Miaoying Temple (Yuan Dynasty)

Miaoying Temple, commonly known as the White Dagoba Temple, is located at 171 Fuchengmennei Dajie, Xicheng District, Beijing, China. It is a Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa monastery. Originally built during the Yuan Dynasty, it was first named "Dashengshou Wan'an Temple." The white dagoba within the temple, also built during the Yuan Dynasty, is the oldest and largest Tibetan-style dagoba in China. In 1961, the "Miaoying Temple White Dagoba" was announced by the State Council of the People's Republic of China as one of the first national key cultural relics protection units. During the Liao Dynasty (916–1125), the area where Miaoying Temple is located was in the northern suburbs of Liao Nanjing City. According to the "Stele Inscription of the Stupa of Sakyamuni's Relics Built by Imperial Decree" (hereinafter referred to as the "Stele Inscription") by the Yuan Dynasty monk Ruyixiangmai, the temple's predecessor was the Yong'an Temple of the Liao Dynasty. Inside Yong'an Temple was a dagoba, inscribed with "Stupa of Sakyamuni's Relics," built by the esoteric master Shi Daojian on March 15th of the second year of Shouchang in the Liao Dynasty (1096). Inside the dagoba were stored 20 relic beads, 2,000 small clay dagobas, the "Immaculate Pure Light Great Dharani Sutra," and other Dharani Sutras, as well as other items. From the contents of the dagoba, it can be seen that Yong'an Temple and the dagoba belonged to Esoteric Buddhism. Later, Yong'an Temple was mostly destroyed by the war during the Yuan Dynasty's conquest of the Jin Dynasty, with only the dagoba surviving. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Liao and Yuan dagobas have been confused, with the existing white dagoba being mistakenly attributed to the Liao Dynasty. In the early 1960s, Professor Su Bai of the Department of Archaeology at Peking University discovered the "Stele Inscription" in the "Record of Distinguishing Falsehoods in the Zhiyuan Era" by the Yuan Dynasty monk Ruyixiangmai, clarifying that the existing Miaoying Temple White Dagoba was built during the Yuan Dynasty, not the Liao Dynasty. On March 25th of the eighth year of Zhiyuan in the Yuan Dynasty (1271), Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, ordered the opening of the Liao dagoba, where the relics were discovered. He also ordered the construction of a new dagoba. The "History of Yuan" records that the new dagoba was completed in the sixteenth year of Zhiyuan (1279). Its purpose was to enshrine the relics of Sakyamuni Buddha. The white dagoba was designed and built under the supervision of Araniko, a Nepalese craftsman who served the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Araniko had just arrived in Dadu from Tibet. As a disciple of Drogön Chögyal Phagpa and having built a Tibetan-style dagoba in Tibet in the first year of Zhongtong (1260), he was highly valued by Kublai Khan. After the white dagoba was completed, the Imperial Preceptor, 'Phags-pa, personally placed the relics inside. The "Stele Inscription" records that when the white dagoba was first built, it had many Buddhist image carvings, such as animals carved on the base, numerous Dharma protector statues on the Sumeru pedestal, the five Buddhas' symbols on the dome, and "objects held by celestial mothers," but these carvings have weathered away over time. In the ninth year of Zhiyuan (1272), construction began on "Dashengshou Wan'an Temple" (hereinafter referred to as "Wan'an Temple"), centered around the white dagoba, and was completed in the twenty-fifth year of Zhiyuan (1288). Because the temple was located in the western part of the Yuan Dadu city, it was also called the "West Garden" in the "Epitaph of Prince Minhui of Liang." Wan'an Temple was a royal temple of the Yuan Dynasty, belonging to the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The emperors and empresses of the Yuan Dynasty used the temple as a place for prayer and often came here to worship Buddha in person. In the twenty-sixth year of Zhiyuan in the Yuan Dynasty (1289), Kublai Khan visited Wan'an Temple and enshrined the sandalwood Buddha statue in the temple. This sandalwood Buddha statue was brought to China from Kucha around the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is said to have been brought by the Kuchean monk Kumarajiva in 401 and was enshrined successively in Kucha, Liangzhou, Chang'an, Longxing Temple in Jiankang, Kaiyuan Temple in Jiangdu, Zifu Hall of the Imperial Palace in Bianjing, Qichan Monastery in Bianjing, Shengan Temple in Yanjing, Renzhi Hall of Wanshou Mountain in Yanjing, Wan'an Temple in Dadu, Jiufeng Temple in Beijing, and Hongren Temple in Beijing. In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, and Hongren Temple was destroyed by fire. The whereabouts of the sandalwood Buddha statue became unknown. In the eighth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1433), the Xuande Emperor ordered the repair of the white dagoba and erected a small stone tablet inscribed with "Stele of Reconstruction in the Eighth Year of Xuande," which still exists in the temple today. In the first year of Tianshun (1457), the temple was rebuilt with funds from the eunuch Liao Xiu of the Siyi Supervisor, and completed in the fourth year of Chenghua (1468). The court bestowed the name "Miaoying Temple." Miaoying Temple in the Ming Dynasty was a Han Buddhist temple, adopting the architectural layout of the seven halls of a Buddhist monastery. In the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1668), the Kangxi Emperor ordered the renovation of Miaoying Temple and the white dagoba. After completion, two imperial stone tablets were erected in the courtyard (both in Manchu and Chinese). Miaoying Temple was renovated by three generations of Qing emperors. Only the "I"-shaped foundation between the Yizhu Xinjing Hall and the Seven Buddhas Treasure Hall is from the Ming Dynasty; the other halls and buildings are likely from the Qing Dynasty. Miaoying Temple in the Qing Dynasty was a Gelugpa monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, with resident lamas. Since the Qing Dynasty, the custom of circumambulating the dagoba has also emerged in Miaoying Temple, with the largest events taking place on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month (the day Sakyamuni first preached) and the twenty-fifth day of the tenth lunar month (said to be the completion day of the white dagoba). In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), during the Boxer Rebellion, the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Beijing, stormed into Miaoying Temple, and looted the Buddhist implements, offerings, and other items. The treasures and scriptures of past dynasties were completely lost. From 1961 to 1965, the steles and Buddha statues in the temple were damaged. In July 1965, the White Dagoba Temple was used as an extracurricular children's activity center. From 1965 to 1966, the Buddha statues in the White Dagoba Temple were demolished with the approval of the extracurricular children's activity center, and some of the artifacts were transferred to Yonghe Temple. In 1969, the Xicheng District Non-Staple Food Administration demolished the main gate and the bell and drum towers to build the White Dagoba Temple Non-Staple Food Market. From then on, the White Dagoba Temple could only be entered through a small side door northeast of the天王Hall and west of the White Dagoba Temple East Alley. It is said that later, during the Cultural Revolution, when Premier Zhou Enlai accompanied Nepalese guests to visit the White Dagoba Temple, they could not find the entrance.