Wu Dang Zhao

Wudangzhao, formerly known as badagar temple, which means "white lotus" in Tibetan, is the largest Gelug Temple of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia. Wudangzhao is located in Wudanggou, about 60 kilometers northeast of Baotou city. There are many willows planted in the ditch, so it is also called wudangzhao. Wudang means willow in Mongolian, and Zhao means temple. Wudangzhao was built in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1722 AD). It was built here by the first living Buddha, luobusangaracuo. It was rebuilt in the 14th year of Emperor Qianlong (1749 AD) and gradually expanded to its present scale. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and also an AAAA scenic spot. Together with the Potala Palace in Tibet, the Ta'er temple in Qinghai and the kangbuleng temple in Gansu, it is known as the four famous monasteries of Chinese Lamaism. The number and level of its cultural relics collection are among the top in the cultural relics collection of the autonomous region, some of which are rare in China.

Wudangzhao's architecture has a strong Tibetan Buddhist style. All the buildings are white and square. They are located in the valley of Wudanggou. The largest building is the suguqin hall, which is located in the front of wudangzhao and houses the largest bronze Buddha statue. To the west of suguqin hall is the hall of queyilin, which teaches Buddhism. On the east side of suguqin hall is the central building of wudangzhao - dongkuoer hall. Next to it is gexide hall. In addition, there are also ahui hall, lamiren hall and mandala hall.

Every year on March 21 of the lunar calendar, a Spring Festival ceremony is held in the main hall. On this day, people come here from all directions to offer hada, incense and sacrifices. After the ceremony, traditional activities such as horse racing, archery and wrestling will be held.

Wu Dang Zhao

Wudangzhao means "willow" in Mongolian, "Wudang" in Tibetan means "white lotus" and "Zhao" means "Temple". It was first built in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1662-1722 A.D.) and rebuilt in the fourteenth year of Emperor Qianlong (1749 A.D.), giving the Han Dynasty the name of guangjue temple. The first living Buddha, luobusangaracuo, was built on the basis of zhashlunbu temple in Tibet, and gradually expanded to today's scale after several expansions during Kangxi, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu periods.

Because it was built on a hillside called Aobao mountain in Wudanggou, it was called wudangzhao. Wudangzhao was built to the south. There are more than 2500 large and small temples, Scripture halls and monk houses, covering an area of more than 300 mu, distributed on the 1.5 km long hillside.

It is a layer upon layer of white buildings built by mountains, surrounded by mountains, set off for the pines and cypresses, magnificent.

Wudangzhao is located in the deep part of Daqingshan in the Wudang valley of jihuluntu Sumu, about 45 km northeast of Shiguai District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Wudangzhao is a national key cultural relic protection unit and a 4A tourist attraction. It is as famous as Potala Palace in Tibet, Ta'er temple in Qinghai and Labrang temple in Gansu. It is one of the four famous Tibetan Buddhist temples in China and the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Inner Mongolia.

Architectural features

The main building of wudangzhao is composed of eight sutras halls (six existing), three living Buddha residences and a mourning hall where the relic pagodas of the living Buddhas of all ages of wudangzhao are placed. There are also more than 60 monk houses and ancillary buildings of the pagoda temple, with more than 2500 houses, covering an area of more than 300 mu.

The existing six Sutra halls are suguqin hall, dongke'er hall, queiri Hall (Xianjiao Sutra Hall), danggexide hall, ahui Hall (Mizong Sutra Hall), rimulun Hall (Bodhi Taoist Sutra Hall), etc. Suguqin hall is the place for the whole temple to gather and chant sutras. These temples are large-scale and typical Tibetan buildings. There are statues, murals and Thangka (scroll Buddha paintings) in the hall. Each hall has its own characteristics. There are bronze statues of Sakyamuni up to 10 meters high, bronze statues of zongkaba up to 9 meters high, statues of Dharma protector, White Tara and Green Tara. The three living Buddha residences are located in the south of ahui hall. Among them, the dongkor living Buddha mansion is of great scale, which was built by the second living Buddha rexinima in 1784. On the left and right are two mansions built for the reception of ganzhuervahutuktu and zhangjiaguoshi in Huizong Temple of duolunnuoer.

The exterior walls of the building are white and square, with dark colonnades and window openings, and the roof is flat square. The main buildings are located on a protruding hillside in the valley, including suguqin palace, dongkuoer palace, danggexi palace, queyilin palace, ahui palace, rimulun palace, GanZhuer palace, Zhangjia palace, suporgai mausoleum, etc. on both sides there are also houses for lamas. At its peak, there were more than 1000 lamas in the temple.

