Chengde Xumifushou Temple (Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity), China

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Xumifushou Temple

The Xumifushou Temple (Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity) lies on the northern mountain of the Lion Gully in the northern Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde.

It is also called "the Palace of Banchan". The "Xumi Mountain" is called ceremony in Tibetan and it means the auspicious living place. "Fushou" means "Lunbu" in Tibetan. The Xumifushou Temple means the temple is the place with a lot of blessedness and longevity.

When Qianlong knew the 6th Banchan Lama - the political and religion leader of Tibet went to Beijing himself in order to celebrate Qianlong's 70th birthday, he felt very happy. So he selected the foot of northern Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde to build a Lama temple for the 6th Banchan Lama. This is the origin of the Xumifushou Temple.

The Xumifushou Temple covers an area of 36,700 square meters. It is divided into three parts. In the front courtyard there are stone bridge, stone lion, mountain door, tablet pavilion, gilding memorial archways and etc.

In the middle there is the center of the red platform - the Gautama Palace and scripture palace.

In the rear is the living place of the 6th Banchan and his disciples and there is a Wanfazongyuan Palace enshrined Buddha. The rear courtyard is the Wanshou Tower.

The red platform is the center of the whole temple. "The Miaogaozhuangyan Palace" is in the middle of the platform and it is 29 meters high. The gold copper tile was built with 15,429 liang gold. There are eight flying dragons on the ridge of the palace and they were built with a ton copper, so it is quite precious

On the first floor of the palace the statues of the Gautama and Zongkaba who is the founder of Tibetan Yellow Communion are enshrined. In the eastern side it is the place where the 6th Banchan reads scripture. On the second floor the Gautama and his two disciples Jiaye and Ana are enshrined. On the third floor three statues of Daweidejingang, Mijijingang and Shenglejingang are enshrined.

The Wanshou Tower must be introduced to you. Its appearance has eaves corner of Xieshan style and is very elegant. Inside there are seven layers. Due to the 70th birthday of Qianlong at that time, the seven floors indicated to commemorate the 70th birthday. The tower body is built with green gilding bricks and the top is covered with yellow gilding tiles. It is the peak of the whole temple which is very magnificent.

The Xumifushou Temple was built as the palace of Banchan, so it has dense air and etiquette of Tibetan Buddhism. The construction design and the decoration are both quite precise. In Qing Dynasty it is the symbol of harmonious nation of Han and Tibet. It was listed into the Chinese emphatic preservation unit of cultural relics in 1961.

If you want to select a scene spot and want to appreciate Tibetan culture out of Tibet, you should come to the Xumifushou Temple. If you come here, you can comprehend the extensive Tibetan Buddhism and travel the Mountain Summer Resort at the same time compare the two palaces.

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