Pule Temple 普乐寺

About Pule Temple

Its lower halls lead to Xuguang Pavilion, a circular, double-eaved building on square terraces. The interplay of circle and square expresses a mandala design, while the pavilion's elaborate ceiling and central wooden mandala make the interior especially distinctive when accessible. Unlike a large monastic compound, this compact imperial temple is best explored as a sequence from the lower court to the elevated circular pavilion.

Pule Temple was begun in the thirty-first year of the Qianlong era (乾隆) of the Qing dynasty (1766), taking one year and eight months to complete. It was nominally intended for envoys of the newly submitted Dorbet, Kazakh and Kyrgyz groups to pay homage, and its name, meaning 'universal joy', was taken from a line in Fan Zhongyan's Yueyang Lou Ji. The temple kept no resident lamas and was managed by the Imperial Household Department, though lamas from other temples came to chant scripture on the first and fifteenth of the first lunar month.

In the late Qing and Republican periods the temple was severely damaged, with many old trees felled and its buildings nearly collapsing, before being protected after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was listed among the first group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1961, and in 1994 it was inscribed as part of the World Heritage Site 'Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde'.

The temple measures 195 metres east to west and 93 metres north to south and covers 24,000 square metres. Its architecture combines Chinese and Tibetan styles: the front half follows the traditional sangharama plan of seven halls, while the rear half, centred on Xuguang Pavilion (旭光阁), adopts a Tibetan mandala form.

What to look for

• Xuguang Pavilion's round roof above the square terrace arrangement.
• The carved ceiling and wooden mandala within the pavilion, when open.
• Zongyin Hall on the lower approach.

The surrounding area

Northern provincial base for the Mountain Resort and outlying temples; an imperial-landscape itinerary.

Location & getting there

Getting to Pule Temple

Use 普乐寺 on the east bank of the Wulie River, west of Bangchui Peak in Chengde's Shuangqiao District.

• The temple faces west and rises through terraces. Confirm the current entrance and interior access locally.