The Treasury of Lives

The Ninth Paṇchen Lama, Tubten Chokyi Nyima (paN chen bla ma 09 thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma) was born on February 19, 1883, in the town of Drumgasha (brum dga' sha) in the Dakpo region of Tibet. His father, named Tamdrin (rta mdrin), may have been a son of the local aristocratic Drumpa family (brum pa, sbrum pa, and grum pa, bhruM pa) on whose estate his mother, Damcho Tsomo (dam chos 'tsho mo, 1850s–1923/26) worked as a shepherd. Damcho Tsomo was deaf since birth and unable or unwilling to speak. She could read and write, and communicated by gestures and writing.

Damcho Tsomo named the child Samdrub Gyatso (bsam grub rgya mtsho). She had another son, either the twin of Samdrub Gyatso or the product of another pregnancy, who may have been identified later as the Fifth Tsechokling, Pelden Tenpai Gyeltsen (tshe mchog gling dpal ldan bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, born 1883). However, neither British diplomat Charles Bell (1870–1945), who visited Tashilhunpo in November, 1906, nor British trade agent David MacDonald (1870/73–1962), who met the Paṇchen Lama and his mother in 1919, refer to the second son by the religious title. They simply use the Qing title of "duke" (公, gong) and note that he resided with his brother at Tashilhunpo (bkra shis lhun po), the traditional seat of the Paṇchen Lamas.[1]

Regarding the identity of the Paṇchen Lama's father, Damcho Tsomo is said to have refused to identify him, and as a result several legends developed. These include a miraculous conception via a dream visit from a Western man nine months before the birth, and also that the father was a prominent lama from Dakpo. This later conjecture, which MacDonald reported was "widely known," appears to have been designed to suggest a biological connection between the Paṇchen Lama and the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 13 thub btsan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933), who had been born in Dakpo just seven years earlier.[2] Strengthening this attempt at establishing a familial connection between the two lamas, in 1897, only several years after the Ninth Paṇchen Lama was enthroned, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama's brother, Lobzang Tashi (blo bzang bkra shis), married into the Drumpa family as a makpa (mag pa), taking the Drumpa name and becoming the head of the family. If Tamdrin was indeed the Paṇchen Lama's father, this marriage effectively created such a connection between them.

Identification and Training

Dzala Nominhan Lobzang Dondrub (rdza bla no min han blo bzang don grub), the general administrator of Tashilhunpo, chose Samdrub Gyatso as a candidate for the rebirth of the Eighth Paṇchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk (paN chen 08 bstan pa'i dbang phyug, 1855–1882), and in early 1888 brought him to Lhasa with two other young contenders. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, then eleven years old, administered tests—no doubt, as scholar Fabienne Jagou notes, with the aid of his regent or tutors—and selected Samdrub Gyatso as the Ninth Paṇchen Lama. His name was then drawn from the golden urn in accordance with the dictates of the Manchu government, a contested ritual often willingly used by Tibetans to provide imperial authority in the confirmation of certain powerful incarnation lines. The Dalai Lama's regent, the Ninth Demo Tulku (de mo sprul sku 09, 1855–1899) and the Qing representative in Lhasa, the Manchu amban Wenshi 文碩, oversaw the ritual, on February 6, 1888.[3]

That same day the Thirteenth Dalai Lama gave the boy lay vows and the name Jetsun Lobzang Chokyi Nyima Gelek Namgyel (rje btsun blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma dge legs nam rgyal). He was henceforth commonly known as the Ninth Paṇchen Lama, Chokyi Nyima. His mother was ordained the same day. The traditional relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Paṇchen Lama first established by the Fifth Dalai Lama (ta la'i bla ma 05, 1817–1682) and the Fourth Paṇchen Lama (paN chen bla ma 04, 1570–1672) was thus reaffirmed: the senior of the two acted as the preceptor and teacher of the junior.

