When the Kangxi Emperor discovered the site that would become Chengde in the early 18th century, the most notable natural feature was an odd phallus-shaped rock that came to be known as Qingchui peak. Visible for many miles around, the peak invited easy comparison with Mount Sumeru of Buddhist cosmology, which was considered to be the axis mundi of the Buddhist world. The presence of a nearby substitute for Mount Sumeru may have played a critical role in Kangxi's decision to set up a hill station in what would become Chengde. However, the most suitable region for an encampment in the area lay in a wide valley several kilometers to the southwest of Qingchui peak. This did not deter Kangxi, who established a symbolic connection to Qingchui by creating the artificial Jinshan hill at the center of his encampment. The temple on Jinshan peak, filling in as an artificial Mount Sumeru/Qingchui peak, formed an adequate substitute around which a summer palace and several prominent temples were constructed by the time of Kangxi's death.
As Philippe Foret points out in his book "Mapping Chengde", the orientation of the Kangxi-era temples was cosmologically defective in that they were not arranged around the Jinshan axis. Perhaps to compensate for this, Emperor Qianlong decided to construct a new temple exactly along the axis linking Jinshan and Qingchui peak. A suitable site that fit the criteria lay midway between Puren Temple (built by Kangxi) and An Yuan Temple, built in 1764 by Qianlong. Work on Pule temple began in 1766 at Qianlong's request.
The temple is constructed in the form of a Tibetan mandala built upon three square platforms. The mandala design was likely chosen for several reasons. First, it was a symbol familiar both architecturally and spiritually to the Mongol tribes whose visit to Chengde the temple was intended to commemorate. Secondly, it was a sensible design for marking a point along the axis defined by Jinshan temple and Qingchui peak, since the entire world was often depicted as a mandala form with its central axis around Mount Sumeru. In this case, Pule temple created a third and central axis mundi at Chengde and reoriented the entire landscape around it. Qingchui peak, Jinshan temple, and the other outer temples became satellites in Pule Si's orbit.
The mandala symbolism extends to the superstructure of the temple. The three square bases are surmounted by a double-tiered conical roof that mimics the form of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Within the circular structure is a wooden mandala shrine, within which the god Samvara stands in sexual union with Vajravarahi, symbolizing the intimate connection between wisdom and compassion. The ceiling of the structure above the mandala is decorated with a dragon figure representative of the Emperor, signifying Qianlong's ambition to establish himself as the center of the Buddhist world. Qianlong's Manchu ancestors had long aspired to a prominent position in the Buddhist pantheon, with the first leader of the Manchus, Nurhachi, declaring himself to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Manjusri (from which the word Manchu may have been derived). Qianlong continued this tradition by publically declaring himself to be a reincarnation of Manjusri. This enabled him to exert the spiritual authority necessary to depict himself as a dragon overarching the Buddhist world, while allowing him the temporal authority to claim suzereignty over the Tibetan Buddhists tribes at the western limits of his empire--the very subjects Pule temple was intended to placate.
According to GPS readings taken on site, the temple is located at 40 59.75230' N, 117 57.25111' E (WGS84 map datum).
Plan view
Image adapted from signpost on site.
