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The
Sagya Monastery is located in the Sagya County, 149 kilometers
from Xigaze. It comprises the Southern and Northern monasteries
and got its name for the Northern, although only the Southern
Monastery remains today. In 1073, Kun Gongjor Gyibo, founder
of the Sagya Sect, built a white palace on the gray clay
hill on the northern bank of the Chun Qu River, and named
it Sagya, which means gray clay. Now, only wall ruins
remain, which are called the Ancient City Monastery or
the Northern Sagya Monastery. In 1288, Benqen Sagya Sangbo
built the Southern Sagya Monastery. With renovation and
expansion by his descendants, it has thus evolved to its
present state. The floor space of the monastery occupies
14,700 square meters, and its surrounding wall is five
meters high and nearly two meters thick. On each of the
four corners stands a watch tower. The main hall occupies
5,700 square meters, and 40 red pillars support the ceiling.
The four in the center are the thickest, and the thickest
of the four is 1.5 meters in diameter.
It is named Gyina Seqen Garna, meaning pillar sent by
the emperor; the second thickest is named Chongbo Garwa,
meaning pillar sent by the wild yak; the third thickest
is Dabo Garwa, meaning pillar sent by the tiger; the fourth
thickest is Nabo Chaza Garwa, meaning bleeding pillar
sent by the God of Sea. In the largest renovation during
the Pagba time, a number of craftsmen were sent for from
the inland, thus making the Sagya Monastery a combination
of Tibetan, Mongolian and Han architectural styles with
obvious influences from the Tibetan religion. With the
Sagya Monastery being the center, the Kuns steadily developed
the Sagya Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Because the murals
in the interior wall of the monastery had three separate
stripes of red, white and blue, which represent Wisdom
Buddha, Bodhisattva and Buddha's warrior attendants, the
Sagya Sect is also called Stripe Sect.
Five
descendants from the Kuns have made great contributions
to the founding of the Sagya Sect, so they were claimed
to be the five founders of the sect: Gonggar Nyingbo,
who inherited and spread the Buddhist Neo-Secret Sect;
Soinam Chemo, who advocated the practice of recruiting
disciples for the Neo-Secret Sect; Zhaba Gyaincain, younger
brother of Soinam Chemo, who excelled in both the Open
and Secret sects. The three married and had children,
so later generations called them Three Founders in White.
The other two were called Two founders in Red, who became
lamas, and abided by Buddhist principles and excelled
in Buddhism. They were Gonggar Gyaincain, who was knowledgeable
and respected as a man of wisdom, and Pagba, who was a
famous Buddhist scholar and political activist. During
the times of Gonggar Gyaincain and Pagba, they visited
the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty twice, thus making great,
historical progress in integrating Tibet into the territory
of China. 
In
1260, Pagba was granted a title of State Master by the
Kubla Khan of the Yuan Dynasty, and later titles of Great
King of Dharma and Teacher of the Emperor. The Yuan Dynasty
had conducted a census in Tibet, established a prefecture
that ruled 130,000 households, set up posts, sent troops
to Tibet and appointed head officials of Sagya to represent
the Central Government in tackling political affairs in
Tibet, thus establishing the ruling status of the Sagya
Sect in Tibet. The Yuan-dynasty government also set up
the General Council (later changed to Political Council)
to administer national religious affairs and administrative
affairs in Tibet.
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