Temple of Universal Peace
» Chengde, He Bei

普宁寺 金漆木雕千手千眼观世音菩萨

Big Buddha Temple,Puning Temple

Temple of Universal Peace also resembles a Tibetan temple. It was built in 1755 (the 25th year in the reign of Emperor Qianlong) to commemorate Qianlong's victory over Mongolian tribes when the subjugated leaders were in Chengde. A stella related to the victory is inscribed in Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese and Manchu. The main feature is a Guanyin towering 22 meters; this wooden Buddha has 42 arms with an eye on each palm. The temple appears to be used as an active place of worship.

A little bit about its history

In 1755 Emperor Qianlong dispatched troops to Yili in order to suppress the rebellion of the Zonggar people who inhabited northwestern China. The rebellion, which had been raging for eight years, was thereafter quickly quelled. In commemoration the Emperor ordered a lamasery to be built and named it "Temple of Universal Peace," in hope that henceforth the people of northwest China would live a peaceful life. Emperor Qianlong ordered the Temple of Universal Peace to be built in imitation of the Samye Monastery, the sacred place of Lamaism in Tibet. The emperor himself wrote the "Inscription of Puningsi" on the tablet which was situated in the middle of the stele pavilion.

Layout of the temple

The frontal half of the temple follows the layout of the Buddhist Monasteries of the Han people. Its rear half is based on mandala, the concept of the world of Buddhism the temple fully manifested the exchanges and harmonies of cultures between the Han and the Tibetan, and the Unity of the multi-national country.

Unique style of the temple

The temple was built in imitation of Samye Monastery, the sacred place of Lamaism in Tibet, and provides plentiful examples of the combination of Han and the Tibetan influences. The Hall of Mahayana and its surrounding terraces, halls and pagodas display the unique style of the Tibetan plastic arts. Indeed, the huge wooden image of the Buddha in the Hall of Mahayana is a rare image of its kind.

The tallest statue

With a height of over 23m and towering up through the building's five stories, the wooden Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin) statue stuns visitors with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, and weighs about 110 tons. This sculpture was recently listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest statue of its kind in the world. The figure, which was originally carved in 1755, is made of 120 cubic meters of wood - enough to build a four-storey house.

Other attractions

The rest of the halls also contain a variety of interesting, though smaller statues. Many of these are housed in the East and West Chambers of the Main Hall, which originally served for the emperor to rest and listen to the chanting of the Buddhist scripture. The temple still remains pleasantly active, with a hive of red robed monks that can be seen in prayer in the early morning.

Attractions around » Chengde, He Bei

Natural Scene

Natural Scene

Historical Site

Historical Site

As one of the Eight Outer Temples in Chengde, the Temple of Universal Peace (Puning Si) has also in its time been known as the Big Buddha Temple (Dafo Si), a reference to the huge statue of Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy within.

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