Yonghe Palace as his private residence, but this suggestion was denied by the Qianlong Emperor.

After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the temple was declared a national monument and closed for the following 32 years. It is said to have survived the Cultural Revolution due to the intervention of Premier Zhou Enlai. Reopened to the public in 1981, it is today both a functioning temple and highly popular tourist attraction in the city.

Administration

After the Yonghegong Temple was converted into a monastery, its management can be divided into two parts: administrative affairs management and religious affairs management. In terms of administration, the Yonghe Temple is treated as an imperial Tibetan Buddhist temple directly under the jurisdiction of the Qing dynasty. The emperor would appoint a prince or a junwang (second-rank prince) as the responsible of the temple's secular business, and delegate the actual management affairs to the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Layout

(See the map attached)

  • Memorial Archway
  • Imperial Carriage Pathway
  • Toilet
  • Zhaotai Gate
  • Drum tower
  • Bell tower
  • West Stele Pavilion
  • East Stele Pavilion
  • West Ase Gate
  • East Ase Gate
  • Yonghe Gate Hall
  • Four-Language Stele Pavilion
  • Exoteric Hall
  • Esoteric Hall
  • Shilun Hall
  • Medicine Hall
  • Yonghegong Hal
  • Yongyou Hall
  • West Side Hall
  • Eate Side Hall
  • Falun Hall
  • Jietai Building
  • Panchen Building
  • Wanfuge Pavilion
  • Yansui Pavilion
  • Yongkang Pavilion
  • Yamudaga Building
  • Zhaofo Building
  • Suicheng Hall
  • West Shunshan Building
  • East Shunshan Building
  • The Residence of A Jia Rinpoche
  • Souvenir store
  • Ticket Center
  • Reception
  • Tourist Center
  • Buddhābhiṣeka Center

Architecture and artworks

thumb|200px|left|A close-up of the temple

thumb|200px|Board of Yonghe Temple

thumb|200px|A censer at Yonghe Temple

The Yonghe Temple is arranged along a north–south central axis, which has a length of , and covers an area of . The main gate, the Gate of Clarity and Prosperity (Zhaotaimen) is at the southern end of this axis, along with three memorial archways in the front. And a path built for imperial carriages (Niandao) is situated between the front memorial archway and the Gate of Clarity and Prosperity. Along the axis, there are five main halls which are separated by courtyards: the Gate Hall of Harmony and Peace (Yonghemendian), 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).

<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|200px|This plaque, placed just outside the "Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses" states the Guinness World Record status of the Maitreya Buddha statue within. -->

The Gate Hall of Harmony and Peace is the southernmost of the main halls, it served originally as the main entrance of the palace, but was later changed into the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwangdian). In the center of the hall stands a statue of the Maitreya Buddha, along the walls statues of the four Heavenly Kings are arranged. There sit two stele pavilions in front of the Gate Hall of Harmony and Peace, which contain the stele of the Yonghe Temple and the stele of the Discourse of Lamas.

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 Dīpankara Buddha (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 bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

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 made 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 (sometimes referred to as "The Hall of Boundless Happiness") contains an tall (with an additional underground, making it in total) statue of the Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of White Sandalwood. This was a gift from the seventh Dalai Lama to the Qianlong Emperor and took three years to transport from Tibet to Beijing. The statue is one of three artworks in the Temple which were included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1993.

Three fabulous artworks

  • three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages
  • Five-Hundred-Arhat-Hill
  • 18m tall White Sandalwood statue of the Maitreya Buddha This ritual is hosted on every 28th day of the 12th lunar month and the fourth day of the first lunar month in the period after its foundation. During the reign of the Guangxu Emperor, the tradition was rescheduled as an eight-day performance starts from the 23rd of the first lunar year to the 1st of the second lunar year.