For a year the boy lived in Lhasa, in a suite of rooms in the Jokhang (jo khang). Then, on February 4, 1889, at the age of seven, he left Lhasa for Shigatse. For the next thirty-four years he lived at Tashilhunpo Monastery. His mother was installed in a nearby residence called Dekyilingka (bde skyid gling ga).

Three years later, on February 1, 1892, the Ninth Paṇchen Lama was formally enthroned at his monastery. As part of the ceremony he received his novice vows from the Ninth Demo Tulku. The Qing emperor, Guangxu (光緒 1871–1908) awarded his maternal grandfather the customary title of third-rank prince, suggesting that the identity of the Paṇchen Lama's father was still undisclosed, as the title would customarily have gone to the tulku's father.[4]

For the next decade the young Paṇchen Lama received his education under the guidance of his senior tutor, Ngakchen Letok Lhopa (sngags chen las thog lho pa), and his junior tutor, the Fourth Reting Rinpoche, Ngawang Lobzang Yeshe Tenpai Gyeltsen (rwa sgrengs 04 ngag dbang blo bzang ye shes bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan), who arrived at Tashilhunpo on April 26, 1896.[5] Jagou was unable to determine from the historical records whether the Paṇchen Lama received his kachen degree (dka' chen), the Tashilhunpo-equivalent of a geshe (dge shes) degree.

At the age of nineteen, in the spring of 1902, the Paṇchen Lama traveled to Lhasa to receive his full ordination from the Dalai Lama. The ceremony took place at the Jokhang on May 22, in the presence of the abbots of the three main Geluk monasteries of Lhasa, Ganden (dga' ldan dgon), Drepung ('bras spungs dgon), and Sera (se ra dgon). For over two weeks he was greeted and given offerings by Tibetan and Qing dignitaries. He left Lhasa on June 11, 1902.

Encounters with the Russians, the British, and the Chinese

The year before his ordination, the Paṇchen Lama was visited by the Buryat Buddhist monk and scholar Agvan Dorjiev (1854–1938). According to historian John Snelling, the Paṇchen Lama taught Dorjiev the celebrated Shambhala Prayer (sham bha la smon lam) of the Sixth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Pelden Yeshe's (paN chen 06 blo bzang dpal ldan ye shes, 1738–1780), which had a significant influence on the Russian monk.[6] The Paṇchen Lama would go on to teach this prayer extensively in Mongolia and China. 

Dorjiev's presence in Tibet at the time—he was a close confidant and debate partner of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama—added to imperialist British fears that Russia intended to expand its sphere of influence into Tibet—a major prize in the so-called Great Game between the two empires. Russia at the time was actively negotiating with the Qing for mining rights in Tibet— none of which came to fruition—and while Britain also recognized Manchu power in Tibet, and tried to maintain cordial relations with Beijing, they decided in the early years of the twentieth century to pursue direct negotiations with the Dalai Lama's government to open the country for their economic benefit. The Dalai Lama, however, refused to enter discussions, and, in 1903 British colonel Frances Younghusband (1863–1942) brought an army into Tibet to force Tibet to initiate a formal trade partnership. The ill-prepared Tibetan soldiers were slaughtered by the hundreds outside of Gyantse, and the Dalai Lama fled to Mongolia.

With the Dalai Lama absent, and the Russians then at war with Japan, the imperial British powers in India negotiated with the only authority with whom they were familiar, the Qing representative in Lhasa, the amban Zhang Yintang (張蔭堂), whom the Tibetans had asked to represent them. They also turned to the Paṇchen Lama, whom they knew as "the Tashi Lama" in reference to his residence at Tashilhunpo Monastery. British colonial officials had first established a relationship with the monastery under Scottish diplomat George Bogle (1746–1781), who went to Tashilhunpo in 1774 on behalf of Warren Hastings (1732–1818), the colonial officer who became the first British governor-general of Bengal. According to British reports, the Paṇchen Lama had stayed neutral during the Younghusband invasion.[7] With the Thirteenth Dalai Lama outside of Tibet, the Qing also turned to the Paṇchen Lama, requesting that he take over the Dalai Lama's imperial titles and duties, which the Paṇchen Lama refused to do.[8] British diplomats, perhaps engaging in wishful thinking, reported that the Paṇchen Lama contemplated independence for Tsang, and scholars continue to debate whether, in the face of both British and Manchu overtures, the Paṇchen Lama was seeking power through alliances or was simply trying to avoid angering Tibet's two powerful neighbors while his superior, to whom he remained loyal, was in exile.

