Chapter 21 Section 21 Chengde Outer Eight Temples

Eleven large and small lama temples are lined up on the hillside terraces in the east and north of the Mountain Resort in Chengde City, Hebei Province, eight of which are stationed by the imperial court with lamas stationed there. Its location is outside the capital city and the summer resort, so people are used to call it the "Outer Eight Temples".At that time, the central government of the Qing Dynasty implemented a series of soft policies in order to unite the domestic minorities, especially the upper leaders of the Mongolian and Tibetan ethnic groups who believed in Lamaism. The construction of the Outer Eight Temples from 1713 to 1780 is one of the concrete manifestations of this policy.

Specifically, the eight temples are Puren Temple, Pule Temple, Anyuan Temple, Puning Temple, Xumi Fushou Temple, Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Shuxiang Temple, and Pushan Temple.These temples are built according to the situation of the mountains, with different forms, natural layout and majestic spirit.Except for Pushan Temple, all other temples face the Summer Resort, which symbolizes the heart of all ethnic groups to the center and the unity of the country.These buildings integrate the architectural styles of Tibetan, Mongolian and Han ethnic groups from Tibet in the west, Mongolia in the north, and Zhejiang in the southeast, reflecting the cultural exchanges between various ethnic groups at that time.After more than 200 years of natural and man-made disasters, Pushan Temple no longer exists, and individual buildings in the other seven buildings have also been damaged.Among the seven existing temples, Puning Temple, Pule Temple, Putuo Zongcheng Temple and Xumi Fushou Temple are larger and more famous.

Puning Temple, also known as the Great Buddha Temple, is located about 2.5 kilometers northeast of the Summer Resort. It was built in the 20th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1755).In May of this year, Emperor Qianlong sent troops to Yili to quell the rebellion of Dawaqi Khan of the Junggar tribe. In October, Emperor Qianlong held a banquet for princes and princes of all ethnic groups in the Summer Resort, and awarded titles to them.In order to unite the hearts of the people, and imitated Kangxi's practice of building temples after defeating Khalkha in Mobei, and taking the meaning of universal peace, Puning Temple was built in order to achieve "from the snow-capped mountains to capture the vast number of subjects in the West Sea to live and work in peace and contentment, Yongyong Puning "the goal of.

The Puning Temple faces south and sits north, and is divided into two parts: the front and the back.The front is in the Garan style, and the back is in the "Mandala" style (mandala means gathering).The Mahayana Pavilion in the main hall symbolizes Mount Sumeru, and on both sides are the Sun Hall and the Moon Hall, which symbolize the sun and the moon.The black, white, red and green pagodas around the hall represent the four wisdoms of the Buddha.The trapezoidal halls on the front, back, left, and right sides of the pavilion, and the square halls, moon-shaped halls, and sun-shaped halls on the rockery represent the four major continents, namely Fanbuzhou in the south, Juluzhou in the north, Shengshenzhou in the east, and Niuhezhou in the west.The other eight small white platforms represent the eight small continents, which constitute the world pattern considered by Buddhism.The whole building integrates the artistic styles of Han, Tibetan and India, and has an important position in the history of Chinese architecture.A giant Buddha in the pavilion is made of pine, cypress, poplar, elm and linden. It is 22.28 meters high and has a waist circumference of 15 meters. It is the largest patchwork wood Buddha statue in my country.The wooden Buddha has a serene expression, vivid eyebrows, clear and natural clothing patterns, and is worthy of being a precious heritage in the treasure house of Chinese culture and art.

Pule Temple, commonly known as Yuantingzi, was built in the 31st year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1766 A.D.) on a hill about two kilometers east of the Summer Resort.It is said that when Qianlong and the leaders of ethnic minorities visited the summer resort in autumn, they saw a vast flat land in the south of the Anyuan Temple, and they could look at the Panchui Peak in the east. It is named Pule Temple, which means "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joy later".Pule Temple covers an area of ​​24,000 square meters. The front part is a temple in the traditional style of the Han nationality, and the main building is at the back, which is a huge city (mandala).On a three-story square high platform, there is Xuguang Pavilion, which is shaped like the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The upper circle and the lower part symbolize heaven and earth.On the round Sumeru seat in the pavilion, there is a large three-dimensional "mandala" model, on which the bronze Buddha statue of King Shangle is enshrined.The whole temple is built by the Han nationality, but the glazed pagoda in the middle of the roof of the Zongyin Hall and the statue of King Kong in the left and right side halls also have the characteristics of Lamaism.Every year on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month, lamas from the eight outer temples gather in Pule Temple to chant scriptures, but there is no fixed lama in this temple on weekdays.

