"Reading about Tibet" - Sakya Monastery, the ancestral temple of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism

Yang Huilin/Travel Notes

Sakya Monastery in Tibet (sa-skya-dgon ), divided into two temples, the South and the North. The North Temple is located on the Benbo Mountain on the north bank of the Zhongqu River in Sakya County (sa-skya-rdzong) in Shigatse. It was founded in 1073 (the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty) by the founder of the Sakya Sect, Kun Gongchojiepo. It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Lost. Nowadays, Senkham Lingpa (3 floors high) has been restored to its original appearance.

The Nan Temple is located in Pingba on the south bank of the Zhongqu River. It was built in 1268 (the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty) with the support of Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Later, he instructed Sakya Benchen Sakyamuni Sangpo to gather the manpower and material resources of 130,000 households in Tibet to build it. With a square plan and an area of ??45,000 square meters, the building is unique and combines the essence of Chinese, Indian and Tibetan architectural styles. Nan Temple is a typical Yuan Dynasty castle-style building with a strict appearance and extremely thick and majestic walls and moats. There are turrets and towering watchtowers at the four corners of the walled city. The barriers are tight and stable.

The Sakya Sect once took this temple as its center and ruled Tibet on behalf of the central government of the Yuan Dynasty for more than 70 years. It has a high reputation, rich cultural relics, treasures of porcelain, and a vast collection of scriptures. , the beauty of the murals, the exquisiteness of the wood carvings, and the numerous statues, it is known as the "Second Dunhuang". It was listed as a key national cultural relic protection unit in 1961 and is one of the important tourist attractions in Tibet. Sakya Monastery houses dozens of large statues made of alloy, gilt copper or silver up to 10 meters high. It also has more than 10,000 stone carvings, pottery sculptures, alloy, silver, copper, iron and other various statues, which are rich and colorful. , exquisitely shaped.

The porch hall of Lakang Qinmo Hall houses the clay statues of Immovable King Kong and Horse-headed King Kong, which are 5.5 meters high and look fierce. The main hall of the sutra hall houses 12 statues of Buddhas such as Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitayus Buddha, Manjusri Bodhisattva and Vajra Buddha Mother. Among them, 8 Buddha statues are made of alloy, 1 Buddha statue is made of silver, and 3 Buddha statues are made of gilt copper; 10 Buddha statues are 8 meters and 9.7 meters high, and 2 Buddha statues are 5.64 meters high. Such tall alloy statues are rare. .

The main alloy statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva (3.75 meters high) on the south side of the Pubalakang Hall is made by Nepalese craftsmen with exquisite craftsmanship. On the left side is a gilt bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha (4.6 meters high), and on the right side is a gilt bronze statue of Amitayus Buddha (1.4 meters high). There are wooden Buddhist niches on the west and south walls of the hall, reaching up to the top of the hall. The niches are densely covered with statues, mainly including 4137 alloy and gilt bronze statues of Buddha, Guanyin, Vajra, Dharma King, etc. (height 4 mm 45 cm), which is very spectacular. .

Cijulakham offered 3 silver statues of Master Padmasambhava and the two dakinis, 1.6 to 2.85 meters high, with angry eyes and mouth, holding magical instruments, showing Produce boundless magic power. Gnila Khang houses 9 silver or gilt bronze Buddha statues such as Amitayus Buddha, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Her Majesty Buddha, Vajra Brahma Buddha, Gongjue Jiebu, etc. They are 2.74 meters high, elegantly decorated and calm in appearance. There is an exquisite backlight behind the Buddha statue, decorated with Dapeng, Dragon Girl, Capricorn Fish, Peacock, BMW, Ruixiang, Hercules, etc. It has a unique style and exquisite casting.

In Lakangzi Gongkang (Dharma Protector Temple), the main altar is Luyichu (1.6 meters high), Pangun Xie, and the auspicious Tianmu clay statue (1.2 meters high). Wearing a skull crown, his eyes are about to burst, his mouth is angry and his tongue is curled up, he has a green rope necklace tied around his neck, and he is holding a bowl of human bones with blood spilling out of his hand, which is eerie and terrifying.

Lama Lakang mainly offers a gilt bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha (1.4 meters high) and 8 clay statues (80 centimeters high) of Erqiang Kunga Rinchen and Qiangbai Dorje. The statues are realistic in style and have different expressions.

Xue Zala Kang mainly enshrines the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, with sculptures on both sides of Jampa Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajra Buddha Mother, Saban Kunga Gyaltsen, etc. The statue is 70-135 cm high; there are wooden niches on the east and west walls and both ends of the north wall in the hall. There are 37 alloy and gilt-bronze Buddha statues in the niches, such as Mahavatha Tathagata, 68-75 cm high.

The Lakhang Ladrang (Paspa Hall) mainly houses the silver Vairocana Buddha statue (2 meters high), 37 alloy Samantabhadra Buddha statues (60 cm high), and 16 clay sculptures. Arhat (height 40 cm), realistic image.

Painting is an important part of the architecture of Sakya Temple. It has a wide range of themes, involving religion, history, culture and social life, and is divided into two categories: murals and thangkas. There are more than 3,000 murals. It mainly focuses on Buddhist teachings, myths and legends, historical stories, Kunshi history, Sakya history, landscapes and flowers, auspicious animal decorations, etc. The scene is grand and the content is rich. The famous one is the "Mandala Mural" (more than 130 pieces), painted at the end of the 13th century, with 63 mandala paintings. It is a precious cultural heritage of the Yuan Dynasty painting art in my country.

