Zhaohua Temple

Zhaohua Temple

Zhaohua temple is located in the location of chaogetu huresumu in Alxa Left Banner, on the left edge of the Geli desert. It is a temple mainly composed of simple and elegant Tibetan religious buildings, mainly composed of Daxiong hall and Guanyin hall. It is one of the eight major temples in Alxa.

At present, there are more than 110 Scripture halls, houses and temples in Zhaohua temple, with more than 60 registered monks.

Brief introduction of ancient temple

During the reign of the emperor miniyagzalab, there was a small temple at the site of Zhaohua temple. Nearby, herdsmen of Loulan nationality (yunshufa tribe) graze and live, and carry out simple religious activities in this temple. Chaogetu couple guards this place.

Historical evolution

In 1697, Lord Huo Rulai, the king of Alxa, officially obtained the jade seal of zasak from the Qing government. After the establishment of the flag, several monks headed by namukaibala and other lamas presided over the ritual activities in the small temple. They had good relations with the followers of the nomadic tribes.

In the 55th year of Kangxi (1716), the Sixth Dalai Lama cangyang Gyatso once passed by here and made a visit to chaogetu and his wife's home. He regarded this place as an ideal place to carry forward Buddhism. With the support of many benefactors, we held a ceremony here. In the spring of 1717, the Sixth Dalai Lama went to dingyuanying (now BAYANHOT) with 12 attendants to meet Lord Abao and princess dogsh, the king of Alxa, and was allowed to build a temple at the home of chaogetu and his wife. Since then, the Sixth Dalai Lama began to spread Buddhist scriptures and preach Buddhist scriptures in Alashan. In accordance with the ritual rules of Lhasa temple, he formulated a series of relatively perfect ritual activities and chanting programs, and put them into practice. He raised 10000 taels of silver to send awandoerji, who was only 13 years old, to Tibet for further study, and asked him to bring back a large number of scriptures, Buddha statues, and Buddhist scriptures in the future.

Awandorji lived up to his expectations. He studied hard for 12 years. In the third year of Qianlong (1738), he was proficient in all the theories of scriptures and returned to his hometown.

Construction period

In the ninth year of Yongzheng (1731) of Qing Dynasty, the benefactor, led by xielitai jibanzirzab, played a song to Lord Abao, king of Alxa, asking for the construction of the temple, which was strongly supported by Abao. In the summer of 1733, the ground began to be broken to build six big Mahatma hall, three Gegen labron rooms and a hard-working room in the temple warehouse, which began to take shape.

With the completion of the Sutra hall, it became a well-known temple, named "chaogetu hure" (balaqin lablin in Tibetan), which means the home of chaogetu. This is the original name of the temple. In the third year of Qianlong (1738), a Bao and the princess's wife gave 150 taels of silver, and with the strong support of benefactors such as bantzerzab, they expanded the Sutra halls on a large scale. At this time, the main hall was expanded into 25 double Deckers, and many Sutra halls such as Guanyin and lunjing were expanded into 36. With the expansion of the temple, the number of private houses of monks also increased. In that year, awandorji, the leader of his 12 year study in Tibet in autumn, returned to his hometown and brought many precious Buddha statues, hanging statues, and ritual utensils, all over the Sutra halls. From then on, it was named "pandeja Musulin", which is the second name of the temple. The following year, a large-scale blessing ceremony was held in the temple to welcome the Sixth Dalai Lama, cangyang Gyatso, to sit in the eight lion Dharma seat and preside over the five painting nights of Dharma. In the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), a 15 storey agoba Sutra hall was built, which was named tegeqincanghalin.

On May 8, 1746, the Sixth Dalai Lama passed away in Chengqing temple. The next year, he moved his body to the water side of gorlam lake and erected a pagoda to worship. According to the wishes of awandoerji and with the consent of qizasak, Guangzong Temple (South Temple) was built in 1756, and pandejiamusulin temple in chaogetuhuere was moved to the site of Guangzong temple. Only a few monks were left to guard the temple. After more than ten years of hard work, these few monks have received a wide range of Buddhists, and their incense is booming, and gradually developed.

Facilities in the temple

In the 36th year of Qianlong (1771), with the support of many devout Buddhists, the Han style Guanyin hall was built. The wooden wheel Sutras were placed in the hall, and the bronze and gold-plated statues of Guanyin were worshipped in the hall. Later, according to wendur Gegen's last words, the xire Lama of the temple was appointed by Guangzong temple.

On February 26, 1903, the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty granted the plaque of "Zhaohua Temple" written in four languages. Since then, xire Lama was appointed by this temple. At that time, there were more than 300 lamas.

In 1935, the main hall was expanded to the existing 49 rooms. In 1947, the original nine large canghong hall was expanded to 12 rooms. During the 37-38 years of the Republic of China (1948-1949), the temple was renovated again until the cultural revolution.

Buddhist activities

All kinds of Dharma meetings in the temple began to form a regular pattern in 1734, the 12th year of Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, and all kinds of praying Dharma meetings were held regularly. In January, the Tamu Buddhist dharma Association will be held; in March, the Lama Limu Dharma Association will be held; in April, the "Maqiao" Dharma Association will be held; in May, the summer praying Dharma Association will be held to commemorate the death of master cangyang Gyatso; in October, the "zhula" Dharma Association will be held; in November, the "monamanza" Dharma Association will be held.

In addition to the larger Dharma Association, the small-scale activities of chanting sutras, eliminating disasters and offering sacrifices are carried out all year round, and the expenses are borne by miaocangjis according to the regulations. During the "Cultural Revolution", except for the main hall and Agba hall, which were used as grain depots, other Sutra halls were destroyed. A large number of precious religious works such as magic weapons and Buddha statues were stolen, and even wooden floors were looted.

After the 11th plenary session of the CPC Central Committee, the temple was gradually restored. In the spring of 1979, some lamas headed by chodeyun gathered at choder's home and began a simple ritual chanting activity. After that, the monks came to reshape the Buddha statues and sew Satin hanging Buddhas by themselves, which was greatly supported by the benefactors.

Religious significance

From 1984 to 1985, the two surviving Sutras were returned to the monks, and a management office headed by Luo Bu Sheng Ke De Yun was set up. Over the past 20 years, the temple has been maintained continuously and various Dharma meetings have been held, gradually bringing it into the normal track.

Zhaohua Temple held regular recitation meeting, which basically met the religious needs of the surrounding believers.

The current abbot, Awang laodi, is 70 years old. He is from Alashan, Inner Mongolia. He graduated from this temple and is a member of the Standing Committee of Alashan Buddhist Association.

Temple site: chaogetuhuresumu, Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia

Address: North of West Street, Huaian Town, Huaian County, Zhangjiakou

Longitude: 114.47744750977

Latitude: 40.463436126709

Chinese PinYin : Zhao Hua Si