Basic Information
Official Names
Mongolian: Shar Sum (literally Yellow Monastery)
Chinese formal name: Puqing Temple
Location: Baiyanggou Town, Usu City, Tacheng Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, 58 km southwest of downtown Usu
Religious sect: Gelug School (Yellow Hat Sect) of Tibetan Buddhism
Honorary title: the Potala Palace of Xinjiang, once the largest Buddhist monastery in northern Xinjiang
Historical Background
Shar Sum was built for the Torghut Mongolian tribes who returned to China from the Volga River in 1771, a magnificent historic event known as the Torghut Eastern Return. The devout Gelug believers of the tribe initiated the construction project in 1879 (the 5th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty), and the whole complex was finished in 1888 under the supervision of Living Buddha Chagan Gegen and Torghut Prince Bayar. Craftsmen were invited from Zhejiang Province, with more than one thousand laborers participating in the construction work.
In its prime period, the monastery housed 587 lamas and 2 living Buddhas, with complete administrative departments managing religious affairs, land, livestock and daily administration. By 1958, the number of resident lamas decreased to 116. The original grand complex was severely damaged in 1959, leaving only ruins standing on the mountain slope nowadays抖音百科.
A brand-new small-scale Shar Sum Monastery was reconstructed 1 km south of the original site in 1986, covering a building area of 329 square meters with a main hall and two side chambers, and there are currently around 28 lamas residing here to carry on religious rituals.
Architectural Characteristics
The original temple complex occupied a total land area of about 800,000 square meters, adopting civil wood structures and strictly modelled after the layout of Lhasa Potala Palace. Built along the east-facing hillside in five terraced platforms, the main hall stands on the highest terrace, creating a layered, grand and imposing skyline against the Tianshan Mountains.
The ancient compound contained 9 major Buddha halls covering scripture study, Tibetan medicine worship, thousand Buddha worship, deity worship and ancestral shrines, plus 46 courtyards and numerous monk dormitories. The two-story main hall featured grey tiles, upturned eaves carved with dragon and phoenix patterns, exquisite beam paintings, and was capable of holding over 1,000 believers for collective scripture chanting ceremonies.
Natural & Cultural Value
The ruins sit on the northern hillside of Shar Sum Resort, surrounded by dense spruce forests, pastures and winding mountain rivers with scattered glacial boulders, forming an integrated landscape of primitive nature and ancient religious relics.
As the core spiritual home for Torghut Mongolian communities in northern Xinjiang, Shar Sum bears the homeland feelings and religious faith of the eastern-returned Mongolian people. Its ruins are precious cultural relics recording the history of ethnic unity and frontier development in northwest China, and now it is a famous cultural relic site and characteristic tourist attraction in Usu City.
Tourism Tips
The original site is a historical ruin area suitable for landscape photography and cultural research; the new temple is open for normal religious visits.
The best visiting season: June to September, with pleasant weather and lush alpine vegetation around the mountain area.
Visitors should maintain respect for local religious customs when shooting local Mongolian residents and religious buildings.
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