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Plate 17.8 Qutan Monastery
瞿曇寺 (Tib: Gro tshang rdo rje
’chang), Qinghai

‘Record of Fahai Monastery’ stele. The first name, Śākya border strategy to establish an alliance between the local
Yeshé (Śākya ye shes 釋迦也失; d. 1435), is that of the authorities and the imperial court. If one maps where Ming
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founder of Sera Monastery, who was sent in Tsongkhapa’s garrisons end, one finds that a network of such court-
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(Tsong kha pa; 1375–1419) stead to the Yongle court. The supported temples takes over.
third name, Palden Tashi (dPal ldan bkra shis 班丹紮釋), is The early Ming court repeatedly sent eunuchs to inspect
the most interesting in the context of this discussion, for he and participate in the construction of Qutan Monastery,
not only appears to have played a role in the founding of marking it as an important court construction project on the
Fahai Monastery, but also was abbot of Qutan Monastery, in Chinese empire’s periphery, at least until it was eclipsed by
Qinghai, far away on the Sino-Tibetan boarder, a the founding of the major Geluk (dGe lugs) monastery of
provincially located temple built with imperial Kumbum Jampa Ling (sKu ’bum byams pa gling) outside of
sponsorship. Palden Tashi was directly involved with Xining in 1506. This quick fall into relative obscurity
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Buddhist practice in Beijing and wielded significant prevented later large-scale renovations and expansions at
influence within the National Buddhist Registry, the Senglusi Qutan Monastery, preserving the early 15th-century
僧錄司. He served as the Fifth Karmapa’s translator at court structure and painting relatively intact.
in Nanjing in 1406, translated numerous Tibetan texts into Qutan Monastery, like Fahai Monastery, is Chinese in
Chinese (presumably for Chinese court practitioners of architecture, with a mixed Chinese and Tibetan painting
Tibetan Buddhism) and ordained several Ming officials – and statuary programme. The outer painted gallery depicts
including some of those sent to expand Qutan Monastery. the life of the Buddha in blue-green Chinese landscape
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The eunuchs Hou Xian (who had served with the famous painting, while inside the halls the paintings appear
eunuch admiral Zheng He) and Yang Sanbao 楊三寶 are Tibetan in both style and iconography, and it is on these
recorded as having travelled in the company of Palden halls that I will focus.
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Tashi. Although Qutan Monastery was initially founded by
Sangyé Tashi (Sangs rgyas bkra shis; d. 1414) in 1392, the
Qutan Monastery (Tib. Gro tshang rdo rje ’chang) bulk of its construction took place under imperial patronage
Qutan Monastery (Tib. Gro tshang rdo rje ’chang) (Pl. 17.8) in the early 15th century, during the tenure of his nephew,
was founded in 1392 in present-day Ledu 樂都 county, 43km the aforementioned Palden Tashi. Palden Tashi is recorded
east of Xining in modern-day Qinghai province. Its location as being appointed abbot of Qutan Monastery by the Yongle
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is described on one of its own early Ming dedicatory stele emperor in 1408. He was a monk of the Karma Kagyü
(1425) as being on the border connecting with the western (bKa’ brgyud) order, but also maintained close ties to Sakya
kingdoms (Tibet), and thus at the meeting of the northwest (Sa skya), an orientation reflected in the wall paintings of the
Ming frontier and the eastern border of the Tibetan province monastery – which is important for their dating.
of Amdo. Qutan Monastery is one of the earliest expressions
of Ming court interest in Tibetan Buddhism, and an First stage of construction (1392)
examination of local Tibetan chronicles and Chinese Tibetan and Chinese sources include five bilingual stele in situ
imperial records reveals that Qutan Monastery was dated to roughly the first quarter of the 15th century.
dependent on the Ming court’s support and protection. In Comparing them to extant visual material at Qutan
turn, its patronage was part of a larger Ming Sino-Tibetan Monastery, we can sketch a three-stage chronology for the

The Early Ming Imperial Atelier on the Tibetan Frontier | 157