The Samye Monastery is at the foot of Holy Mountain Haibusi on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River (Brahmaputra) in Jialang County, 50km to the east of Lhasa airport, at an elevation of 11,717 feet.
During the period of the 5th Tobu King Chisong Duosan (son of Tang princess), the king sent envoys to Kashmir and India to invite famous lamas to teach Buddhism in Tibet, both Indian and Chinese monks were invited there to work on the translation of Buddhist scriptures from their respective languages into Tibetan. 

Built in 761, Samye is the first monastery in Tibet that possessed the three essences of Buddhist monastery: Buddha, Scripture and Monk.

The monastery was the work of joint working between Tibetan, Chinese Han and Indian art crafts men. The first floor is of Tibetan style, the 2nd Chinese and 3rd Indian. With the directions of Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita, the two Indian masters that the king had invited to Tibet, the monastery was designed on the plan of the Odantapuri Temple in India (present day Bihar), and mirrors the structure of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology.

In the center of the Monastery is a big square 3-store hall with a floor space of over 8,900 square meters. This main temple represents Mount Sumeru, the mythical mountain at the center of the Universe. The four so-called Ling temples at the corners of the main temple represent the four continents that surround Mount Sumeru. An oval wall topped by small stupas surrounds the entire monastery, meaning the far edge of the universe. To the direction of the four corners of the main temple, four great stupas were built respectively in red, white, green and blue colors. 

After Samye was built, the first seven Tibetans were ordained as monks by Shantarakshita, after the Indian teacher had closely examined them to see if they were fit to be monks. They are still known today as the Seven Examined Men. The construction of Samye meant a complete and systematic set of monastic regulation was created, the Buddhism began to get roots deep into the snow land, and gradually was deeply involved into religious and political struggles. 

The original building is no longer intact due to destruction caused by wars and natural disasters, but the monastery has been rebuilt each time and still remains the symbol of Tibet's national identity.