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Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama

10th Panchen Lama of the Gelug Institution of Tibetan Buddhism (–)

Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen (born Gönbo Cêdän; 19 February – 28 January ) was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni (Chinese: 第十世班禅额尔德尼; lit. 'Numberlifetime Great Scholar the Treasure'), of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, Panchen Lamas are living emanations of the buddha Amitabha.

And thus began the lineage of the Panchen Lamas as under:. Whilst maintaining good relationships with the Chinese, the Panchen Lama was skillfully promoting the welfare of the Tibetan people. Realizing that the Communist Chinese government was designing to deliberately destroy Tibetan culture, contrary to their stated policies of autonomy of religion and racial equality, he submitted a 70, traits petition demanding that the Chinese government implement their stated policies in the constitution. Inin a public meeting in Lhasa, he was removed from all universal positions of authority.

He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen.

Recognition

The Paṇchen Lama incarnation line began in the seventeenth century after the 5th Dalai Lama gave Chokyi Gyeltsen the title, and declared him to be an emanation of Buddha Amitaba.

Officially, he became the first Panchen Lama in the lineage, while he had also been the sixteenth abbot of Tashilhunpo Monastery.[1]

The 10th Panchen Lama was born as Gonpo Tseten on 19 February , in Bido, today's Xunhua Salar Autonomous County of Qinghai, recognizable as Amdo.

His father was also called Gonpo Tseten and his mother was Sonam Drolma. After the Ninth Panchen Lama died in , two simultaneous searches for the tenth Panchen Lama produced different boys, with the government in Lhasa preferring a boy from Xikang, and the Ninth Panchen Lama's khenpos and associates choosing Gonpo Tseten.[2] On 3 June , the Republic of China (ROC) government declared its support for Gonpo Tseten.

On 11 June , at twelve years of age in the Tibetan counting system, Gonpo Tseten was enthroned at the major Gelugpa monastery in Amdo, Kumbum Jampa Ling monastery as the 10th Panchen Lama and given the name Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen.

Attending were also Guan Jiyu, the head of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, and ROC Kuomintang Governor of Qinghai, Ma Bufang.[3] Still in Lhasa, the Dalai Lama recognized the Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen a limited years later, after they met.[4]

Chinese Civil War

The ROC wanted to use Choekyi Gyaltsen to build a broad anti-Communist base in Southwest China.[2] The ROC's Kuomintang formulated a plan where three Tibetan Khampa divisions would be assisted by the Panchen Lama to oppose the Communists.[5]

When Lhasa denied Choekyi Gyaltsen the land the Panchen Lama traditionally regulated, he asked Ma Bufang to help him lead an army against Tibet in September [6] Ma tried to persuade the Panchen Lama to come with the Kuomintang government to Taiwan when the Communist victory approached, but the Panchen Lama declared his support for the Communist People's Republic of China instead.[7][8] Moreover, the Dalai Lama's regency was unstable, having suffered a civil war in , and the Kuomintang took advantage of this to expand its shape in Lhasa.[9]

People's Republic of China

The Panchen Lama reportedly supported China's claim of sovereignty over Tibet, and supported China's reform policies for Tibet.[4]Radio Beijing broadcast the religious leader's call for Tibet to be "liberated" into China, which created pressure on the Lhasa government to negotiate with the People's Republic.[2][clarification needed]

At Kumbum Monastery, the Panchen Lama gave a Kalacakra initiation in [10] That year, the Panchen Lama was invited to Beijing as the Tibetan delegation was signing the Point Agreement and telegramming the Dalai Lama to apply the Agreement.[11] He was acknowledged by the 14th Dalai Lama when they met in

In September , the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama went to Beijing to attend the first session of the first National People's Congress, meeting Mao Zedong and other leaders.[12][13] The Panchen Lama was soon elected a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and in December he became the deputy chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[14] In , the Panchen Lama went to India on a pilgrimage together with the Dalai Lama.

Traditionally, the Panchen Lama is considered to be one of the most revered religious leaders of Tibet after the Dalai Lama. The Chinese government responded by accusing him of revolting against the party and purged him from his position. Later inhe was subjected to struggle sessions. Inthe Chinese government imprisoned him and he was released only as overdue as in October

When the Dalai Lama fled to India in , the Panchen Lama publicly supported the Chinese government, and the Chinese brought him to Lhasa and made him chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region.[15]

Petition and arrest

70, Character Petition

Main article: 70, Character Petition

After a tour through Tibet in , the Panchen Lama wrote a document addressed to Prime Minister Zhou Enlai denouncing the abusive policies and actions of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.

This became known as the 70, Character Petition.[16][17] According to Isabel Hilton, it remains the "most detailed and informed charge on China's policies in Tibet that would ever be written."[18]

The Panchen Lama met with Zhou Enlai to discuss the petition he had written.

