001 Architecture Dazhao Temple (Jokhang) Dazhao Temple (the Jokhang) stands in Lhasa, Tibet. Chinese gazetteers write its name variously as Dazhao, Dazhao, Dazhao, and Dazhao (大昭/大招/大召/大诏); its Tibetan name is “Laomu.” The Weizang Tongzhi records that the temple rises four stories with five golden halls on top, the central hall enshrining Shakyamuni Buddha. Outside the gate stands the Tang–Tubo Alliance Stele, 1.5 zhang tall, a relic of the Changqing Treaty of 821 under Emperor Muzong; beside it grows an old willow said to date from the Tang dynasty. Tubo Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region Jokhang Temple · Dazhao (大昭) · Dazhao (大招) →
002 Architecture Sera Monastery Sera Monastery stands in the northern suburbs of Lhasa. It was founded in 1419 by Shakya Yeshe, who had previously entered the Ming court, at Tsongkhapa’s command. The monastery later grew into a Gelug institution with a great assembly hall and three colleges that once housed several thousand monks. Drawing on old texts, monastic scholarship, a monk’s recollections, and historical photographs, this entry traces the Ming court’s gifts, the eighteenth-century succession of its halls, the procession of the flying vajra, the life of debate, and images of the monastery from the early twentieth century onward. Ming dynasty Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region Sera Monastery · Saila Monastery · Sela Monastery →