Dongke Temple

Dongke Temple

Dongke Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Dongke Temple, also known as "Dongke'er Temple" or "Dongkuo Temple," are all transliterations from the Tibetan language. Its original full name was "Dongke Jushan 0 Continent," and it is located in Riyue Township, Huangyuan County, Qinghai Province. Dongke Temple belongs to the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its current name is "Dongke Buddhist Preaching and Meditation Continent." To the south of the temple, along the river, there are lush pines and cypresses, and tall poplars, creating beautiful scenery. In the fifth year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1648), it was founded by the Fourth Dongke—Dorje Gyatso. In the first year of the Yongzheng reign (1723), it was destroyed due to the Lobsang Danjin incident. Its ruins are located about a hundred meters east of the current county town, locally known as "Old Temple Terrace." In the first year of the Qianlong reign (1736), it was relocated to its current site by the Fifth Dongke—Soinam Gyatso. When Dongke Temple was first built, it received strong support from Güshi Khan, who allocated a large area of land, including the Riyue Mountain in Huangyuan and the areas around the Datong River in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Gonghe County, as the temple’s territory. In 1665 (the fourth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty), the Fourth Dongke Dorje Gyatso was summoned to Beijing and conferred the title of “Manjushri Chan Master” by the Qing court. He resided in the capital. Since then, successive Dongke became “Hutuktu” residing in Beijing.

During the Qing Dynasty, the temple complex was grand in scale. The main hall, or Great Scripture Hall, had five rooms, with two side halls. It featured floors made of cypress wood and ceilings of pine boards. The door panels were adorned with bronze rings shaped like animal heads, inlaid with golden nails. The statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Manjushri, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and Tsongkhapa were all gilded copper figures. The columns of the hall were wrapped in golden dragons painted on a red base, with the dragons’ golden eyes and upturned tails appearing as if ready to soar through the clouds. Various Buddha statues displayed diverse and exquisite craftsmanship. The open space in front of the hall was as flat as a whetstone. There were hundreds of rooms for monks, storage, kitchens, and meeting halls. Among them, the residence of the high lama was exquisitely built. In 1737 (the second year of the Qianlong reign), after the completion of the temple, a thousand large and small gilded copper statues were purchased from Beijing and enshrined in a specially built pavilion. It truly became the foremost Tibetan Buddhist temple in Danggar, and thus was bestowed with a golden plaque by Emperor Qianlong, officially naming it “Tebutianxie Danshulin.” From then on, the reputation of Dongke Temple grew increasingly prominent.

The temple originally had faculties for Exoteric Buddhism and Kalachakra studies, following the curriculum of the Sera Je Monastery in Tibet, with over 200 monks. The monks emphasized the practice of Esoteric Buddhism, and were especially renowned for their creation of colored sand mandalas dedicated to the three main deities: Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, and Yamantaka.

Historically, Dongke Temple possessed extensive estates, immense wealth, and considerable political influence. The *Danggar Hall Chronicles* recorded that “its land was vast, its land rents abundant, covering all of Danggar. Moreover, it bordered various villages to the west of Xining County, where it imposed various harsh punishments, wielding power equal to officials and even exceeding them in injustice. The number of monks reached hundreds.” The temple’s steward held significant authority. While the temple’s head, the Dongke Hutuktu, resided in Beijing, “the one who controlled the collection of wealth and taxes was the steward alone. Monks who served as stewards for several years could accumulate family fortunes worth tens of millions, becoming the wealthiest in the region.”

Dongke Temple had six branch temples. Within the county, these included the Golden Buddha Temple, Xialala Temple, and Guide Qunaihai Temple. Outside the county, they included the Tianzhu Temple in Tianzhu County, Gansu, and the Mati Temple in Sunan. After the religious reforms of 1958, the temple was disbanded, and many precious cultural relics, archives, and scriptures were lost. Aside from one remaining 48-room residence of the high lama, the main structures were demolished. On March 30, 1983, the temple was reopened. In 1986, a five-room glazed-tile scripture hall was restored, along with the 48-room residence of the high lama and six monk dormitory courtyards totaling 24 rooms. The scripture hall faces east and is situated westward. Inside, from left to right, it houses clay statues of the Buddha of Infinite Life, Medicine Buddha, Sakyamuni, and Kasyapa. On both sides are clay statues of the Eight Great Guardians. By the entrance are statues of two guardian deities, Danzheng and Shanduo. There are also individual statues of the Precious Buddha and the Thirteenth Dongke. All were crafted by master artisans, displaying vivid and lifelike expressions. The temple currently has 17 monks (including four novices), managed by an administrative and religious affairs committee of three members.