Xihuang Temple

Xihuang Temple

Xihuang temple, located in the middle of Huangsi road outside Andingmen, Chaoyang District, northeast of Beijing, is also called Huangsi or Shuanghuang Temple together with Donghuang temple. Xihuang temple is covered with yellow glazed tiles, with red walls, pines and pagodas.

Xihuang temple, built in 1652, covers an area of more than 900 square meters, is a cultural relic protection unit in Beijing.

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Xihuang temple, also known as Dalai temple, was built by Dalai V, the religious leader of Tibet, in 1652. In 1780, the sixth Panchen Lama died in the temple. In 1782, Gao Zong built the tower of qingjinghuayu to commemorate the sixth Panchen Lama. Because the mantra of the sixth Panchen Lama was buried in the tower, it is also called the "Panchen Lama tower". Xihuang temple, a cultural relic protection unit in Beijing, was listed as a national key Buddhist temple in the Han nationality area by the State Council in 1983. In September 1987, the senior Buddhist College of Tibetan Language Department of China, founded by Erdeni quejijianzan, the tenth Panchen Lama, was founded in Xihuang temple. On September 1, Xihuang temple's Buddhist music played in unison, and the higher Buddhist College of Tibetan Language Department of China solemnly held the first opening ceremony for students.

Xihuang temple, the residence of Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama during the Qing Dynasty, is becoming a cradle for the cultivation of senior Tibetan Buddhist monks, Buddhist research talents and foreign academic exchange talents. According to the north and south of the central axis, the temple has Mountain Gate hall, main hall, memorial archway, East and west auxiliary hall. Stele Pavilion and Tibetan style covered building are rectangular in shape. The main hall has five rooms, green glazed tiles, Xieshan, five steps on the Dou Gong, and the stone tower is built on a stone foundation more than 3 meters high. The plane of the stone foundation is in the shape of "Ya". There are four pillars and three floors in the front and back of the building. There is a stone archway of verandah style. There is a tower in the four corners of the platform, with the main tower in the middle.

Xihuang temple, the main tower is 15 meters high, is the "white tower" of Tibetan Buddhism. Xihuang temple is an advanced Buddhist College of Tibetan language department in China. Every year, living Buddhas and eminent monks from Tibet, Inner Mongolia and other places receive higher Buddhist education here.

Historical evolution

In 1644, the Qing army entered the pass and Emperor Shunzhi ascended the throne. In 1651 (the eighth year of Shunzhi), the Qing government sent Chaga and xirao lamas to Tibet, inviting rosangjiacuo, the fifth Dalai Lama, to Beijing to meet with emperor Shunzhi. Emperor Shunzhi ordered the construction of Xihuang temple in the north of the capital for the fifth Dalai Lama to stay in tin.

In 1652, Xihuang temple was built. In the same year, the fifth Dalai Lama led more than 3000 Tibetan monks and folk officials to Beijing for nine months and stationed in Xihuang temple.

During his stay in Beijing, the fifth Dalai Lama went to the palace many times to meet emperor Shunzhi and report on local political and religious affairs in Tibet. Emperor Shunzhi also gave banquets to the fifth Dalai Lama in the palace many times. In March 1653 (the tenth year of Shunzhi), the fifth Dalai Lama set out to return to Tibet. In April, the Qing government sent officials headed by the Minister of rites, jueluolangqiu, and the Minister of Li Fan yuan, Xi Dali, to daiga (now Liangcheng, Inner Mongolia) with the gold seal and the gold book of Han, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan characters, and officially canonized the fifth Dalai Lama as "the ordinary wachi Lama of the world under the guidance of the great good and free Buddha in the west" This is the first time that the central government has canonized the Dalai Lama. In 1713 (the 52nd year of Emperor Kangxi), Emperor Kangxi assisted "according to the example of sealing the fifth Dalai Lama", sent Imperial Envoys to zhashlunbu temple to seal the fifth Panchen Lama rosang, which means to be "Panchen Erdeni", and granted gold books and seals. Since then, the Dalai Lama and Erdeni of Panchen Lama had to be canonized by the central government, which became a historical custom.

Related allusions

Since the Qing Dynasty, Xihuang temple has become the residence of Dalai Lama and Bainqen Erdeni for their pilgrimage to Beijing. It has also received a number of Dalai Lamas and Bainqen Erdeni's envoys who paid tribute to Beijing. At the same time, some leading figures and eminent monks of Tibetan Buddhism also have close relations with Xihuang temple. Therefore, Xihuang temple has become the center of the yinzha sakda Lama's handling of Tibetan Buddhism affairs in Beijing for several times.

