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Qing Dynasty

Chinese ancient architecture and grottoes from the Qing Dynasty period: 6 entries, including Prince Gong's Mansion, Labrang Monastery, Pule Temple, and more.

001 Architecture Prince Gong's Mansion Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing began as the residence of Heshen, the Qianlong emperor's favorite; its nanmu house, built in imitation of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, was listed among Heshen's Twenty Great Crimes and survives as today's Xijin Studio. After confiscation in 1799, half of the mansion became Princess Hexiao's residence and half was granted to Prince Qing Yonglin; in 1852 the Xianfeng emperor allotted it to Prince Gong Yixin, whose northern garden was completed in the Tongzhi era; in 1937 it became the women's college of Fu Jen University. Listed in 1982 as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, it is now the Prince Gong's Mansion Museum. The article collects original texts from the Veritable Records of the Qing, the Draft History of Qing, and other documents, together with twentieth-century historical photographs. Qing Dynasty · Beijing · No. 17 Qianhai West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
002 Architecture Labrang Monastery Labrang Monastery, in Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu, was founded in the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing (1709). One of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and the seat of the Jamyang Zhepa line, it is also known simply as Tashikhyil Monastery, transcribed in Qing Chinese texts variously as 拉布楞, 拉布浪, and 拉卜愣. Drawing on Qing sources such as the Gazetteer of Xunhua Subprefecture, the Diary of a Journey in Attendance in the Xinmao Year, the Memorials on the Pacification of the Tibetans, and the Veritable Records of Qing, this article traces the monastery's history from Chaghan Danjin's invitation to the First Jamyang Zhepa to found it, through the nineteen-year lawsuit with Heicuo Monastery, the dispute with Rongwo Monastery, and the Bangzhou case, and presents historical photographs of Labrang Monastery taken by Harrison Forman between 1932 and 1937. Qing dynasty · Gansu · Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu
003 Architecture Pule Temple Pule Temple, northeast of the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei, was built by imperial decree in the thirty-first year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing (1766) and completed the following year—an imperial Tibetan Buddhist temple laid out facing east. Drawing on the Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Rehe, the Stele Inscription of Pule Temple, the surveys of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture, and old photographs by Hedda Morrison, this article traces Zongyin Hall, Xuguang Pavilion, the layout of the mandala-city, the frontier audience rites of the Qing, and the temple's appearance in the 1930s and 1940s. Qing dynasty · Hebei · Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei
004 Architecture Puning Temple In the twentieth year of the Qianlong reign, the chiefs of the four Oirat tribes received investiture and rewards at the Mountain Resort and raised wine in wishes for the emperor's long life at the banquet; it was against this background that Puning Temple was built. The temple was laid out in imitation of Samye Monastery in Tibet, its rear precinct rising tier upon tier through the Mahayana Pavilion, the four continents, and the group of stupas; by the Jiaqing reign, the Hall of Mahavira was already leaking and rotting. Visiting the temple, Bojun wrote that even craning his head he could not see up to the great Buddha's belly, and had to “climb one more story” before its countenance came into view. Qing dynasty · Hebei · Chengde, Hebei
005 Architecture Putuo Zongcheng Temple From his study of archival records and Qing-period images, Yang Xu concluded that under the Qianlong reign the Great Red Terrace of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple originally had four full stories, and the gilded roof of the Wanfa Guiyi Hall was not exposed. Later the Red Terrace lost a story, and shelter pavilions were added over the two red sandalwood pagodas whose tops emerged above the roofline; soon after von Mumm photographed them, both pavilions collapsed one after the other in 1904. The silhouette familiar today has passed through the loss of a story, the addition of pavilions, collapse, and modern restoration. Qing Dynasty · Hebei · Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei Province
006 Architecture Xumi Fushou Temple In the forty-fifth year of the Qianlong reign, Qianlong built the Xumi Fushou Temple in imitation of Tashilhunpo Monastery to welcome the Sixth Panchen Lama, who had journeyed from distant Tsang. The Panchen stayed at Rehe for only about two months, yet for this pilgrimage the mountain gate, stele pavilion, Great Red Terrace, gilded-roof hall towers, and living quarters together formed a complete monastic residence. In the Jiaqing years, the leaking enclosing rooms of the Jixiang Faxi Tower's courtyard and the terrace roof before the hall were surveyed and repaired in turn; old photographs from the 1930s further preserve the form of the Red Terrace, the gilded roof, and the glazed pagoda joining one behind another. Qing Dynasty · Hebei · Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei Province

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