Huizong Temple

Huizong Temple

Huizong Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Huizong Temple is located in the northern part of the county town, about 2 kilometers from the bus station. It can be reached by taking Bus No. 3. The scenic area is open from 8:00 to 18:00.

Scenic Area Introduction: 300 years ago, at the southern edge of the vast Inner Mongolian grasslands, a magnificent architectural complex emerged — it was the once world-renowned Dolonnor Huizong Temple. But the Huizong Temple you see today may not reveal its former grandeur and mystery, as it can only be called the ruins of Huizong Temple. It now covers only one twentieth of the original temple’s area. Nevertheless, your visit is still worthwhile, as you can learn about the profound historical conditions and social realities of the Mongolian Plateau from the historical information preserved in the ruins of Huizong Temple.

Huizong Temple is a Gelug sect monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, commonly known as the Yellow Sect monastery. Tibetan Buddhism refers to the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, which is divided into several sects. Initially, the main ones were Nyingma (Red Sect), Sakya (Flower Sect), Bon (Black Sect), and Kagyu (White Sect). Tibetan Buddhism was introduced to the Inner Mongolia region in the early 13th century, during the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, initially dominated by the Sakya and Red Sects. By the Yongle era (1403–1424) of the Ming Dynasty, in response to the Red Sect’s lax discipline and other practices, Tsongkhapa from Xining reformed Tibetan Buddhism, advocating "respect for monastic discipline," promoting asceticism, celibacy, prohibition of alcohol, and a ban on killing. The method of succession was changed from "father-to-son transmission" to "reincarnation." To distinguish his new sect from the Red Sect, Tsongkhapa wore yellow robes and a yellow hat, hence the name Yellow Sect, also commonly known as the Gelug sect. After its emergence, the Yellow Sect gained strong support from Mongolian leaders and spread widely across the Inner Mongolia region. After the Qing Dynasty established its rule, it also strongly promoted the Yellow Sect, leading to a boom in the construction of Tibetan Buddhist temples in Inner Mongolia.

As for the construction of Huizong Temple, we must start with Emperor Kangxi. Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of 8 and began to rule personally at 16. To consolidate his power, he resolved several major issues: he deposed Ao Bai, pacified the Three Feudatories, and reclaimed Taiwan. The next pressing issue was the situation with the Mongols in the northern frontier. At that time, Galdan of the western Mongols was powerful and waging wars on all sides. In 1688, the 27th year of Kangxi’s reign, Galdan invaded Outer Mongolia beyond the Gobi, defeating the three leagues of Outer Mongolia. Under the leadership of the great lama Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, they retreated into Inner Mongolia and sought help from Emperor Kangxi. The Qing government settled Jebtsundamba in the fertile and strategically located Dolonnor Grassland. Two years later, under the pretext of pursuing Jebtsundamba and Tüsheet Khan, Galdan invaded Inner Mongolia, putting the Qing border in crisis. Emperor Kangxi led his army to fight against Galdan and defeated him at Ulan Butung, northeast of Dolonnor. The following year, in 1691, the 30th year of Kangxi’s reign, the emperor gathered civil and military officials at Dolonnor Grassland to organize a grand assembly of the three leagues of Outer Mongolia and the 48 banners of Inner Mongolia — the famous “Dolonnor Assembly.” During the assembly, the three leagues of Outer Mongolia formally submitted to the Qing Dynasty, adopting the Inner Mongolian administrative model of banners and companies, thus coming under Qing rule. This officially defined the northern territory of the Qing Dynasty. To commemorate the significance of this assembly, the Mongolian nobles proposed building a Tibetan Buddhist temple as a permanent memorial. Emperor Kangxi strongly agreed and issued an edict to build a temple in Dolonnor. After the temple was completed, Kangxi appointed the third Changkya Hutuktu as its abbot and established the Dolonnor Lama Print Office in Dolonnor to oversee Tibetan Buddhist affairs across Inner Mongolia. By the 52nd year of Kangxi’s reign (1713), seeing the temple’s splendid construction and the monks from all over Mongolia devoutly practicing Buddhism, as well as frequent gatherings of Mongolian leagues, the emperor was highly pleased. He bestowed the name “Huizong Temple,” meaning “Unification of Dharma under One Sect,” personally inscribed the plaque, wrote the temple’s stele inscription, and erected a pair of white marble steles inscribed in Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese, and Tibetan, detailing the reasons and process behind the temple's construction.

