Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t37.10

v1.c7.s3.t37.10

In 1774, Qing Court issued an edict of emulating Shuxiang Temple on Wutai Mountain to build another Shuxiang Temple in Rehe (Chengde) as an imperial temple. Manchu monk served as an abbot and it established the quota of 50 lamas who were selected from Manchu monks from Miaoying Temple in the capital and specialised in study into *sutras* in Manchu. As Emperor Qianlong pointed out, *sutras* in Sanskrit sourced from India and were translated into Tangut language, Chinese and then Mongolian during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong. In the heyday, Qing Court should not have no sutras in Manchu and thus set up a *sutra* academy to do translation. In 1772, Qing Court set up the *sutra* academy in the capital and it took nearly 20 years to complete the compilation and translation of Tripitaka in Manchu. There were a total of 12 sets of block-printed Tripitaka in Manchu and one set was stored in Shuxiang Temple for Manchu monks there to recite and practice.