In 1905, following the negotiations between Younghusband and the Qing amban, the British sent captain Frederick O'Connor (1870–1943), the trade agent in the newly established British office in Gyantse, to visit the Paṇchen Lama at Tashilhunpo, apparently accompanied by thirty British soldiers. O'Connor brought an invitation from the British imperial viceroy of India, George Curzon (1859–1925), to visit Calcutta, where the heir to the British throne, George Frederick Ernest Albert (1865–1936), would be touring. The Paṇchen Lama expressed the need to seek permission of Beijing, but O'Connor assured him that Britain would protect him in the event of Qing reprisals, although O'Connor was later reprimanded for making such a promise without authority.[9]

The Paṇchen Lama arrived in Calcutta in January, 1906. He was welcomed by the new British viceroy, Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1845–1914), known as Lord Minto, and met with Tutob Namgyel (mthu stobs rnam rgyal, 1860–1914), the king of Sikkim, and Ugyen Wangchuk (o rgyan dbang phyug, 1862–1926), the king of Bhutan. According to Bell, the Paṇchen Lama witnessed a parade of 70,000 Indian troops at Rawalpindi. He also went on pilgrimage to the sacred Buddhist sites of India, presumably including Bodhgaya and Sarnath. According to Jagou, the Paṇchen Lama requested assistance from the British should there be any Chinese reprisals for his visit, but the viceroy declined to offer such a promise.[10]

On his return to Tashilhunpo, on February 9, 1906, the Paṇchen Lama had good reason to fear the reaction to his India trip in both Beijing and Lhasa. Both governments would have perceived the trip, and the visits of British officials to Tashilhunpo, as cultivation of the enemy. The Paṇchen Lama wrote to Beijing, which was then rapidly losing influence in Tibet, and was able to convince them that he went to Calcutta against his will. He did, however, refuse to meet with Qing officials in Lhasa. Officials in the Tibetan government, on the other hand, according to Bell, were convinced that the Paṇchen Lama was soliciting military support for an independent Tsang.[11] Bell visited Tashilhunpo in November, 1906, and assured the Paṇchen Lama of British friendship, if not military aid. He, like O'Connor before him, was impressed with the lama, writing:

Truly the Tashi Lama has a wonderful personality. Somewhat short in stature, with a fair and healthy complexion, the smile with which he regards you is touched with the quiet saintliness of one who prays and works for all mankind, but it is at the same time the smile of a friend who takes a personal and sympathetic interest in your own concerns. It is not surprising that he should be loved by his people. It is good that there is such a man in Tibet; it is good that there are such men in the world.[12]

In June, 1909, the Dalai Lama returned from Mongolia. The Paṇchen Lama sent a representative to meet with him in Chugoringmo (cho go ring mo), with offerings that the Dalai Lama accepted, signaling that he would not punish the Paṇchen Lama for his visit to India. The two lamas then met in person the following day, on August 2, sitting together alone for a time inside a tent. The Paṇchen Lama remained with the Dalai Lama's entourage until August 15, when he departed for Shigatse.[13]

Within five months of his return to Tibet, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama fled once again, this time to India, ahead of invading Chinese troops. The twenty-year-old Manchu general Zhong Ying (1890–1915), a cousin of the former Tongzhi emperor (1856–1875), led a Qing army that arrived in Lhasa in February, 1910, ostensibly to police the Tibetan trade agreement with British India, but in reality to show strength and secure Manchu supremacy in Tibet. Qing troops already in Lhasa with the Manchu amban, Lianyu 聯豫, shot two Tibetans on February 12.[14] Mistakenly fearing that this was the action of the approaching army, and that that army was headed by the dreaded "Butcher of Kham," Zhao Erfeng (趙爾豊, 1845–1911), the Dalai Lama left the country, pursued by Qing forces sent to prevent his departure. According to Tibetan historian Punrab Rinchen Namgyel (phun rab rin chen rnam rgyal), the Dalai Lama sent a written request that the Paṇchen Lama accompany him, which the Paṇchen Lama declined.[15] Chinese historians, on the other hand, state that the Dalai Lama declined to stop at Tashilhunpo because he doubted the Paṇchen Lama could protect him.[16]