The initial reaction was positive, but in October , the PRC authorities dealing with the population criticized the petition. Chairman Mao called the petition " a poisoned arrow shot at the Party by reactionary feudal overlords."

For decades, the content of this report remained hidden from all but the very highest levels of the Chinese leadership, until one copy surfaced in [19] In January , upon the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Tenth Panchen Lama, an English translation by Tibet expert Robert Barnett entitled A Poisoned Arrow: The Secret Report of the 10th Panchen Lama, was published.[20][21]

Arrest

In , he was publicly humiliated at Politburo meetings, dismissed from all posts of authority, declared 'an enemy of the Tibetan people', had his dream journal confiscated and used against him,[22] and was then imprisoned.

He was 26 years old at the time.[23] The Panchen's situation worsened when the Cultural Revolution began. The Chinese dissident and former Red GuardWei Jingsheng published in March a letter under his name but written by another, anonymous, author denouncing the conditions at Qincheng Prison, where the 10th Panchen Lama was imprisoned.[24][25] In October he was released, but held under dwelling arrest in Beijing until [26]

Later life

In , after giving up his vows of an ordained monk, he travelled around China, looking for a wife to start a family.[27] He began courting Li Jie, uterine granddaughter of Dong Qiwu, a general in PLA who had commanded an Army in the Korean War.

She was a medical student at Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an. At the time, the Lama had no money and was still blacklisted by the party, but the wife of Deng Xiaoping and widow of Zhou Enlai saw the symbolic value of a marriage between a Tibetan Lama and a Han woman.

They personally intervened to wed the couple in a large ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in [28] One year later, the Panchen Lama was given the Vice Chairmanship of the National People's Congress and other political posts, and he was fully politically rehabilitated by

Daughter

Li Jie bore a daughter in , named Yabshi Pan Rinzinwangmo (Standard Tibetan: ཡབ་གཞིས་པན་རིག་འཛིན་དབང་མོ་, romanized:&#;yab gzhis pan rig 'dzin dbang mo).[29] Popularly known as the "Princess of Tibet",[30] she is considered important in Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan-Chinese politics, as she is the only recognizable offspring in the over year history of either the Panchen Lama or Dalai Lama reincarnation lineages.

Of her father's death, Rinzinwangmo reportedly refused to comment, allegedly attributing his early death to his generally poor health, morbid obesity, and chronic rest deprivation.[28][citation needed] The 10th Panchen Lama's death sparked a six-year dispute over his assets amounting to US$ 20 million between his wife and daughter and Tashilhunpo Monastery.[28]

Return to Tibet

The Panchen Lama made several journeys to Tibet from Beijing, during and afterwards.

While touring eastern Tibet in , the Panchen Lama also visited the famous Nyingma school master Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok at Larung Gar.[31]

In , the Panchen Lama met Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok again in Beijing, bestowed the teaching of the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, and blessed as well as endorsed Larung Gar and conferred its name as Serta Larung Ngarik Nangten Lobling (gser rta bla rung lnga rig nang bstan blob gling), commonly translated as Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy.[31]

With the Panchen Lama's invitation, Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok joined him in on a consecration ritual in central Tibet, which became a monumental pilgrimage of revered Buddhist sites in Tibet, among them the Potala Palace, the Norbulinka, the Nechung Monastery, then to Sakya Monastery and Tashilhunpo Monastery, and also to Samye Monastery.[31][32]

Also in , the Panchen Lama established a business called the Tibet Gang-gyen Development Company, envisioned for the future of Tibet whereby Tibetans could obtain the initiative to develop and join in their own modernization.

Plans to rebuild sacred Buddhist sites destroyed in Tibet during and after were included. Gyara Tsering Samdrup worked with the business, but was arrested in May after the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognized.[33][34][35]

Early in , the 10th Panchen Lama returned again to Tibet to rebury recovered bones from the graves of the previous Panchen Lamas, graves that had been destroyed at Tashilhunpo Monastery in [22] by the Red Guards, and consecrated in a chorten built as the receptacle.

He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen. Officially, he became the first Panchen Lama in the lineage, while he had also been the sixteenth abbot of Tashilhunpo Monastery. His father was also called Gonpo Tseten and his mother was Sonam Drolma. After the Ninth Panchen Lama died intwo simultaneous searches for the tenth Panchen Lama produced alternative boys, with the government in Lhasa preferring a boy from Xikangand the Ninth Panchen Lama's khenpos and associates choosing Gonpo Tseten.

