#133 Teaching at Taizhou Teachers College, China ( Ta'er Si Buddhist Temple near Xining, Qinghai)

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This is Part III of my summer visit to the Province of Qinghai, China's 4th largest province, surrounded by the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Xinjiang and Tibet.

In TravelBlog #131 we visited the wonderful and largest of China's lakes, known as Qinghai-lake. In TravelBlog #132 we experienced the Great Mosque of Qinghai's capital, Xining.

This TravelBlog #133 takes me (and you) to the Temple complex known as the Kumbum Monastery, better known as the Ta'er Si Buddhist Temple. It is considered one of the holiest Buddhist sites in China. Parts of the Silk-road passed through this region on its way South, on its long journey toward India.

The 97 photos will take you on a special journey into the hills of one of China's remote and least developed provinces, Qinghai, to the village of Lusar in the Tibetan cultural region of Amdo.

The walled temple complex of the Ta'er Si, also known as the Kumbum Monastery, is nestled into the hillside some 20 miles Southeast, outside of Xining, Qinghai. The temple-area covers about 36 acres, and has some 9,300 rooms and 52 halls. It is one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist sites in China.

The exquisite structures, consisting of grand Buddha halls and sutra halls, dagobas and pagodas, monks' and lamas' dorms and pavillions, are a combination of both the Han and Tibetan styles of architecture along mountain slopes called Gongbalongwa. The lofty temples and halls, all rise one upon another, several with golden-roofs.

Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa sect, also known as the Yellew Hat sect, was born here.

The first temple was built in his honor in 1577, more than 150 years after his death. He founded the Buddhist Yellow Hat sect in the 1300s as a reformist and the Yellow Hat sect become dominant in Tibetan politics for centuries.

Ta'er Si Monastery took the brunt force of the vandalism from the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. Spectacular restoration work revived the site in the 1980's.

In 1990, a major Earthquake rocked the temple complex and during my visit, I noticed, that renovations from that tragedy are still in progress after some serious destruction.

A comfortable road now leads from Xining, Qinghai's capital, to the temple site, and so the Ta'er Si Temple complex is a popular attraction for both, tourists and pilgrims.

As you can see by the 97 photos in this TravelBlog #133, the Ta'er Si Temple complex is huge, with dozens of individual temple compounds, each serving different ceremonial purposes.

The most important temple, though a little hidden, is "The Great Golden Roof Hall". Its exterior walls are covered in beautiful green tiles and topped with a two-level golden roof. This temple was built on the spot, where Tsongkhapa was born.

A sandlewood-tree is said to have grown, with an image of the Buddha on each leaf, where his umbilical cord fell to the ground. The tree became known as the "Tree of Great Merit". The leaves and the bark of this tree were reputed to bear impressions of the Buddha's face and various mystic syllables, and its blossoms were said to give off a peculiarly pleasing scent.

Two Catholic missionaries, Huc and Gabet, who arrived here in the 1840s when the tree was still living, were prepared to dismiss "The Tree of Great Merit" as just another fanciful legend: "We were filled with an absoluted consternation of astonishment," Huc noted in his famous book - Travels in Tartary-, "at finding that, in point of fact, there were upon each of the leaves well-formed Tibetan characters... Our first impression was a suspicion of fraud on the part of the lamas; but after a minute of examination of every detail, we could not discover the least deception."

This exquisite and most important of some 30 temples in Ta'er Si, "The Great Golden Roof Hall", contains a silver stupa holding pieces of wood and images of this tree.

The ridges of the hall's roof are decorated with auspicious objects such as treasure bottles, gold streamers, and gold deer. A statue of Tsongkhapa is placed in the pagoda.

On the porch of "The Great Golden Roof Hall", pilgrims prostrate themselves hundreds of times, and the boards are worn into grooves where their feet and hands touch.

The hall also contains a collection of hundreds of works by Tsongkhapa and his disciples, as well as hand-written copies of scriptures in Tibetan and Mongolian.

Another grand hall, "The Great Hall of Meditation", is the authoritative institution for the religious organization of the monastery. It is the largest structure and lies in front of the Great Hall of the Golden Roof.

"The Great Hall of Meditation" is supported by pillars, carved with beautiful patterns and covered with colorful felts and embroideries. Hanging from the four walls are unique pictures of the story of Buddhism and religious life.

A tower, made of pure gold, stands in the hall. It contains the ashes of TsongKhapa.

One of the most unusual temples is called, "The Hall of Butter Sculpture". The temple is packed with an exhibition of intricately carved "yak-butter sculptures". Thousands of painted figures and scapes depict scenes from Buddhist history and Buddhist lore. And YES, the entire exhibition has been fashioned from yak-butter and it is impressive.

This important monastery is a working Lamasery with 4 colleges. Before 1958, Ta'er Si had over 3,600 monks. At present, there are about 600. Of these, 400 are at the Debate College and the rest are distributed among the other three colleges, dealing with medicine, logic, and astrology.

The Monastic complex is vast, and it helps to hire a guide. Visiting is like walking through a museum, filled with centuries of old and precious Tibetan Buddhist art. The sounds of traditional temple instruments and chanting can be heard coming from the prayer halls.

Coming upon the monks debating in the courtyard of the Debate College is like watching a sporting event as monks engage in vigerous debate.

But for the Tibetan faithful and pilgrims, Ta'er Si or Kumbum Monastery is a sacred pilgrimage site. It is here where Tsongkhapa, the father of the Gulugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, also called the Yellow Hats, was born here.

Thousands of Pilgrims journey to this temple-site every year, turning a hand-held prayer wheel and fingering prayer beads. The devout walk clockwise around the perimeter of the complex.

Fewer Western visitors find their way to the Ta'er Si Temple near Xining, the capital of Qinghai, and I was very pleased to have been one of them. It is a special place, and a most holy place for the Buddhist faithful.

Again, for a more special experience and greater details, I urge you to click on the 97 photos and enlarge them for greater appreciation.

Thank you for your kind comments and messages. They mean much to me, and continute to encourage me to continue the TravelBlog. It usually takes me many days to upload the photos and research the information, and the slow computer speed I experience here makes the effort often quite frustrating.

Though it has been 5 years since I have left my family and friends in the USA, not a day passes, when my thoughts and memories remind me of the love and care of the years past. I wish all of you great joy and continued success in your daily lifes, and I am so pleased to be able to continue to share my life's adventures with you.

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