With the Dalai Lama once again absent from Tibet, the Qing again withdrew all his imperial titles, and yet again offered them to the Paṇchen Lama, who, again, refused them. This time, however, the Paṇchen Lama accepted a Manchu invitation to Lhasa. Why he did so is not known; historians speculate that certain officials in his retinue were colluding with the Qing, or that the amban Lianyu, now backed with a considerable Qing army, somehow forced him to do so.[17] In any case, in late January, 1911, the Paṇchen Lama arrived in Lhasa. He stayed at the Dalai Lama's private residences, first at an inner chamber and then at the Kelzang Palace (bskal bzang pho brang) in Norbulingka (nor bu gling kha), where he sat on the Dalai Lama's throne. He attended Lunar New Year's festivities alongside Lianyu, riding in a palanquin with him. The impression he gave of replacing the Dalai Lama's was unmistakable; according to Shakabpa, "it was unbearable for the monk and lay Tibetans, as though they had been jabbed in the eye with a thorn."[18] Charles Bell was in agreement with the Tibetans, writing that "The Tashi Lama's Government had secret relations with the Chinese, and offered no help to their Lhasan brothers."[19] Or, as stated in the 1937 edition of Who's Who in Tibet, the Paṇchen Lama's actions in Lhasa "gave rise to rumors that he was willing, in the event of the Chinese being successful, to usurp the position of the Dalai Lama."[20]

The Paṇchen Lama returned to Tashilhunpo in March, 1911, stopping for several days in Gyantse to visit with David MacDonald, to whom he insisted that Lianyu had staged the entire imbroglio, even removing all chairs from the Dalai Lama's throne room at Norbulingka so that he was forced to sit on the throne during a meeting with the amban.[21] Lianyu did in fact have a reputation for duplicitousness, distrusted by Chinese and Tibetans alike.[22] The damage was done, however, strongly reinforcing the perception in Lhasa that the Paṇchen Lama was disloyal to the Dalai Lama.

Lianyu apparently continued to pressure the Paṇchen Lama to accept Qing appointments, sending three hundred troops to Tashilhunpo to force him to do so. The Paṇchen Lama turned to British India for help, which Charles Bell gently declined, explaining to him, as he had previously done to the Dalai Lama, that Britain maintained an attitude of neutrality in conflicts between Tibet and China.[23]

In October, 1911, the Qing empire collapsed. From India the Dalai Lama sent the Tibetan minister Tsarong Dasang Damdul (tsha rong zla bzang dgra' 'dul, 1888–1959) to Lhasa to drive the Qing army out of Tibet. By the summer of 1912 the Dalai Lama was back in Tibet, staying a month at Samding Monastery (bsam sdings dgon) while the situation in Lhasa stabilized. The Paṇchen Lama and the Dalai Lama arranged for their reunion to happen at Ralung Monastery (rwa lung dgon). Justifiably nervous about the encounter, the Paṇchen Lama requested David MacDonald to urge the Dalai Lama not to punish him and his people, and, further, for a unit of fifty British soldiers to accompany him should the Dalai Lama be disinclined to forgive him. The British again declined his request, and so the Paṇchen Lama sent representatives on ahead to make offerings. Once the Dalai Lama accepted the offerings, the Paṇchen Lama felt safe to go himself, and he arrived at Ralung with an entourage of officials who spent their days making prostrations to the Dalai Lama to display their contrition.[24]

Only several weeks after returning to Lhasa, on February 13, 1913, the Dalai Lama declared that Tibet would henceforth be an independent nation, and he expelled Chinese soldiers and officials inside Tibetan borders. He also set about a modernization program that would exacerbate the already considerable tensions between Lhasa and Shigatse: in order to modernize the Tibetan army, the Dalai Lama demanded Tashilhunpo begin to pay taxes to the Tibetan government.

