The art of Tibetan Buddhism religious architecture

The Tibetan Plateau, with an average elevation of 4,000 meters, has long been known as the Roof of the World, where the weather is cold, rainfall is limited, natural conditions are rather harsh, and there are not many forests but plenty of stone.

Among Tibet’s buildings, the achievement of Tibetan Buddhist buildings is the highest. In the seventh century, the Tubo Tsampo Kingdom emerged on the Tibetan Plateau. Along with the development of Tibet’s relationship with the inland areas and Southeast Asia, Buddhism was introduced from India and the central plains.

The two wives of TSongsang Gampo, king of Tubo Tsampo, namely, Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (entered Tibet in 641) and Princess Chizun of Nepal, both worshipped Buddhism. Organized personally by Princess Wencheng, the Reshazu Lakang, the first Buddhist structure in Tibet, built in Luoxie (present-dayLhasa), is the predecessor of the still existing Gtsug-Khang Monastery. In the year 762, Khri-sron-btsan, king of Tubo Tsampo built Tibet’s first formal temple, Bsam-yas Monastery, and seven Tibetan youths were tonsured to become monks.

Before Buddhism was introduced into China, Tibet had already had a primitive religion, Bon, which was later blended with Buddhism. In addition, due to the strong influence of Tantrism of Indian Buddhism and elements of Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism developed a very strong mystical color obviously different from Buddhism in the inland areas. In Tibetan Buddhism, commonly called Lamaism, the temple is called a Lama temple, and the pagoda is called a Lama pagoda.

Beginning from the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet was formally included into Chinese territory WC can say that there is no other place in China like Tibet, wherein religion stands above all else, where life is full of a strong religious flavor and culture contains a strong theological atmosphere. Tibetan Buddhism was introduced into the Mongolian region in the Yuan Dynasty and was gradually widely accepted by the Mongolian people. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperors also built some Lama temples and Lama pagodas in Beijing and north China in order to unite the Tibetan and Mongolian nationalities.

Zuglakang Monastery in Lhasa

Zuglakang Monastery in Lhasa is a representative of temples built on flatlands. The monastery began construction in the seventh century, with extensions over the centuries, and it is preserved to this day.

The gate of the monastery faces west and is close to Barkor Street which encircles Zuglakang Monastery. Everyday, believers make a clockwise circular perambulation to show respect for the Buddha.

Walking through a doorway with a porch, across a thousand-Buddha verandah, one finds the Johkang Hall, the main hall of the Zuglakang Monastery. Johkang Hall is in a plane, square shape, with four layers on all sides, partitioned into small Buddhist halls. The Buddhist hall on the axis houses the statue of Sakyamuni brought by Princess Wencheng, In another Buddhist hall, there are the statues of Srong-brtsan-sgam-po, Princess Wencheng and Princess Chizun from Nepal. The center is a large space leading up to three floors with a flat top.

There is a gilded copper roof on the middle of each of the four sides of the fourth floor. Its figure is modeled after the structure of the Han nationality, and there is a truncated turret on each of the four corners.

Outside the front gate of the monastery is a small encircled yard inside which there is a willow tree said to have been planted by Princess Wencheng, as well as the Fanhui League Monument of the Tang Dynasty and a monument designed to persuade people to accept vaccination.

The gate of the Zuglakang Monastery, the Thousand-Buddha Verandah and the Johkang Hall, plus the small encircled yard, seem to play the role of ascreen wall, and together constitute an axial symmetric space series. The encircled yard and the concave temple gate form a small square in front of the monastery, which is the starting-point of the series. The Thousand-Buddha Verandah is wide and spacious, while the Johkang Hall is closed and inhibited, providing a stark contrast. The golden roof of the Johkang Hall is full of distinguishing features: short eaves are arranged surrounding the top of the entire square outer wall to bind up the whole hall, and extend outward from the four golden-top halls that create a multi-eaved effect. Additionally, with the set-off of the turret, the image is particularly rich and beautiful.

Sha-lu Monastery

Sha-lu Monastery in the southeast of Xigaze was first built in 1087 during the Song Dynasty. Sha-lu means tender leaf, perhaps containing the meaning of the rejuvenation of Buddhism. The original monastery was destroyed by earthquake, and was rebuilt at the end of the 1athcentury during the Yuan Dynasty.

In the center of the ground floor is the main hall Sha-lu La-kang. It is a square, large scripture hall, the flat-top of the center part protruding. Light streams in through the skylight between the high and low flat-tops. This layout was later called the “Du-khang method”, and was commonly used by the Ming and Qing dynasties. The left, right and back sides of the scripture hall are closely encircled by several Buddhist halls, and a ring of winding corridors are added to the outer side. Monks can take a right-hand walk and chant scripture in the corridor.

The second floor is asiheyuan (courtyard with houses on all sides) encircled by four purely Han-style halls. According to ancient Tibetan documents, when the Sha-lu Lakang was built, many skilled Han craftsmen were invited, therefore forming an early Tibetan/Han mixed style.

In the early 15th century (early Ming Dynasty), the eminent monk TSongkhapa from Qinghai introduced religious reform in Tibet and created the Gelug-pa or Yellow Hat sect. It eventually gained the upper hand not only in religion, but also in politics. He constructed six famous major temples of the Yellow Hats, which are also the largest temples of Tibetan Buddhism, Such as the Lhasa Ganden Monastery (1409), Bras-spungs Monastery (1416), Sara Monastery (1419), Tashilungpo in Xigaze (1447), Tar Monastery in HuangZhong of Qinghai (156O), and Blabrang Monastery in Xiahe of Gansu (1709). They were all built at the foot of mountains, represented by Blabrang Monastery.