1780 (the 45th year of Qianlong) is the 70th birthday of Emperor Qianlong. In addition to the celebrations of Mongolian princes, ministers and foreign envoys, the pilgrimage of sixth Panchen Erdeni is prominent. This audience of the sixth Panchen Lama is different from that of the fifth Dalai Lama. At that time, the fifth Dalai Lama "earnestly asked for help", while the sixth Panchen Lama "did not cause trouble", did not avoid hard work, and came from a long distance, which was of great significance. At this time, the sixth Panchen Lama was the teacher of the eighth Dalai Lama and the main leader of the Tibetan local government. The sixth Panchen Lama was very supportive of the Qianlong emperor of the central government of the Qing Dynasty. In 1775 (the 40th year of Qianlong's reign), the British East India Company, which had been plotting to invade Tibet, proposed to sign a trade treaty with Tibet, and so on. The sixth Panchen Erdeni rosanbadanyi firmly opposed it. When the British Invaders of the East India Company defeated the bruckba (Bhutanese) and tried to invade Tibet, and the envoys of Indian governor Justin engaged in separatist conspiracy activities, the sixth Panchen clearly stated that "Tibet is China's territory, and all military and political affairs must be instructed by the central government of the Qing Dynasty", and gave a strong counterattack to these invaders and anti Chinese elements, so the sixth Panchen was highly praised The respect of Qianlong. In January 1779 (the 44th year of Qianlong), Panchen led three temples, namely, Kanbu (formerly known as the abbot of Tibetan Buddhism, equivalent to the abbot of Han Buddhism), and more than 100 eminent monks. They set out from zhashlunbu temple in Shigatse, escorted by the minister in Tibet, to Xining of Qinghai via Jinsha River and Bayankala mountain. Along the way, through Ningxia, Guihua (Hohhot) and duolunnuoer, the sixth son of the emperor Yongyu and Zhang Jia went to duolunnuoer to meet him. The sixth Panchen Lama took the Yellow sedan chair to Chengde Mountain Resort. During the period of Chengde, Qianlong issued a silver seal to the sixth Panchen Lama. The silver seal was engraved in four kinds of Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan and Mongolian characters. The characters were "the treasure of Erdeni of Panchen Lama", which was the only seal given to Panchen Lama by the Qing Dynasty.

Temple site

After the celebration of Emperor Qianlong's birthday in Chengde, the sixth Panchen Lama arrived in Beijing and settled in the Yellow temple in Xixi. Emperor Qianlong came to Xihuang temple in person, and the sixth Panchen came out to greet him. Qianlong rewarded the sixth Panchen with many valuable gifts, and ate with the sixth Panchen in Xihuang temple. Since then, Qianlong and the sixth Panchen Lama have traveled between the Imperial Palace and Xihuang temple for many times. When the sixth Panchen Lama was seriously ill in Beijing, Emperor Qianlong visited several times and wrote poems such as "the picture of praying for longevity" and "the poem of praising the Panchen lamas for their longevity". In November 1780, the sixth Panchen Lama passed away in Xihuang temple. Emperor Qianlong personally visited pingdiao to deal with all the aftermath, and built qingjingcheng tower and qingjinghuacheng tower courtyard on the west side of Xihuang temple. Because the pagoda was built for the sixth Panchen Lama, it is commonly known as the "Panchen Lama pagoda" or "sixth Panchen Lama pagoda".

In November 1782 (the 47th year of Emperor Qianlong), the pagoda was built, and Emperor Qianlong wrote the book "Qingjing Huacheng pagoda" to commemorate the boundless merits of the sixth Panchen Lama. As historical relics, the stele of Qingjing Huacheng pagoda and the poem stele of zuoshou Panchen monk's praise are still well preserved in the East and West stele pavilions of Xihuang temple. Qingjingcheng pagoda and qingjinghuacheng pagoda courtyard are the only historical sites completely preserved in Xihuang temple, especially qingjinghuacheng pagoda, which is well-known at home and abroad and has become the symbol and historical symbol of Xihuang temple.

In August 1908 (the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), the 13th Dalai Lama, tudengjiacuo (1876-1933), made a pilgrimage to Beijing and stayed in Xihuang temple for nearly three months, which deepened his feelings with the central government and consolidated the relationship between the local government and the central government in Tibet.

Due to the invasion of foreign forces and their interference in Tibet affairs, the internal contradictions of the local government in Tibet have deepened and the situation in Tibet has been turbulent. In November 1923, Erdeni quginima, the ninth Panchen Lama, led a small number of followers to run north to seek the support of the mainland. On February 20, 1925, the ninth Panchen Lama arrived in Beijing and was warmly welcomed by the representatives of the government of the Republic of China and the monks of Xihuang temple, Donghuang temple and Yonghe temple. He was stationed in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, Wuxi. In 1927, the ninth Panchen Lama established the "Panchen Lama's office in Beijing" in Fuyou temple. Due to the special affinity between Xihuang temple and the sixth Panchen Lama, the ninth Panchen Lama began to organize the repair of Xihuang temple's qingjingcheng courtyard, which was completed in 1928. Since then, Qingjing Huacheng pagoda has been managed by the Panchen office in Beijing.

In 1954, Erdeni quejijianzan, the 10th Panchen Lama, attended the first National People's Congress. During the session, he and the 14th Dalai Lama went to Xihuang temple to pay homage to the purification tower of Qing Dynasty. On September 1, 1987, with the attention and care of the party and the government, the senior Buddhist College of the Chinese Tibetan language department was officially established in Xihuang temple. The 10th Panchen Lama was the first president of Xihuang temple. Today, Xihuang temple has become a training base for senior monks of Tibetan Buddhism who love their country and religion, and an important platform for Sino Tibetan cultural exchange.

Cultural relics protection

On August 21, 1979, the Beijing municipal government announced Xihuang temple as a key cultural relics protection unit in Beijing. In July 1981, the Beijing Municipal Administration of cultural relics set up the key cultural relics protection unit signs and signs in front of the right wall of the Tianwang Hall of the qingjinghuacheng tower

Chinese PinYin : Xi Huang Si