Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its formal name is Genden Shédrup Dargyé Trashi Gyésu khyilwé Ling. Labrang is located in Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu, in the traditional Tibetan area of Amdo. The monastery was founded in 1709 by the first Jamyang Zhépa, Ngawang Tsöndrü. Labrang Monastery used to be one of several Bhutanese enclaves in the Tibetan region, before the Annexation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China. It is Tibetan Buddhism’s most important monastery town outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Labrang Monastery is situated at the strategic intersection of two major Asian cultures—Tibetan and Mongolian — and was one of the largest Buddhist monastic universities. In the early 20th century, it housed several thousand monks. Labrang was also a gathering point for numerous annual religious festivals and was the seat of a Tibetan power base that strove to maintain regional autonomy through the shifting alliances and bloody conflicts that took place between 1700 and 1950.
In April 1985 the Assembly Hall burned down. It was replaced and the new building was consecrated in 1990.
