The temple was originally named "Yossa", and later Yossa became the city name and evolved into the present "Lhasa". After the Jokhang Temple was completed, it was revised and expanded repeatedly in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, forming its present scale.
Jokhang Temple has a history of more than 1300 years, and occupies a supreme position in Tibetan Buddhism. Jokhang Temple is the most splendid existing building in Tibet during the Tubo period, and it is also the earliest civil structure building in Tibet, and created the "Pingchuan Temple City Regulations in Tibet".
The circle around the Sakyamuni Buddha Hall in the center of Jokhang Temple is called "Capsule Profile", the circle around the outer wall of Jokhang Temple is called "Barkhor Street", and the street radiated outside Jokhang Temple is called "Barkhor Street".
With Jokhang Temple as the center, a big circle including Potala Palace, Wang Yao and Jokhang Temple is called "Linkuo". These three rings from the inside out are the route for Tibetans to carry out the prayer-turning ceremony.
Jokhang Temple, which combines the architectural styles of Tibet, Tang, Nepal and India, has become an eternal model of Tibetan religious architecture. Incense fills the air in front of the temple all day long, and believers prostrate themselves on the bluestone ground in front of the door, leaving a deep impression. Ten thousand butter lamps are on, leaving traces of years and pilgrims.
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Siddhattha gotama enshrined in the main hall of Jokhang Temple was brought to Tibet by Princess Tang Wencheng (about 642 AD) from Chang 'an. Because this Buddha statue is a full-size statue of Sakyamuni when he was twelve years old, it has a supreme position in the hearts of Tibetan Buddhists.
At the end of the 6th century, Song Zan Gambu, the hero of the snowy plateau at that time, moved all the Tubo kings from Nai Northeast on the Yalong River to the wide Lhasa Valley.
Looking back at history, we can easily find that, regardless of the East or the West, intimacy was a form often adopted by many ancient dynasties for peace and stability. The royal families of Britain, France and Spain married, and Wang Zhaojun of the Western Han Dynasty married the Huns.
In the 7th century A.D., after the capable Songzan Gambo unified the tribes in the snowy plateau, he married Nepal, now Nepal, and the princess Chizun of Nepal in order to stabilize southern Tibet.
Later, Songzan Gambu sent people to Chang 'an to marry Princess Wencheng, the royal daughter of Emperor Taizong. Princess Nibo brought the Buddhist culture of Tianzhu and Nibo to Tubo, and Princess Wencheng brought the advanced farming and textile technology of Tang Dynasty to Tubo.
Until now, in Tibet, we can still see that Chinese culture has deeply penetrated into the social life of the Tibetan people. See, smell, ask and feel like a Tibetan doctor; Water mills all over the agricultural areas of Tibet; Water-like patterns on residential walls; The golden dome and bucket arch of the temple.
I noticed that women's waist pads in the Tang Dynasty had two characteristics. One is Tibetan women, especially women in agricultural areas, and waist pads are still very popular. There is also a Japanese woman's kimono, but the back cushion is decorated.
According to legend, when Sakyamuni lay dying under the bodhi tree, his disciples begged the Buddha to leave the truth so as to guide all living beings to pass it on from generation to generation. The Buddha nodded in agreement.
Disciples then created three Buddha statues at the age of eight, twelve and thirty. Among them, the statues of eight and twelve years old were created after asking Sakyamuni's wet nurse to describe the Buddha when he was young.
After Sakyamuni personally blessed three Buddha statues, he died under the bodhi tree. When Princess Nirvana Rochizun entered Tibet, King Nirvana Roja gave him the eight-year-old Buddha of Tubo Zamba as a dowry.
During the Zhenguan period of Princess Wencheng in the Tang Dynasty, the twelve-year-old Buddha was brought to Tubo. At present, the four statues of Hercules on both sides of the front porch of the main hall of Jokhang Temple are said to be the Hercules of the Tang Dynasty who pushed the cart when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet.
At the beginning, Princess Wencheng and her party had just entered the Lhasa Valley, and the wooden cart carrying the twelve-year-old Buddha was stuck in a piece of sand. Four Hercules had a hard time moving the car. Princess Wencheng said that it seems that the Buddha is willing to sacrifice here.
So people surrounded the Buddha statue with curtains. Later, Songzan Gambu fulfilled Princess Wencheng's wish, and specially built the Xiao Zhao Temple dedicated to the 12-year-old Buddha statue, with the front of the temple facing east towards Chang 'an.
Now, the front door of Xiao Zhao Temple is a granite street. Turn a corner and you will arrive at the bustling Barkhor Street. After Songzan Gambu built Jokhang Temple for Princess Wencheng, he also wanted to build Jokhang Temple for Princess Chizun to worship the eight-year-old Buddha statue.
Princess Wencheng told Songzan Gambu by divination in the Han Dynasty that the snowy plateau is the shape of a banshee in Luo Cha, and the lake in the middle of Lhasa Valley is the heart of a banshee in Luo Cha. Only by building a temple here can we suppress the female demons and make Tubo flourish.
Tibetan books on the history of Lhasa say that Songzan Gambu listened to Princess Wencheng's suggestion and asked the white goat to carry the soil, put it on the lake with a wooden frame, fill it with a layer of soil and put it on the wooden frame until the lake was filled up.
On the west wall of the Jokhang Temple Hall, people can clearly see a Jokhang Temple mural built by Songzan Gambu. Now in the south corner of the main hall of Jokhang Temple, you can also see a bluestone urn half a person high.
After the death of Songtsan Gampo, war broke out in Tubo, Jokhang Temple was swept away, and the eight-year-old Buddha statue brought to Tibet by Princess Nipolochez was destroyed by the war.
Some eminent monks and devout nobles secretly hid the twelve-year-old Buddha statue of Jokhang Temple in a small hall of Jokhang Temple. The method of hiding is the same as that of the monks in Mogao Grottoes hiding the history books, papers and picture books of Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasties. The door of the small hall was sealed with mud and stones.
Then smooth it with mud and paint murals. Tang Zhongzong didn't marry Princess Jincheng to the Tubo King until the 36th generation Tubo King called Dezudan. Tubo once again set off a Buddhist cultural fever.
Princess Jincheng asked about the backwardness of the Buddha statue in 12, and took it out of the hidden wall and enshrined it in Jokhang Temple. Three Buddha statues personally blessed by Buddha Sakyamuni, eight-year-old Buddha lost in the war.
During the war in Tianzhu, the 30-year-old Buddha was secretly sent to a sailboat by some believers, ready to cross the ocean and transport it to other places to worship. In the middle of the storm, the ship was overturned by huge waves.
The 30-year-old Buddha has since sunk in the South Indian Ocean. The only thing left in the world is the 12-year-old Buddha statue brought to Tibet by Princess Wencheng. Its sacredness and preciousness can be imagined.
Baidu encyclopedia-Jokhang temple