Construction of the Maitreya Statue and Flight to China

The Dalai Lama issued no explicit punishment against the Paṇchen Lama for his apparent collusion with the occupying Manchu army, nor for his private dealings with the British, but he displayed his displeasure with him through religious means. He first recalled a favorite teacher from Tashilhunpo and then, over several years, he repeatedly declined the Paṇchen Lama's requests for teachings.[25] The Paṇchen Lama decided to channel his atonement into the construction of a massive statue of Maitreya, the future buddha, and he announced his motivation as such: the project was intended to purify the karma of past misdeeds and to accumulate merit, which was unavoidably connected to the damage he had done to his relationship with the Dalai Lama.[26] The statue, which survived the Cultural Revolution, is, at 26.2 meters high, the largest gilded copper statue in the world. It is made from 6,700 taels of gold (the tael was a traditional measure of weight that was standardized in 1959 to 50 grams) and 150 metric tons of copper, and a juniper from the famous forest at Reting Monastery (rwa spreng dgon) standing as its life tree (sog zhing).[27] The statue took four years to make, and, according to Bell, the Paṇchen Lama himself carried the first stone for the temple constructed to house it.[28] Such a monument, while offered to the community as an expression of penitence, would at the same time be recognized as a symbol of the wealth and majesty of Tashilhunpo at a time when taxes were being demanded of the monastery. The Dalai Lama, who encouraged him in this endeavor, declined the invitation to the consecration.

Only in November 1919, seven years after the Dalai Lama had returned from exile in India, did the two lamas finally meet again, at the invitation of the Dalai Lama. According to Jagou, the visit, which lasted over two months, avoided the subject that was surely the single most pressing issue between them, outside of their religious duties: the taxes and obligations imposed by Lhasa on Shigatse. Soon after the Dalai Lama had returned from India, he had informed the Paṇchen Lama that the Paṇchen Lama would be responsible for one quarter of the costs of the Tibetan military, which the Dalai Lama intended to modernize and considerably expand. The taxes were followed the precedent of the Gurkha Wars, when Tashilhunpo had paid one quarter of the costs of the Tibetan army in its defense against the Gurkha invasion. Then Tashilhunpo willingly paid, as the Gurkha army directly threatened Shigatse. Lhasa also demanded back taxes from the 1912-1913 Chinese war and the costs of countering the British invasions of 1888 and 1904. In 1917 Lhasa announced that households belonging to Tashilhunpo in the Gyantse district were to pay one-seventh of the horse and carrying animal corvée tax on levies of over 100 horses and 300 carrying animals. In 1922 the new Tibetan Revenue Investigation Office levied an additional annual tax of 30,000 measures of grain and 10,000 silver coins, and the following year the order was expanded to include all of Tsang.[29]

Officials in Shigatse surely recognized that the traditional autonomy of Tsang was coming to an end, and they refused to comply with the order, pleading financial hardship. The Tibetan government dispatched the ambitious minister Lungshar Dorje Tsegyel (lung shar rdo rje tshe rgyal, 1881–1940) to audit Tashilhunpo's accounts, and he reported back that not only did the monastery have the funds to pay, but the resistance was not due to the financial burden, but to the assertion of the Dalai Lama's authority over Tsang. Reflecting this suspicion, along with the new burden of taxes, Tashilhunpo monks were also shut out of Tibetan government clerical posts, which the Dalai Lama restricted to monks from the three main Geluk monasteries in Lhasa.[30]

In 1922 Shigatse officials were imprisoned in Lhasa for failure to pay the taxes, with the clear understanding that additional officials would soon join them. The Paṇchen Lama wrote to David MacDonald in Gyantse asking for British intervention, which they once more refused.[31] The Paṇchen Lama, perhaps fearing for his own safety, yet unwilling to submit to Lhasa, decided to leave the country. It is not currently known whether his mother passed away before he left, presumably making it easier for him to leave, or whether she lived three more years— MacDonald gives the year of her death as 1926, while the 1937 edition of Who's Who in Tibet has 1923[32]—and, if so, whether she suffered the consequences of his actions alongside other family members.

