Built during Tubo King Songtsen Gampo period in the 7th century, the Changzhu Monastery is situated at the east bank of the Yalong River in the south of Shannan Prefecture in Tibet. It is Tibet's earliest hall for Buddhist worship, with a history of more than 1,300 years.

It is said that Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) once lived there when she first entered Tibet. There also was once a famous hanging bell made under the supervision of Han monk Master Renqing in late 8th century, on which were 12 Tibetan epigraphs, praised by the Tibetan people at that time, were etched.

In Tibetan, "Chang" means a big roc[do you mean rock?] bird and "Zhu" means dragon, so the Changzhu Monastery means the honorable monastery. Tibetan legend says that, once upon a time, the site of the monastery was an extremely deep lake. In the lake there is a five-head dragon. After Songtsen Gampo got control of Tibet, he wanted to drain the lake and build a castle there. So he invited two Masters to lure a big roc[???] bird to attack the dragon. The two Masters first of all imitated the sound of the bird and lured the dragon out, and then they imitated the sound of the dragon to lure the bird out, so the dragon and the bird started a fight. The bird at last chopped off two of the dragon's heads with its wings. Seven days later, the lake disappeared. That is how the monastery got its name.

Its main construction includes the Coqen Hall enshrining the statues of Songtsen Gampo, Sakyamuni and Guanyin Bodhisattva, and a winding corridor with many scriptures carved on the wall. The hall on the second floor of the Coqen Hall enshrines the statue of Indian Master Padmasambhava.

The Coqen Hall still boasts a lot of statues and mural paintings. The most attractive thing is the Pearl-made Tangkha (a kind of embroidery), which was made of 29,026 pearls, a diamond, a ruby, a sapphire and 15 grams of gold. It has been passed down generation to generation without being damaged or lost during political struggles and wars.

The Changzhu Monastery has experienced damage and fallen into disrepair over many years. During the reign of the period of 5th Dalai, the Changzhu Monastery was once repaired and a gold top was added for grandeur and respect to King Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng. During the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama, it was repaired, enlarged and renovated once again.

The Changzhu Monastery was listed as a key relic under state protection by the State Council in 1961.