Tibet Minzhoiling Monastery, China

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Minzhoiling Monastery

The Minzhoiling Monastery is situated in Zhanang Prefecture in Shanan Area in Tibet. Its Chinese name is Wujinchengshujietuozhou and it means it is the place to lead people to increase knowledge and open talents. It is the main temple of Ningma Sect in Tibetan Buddhism.

Built in late of the 10th century, the Minzhoiling Monastery was called "Tabalin" before. Late it was destroyed in wars and the temple never existed anything.

In 1670 the pontiff of Ningma Sect in Tibet rebuilt a temple in original place of "Tabalin" according to the indication of the 5th Dalai Lama, so that is just the Minzhoiling Monastery.

When the temple was completed firstly, there were only 40 monks. Over one year later, the monks were as many as 300. It is said that in prosperity time of the Minzhoiling Monastery, the monks were more than 500 at most, very flourishing.

The Minzhoiling Monastery handed down the South Tibet Buddhism mainly (a kind of Tibetan Buddhism in the 16th century), the abbot of the temple was inherited in the way of inheriting son or inheriting son-in-law specially.

The temple is like an institute to teach lots of knowledge to the young and monks coming Tibet to study. The subjects are medicine, language, handwriting, Tibetan history and so on. According to the arithmetic written by the master Damaxiri, they taught arithmetic. This is the advanced teaching content at that time.

The Tibetan local government officials all once studied in the Minzhoiling Monastery. Even including the Monk School in Potola Palace, the officials from the Minzhoiling Monastery were once sent there to teach. Since long time ago, the Minzhoiling Monastery has taken the task of "teaching cultures and knowledge" in Tibet.

Although the Minzhoiling Monastery is like Buddhism institute, in the temple there enshrined Buddha statues, colleted scripture, palace and temple towers and rich cultural relics on cultural education, full of traditional Buddhist spirit and unique.

The temple was once destroyed in turbulence of history changes in about over one thousand years and became a broken-down temple. But the pontiffs and Lamas of Ningma Sect in Tibet worked hard to recover the original landscapes and scientific of the Minzhoiling Monastery, so today's Minzhoiling Monastery recovered its original appearance.

In Tibet this kind of temple is worth visiting very much.