On December 26, 1923, the Paṇchen Lama left Tashilhunpo. He and his entourage went northeast on the route to Mongolia through Amdo. On being informed of the departure, the Dalai Lama sent Lungshar, along with general Tsogo (mda' dpon mtsho sgo) and a contingent of 1,000 troops to bring him back, but the Paṇchen Lama eluded them—according to Jagou, Tsogo was a disciple of the Paṇchen Lama and allowed him to escape. In early May, 1924, he arrived in Lanzhou, the guest of the Chinese warlord of the Gansu corridor, Lu Hongtao.[33] He would rely on the patronage of warlords, Mongol chieftains, and Chinese Republican officials for the remainder of his life.

Early Years of Exile in China: Religious Instruction in China

The Paṇchen Lama and the Dalai Lama exchanged several letters over the next year and a half—the Paṇchen Lama left the first letter behind at the monastery—in which the Paṇchen Lama explained his reasoning for leaving and the Dalai Lama attempts to convinced him to return. Both blame duplicitous bureaucrats for the situation, unable, in the religious standards of their offices, to accuse the other of any wrongdoing. The letters had no impact; the Paṇchen Lama refused to return unless the taxes were revoked, and the Dalai Lama refused to revoke them. The Paṇchen Lama remained in exile for the rest of his life, most of his remaining fifteen years spent in Inner Mongolia, but also traveling throughout northern and central China, growing closer and closer to the Nationalist Republic government.

The trip from Shigatse to Lanzhou was difficult, crossing the Jangtang expanse in the depths of winter. They ran low on food, such that the Paṇchen Lama had to share his personal food with his entourage—a significant action in the highly stratified world of Tibetan religious hierarchs—before they encountered nomads who resupplied them. In Gansu they met the chamberlain of the Eighth Jetsundampa (rje btsun dam pa 08, 1870–1924), who warned them against going to Mongolia due to the Communist takeover of that country and the Soviet-style purges that were by then obliterating Buddhist monasteries across the county.

Meanwhile, members of his entourage who were not able to accompany the Paṇchen Lama to Gansu, and who were not captured and imprisoned alongside many members of his family and the leadership of Tashilhunpo, left Tibet via India and made their way by sea to Hong Kong and Shanghai. The Paṇchen Lama's trusted attendant Lobzang Gyeltsen (blo bzang rgyal mtshan) arrived in Hong Kong on March 20, 1924, where he informed the Chinese government that the Paṇchen Lama had left Tibet and wished to come to China. On March 24, Cao Kun (曹錕 1862–1938), who served as president of the Republic of China for less than a year, sent orders to the warlord-general Ma Qi (馬麒 1869–1931), stationed on the border of Qinghai and Ningxia provinces, to locate the Paṇchen Lama and escort him to the capital.[34] Perhaps as an encouragement to align himself with the Nationalist government, Cao gave the Paṇchen Lama a title, "faithful orator devoted to the propagation of values (Tib. gzhung bstan spel, Ch. zhizhong chanhua 致忠闡化).

The Paṇchen Lama had good reason to hesitate in accepting Cao's offer, as northern China was still fractured among various warlords and the Nationalists only controlled the south. Beijing was then controlled by Duan Qirui (段祺瑞; 1865–1936), a former Qing general and current chief executive of the Beiyang Army that continued to resist the Nationalists' efforts to unify China. Duan was a faithful Buddhist and patron of two of the most influential Geluk lamas connected to the Qing state: the Seventh Tukwan, Kelzang Damcho Nyima (thu'u bkwan 07 skal bzang dam chos nyi ma, 1895–1959) and the Seventh Changkya, Lobzang Pelden Tenpai Dronme (lcang skya 07 blo bzang dpal ldan bstan pa'i sgron me, 1892–1958). Duan sent both these men to escort the Paṇchen Lama to Beijing. They arrived there on January 20, 1925, riding brightly colored palanquins. The Paṇchen Lama was installed in the Yingtai Palace in the Forbidden City and given a daily stipend of 400 yuan.[35]