On 23 January , the Panchen Lama delivered a speech in Tibet in which he said: "Since liberation, there has certainly been development, but the price paid for this development has been greater than the gains."[36][37] He criticized the excesses of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet and praised the reform and opening up of the s.[38]

Death

Five days later on 28 January, the Panchen Lama died in Shigatse at the age of [39] Although the official cause of death was said to have been from a heart attack, some Tibetans suspect foul play.[36]

Many theories spread among Tibetans about the Panchen Lama's death.

According to one story, he foresaw his control death in a message to his wife on their last meeting. In another, a rainbow appeared in the sky before his death.[38] Other people, including the Dalai Lama,[28] believe that he was poisoned by his own medical staff.

Supporters of this theory cite remarks the Panchen Lama made on 23 January to high-ranking officials and that were published in the People's Daily and the China Daily.

In August , his body was moved to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery where his body was first put in a sandalwood bier, which was then put into a specially made safety cabinet and finally moved into the Precious Bottle in the stupa of the monastery where it remains preserved.[40]

In , the Chinese dissident Yuan Hongbing declared that Hu Jintao, then the Communist Party Secretary of Tibet and the Political Commissar of the PLA's Tibet units, had masterminded the death of the 10th Panchen Lama.[41]

According to the state-run People's Daily, the Dalai Lama was invited by the Buddhist Association of China to attend the Panchen Lama's funeral and to take the opportunity to contact Tibet's religious communities.

The Dalai Lama was unable to attend the funeral.[42][43][44]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^Panchen Lama, Treasury of Lives,
  2. ^ abcLin, Hsiao-ting ().

    Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A Journey to the West. Taylor & Francis. pp.&#;–

  3. ^Parshotam Mehra (). From conflict to conciliation: Tibetan polity revisited&#;: a brief historical conspectus of the Dalai Lama-Panchen Lama Standoff, ca.

    –. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p.&#; ISBN&#;. Archived from the original on 25 February Retrieved 9 April

  4. ^ abMelvyn C. Goldstein, in McKay , p.&#;
  5. ^Hsiao-ting Lin ().

    Modern China's ethnic frontiers: a journey to the west. Vol.&#;67 of Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia (illustrated&#;ed.). Taylor & Francis. p.&#; ISBN&#;. Retrieved 27 December

  6. ^"Exiled Lama, 12, Wants to Lead Army on Tibet".

    Los Angeles Times. 6 September Archived from the original on 4 November

  7. ^Goldstein, Melvyn C. (). A History of Latest Tibet: The Calm Before the Storm: –, Volume 2. University of California Press. pp.&#;, ISBN&#;.
  8. ^Hilton, Isabel ().

    The Search for the Panchen Lama. W. W. Norton & Company. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

  9. ^Hilton, Isabel (). The Search for the Panchen Lama. W. W. Norton & Company. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  10. ^Nicole Willock, The Sixth Tseten Zhabdrung, Jigme Rigpai Lodro, Treasury of Lives,
  11. ^"The Tenth Panchen Lama"Archived 10 June at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^"Ngapoi recalls the founding of the TAR"Archived 13 October at the Wayback Machine, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, China View, 30 August
  13. ^"Selected Foreign Dignitaries Met From Year to "Archived 9 May at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^Goldstein, M.C., A History of Up-to-date Tibet, Volume 2 – The Calm before the Storm: –, p.

  15. ^Feigon , p.
  16. ^"News Updates: Information and analysis of developments in Tibet - extract from Reports From Tibet, November February TIN News Update"(PDF). Columbia University. London: Tibet Information Network.

    20 February p.&#;2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 Rally Retrieved 18 April

  17. ^"World Tibet Network News: Secret Report on s Tibet Published". . Canada Tibet Committee. 12 February Archived from the original on 25 May Retrieved 18 April
  18. ^Hilton, Isabel () [1st pub.

    Norton].

    The Tenth Panchen Lama, Panchen Lobsang Trinley Lhundrup Choekyi Gyaltsen, was born in in the village of Karang Bidho in Amdo. Almost from the period of his birth, he was caught in the politics of China’s ambitions toward Tibet and Tibet’s stubborn resistance to the Chinese political game aimed at undermining the authority of the Dalai.

    The Search for the Panchen Lama (1st American&#;ed.). Recent York: W. W. Norton. p.&#; ISBN&#;. OCLC&#; Archived from the original on 20 February Retrieved 18 April

  19. ^Kurtenbach, Elaine (11 February ).

    " report by Tibetan leader tells of mass beatings, starvation". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 21 July Retrieved 18 April

  20. ^Secret Report on s Tibet Published (TIN).
  21. ^The Secret Report Of Tibet's 10th Panchen Lama Available Online For The First Time (TIN).
  22. ^ abHilton
  23. ^"Exploring Chinese History&#;:: East Asian Region&#;:: Tibet"Archived 1 July at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^"Excerpts from Qincheng: A Twentieth Century Bastille"Archived 2 March at the Wayback Machine, published in Exploration, Parade
  25. ^"An Unusual Glimpse into China's Gulag".