"Kun's Hereditary History Painting" contains 118 portraits of the Kun's family lineage, which is like a vivid comic strip of the Kun's lineage.

"Biography of Padmasambhava" depicts the birth of the master, studying scriptures, promoting Dharma, entering Tibet, defeating demons, building temples and other plots, which is full of legend.

"Sakyamuni Biography" describes the Buddha's life experience. The entire mural is 66 meters long. Such a large-scale mural is rare in the history of Chinese and foreign paintings. .

"Landscape Birds and Animals Painting" mainly depicts lions, tigers, elephants, deer, monkeys, cranes and other birds and animals, with mountains and rivers, and clouds lingering, just like a fairyland.

Thangka has 280 scrolls and has a history of nearly 700 years, but its color is still very bright. Among them, "The Painting Biography of Pasiba" and "Sapan· "Gongga Gyaltsen" thangka is the most precious. The Saban thangka records the whole process of his debate with Indian scholars. The Phagsepa thangka records his main achievements and is a rare art treasure.

In addition, there are also thangkas of Dharma kings, eminent monks, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Tara and various Dharma protectors of all dynasties with exquisite craftsmanship. There are "Thirty-Five Buddhas" painted in Sangjie Dongsha Thangka. Its simple and elegant style is very similar to the paintings of the same period in the Dunhuang Grottoes. It is said to be a work from the Tubo period and is an extremely rare and precious cultural relic.

Sakya Monastery has a rich collection of cultural relics with a complete range of categories. There are a large number of scriptures and precious leaf scriptures, fine porcelain, and conch shells, armor, and helmets given by Emperor Yuan. The huge number of hats, saddles, seals and edicts issued by the Ming and Qing dynasties ranks first among Tibetan temples.

At the back of the main hall and against the walls on the left and right sides are wooden bookshelves with straight roof beams, containing more than 45,000 scriptures, mainly including "Gangyur" and "Tanjyur" There are more than 2,000 Tibetan scriptures covering literature, medicine, philosophy, history, calendar, etc., including "Papa Gye Dongpa" (Golden Circle Sutra), "Biographies of Sakya Kings", "Biography of Sakyamuni", etc., forming a wall of scriptures. , so there is a saying that "Heaven is a wonderful temple, but if you knock down the wall, it will not cover the scriptures."

The scriptures are mostly written with gold powder, silver powder and pearl powder, which have attracted the attention of domestic and foreign historians, especially Tibetan scholars. There are eight shell-leaf sutras in the temple, which are rare treasures, especially the "Eight Thousand Psalms of Prajnaparamita Sutra". It is rectangular in shape. The largest one is 61 cm long and 6 cm wide; the smallest one is 19.3 cm long and 5.5 cm wide. It is extremely precious.

There are more than 1,100 pieces of porcelain. The shapes include bowls, bottles, pots, boxes, portraits, skull vessels, cups, lions, etc., dating from the Yuan Dynasty to the Republic of China. The patterns include white porcelain plain embossed patterns, which are simple and elegant; painted patterns include religious themes such as eight treasures, Mani treasures, double dragons, double phoenixes, pine cranes, lotus patterns, vajra pestles, "six-character mantra", and secular characteristics. There are a dazzling array of patterns including green picking, hunting, ladies traveling, eight boys practicing martial arts, gathering of wise men, as well as vivid landscapes, flowers and other patterns.

In addition, more than 10 members of the Kun family served as imperial advisors in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and several of them married into the royal family. Two generations of emperors granted the title of Sakya Monastery and Kunming Monastery. There are a large number of seals and titles issued by the descendants of the Yuan Dynasty, including the Yuan Dynasty edicts, the Bailan King's Seal, the Great Yuan Imperial Master's Seal, etc. These precious cultural relics provide important information for the study of Tibet's policies, casting techniques, and Sino-Tibetan relations during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. extremely precious physical information.

Tips: vkhon-dkon-mchog-rgyal-po (1034-1102): free translation of "Treasure King". The founder of Sakya Monastery and the founder of Sakya Sect. A native of Sakya, Houzang. Claims to be a descendant of the "Kun" family of Tubo nobles. When he was young, he learned Nyingma teachings and exoteric scriptures from his father and brother. Later, he learned new translations of tantric methods from masters such as Zhuo Mi Shakya Yeshe, Ma Translator, Wari Translator, and Bushang Translator. The most popular one is "Professor Daoguo". In 1073 AD (the sixth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty), the Sakya Temple was built in Sakya to promote Buddhism. Later, this temple became the ancestral temple and the Sakya sect was founded. After the establishment of the Sakya Sect, "the unity of politics and religion" was implemented. The temple owner, family patriarch, and sect master were all integrated into one person, and they were passed down from generation to generation.

Tips: ①In the past, tickets were charged, 50 yuan/person (for reference). ②The sightseeing time is 9:00 18:30. ③There are buses from Shigatse to Sakya Monastery every day. You can also charter a bus or drive yourself. ④There is the best hotel around Sakya Temple, Sakya Hotel, which can receive foreign guests. It has Western food, standard rooms and multi-person rooms; there are also family hotels with good environment and accommodation conditions. ⑤Dusk is the best time to take pictures of Sakya Monastery. You can also go up the mountain early in the morning and take a panoramic view of Sakya Temple at the first light of dawn.

⑥The Sakya Divine Dance Ceremony is large in scale and unique. When the spring and winter sacred dances are held every year, tens of thousands of monks and lay followers come to worship and watch. At this time, rich folk customs can be photographed.

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