Shide Dratsang, Buddhist monastery in Lhasa, China
Shide Dratsang, also called Ningxi Temple, stands about 500 metres southwest of the Jokhang in Lhasa. Its square courtyard is enclosed by monks' quarters and kitchens on three sides, with the assembly hall and three connected shrines at the rear. The hall has 48 columns and a central skylight; over 100 flat-roofed Tibetan houses once served as monks' lodgings.
Founded in the 9th century as Gawa, one of six shrines built around the Jokhang by King Tri Ralpachen, Shide Dratsang was expanded under the Tsalpa myriarch in the Yuan period and became a Reting monastery dependency from the 14th century. The Third Reting Rinpoche converted it to the Gelug school and obtained the Qing imperial name Ningxi Si; its 1855 expansion gave it the name Shide Gawe Sangwe Ling. It was destroyed after 1960 and listed as a national heritage site in 2013.
The Tibetan name Zhidé Dratsang means "four monks," recalling the four monks originally assigned to the small temple called Gawa. From the 14th century the site was a branch of Reting Monastery and the residence of the Reting Rinpoches. Under the Third Reting, the Nyingma temple was converted to the Gelug school and attached to Sera's Jepa Dratsang; the Qing court granted the name Ningxi Si.
Shide Dratsang stands on Beijing East Road, about 500 metres southwest of the Ramoche Temple. The monastery was destroyed after 1960 and from 1965 to 1984 served as a military barracks; after the troops left in 1984 residents moved into the compound. Its main hall had 48 pillars, three entrances and a central courtyard, with monks' quarters of more than 100 rooms.
The monastery is often wrongly counted among Lhasa's Four Ling, which are Dangyelin, Tsemolin, Kundeling and Tsecholing. Its Tibetan name, Zhidé Dratsang, comes from the four monks (zhi, four) originally assigned to the small shrine called Gawa.
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