Qutan Temple

Qutan temple in Ledu is a famous Tibetan Buddhist temple in Qinghai Province. It is also the most complete architectural complex of Ming Dynasty preserved in Northwest China. "Qutan" is Sanskrit, which means "Buddha". The architectural style of Qutan temple is quite different from that of most Tibetan Buddhist temples in Qinghai. It is more like the Han Buddhist temples in the mainland, and has always been known as the little Forbidden City in Qinghai. Qutan temple is located at the mouth of maquangoukou, 21 kilometers south of Ledu County. The temple is located in a slightly square castle, surrounded by a loess rammed wall, which is divided into front, middle and back courtyards. On a central axis, the main halls are Shanmen, Jingang hall, Qutan temple hall, Baoguang hall, Longguo hall, etc. on both sides of the main hall are symmetrically built with imperial stele Pavilion, small bell and Drum Tower, corridor and pagoda In addition, there are many other buildings, such as the side hall, the Sutra hall, the bell and Drum Tower, etc.

Qutan Temple

Qutan Temple < I (Q ú t á n s ì) < / I is located at the mouth of maquangou, 21 km south of Ledu County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province, facing Qutan River, with Luohan mountain on its back, songhuading in the north and Beishan in the south. In Tibetan, it is called "Zhuocang lakangguodandai", also known as "Zhuocang duojieqiang", which means "Zhuocang zhijingang Buddhist temple". It was built in 1392, the 25th year of Ming Dynasty. It is a Gelug Temple of Tibetan Buddhism. The temple is famous for its precious cultural relics and huge color murals. Qutan temple is a typical official building complex in the early Ming Dynasty. In history, Qutan Temple once belonged to thirteen temples.

Qutan temple is the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and the most complete and large-scale Ming Dynasty temple architecture in Northwest China.

Evolution of construction

Qutan temple was built in 1392, the 25th year of the Ming Dynasty. Sanluo Lama, Sandan luozhui, built a small Buddhist hall in Guanlong cave where he lived. In the hall, he worshipped Vajra and sent people to Nanjing to ask for the protection of the Ming Dynasty.

In the 26th year of Hongwu (1393), Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, gave the name of "Qutan Temple" and appointed sandanluo Zhui as the capital of Senggang in Xining. In the early Ming Dynasty, the four emperors (Ming Taizu, Ming Chengzu, Ming Renzong and Ming Xuanzong) successively issued seven imperial edicts, and sent eunuchs and craftsmen to complete the construction of Qutan temple in 36 years. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty ordered the expansion of Qutan temple, and used administrative orders to expand the religious leader status and economic privileges of the upper monks in the temple. Mingrenzong and mingxuanzong further expanded the political and economic privileges of the temple.

In 1427, the Longguo Hall of Qutan temple, which imitated the Taihe hall in the Forbidden City of Beijing, was completed. The regulation of Qutan temple was more magnificent. In the early years of Ming Dynasty, sanluo Lama, the founder of Qutan temple, was granted the title of great national teacher, and the title of commander of Xining guard monk gang was given. Land was sealed, woodland was zoned, troops were sent to protect the temple, and treasures were given and rewarded year after year, which made Qutan Temple become a large temple of political and religious unity. It was the hub of Ming Dynasty's contact with Qinghai Tibetan areas and the implementation of the "Fubian" policy.

There were more than 500 monks in Qutan temple in the late Ming Dynasty, more than 300 in the late Qing Dynasty and more than 60 before 1949. On the eve of 1958, there were only 34 people in 18 households (including 2 living Buddhas (Cang Chengshan, Zhuocang and meijuba), and 12 people in Wande). There is Shilun college in Qutan temple.

After 1958, Qutan Temple became one of the 11 Tibetan Buddhist temples preserved in Qinghai Province.

During the cultural revolution, Qutan temple was closed until it was reopened in 1980.

In February 1982, Qutan temple was announced as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

architectural composition

Qutan temple is the largest temple in southern mountain area of Ledu. Located in Qutan County, 25 kilometers away from the county seat, the temple is located in the vigorous and quiet place of Fengshui. It is arranged along the south to East axis, with its back against Luohan mountain, front facing Qutan River and facing Fenghuang mountain. It is far away from the snow mountain and harmoniously integrates with the natural environment. The temple was originally surrounded by an earthen city. The situation is dangerous and solid, but there are only ruins.

