Lama Temple, Yonghe Temple
The Yonghe Lamasery was built in the 33rd year of the Kangxi reign period of the Qing Dynasty (1694) to serve as a residence for Prince Yinzhen In the third year of the Yongzheng reign period (1725), it was renamed as the Yonghe Palace.After Yongzheng’s death in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple
Emperor Qianlong, his successor, upgraded Yonghegong to an imperial palace with its turquoise tiles replaced by yellow tiles (yellow was the imperial color in the Qing Dynasty). During the 9th year of Emperor Qian Long’s reign (1744), it was converted into a lamasery and became a residence for large numbers of monks from Mongolia and Tibet.This is a kind of friendly policy that the Qing dynasty deal with the relation with Mongolia and Tibet. That is the reason why the Great Wall was not massive constructed during the Qing dynasty.
The Yonghe Lamasery contains five main halls along a north-south axis and three memorial archways. In the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses rises the statue of Maitreya, 18 metres above ground and eight metres below ground. The statue, carved from a single trunk of white sandalwood, is the largest wooden statue of Buddha in China. In 1993, it was included in the Guinness Book of Records.