Changkya Hutuktu Lamasery: Another reason for Huizong Temple’s fame lies in its grand scale and strong political significance. After the Changkya Hutuktu settled in Dolonnor, he quickly established a large reincarnated lama system, with his lineage governing over 1,800 Tibetan Buddhist temples across Inner Mongolia. In the social context of the time, people in Mongolian society "listened only to the words of the lamas," and the lamas controlled the spiritual thoughts of the populace. The Huizong Temple presided over by the Changkya Hutuktu naturally became the spiritual and ideological center of all Inner Mongolia. As the Changkya Hutuktu’s influence in Inner Mongolia grew, the Qing government appointed him as the “Great State Preceptor” and clearly stipulated that the Dalai Lama would govern Tibetan Buddhist affairs in southern Tibet, the Panchen Lama in northern Tibet and Qinghai, the Changkya Hutuktu in Inner Mongolia, and the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu in Outer Mongolia. Thus, the jurisdiction of the “Four Great Hutuktus” was clearly divided geographically. Moreover, the Changkya Hutuktu, with his political status as the “Great State Preceptor,” ranked above the other three Hutuktus. Successive Changkya Hutuktus were highly revered by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty. In November of the fifth year of the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign, to celebrate the complete submission of Inner and Outer Mongolia and the northwestern regions to the Qing Dynasty and to strengthen control over the Mongolian regions, the Yongzheng Emperor issued an edict to build an even more magnificent temple, named “Shanyin Temple,” one li west of Huizong Temple, and placed it under the management of the Changkya Hutuktu along with Huizong Temple.

The Dolonnor Lama Temples consist of four parts: the first part includes the two main temples, Huizong and Shanyin; the second part consists of 13 reincarnated lama lamaseries, each housing a lama from senior monks across Tibet, Nepal, Qinghai, and Mongolia, symbolizing regional representation and under the administration of the Changkya Hutuktu; the third part includes ten official storehouses, five for Huizong Temple and five for Shanyin Temple; in addition, there are over 120 quadrangle-style dwellings called dangzi houses, with each banner of Mongolia occupying one courtyard as an office for contacting the Qing government. The entire temple complex covers an area of over 700 acres, hosts over 3,000 monks, and has more than 20,000 people in the shanair hu (rental-silver land) households, forming a city-like temple with both power and wealth. Unfortunately, after 1913, due to changing political situations, Dolonnor, as a strategic stronghold, experienced frequent warfare, and Huizong Temple suffered repeated damage. By the end of 1945, it was reduced to ruins, and further destruction during the Cultural Revolution erased its former glory. In 2001, Huizong Temple was approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Since then, extensive restoration work has been carried out, but what visitors see today is only a small portion of the restored halls.

The Changkya Lamasery enshrines Amitabha Buddha, Dipankara Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha and his two disciples, the trinity of Tsongkhapa, as well as the Changkya Hutuktu. At the entrance are enshrined the Five Wealth Gods.

In addition to various bronze Buddha statues, the most eye-catching are probably the colorful thangkas. Thangkas are scroll paintings on silk or cloth, hung inside the temple halls. Typically, they feature cloth or silk as the central painting surface, bordered with various brocades or adorned with gold, silver, and gemstones. They have a top rod, a canopy, and silk curtains, making them convenient to carry and preserve.

Most of the thangkas collected in the halls of Huizong Temple are primarily in the Tibetan style, integrated with Mongolian painting art. The content is broadly divided into two categories: one mainly features religious themes, depicting Buddha statues, bodhisattva statues, eminent Buddhist masters, portraits of successive Dalai and Panchen Lamas, as well as the Changkya and Jebtsundamba Hutuktus, or illustrating Buddhist stories, religious doctrines, and related myths and legends; the other reflects the vibrant aspects of Mongolian life, drawing subjects from historical stories, customs, astronomy, calendrics, Tibetan medicine, Mongolian medicine, and more. In terms of color, there are eight hues: red represents bravery and solemnity, gold symbolizes splendor, silver stands for elegance, yellow denotes nobility, white signifies purity, blue conveys joy, black embodies solemnity, and green represents tranquility.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units