Changzhu Temple


Standing by the highway on the east bank of the Yalong River in Nedong County, Shannan Prefecture, this monastery was built in the seventh century and has been repaired in various historical periods.

There is a legend behind the monastery. It is said that once upon a time, the site of the monastery was an extremely deep lake. In the lake there is a five-head dragon. After Sronstan Gampo got the control of Tibet, he wanted to drain the lake and build a castle there. So he invited two Masters to lure a big bird to attack the dragon. The two Masters, first of all, imitated the sound of the dragon to lure the bird out. So the dragon and the bird started a fight. The bird at last chopped off two of the dragon’s heads with its wings. Seven days later, the lake disappeared. Some pearls were buried as the cornerstone for the monastery.
In Tibetan, “Chang” means a big roc bird and “Zhu” means dragon, that is how the monastery got its name.

Originally, the Changzhu Monastery was the villa of the Tibetan king Srongtsan Gamio and the imperial concubine Wencheng Princess. Its main construction is the Cuoqin Palace enshrined the Sakyamuni Buddha and the Guanyin Bodhisattva Buddha, inside the palace there is a winding corridor, and many scriptures are carved on the wall inside the winding corridor, very graceful and solemn.

There was once a famous hanging bell which was made by the Chinese monk Renqing Master in late of the 8th century, on the bell there are 12 Tibetan sentences, praised by the people at that time. Later in Ch’ing Dynasty when China was invaded by big powers, the Tibetan areas were influenced, they destroyed the Changzhu Monastery. Those 12 Tibetan sentences bell were gone at the same time, but the two Indian style Buddhist tower behind the monastery was preserved perfectly till now.

The monastery houses a precious Thangka picture of a Buddha inlaid with pearls and gems.