The Qutan Monastery is located at Qutan Township 25 km southwest of Ledu County in eastern Qinghai. In Sanskrit, Qutan is said to be another name of Gautama Siddhartha.

The Tibetan equivalent is Duojieqiang. According to the records on the tablets preserved in the Monastery, here existed a Buddhist temple before the Ming Period (1368-1644). In the Hongwu Reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1398), Emperor Tai Zu put Bandanzangbu, nephew of Sanluo, a famous lama, in charge of the temple.

He was entitled "an all-saving national religious master" and was consecrated to being capable of communicating with deity by sprinkling water on his head. The reconstruction during the Hongxi and Xuande Reigns (1425-1435) gave it its preliminary form. It is now listed as one of the oldest and largest Monasteries in Qinghai.

A majestic complex resting on a rectangular area, the buildings are arranged in perfect symmetry with respect to a central east-to-west axis, in an order of each courtyard leading to the next. Upward along the axis on successively rising terraces stand the Hall of Buddha's Warrior Attendants, Qutan Hall, the Hall of Precious Radiance, and the Nation Thriving Hall.

The front courtyard comprising the Main Gate, a side gate and the surrounding walls are planted with pine and cypress trees and covered wide verdant lawns, with two tablet-containing pavilions facing each other across the axis and a circular door on each of the four tall and thick walls---the whole layout is reminiscent of typical Chinese garden.

The Hall of Buddha's Warrior Attendants stands in the first row of three courtyards connected by winding corridors. The Three-Generation Buddha Hall and the Hall of Guardian Buddha flank Qutan Hall, before and behind which stand Tibetan pagodas made of brick.

On each side of the Nation Thriving Hall are large and small bell towers with a huge drum and bell. The bell is a precious relic dating back to 1427, or the second year of the Xuande Reign of the Ming Period. With two side gates, the winding covered corridors on the south and north connect the Bell Towers---the Hall of Buddha's Warrior Attendants and the Nation Thriving Hall into an integrated closed architectural unit.

Most prominent among the buildings are the Qutan Hall and the Nation Thriving Hall. The Qutan Hall rests imposingly on a brick terrace in the center of the Monastery. In the front stands a wooden railing that supports the eaves.

Inside the hall is a partition consisting of a row of pillars which forms a 1.1-m wide corridor with the front earth wall. Such an arrangement is peculiar to lamaseries. The roof is decorated with a pagoda on the ridge and a carved dragon-head on each of the Four Corners. Supported by a two-tiered bracketing, the eaves turn upward gracefully.

The decorative patterns on the ceilings, though a little trivial, are elaborate and have a special flavor of their own. The largest building is the Nation Thriving Hall. With an area of 912 sqm, it is surrounded on three sides by pillars.

Several colossal Buddha statues formerly occupied the spacious hall, but only the pedestals are now left intact with elegant, clear-cut carvings on them in the shape of scrolls and lotus petals.

The beautiful roof is adorned with carved dragonhead guarding the ends of the ridge and lively animals crouching on the four up-turned slant ridges.

The lower eaves are supported by a three-tiered bracketing, the upper eaves by five-tiered bracketing, and a neat pile of beams, one resting on another are sustained by the pillars in the corridor, with the pretty intertwined bracketing network sending the huge heavy roof projecting nearly two meters beyond the eaves. All this imparts to the hall an air of serenity and magnificence.

The carved corridors of the monastery are ablaze with precious murals. Of the more than 100 m long painted corridors, nearly a half is covered with huge colorful pictures. The themes are based on episodes of Gautama's life.

In the paintings one sees diversified scenes, heavenly bodies, mountains, rivers, trees, flowers, birds, animals, pavilions, mansions, people, as well as house furnishing.

The gorgeous layout, the close unity, the gay colors, the liveliness, and above all, the spectacular scenes and the superb skill prove without any doubt that what one sees are veritable treasures of painting and architectural decoration.