In all his dealings with the Chinese government the Paṇchen Lama would go through the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. This was the Republican inheritor of the Qing dynasty's Lifanyuan (理藩院), the bureau that oversaw the empire's relationships with its inner Asian dependencies such as Mongolia and Tibet. It became the Ministry of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs in 1914, and the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, with equal status to other government ministries, in 1928. However, unlike the Lifanyuan which was run by Manchus or Mongols who were accustomed to dealing with Inner Asians, for its entire history the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission was run by Han Chinese, such as the first modern director, Yan Xishan (閻錫山 1883–1960), who was not only a Han nationalist but a former warlord and military governor of Shanxi who favored Han colonialism of the border regions.[36]

The same month that the Paṇchen Lama arrived in Beijing, Duan and the warlords Zhang Zuolin (張作霖 1875–1928) and Feng Yuxiang (馮玉祥 1882–1948) hosted the National Reconstruction Assembly to discuss unification with the Guomindang-controlled south. Although the Paṇchen Lama was present for the preparatory meeting, rather than participate he left the city for Wutai Shan (Tib. ri bo rtse lnga) and sent as his representative Lobzang Gyeltsen to give his prepared remarks. As reported in highly sanitized Chinese records,[37] he is said to have criticized Republican officials for not living up to their own stated ideals of "union of five peoples" 五族共和, in which Tibetans and Mongols would have equal status to the Han.[38] At Wutai the Paṇchen Lama concerned himself with religion, giving disciples a Green Tārā initiations.

The Paṇchen Lama likewise absented himself from the convention out a need to tread carefully in his contact with the Chinese national government, whatever form it might take. Tibetan lamas had for centuries developed relationships with government officials in China, receiving financial and military support in exchange for performing state-affirming Buddhist rituals. Lamas were given near complete autonomy—which in reality was functionally independence for most of the Qing reign—for their stated obedience to the throne. The Paṇchen Lama appears to have pursued this model during his time in China, and yet was at the same time reticent to strengthen the impression back in Tibet that he was a servant of the Chinese; he would be cognizant that any aid he might offer the Chinese government not be seen as indicating Chinese right to rule Tibet.

The Paṇchen Lama was back in Beijing by March, 1925, when he taught at the Buddhist Institute for the Study of Tibetan Language. This had been established the previous year by Chinese Buddhists intent on learning from Tibetan lamas. Its leader, Dayong (大勇, 1893–1929), was a disciple of both the famous Chinese Buddhist reformer, Taixu (太虛, 1890–1947), and Dorje Chopa (rdo rje gcod pa, b. 1874) a Tibetan lama from Dartsedo who had studied for twenty years at Drepung and who had been teaching to Chinese Buddhists for several years.[39] The Paṇchen Lama also taught at Yonghegong (dga' ldan byin chags gling, 雍和宫), the former imperial palace that had been transformed into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Amdo Geluk model by the Third Changkya, Rolpai Dorje (lcang skya 03 rol pa'i rdo rje, 1717–1786). The community there was primarily Mongolian, although some Han Chinese were in attendance. As explained by Gray Tuttle, it was until then highly unusual for Tibetan lamas to teach to Chinese Buddhists outside of the imperial families.[40] Now, however, with the modernizing activism of Taixu and earlier Tibetan lamas such as Gara Lama Sonam Rabten (mga' ra bla ma bsod nams rab brtan, 1865–1936), lay Buddhist associations were growing in size and influence, and interest in Tibetan Buddhism in particular was strong. These associations took notice of the Paṇchen Lama and invited him to teach.