Suguqin dugong is located in the front of Quanzhao, which is the place for holding all assembly and chanting sutras. The pillars of the Sutra hall are all wrapped in velvet blankets with dragon patterns. The floor is covered with carpets. The walls are painted with color murals. The back hall and the second and third floors are dedicated to Sakyamuni, zongkaba and Buddhist masters of all ages. To the west of suguqin dugong, the cheren Lindu palace is a place where Buddhist teachings are taught. The ten meter high bronze statue of Sakyamuni in the palace is the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Quanzhao. High above these two palaces is the dongkuoerdu palace, a place for teaching astronomy and geography. On the lintel of the door is a plaque of "guangjue Temple" written in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan characters. In front of the palace is a lecturing platform, where lamas learn scriptures and take oral examinations. Located at the highest part of the mountain slope, ahui dugong is a medical department. Japanese Mulun independent palace is a department of doctrinal studies, which specializes in teaching Lama history, doctrines and canons.

The main building is located on a prominent hillside in the valley. The main building is composed of six halls, three mansions and one mausoleum. There is also a Lama house on both sides. The temple covers an area of more than 300 mu, with more than 2500 temples and warehouses. The whole building adopts Tibetan architectural style, flat top square structure, rigorous structure and reasonable layout. Among them, the largest building is suguqin dugong, which houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha, Sakyamuni, the founder of Huangjiao sect, zongkaba and Buddhist masters of all ages. To the west of suguqin palace is the chiyilin dugong, which teaches Buddhism. On the east side of the suguqin palace is the central building of wudangzhao, dongkuoer palace, followed by gexide palace, ahui palace and rimulun palace. In addition to the six halls, the three houses are Ganzhuer house, Zhangjia house, dongkuoer Foye house, and the top of the hillside is the tomb of supolgai, namely the taling.

Wudangzhao is a famous learning temple in Inner Mongolia. In order to promote Buddhism, there is a special school for lamas to learn classics and study Buddhism. The school is divided into four parts: Shilun department, which was set up in 1750; Xian teaching department, which was set up in 1752; Tantric department, which was set up in 1800; Bodhi Taoism department, which was set up in the fifth shaofo period, is the latest department set up in Benzhao. Damodara, a famous Mongolian historian, recorded in Bailian Nianzhu that "wudangzhao was the most famous Buddhist Scripture. By the end of the 19th century, there were still more than 800 monks in wudangzhao."

Wudangzhao is a privileged religious and political temple with prisons, courts and armed forces. And the architecture itself, as well as the murals and sculptures in the halls, reflect a high artistic value.

[source of atlas]

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Main buildings

Historical evolution

Wudangzhao living Buddha is one of the eight Hutuktu in Beijing in Qing Dynasty. It is known as Erdeni morigen dongke Banzhida. It has a high reputation and status. The first living Buddha, whose original name is luosangjianzan and whose legal name is Awang qurimo, was born in tumed tribe. He has been very intelligent since he was a child and loves all kinds of books. He once went to Huizong Temple of duolunuoer to learn Sutra from khutuktu of ganzhuerwa. A few years later, khutuktu sent him to Tibet for further study. During his study in Tibet, he obtained the laranba degree of Drepung temple with excellent results. After returning to Inner Mongolia from Tibet, his master ganzhuerwahutuktu promoted him to Dala Lama of duolunhuizong temple. In the 59th year of Kangxi (1720 A.D.), he applied to Beijing to take part in the compilation of Mongolian ganzhuerjing.

In 1749 A.D., with the permission of Zhang Jia, Xi Long Tu, Ji long and other Hutuktu people stationed in Beijing, the construction of a temple, namely dongke hall, was started in Wudanggou, following the example of zhashlunbu temple in Shigatse, Tibet. This is the earliest large-scale building in wudangzhao, and one of the four universities of wudangzhao. Because the first generation of living Buddhas had the most profound knowledge and had a good command of the five Ming Dynasties, they were especially good at the study of the time wheel. The Qing government named him "tonkel Banzhida", which means "the scholar of the time wheel studies". The Department of the time wheel studies mainly studies astronomy, calendar, mathematics and divination.

In 1750 A.D., a two-story hall was built on the west side of dongke hall, which is called danggexide hall. It is dedicated to all the King Kong, so it is also called King Kong hall.

In the 19th year of Qianlong (1754 AD), ruobiduoji (1717-1786 AD), the master of Zhangjia state, was transferred to the Lifan court of the Qing court to ask for the name of the temple. The Qing court granted the plaque of "guangjue Temple" in Manchu, Mongolian, Han and Tibetan characters. In the second year (1755 AD), the main building of wudangzhao, suguqin Hall (Dajing Hall), was built.

In the 28th year of Qianlong reign (1763 AD), the first generation of living Buddha, Awang quri, died in Wudang. The fifth generation of living Buddhas died in 1955. After that, wudangzhao did not have a living Buddha for a long time. It was not until 2006 that he found the eighth living Buddha.

Chinese PinYin : Wu Dang Zhao