The temple building basically adopts the Han style temple shape, covering an area of 15000 square meters, with a construction area of about 10000 square meters. The whole temple is composed of front, middle and back courtyard, and is on a central axis. On the central axis from the mountain gate, there are the mountain gate, Jingang hall, Qutan hall, Baoguang hall, Longguo hall and other large palace buildings. On both sides, there are the imperial stele Pavilion, the small bell and Drum Tower, the corridor, the pagoda, the accessory hall, the Sutra hall, the big bell and Drum Tower, etc. Among them, the former district is basically in the pattern of "Jialan seven halls" of Han Buddhist temples. The rear area is majestic and magnificent. It is crowned in the Longguo Hall of the whole temple. On the two wings, there is an upward arched plagiarism corridor, and there is a dignified bell tower and Dagu tower facing each other. It obviously imitates the layout image of Fengtian Hall (Taihe Hall) and plagiarism corridor, Wenlou (Tiren Pavilion) and Wulou (Hongyi Pavilion) in the Forbidden City of Beijing in Ming Dynasty. The diamond hall is the boundary and corridor of the front, middle and back halls, covering an area of about 110 square meters. It adopts beam column structure without Dougong. Qutan hall in front of the courtyard, an area of 170 square meters, plane layout. There are three deep semi open buildings in the front, while the other three sides are closed corridors, which is a typical pattern of Lama Temple.

Main buildings

Qutan temple is located in a slightly square castle, which is called "Xincheng". The temple accounts for two-thirds of the area of the new town, which is divided into the front, middle and back courtyard. The main buildings on the central axis are as follows:

Shanmen: three rooms wide, covering an area of about 150 square meters.

Diamond Hall: there is diamond hall on the west side of the front yard, which is the boundary and corridor between the front yard and the middle yard.

Imperial stele Pavilion: it is called "four gate stele Pavilion" in Tibetan. Two stele pavilions are located on the left and right sides of the front yard.

 

Qutan Temple: located in the front of the central courtyard, it was first built in 1392, the 25th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, and rebuilt in 1782, the 47th year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty.

Third Buddha Hall: located in the northeast of front of Qutan temple.

Dharma Hall: located in the southwest of Qutan temple.

Small bell tower, small drum tower: small drum tower is located between Qutan temple hall and the third Buddha Hall. The small bell tower is located between the Qutan temple hall and the Dharma hall.

Zhensha pagoda (kanqu pagoda): four white pagodas, located in the four corners of Qutan temple. Among the four towers, "Tara tower" is the oldest.

Baoguang Hall: located at the back of the central courtyard, it was completed in 1418.

Small Sutra Hall: two, respectively, located around the Baoguang hall.

Longguo Hall: commonly known as the main hall, it is located on the same central axis as Qutan temple hall and Baoguang hall. It was built in 1427, the second year of Xuande in Ming Dynasty. The Longguo hall is the tallest building in Qutan temple, covering an area of about 900 square meters. It has double eaves on the top of the hall. There are porches on all sides. It stands on the foundation of xumizuo platform. There are platforms in front of it. There are nine steps on both sides of the platform, surrounded by red sandstone railings.

 

Big bell tower and Big Drum Tower: they are located on the left and right sides in front of the Longguo hall. There are sill windows and guardrails on the platform.

Mural Gallery (72 water halls): there are huge color murals, covering an area of about 400 square meters, painted with Buddhist legends, such as the picture of Daoli Tianzhong welcoming Buddha to ascend to heaven, the picture of Shanming Bodhisattva descending from the carefree tree, the picture of jingfanwang Xincheng's seven treasures wearing Prince's shoes, the picture of Dragon King welcoming Buddha to enter the Dragon Palace, the picture of six palaces entertaining female Prince Wu to return to the palace, etc. The murals are vivid and colorful.

Nangqian courtyard (living Buddha house): it is located in the Northeast outside the main building of the temple.

 

Cultural relics

In Qutan temple, there are ten Ming Dynasty steles in Chinese and Tibetan, ten Ming and Qing plaques, a bronze bell, three censers, cymbals, ivory beads, sandalwood beads, mirarepa stone statues, gold seals, cloisonne vases, ivory towers and many other precious cultural relics. The murals on the left and right porches of the temple are about 400 square meters, mainly about the story of Buddha Bensheng. There are more than 300 Buddhist scriptures and works such as ganzhur, danzhur and the collected works of master zongkaba in the temple, and nearly 100 Buddhist relics from India are offered in the pagoda. Among the extant cultural relics of Qutan temple, the most striking one is "xiangbeiyungu". It's a stone statue lying on its back. It holds a wooden cloud on its back. The cloud sets up a real drum. The stone elephant is about 1 meter high and 5.3 meters in circumference. Stone elephant looking back, nose roll lotus.

 

Cultural legend

The origin of the temple's name

According to temple stele records: before the Ming Dynasty, in Ledu County, nanshan'ao Li, there were temples built in the place of mountains and rivers. In 1392 (the 25th year of the Ming Dynasty), Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to the northern part of Qinghai to pursue the remnant of the yuan soldiers. The local Tibetans ran with unknown situation, forming a chaotic situation. Sanluo Lama wrote a letter to appease them by virtue of his reputation, which made the Tibetans submit to the Ming Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : Qu Tan Si