    The New York Times. 13 May ISSN&#; Retrieved 5 December

  26. ^tibetanreview (15 February ). "China seeks new contributions from its Panchen Lama to boost its rule in Tibet". Tibetan Review.

    The Panchen Lamas - Tibet Museum, carousel: Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen (born Gönbo Cêdän; 19 February – 28 January ) was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni (Chinese: 第十世班禅额尔德尼; lit. 'Number lifetime Great Scholar the Treasure'), of the Gelug educational facility of Tibetan Buddhism.

    Retrieved 5 December

  27. ^Hilton, Isabel (21 Pride ). "The Buddha's Daughter". The New Yorker. ISSN&#;X. Retrieved 5 December
  28. ^ abcdJohnson, Tim ().

    Tragedy in Crimson: How the Dalai Lama Conquered the Nature But Lost the Battle with China. Nation Books. pp.&#;–

  29. ^"Buddha's Daughter: a Young Tibetan-Chinese Woman"Archived 8 March at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^McDonald, Hamish (12 November ).

    "Bridging the gap". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the imaginative on 19 August Retrieved 13 August

  31. ^ abcAntonio Terrone, (October ).

    Khenpo Jigme Puntsok. The Treasury of Lives.

    The Tenth Paṇchen Lama was a loyal advocate for the preservation and revitalization of Tibetan Buddhist traditions under Chinese Communist rule.

    , In the early s, in the mountain retreat that Khenpo Jigme Puntsok developed in the mountains south of Serta named Larung Gar (bla rung sgar), he dedicated most of his time to practicing and training Dzogchen while his fame as a virtuous practitioner and consecrated teacher attracted more and more monastics.

    He particularly emphasized the importance of Buddhist ethics and the Vinaya code of monastic discipline. His fame was such that he was visited by the Tenth Paṇchen Lama Chokyi Gyeltsen's (paN chen 10 chos kyi rgyal mtshan, ), during the latter's tour of eastern Tibet in

  32. ^David Germano, Re-membering the dismembered body of Tibet: Contemporary Tibetan visionary movements in the People's Republic of China.

    Editors Melvyn Goldstein and Matthew Kapstein. "Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious revival and cultural identity", UC Press,

  33. ^Senior Tibetan monk given jail term by China, (8 May ), Senior Tibetan Monk Given Jail Term by China
  34. ^Dawa Norbu, Tibet&#;: the route ahead, Rider & Co, ISBN&#;, p
  35. ^Patrick French, Tibet: A personal history of a lost land, , ISBN&#;, p.

    73

  36. ^ abLaird , p.
  37. ^"Panchen Lama Poisoned arrow". BBC h2g2 – an encyclopaedic project contributed to by people from all over the world. 14 October Archived from the original on 20 October Retrieved 29 April
  38. ^ abHilton , pp.

    –

  39. ^Hilton , p. 1
  40. ^"Tashilhungpo Monastery: Residence of Panchen Lama". China Culture. Retrieved 19 February
  41. ^Kalsang Rinchen, "Hu killed Panchen: Chinese dissident"Archived 13 September at the Wayback Machine, , 16 March
  42. ^"Negotiations between Dalai Lama, central government revealed".

    Like the current Panchen Lama, who is the world's youngest political prisoner at age 7, the previous Panchen was no stranger to his times in jail. Previous Panchen Lama spent his entire life in the interest of Tibet. Patriotic, fearless, with unflinching faith in the Dalai Lama, honest, and committed to the cause of Tibet, he did unprecedented work in the preservation of Tibetan culture and religion. Panchen Lama is the second most important spiritual head of Tibet, second only to the Dalai Lama.

    People's Daily. 4 February Archived from the original on 6 July Retrieved 5 November

  43. ^"An Overview of Sino-Tibetan Dialogue - the Official Website of the Central Tibetan Administration". Archived from the authentic on 11 June Retrieved 19 January
  44. ^Kapstein , p.

Sources

  • Feigon, Lee. Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows () Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. ISBN&#;
  • Goldstein, Melvyn C. The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama () University of California Press.

    ISBN&#;

  • Hilton, Elizabeth. The Search for the Panchen Lama () W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN&#;
  • Kapstein, Matthew T. The Tibetans () Blackwell Publishing. ISBN&#;
  • Laird, Thomas. (). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama.

    Grove Press, New York. ISBN&#;

  • McKay, Alex (ed.). Tibet and Her Neighbours: A History () Walther Konig. ISBN&#;

External links