The Putuo Zongcheng Temple was built in the style of the Potala Palace in Tibet, so it is also called the Little Potala Palace.Located in the north of the Mountain Resort, covering an area of ​​22 hectares, it is the largest temple among the eight outer temples in Chengde.In the 30th year of Qianlong (1769 A.D.), Emperor Qianlong had his 60th birthday, and the Empress Dowager had her 80th birthday in the second year. To celebrate the birthday, this temple was specially built in the 32nd year of Qianlong.Putuo Zongcheng is the Chinese translation of the Tibetan word "Potala".The temple faces south from the north, with the mountain on its back and the river facing the river. The wall meets the top of the mountain to the north, forming a strong and powerful outline.There are nearly 40 large and small buildings in the temple, mainly in Tibetan architectural style, and at the same time incorporate some characteristics of Han architecture.From the mountain gate, the stele pavilion, the five pagoda gates to the glazed archway, they are balanced and symmetrical, with Han style; about 30 buildings behind the glazed archway are situated on the mountain, with flexible layout, majestic and tall, and have a strong Tibetan religious architectural style.The stele "Records of All Turhuts Returning to Shun" in the stele pavilion records an unusual historical event.The Turghut and Junggar tribes of Erut, Mongolia, lived in the Talbahatai area in northern Xinjiang in the early years.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the two tribes were at odds, and the Torghut tribe moved westward to the lower reaches of the Volga River.The north of the Turghut tribe was neighbors to Tsarist Russia, and Tsarist Russia treated it like a vassal, levied taxes and conscripted troops, enslaved and exploited more and more, and the Turghut tribe missed the motherland.In the thirty-sixth year of Qianlong (AD 1771), after the rebellion of the Junggar tribe was suppressed, Torghut broke through the pursuit and obstruction of the Tsarist Russian army.When the Putuo Zongcheng Temple was completed, the leader of the Torghut came to Chengde to pay homage to the emperor. Qianlong was very happy and set up this monument as a commemoration.The last group of 25-meter-high Dahongtai buildings in the temple are built on a huge 17-meter-high platform, as if standing in the blue sky.There are true and false nine-story Tibetan trapezoidal windows lined up on the wall of the platform.The Wanfa Guiyi Hall in the center of the top of the platform, viewed from below, only reveals a gold-plated hall top, which sets off the balance between the left and right sides of the main hall and the wing eaves of the Cihang Pudu Hall.The bronze statue of the auspicious Tianmu riding a mule in the Putuo Zongcheng Temple is rare in the world.She has a fierce appearance, wearing human skin and a human head around her neck. It is said that she can come out on the first day of the first lunar month every year to catch monsters.In addition, the five lama temples at the five pagoda gates are said to be the victory pagodas in Buddhism, which means longevity.

Xumi Fushou Temple, also known as Xinggong, is located in the north of the Summer Resort and east of Putuo Zongcheng Temple. It was built in the 45th year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty (AD 1780).At that time, Panchen Erdeni VI, the political and religious leader of Tibet, requested to come to Chengde for a pilgrimage and wished Qianlong his 70th birthday.Qianlong attached great importance to this, imitating Shunzhi who built a temple for the Dalai Lama V who came to Beijing for an audience, and built this temple in Chengde in the form of Tashilhunpo, the Tibetan residence of the Panchen Lama, as the residence of the Panchen Lama.Sumeru Fushou is the Chinese translation of the Tibetan "Tashilhunpo".After the temple was completed, the imperial court selected 180 inland lamas to study Buddhist scriptures here.This was of great significance to strengthening the relationship between the central government and the local government in Tibet and consolidating the unity of the multi-ethnic country.The layout of the temple is divided into three parts: front, middle and back.The central part is from the glazed archway to the north to Dahongtai, which is the center of the whole temple.The Miaogao Majestic Hall in Dahongtai is for the Panchen Lama to preach scriptures and Dharma; the Auspicious Faxi Hall in the northwest of Taibei is for the Panchen Lama to stay when he comes to Chengde. Its furnishings are very luxurious and were later robbed by warlords; The resting place of Emperor Qianlong.The entire temple is a Tibetan-style building from the outside, but it has many Chinese-style architectural features from the internal layout, which fully reflects the ingenious combination of Chinese and Tibetan architectural arts.