Gengqing Monastery

Gengqing Monastery

Gengqing Monastery is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Sakya sect's Gengqing Monastery is located at the eastern end of Wenhua Street in Dege County (Gengqing Town). In the 13th year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty (1448), the 36th-generation Bota Zhashi Shengen of the Dege family and the renowned Tibetan Shangpa Kagyu master Tangdong Gyelpo presided over the initial construction of the scripture hall at Sigengleng, which was named the "Tangjia Scripture Hall" after Tangdong Gyelpo. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, during the reign of the 6th Dege chieftain, Gama Songzan, substantial manpower and resources were devoted to the commencement of constructing the grand main monastery of Gengqing Monastery. It was not until the reigns of the 7th chieftain, Xiangba Puncog, through the 8th chieftain, Genka Puncog, that the construction of the main monastery was essentially completed. During the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty, the 12th Dege chieftain, Dengba Tsering, further expanded the complex, spending decades building the magnificent and renowned Dege Printing House on the western side of the main hall of Gengqing Monastery, which he then entrusted to the monks of Gengqing Monastery for management and operation. Thus, a large architectural complex took shape, extending along the Oqu River, with the main monastery and monk dormitories lined up to the east, the Printing House and Tangjia Scripture Hall to the west, covering hundreds of acres.

After 1981, monks of Gengqing Monastery resumed religious activities in the well-preserved Tangjia Scripture Hall. In 1986, under the personal selection of the 10th Panchen Lama, the new main hall of Gengqing Monastery was constructed at the former site of the county vehicle fleet in Oplung. In March 1988, the grand and archaic main hall of Gengqing Monastery, covering approximately 30 acres, was completed, and the project moved on to the stages of interior carving, sculpting, painting, and decoration.

From the Tangjia Scripture Hall to the main hall of the monastery, all structures of Gengqing Monastery were built under the auspices of the Dege chieftain family. Since 1448, it has served as the family monastery of the chieftains, obedient to their commands in political and religious matters, directly controlled by them, and played a crucial supporting role in the Dege family’s political and religious rule. According to the chieftain family's regulations, Gengqing Monastery did not have its own leader; instead, leadership was hereditarily appointed by the chieftain family. That is, if the chieftain had two sons, the eldest would become a monk and serve as the head of Gengqing Monastery, holding religious authority, while the younger would inherit the chieftainship and hold political power. If there was only one son, he would inherit the chieftainship and concurrently serve as the monastery’s head, striving to control and influence Gengqing Monastery in order to use other sect monasteries within the jurisdiction to serve his political rule. During the reign of the 12th chieftain, Dengba Tsering, the chieftain family additionally appointed five monasteries but still regarded Gengqing Monastery as the family monastery, continuing to support and control it. It allowed the monastery to enjoy the highest privileges in land, commerce, arms, and politics. For centuries, Gengqing Monastery endeavored to promote the chieftain family from a religious standpoint—glorifying and praising the merits of successive chieftains as heaven-sent and wise, actively safeguarding the political interests of the chieftain family, and maintaining a ruling-class relationship where both prospered or suffered together until the liberation. During the Republican era, the Nationalist government placed Gengqing Monastery officials in various institutions such as the county council, joint party-military meetings, district and township governments, local militias, labor unions, and chambers of commerce, placing great importance on co-opting and utilizing the monastery’s religious power for political purposes. After the liberation, the Party and government implemented the separation of religion and state in the monastery, abolishing its economic and political privileges. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, four senior religious figures from Gengqing Monastery were elected as members of the county CPPCC and the Buddhist Association, fully leveraging the patriotic and religious contributions of senior religious figures to society and economic development. Gengqing Monastery is divided into an eastern courtyard and a western courtyard. It directly governs seven branch monasteries within the county, including Gongya Monastery, Galun Monastery, Yin Nan Monastery, Wengen Monastery, Mencha Monastery, Keluo Monastery, and Randeng Monastery in Jiangda County, Tibet. Additionally, there are dozens of semi-affiliated branch monasteries distributed in counties such as Baiyu, Shiqu, and Jiangda. The highest leader of the monastery is the Dege chieftain or his elder brother, under whom are positions such as Gengben, Dong Dazhang, Xi Dazhang (during the Republican era, Jiangcun Dazhang was added above the Dong and Xi Dazhang), Khenpo, Gegu, Zhongyi, Laichong, and Zhuben. The administrative body of the monastery is the "Gengben" (Banjiu) meeting room, composed of one Gengben, one Gegu, two Khenpos, one Dong Dazhang, and one Xi Dazhang. The Gengben meeting room has the chieftain as the supreme decision-maker. Daily affairs are managed by the Gengben, who convenes meetings to discuss and decide on major religious and political issues of the monastery, as well as to recommend candidates for promotion among the Printing House officials and monastery monks.

