History of Lama Temple Beijing

Announcing the history of Beijing Lama Temple
Lama Temple, or Yanghegong, has a long history. It was originally built in 1694 and originally used as official residence for court eunuchs of the Ming dynasty and was converted to the royal court of Prince Yongzheng(Yin Zhen) a son of Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty. Before he ascended the throne, during the 33rd year (1693) of Kangxi's reign of the Qing dynasty, it was remamed Yonghegong.

After the prince came to the throne in 1723, half of the residence was used as an imperial palace and the other half was converted to a lamasery, a monastery for Mongolian and Buddhist Monks as it remains today.

Lama Temple is now a typical Tibetan Monastery. Having been closed for many years during the Cultural Revolution it was refurbished and reopened in 1980. Zhou Enlai is said to have saved it from destruction during that time. It is now a working monastery with Mongolian Monks.