Beijing China | The Lama Temple

Beijing's Yonghe Gong 'Lama Temple'

Text & Images - Copyright © 2009 Kevin Hulsey

The Lama Temple, also known as the Yonghe Gong Palace, Palace of Peace and Harmony or Yong Hegong Lamasery, was constructed during the Qing Dynasty in 1694. The palace was the home of Prince Yin Zhen, who was a son of Qing Dynasty Emperor Kang Xi.

The Yonghe Gong Lama Temple is located in the Dongcheng District, off of Yanghegong Street east of the Gulou Hutongs. During the off-hours, the temple has a serene atmosphere, with the smell of incense permeating through the air and the distant sound of monks chanting.

When Prince Yin Zhen took the throne, the palace was divided into two parts. Half of the residence was converted into a Buddhist 'lamasery,' and half remained the Imperial Palace. Prince Yin Zhen changed his name to Yong Zhen after being crowned as Emperor in 1725, and his palace was thereafter referred to as the Yonghe Palace.

The Yonghe Gong is a 'Yellow Hat' Tibetan Lamasery - one of the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temples outside of Tibet itself, and the largest in the city of Beijing. The 'Yellow Hat Sect' is part of the Geluk or Gelug school of Buddhism founded by Tsongkhapa in the 1400s.

Yong He Gong Temple Architecture

The palace was laid out and constructed in the same manner as the Forbidden City, with the entrance on the south side, and the main buildings aligned along a north-south central axis. The Temple's ornate architecture is an eclectic mix representing the Han, Manchu, Mongol, and Tibetan building styles.

The Yonghe Gong temple was declared a major historical relic of national significance in 1949, but was none the lest closed under Mao Zedong in the 1950s. The Lama Temple was reopened in 1981, and Buddhists from around China come to pray and pay homage to the successive incarnations of the Dalai Lama.

Hand-painted Tibetan prayer scrolls called "tanka" line many of the walls, which feature elaborately carved gold-covered Buddhas and portraits of the many Dalai Lamas.

In the main hall, there is a sixty foot (18 meter) tall Buddha statue that was carved out of a single piece of white sandalwood. This one of the Lama Temple's "three matchless treasures."

Unfortunatly, the serenity of the Yonghe Gong Temple belies the controversial state of affairs between China and the Dalai Lama's exiled government. When visiting a site such as this, one must remember that China is still a controlled society with an "officially sanctioned" media. As such, the underlying controversy surrounding certain historical locations is "masked" under a blanket of soothing and happy-sounding dogma that only tells half of the story.