From the early Qing Dynasty to the Republican era, Gengqing Monastery gathered a large number of domestic and international religious scholars, advancing the development of Tibetan painting, music, Tibetan opera, sculpture, wood carving, architecture, printing, and Tibetan medicine at the monastery. It played a significant and indispensable role in promoting the development of Tibetan culture in the Dege region and shaping the stylistic characteristics of its religious culture. The great Khenpo Lodro Wangpo of the Qing Dynasty and the late Qing Khenpo Sangdeng Lochen were renowned scholars of profound knowledge in Tibetan studies, leaving behind many writings. The early Qing Khenpo Tsechang Zhuqing made great contributions to the carving and proofreading of the "Tanjur" printing blocks. Gengqing Monastery holds multiple cham dances every year. These dances, with their long history, played a crucial role in the formation of Dege’s music, dance, and storytelling arts. Influenced by the father of Tibetan opera, Tangdong Gyelpo, the Dege Tibetan opera represented by Gengqing Monastery officially took shape in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Through continuous evolution, the traditional Tibetan opera performed annually by Gengqing Monastery around the 5th of July became a quintessential representation of Dege Tibetan opera with its unique style and character. The traditional Tibetan operas of Gengqing Monastery are mostly adapted from "Jataka Tales," characterized by their simplicity, ruggedness, and expressive singing, dancing, chanting, and spoken parts—singing without dancing, and dancing without singing. Costumes, masks, makeup, postures, movements, props, performance times, entrances and exits, music, intonation, and vocal styles are all strictly regulated. In the late Qing Dynasty, Khenpo Sangdeng Lhundrub first adapted "Sharapa" and "Norin Gyelpo," resulting in five traditional Tibetan opera repertoires that have been performed for a long time at Gengqing Monastery: "Sharapa," "Norin Gyelpo," "Karma Gendun," "Drug Ngama Ten," and "Kyargyam." Early liberation-era statistics recorded 960 monks at Gengqing Monastery, including 40 senior and administrative monks, 300 general monks, 360 novice monks, 400-plus firearms, and the ability to mobilize over 400 auxiliary troops. The monastery owned over 1,000 acres of arable land in areas such as Gengqing, Balida, Gongya, Wangbudeng, Bayak, and Keluodong, 3,000 dairy cows, and over 200 Khoba households. From just land and livestock rentals alone, the monastery earned an annual income of 15,000 kg of barley, 600 kg of butter, and 64 packs of tea. The monastery also invested an average of 5,000 silver dollars annually in commerce and 25,000 silver dollars plus 60,000 kg of barley in trade, receiving an average of 120,000 kg of grain, 10,000 silver tangkas, 1,000 kg of butter, and 100 cattle annually under the patronage of the chieftain family. By 1988, Gengqing Monastery had 313 monks, including 170 administrative and general monks and 143 novice monks. The monastery generated over 30,000 yuan annually through services such as architectural design, land and livestock management, printing, painting and sculpture, and transportation.

Protected area: Extend 2 meters eastward to the perimeter wall of the Tibetan opera stage, west to the perimeter wall of the county middle school, south to the terrace of the Sigengleng residential buildings, and north to the bank of the Oqu River.

Construction control zone: Extend 10 meters eastward from the protected area.