Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about the Yonghe Temple

Yonghe Gong TempleEntrance, Beijing. Photo by Jesse. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about the Yonghe Temple

Also known as the Lama Temple, Yonghe Lamasery, or Yonghe Lama Temple, Yonghe Temple is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located at 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District in Beijing China. It is the biggest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing.

The temple covers 66,400 square meters being 480 meters long from north to south and 120 meters wide from east to west. People from around and outside Beijing visit the temple to offer incense and pray for happiness and peace. The temple also has great artwork which people enjoy.

Yonghe Temple was built in 1694 and it has stood the test of time to date. It has served as a palace and as a sacred place of Tibetan Buddhism. This is just a glimpse of the rich history of Yonghe Temple. Let us now look at the Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Yonghe Temple.

1. Yonghe Temple was originally constructed as a residence for a prince

The temple was built in 1694 as a residence for Prince Yinzhen also known as the Yong Prince. Price Yinzhen was the fourth son of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty which lasted between 1636 and 1912. The Kangxi Emperor gave the building to Prince Yinzhen in 1702. The prince moved into the building in May 1703.

2. The temple became an imperial palace in 1725

Entrance to Yonghe Temple in Beijing. Photo by Reinhold Möller. Wikimedia Commons.

Prince Yong became an emperor in 1722 as Emperor Yongzheng. He moved his residence to the Forbidden City. However, he had short stays at Yonghe Temple once in a while. The place was therefore elevated to an imperial palace in 1725. The name of the temple was for this reason changed to the Palace of Harmony and Peace.

3. In 1744, the palace was officially converted to a Tibetan lamasery

The palace was officially converted to a Tibetan lamasery in 1744. This was done by Emperor Qianlong who issued an edict. The Tibetan lamasery became the national center of the Tibetan Buddhist administration. The administration was run by the Qing government.

The monastery became a residence for Tibetan Buddhist monks from Mongolia and Tibet. The temple also became a place from where the Manchu government exerted control over Tibetan and Mongolian lama reincarnations.

4. The temple was a site of armed revolt against the Chinese Government

This was during the Beijing revolt which was an armed mutiny against the Chinese Nationalist government in Beijing in 1929. The revolt was launched on 2^nd March 1929. Twenty armed men in plain clothes captured and disarmed Shanxi Army guards of the Yonghe Temple.

The men then fired into the air. This was a sign for the Zhang-loyal regiment to mutiny. The armed men started shooting at civilians. The government then sent troops to quell the uprising.

5. Emperor Yongzheng’s coffin was placed inside the temple

Emperor Yongzheng died in 1735. His coffin was then placed in the Hall of Everlasting Protection in the temple. His son, Emperor Qianlong then granted the temple an imperial status.

He replaced the turquoise roof tiles with yellow tiles which were reserved for emperors only. The coffin was later moved to the imperial cemetery in Yixian county of Hebei province.

6. The temple hosts the statue of Maitreya Buddha

Maitreya Buddha Statue. Photo by Bhuwan Mahaja. Wikimedia Commons.

Maitreya is a messianic Buddhist figure. The statute was made from a single piece of sandalwood that was given to Emperor Qianlong by the Dalai Lama. It took 3 years to ship the sandalwood from Nepal to Beijing.

Maitreya looks shorter than 18 meters because part of the statute is underground. This is to avoid the toppling over of the statute. The statue of Buddha Maitreya is seated on a golden lacquer throne.

7. Yonghe Temple has great traditional architecture

The architecture and artwork of the temple are a combination of Han Chinese and ethnic Tibetan styles. The buildings are arranged along a north-south axis with a length of 480 meters and the South Gate is on one of its ends.

The five main halls are arranged along the axis and each is separated by a courtyard. The Hall of Harmony and Peace is situated in the middle of the axis. The temple is surrounded by a landscape of pine and cypress trees that create a secluded and peaceful environment.

8. Monks perform ‘Devil Dances’ periodically

On the last day of the first lunar month, monks perform ‘Devil Dances’. They wear masks of huge animal heads. It is believed that this dance wards off disasters and ghosts. The performance is also called Buza Dancing a name derived from the Mongolian language.

It means beating the devils. After the dancing is done, the monks burn the devil on fire to culminate the celebration. It is believed the world is then at peace for 12 months till the next ‘Devil Dance’.

9. Incense burners in the temple date back to 100s of years ago

Yonghe Lama Temple. Photo by Walter Grassroot. Wikimedia Commons.

The incense burners are authentic cultural treasures. The burner in the second courtyard dates to 1746. On the Devaraja Hall is an ancient copper cooking vessel made in 1747 during the Qing Dynasty. The vessel is black with white marble stones at its seat. The cooking vessel is among the three rarest things in Beijing.

10. The Yonghe Temple has many halls

Wanfuge Pavillion in Yonghe Temple. Photo by Charlie fong. Wikimedia Commons.

Yonghe Temple has several halls inside it. The Gate Hall of Harmony and Peace is the main entrance to the temple. The Hall of Harmony and Peace is the main building of the lamasery. It has three houses. This hall has three statues inside it, Sakyamuni Buddha, Kasyapa Matanga and Maitreya Buddha.

The other halls are the Hall of Everlasting Protection, the Hall of the Wheel of the Law and the Pavillion of Ten Thousand Happiness. The halls are used to hold services and ceremonies. It is also the place where Lamas read scripture.