Yonghegong Lama Temple is on the northeast corner of the City of Beijing. It used to be a eunuch supervisor residence. In the 33rd year of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1694), the Emperor ordered the construction of an imperial residence here and granted it to his fourth son, Yin Zhen (later Emperor Yongzheng). In the third year of Yongzheng it became the temporary palace and its name was changed into Yonghegong. In 1735, Yongzheng passed away and his coffin was kept here for a short time; for this reason the temple’s green glazed roofs was revised into yellow ones (yellow is the colour exclusive to the Chinese emperors). Because Emperor Qianlong was born in the temple, the temple was considered a blessed place and was renovated to be of the same size as the Forbidden City with yellow roofs and red walls. In the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), Yonghegong was revised into a Lama Temple for Tibetan Buddhism. In 1983, the State Council of China listed it as one of the key Buddhist temples in the Han region of China. Yonghegong Lama Temple is a Buddhist temple of the highest scale throughout the country.
The temple is mainly composed of three delicate memorial arches and five magnificent halls, with a total area of 66,400 square metres of thousands of halls and rooms. It consists of Tianwang Hall, Daxiong Hall, Yongyou Hall, Falun Hall and Wanfuge Hall; apart from this, it also contains the East and West Side Halls, the Four Lecture Halls(the Scripture Hall, the Vajrayana Hall, the Mathematics Hall and the Medicine Lord Hall). From the south to the north, the sizes of the courtyards taper and those of the temples increase, so the layout of the temple is one of layers of courtyards with the major halls hidden deep inside, which is an aggregation of the architectural characteristics of the Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan nationalities. In the southern courtyard of the Temple there are three tall decorated archways, one huge wall carved with murals and a couple of stone lions. Walking past the archways you will come to a shaded path paved with quarry bricks, called Niandao (the Carriage Road). To the north is the main gate to the Temple, Zhaotao Gate, inside of which two Bell-drum Towers stand on each side, and outside there lies the richly decorated corridor. Beside one of the towers there is an impressive eight-ton bronze pot used for cooking Laba porridge (a traditional dish eaten on the 8th of the 12th lunar month) in the old days. Continuing to the north you will come to the Eight-angled Tablet Pavilion where the tablet recording the history of the temple is kept. The scripture on the tablet is written in Han, Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu languages.
Yonghegong Lama Temple Attractions:
Yonghegong Lama Temple Stories:
1. Elimination of the Ghosts
In the Lama Temple two performances are respectively held on the 30th day of the 1st month and on the 1st day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar. In the first one is called Yangui (the performance of the ghosts) and the second one Dagui (the elimination of the ghosts). The ghosts refer to those powerful anti-Buddhist aristocrats and pagans, and the performances are demonstrations to intimidate the heretics. So the actors put on furious and frightening looks in order to drive away or subjugate the evil spirits.
2. Dongshu Yard
Every Chinese emperor after Emperor Qianlong had to come to the Lama Temple at least three times a year to pay their respect to the Buddha. On the day of birth (August 25th) and the day of death (January 1st) of Qianlong, the emperors must visit the temple in rich and solemn attire and pay their respects to their ancestor; and on the Summer Solstice of May the emperors also came to the Temple to worship the Buddha and then retire to Dongshu Yard to eat noodle made of new wheat with sesame source. Dongshu Yard served as the main resting place for the emperors. According to the historical record, the then Dongshu Yard was as grand as the present Lama Temple, and the two distinct complexes composed the entire site. The Dongshu Yard had been a replica of the Imperial Palace in many ways such as its decoration, contents and layout; some officials and generals used to work here and one of their major jobs was to look after the huge collection of treasures and antiques stored there. In 1900, Dongshu Yard was looted and burnt down by the Japanese army. The splendour of the place has become past history.
3. The Luohan Dish of the Lama Temple
The Luohan Dish of the Lama Temple is related to a Buddhist festival¡ªWeisai Festival, meaning the Day of the Full Moon. To the Buddhists this is a day of great importance because it is bound with the birth, the enlightenment and the Nirvana of Sakyamuni. In May, 1990, the then chairman of the Chinese Buddhism Association proposed to make the day of the full moon in April of the lunar calendar the memorial day of the Buddha for all the Han Buddhist temples. On that day, the monks living in the Lama Temple will light up one hundred crisp oil lamps one by one and put flowers and flower casts made by crisp oil and Zanba (a kind of food made of barley flour) around them. At noon a big lunch will be held for all that comes to the temple, including monks and worldly people. This lunch is called Luohan Dish and is made up of vegetables only. According to the Buddhist doctrines, all Buddhists should stick to vegetables as a demonstration of the quality of Buddhist mercy and benevolence as well as an important part of daily Buddhist practice. Vegetables are symbols of simplicity and purity, and are believed to be conducive to a heart of mercy and benevolence. The name, Luohan Dish, comes from the Eighteen Arhats who, under the instruction of Sakyamuni, would never achieve nirvana so as to stay in this world and spread Buddhist doctrines to the people. Usually, to make Luohan Dish, monks of all the temples carefully select eighteen kinds of vegetables in honour of the Eighteen Arhats.
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