In April, 1925, the Paṇchen Lama began a two and a half month tour of southern China, visiting major centers of Chinese Buddhism and teaching to thousands. Although initially he taught Chinese Buddhists doctrine that was common to both Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism, during this tour he began teaching tantra. At the famous Lingyin Temple 靈隱寺 in Hangzhou, which is said to have been founded in the year 328, he gave initiations for Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, and Vajrapāṇi. He also gave the long-life practice of Amitayūs; the Paṇchen Lamas are believed to be emanations of that buddha. He also taught in Shanghai, and visited Putou Shan (record 普陀山), an island off Shanghai that is said to represent Avalokiteśvara's abode of Potalaka. On Putuo Shan he taught to 1400 monks and transmitted practices of Avalokiteśvara and Tārā, and he distributed two silver coins to each monk, indicating the significant level of donations his tour was bringing to him. He then returned to Wutai Shan.[41]

In July, 1925 Duan Qirui invited the Paṇchen Lama to Beijing. Duan, a successor to Yuan Shikai (袁世凱 1859–1916), the Qing general who had briefly declared himself emperor of China, saw in the Paṇchen Lama a figure comparable to the Tibetan hierarchs who had served the empire during the Yuan and Qing eras by performing large and elaborate rituals designed to promote social stability. Duan accordingly gave the Paṇchen Lama the title "Propagator of Honesty, Savior of the World" (Tib. blo dkar spal nas 'jigs rten phan pa; Ch. xuan cheng ji shi 宣誠濟世) together with a golden seal and a certificate printed on gold.[42]

The Paṇchen Lama accepted these honors with a request to set up offices across northern China. At first these offices were neither funded nor supervised by any Chinese government agency. They appear to have been conceived of by the Paṇchen Lama as centers for managing his finances and activities; he was receiving increasing numbers of invitations to teach from lay Chinese Buddhists, with corresponding amounts of financial donations, requiring staff to manage it all. The first office was set up in a temple in Beijing, after which branches were proposed in the border provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, as well as one in the Manchurian city of Fengtian, and a branch in India conceived of as a "communication office." These offices likely only became a reality several years later when the Paṇchen Lama became formally employed by the Chinese government, at which point they were subsumed into the Republican government bureaucracy.[43]

Travels and Teaching in Mongolia

From the beginning of his time in China, the Paṇchen Lama had depended on northern warlords for patronage. Most of these men had power bases in Mongolian or Manchurian regions of China where local populations were adherents of Tantric Buddhism with historical religious ties to Tibet. Although he accepted a Chinese title from Duan, the Paṇchen Lama spent most of the next decade in Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, teaching widely and, increasingly, advocating on behalf of the Mongolian leadership to the Nationalist government. It was to communities of Mongol, Manchu, Tibetan, and Han that the Paṇchen Lama first taught in China, and where he honed his focus on the mythology of Shambhala, a very potent mythology in Mongolia since at least the early nineteenth century. During his first year in exile he taught the Sixth Paṇchen Lama's Shambhala Prayer twenty-eight times, and between 1931 and 1932 he taught it thirty-two times, three of which were in conjunction with Kālacakra initiations in Mongolian regions that brought tens of thousands of the faithful. The prayer includes the Sixth Paṇchen Lama's aspiration that he be reborn as the king of Shambhala, a messianic figure who would bring peace to the world. By teaching such a text during a time of massive social upheaval, the Ninth Paṇchen Lama appears to have been promoting the idea that it was acceptable to view him as that savior.[44]

In 1926 the Paṇchen Lama entered the discordant landscape of Mongolian princes and deposed Qing emperors—according to Jagou, in early 1927 the Paṇchen Lama met with Puyi (溥儀 1906–1967), the last of the Manchu emperors of China, in Shenyang, Manchuria, although nothing seems to have come of the meeting.[45] He visited multiple Mongol banners (counties), leagues (provinces), and princes over the next several years, teaching and cultivating patronage. In 1928 he performed two Kālacakra initiations, the first at Yangwang Monastery under the patronage of Prince Harhan of the Qorcin Banner, Jerim League, and the second at Jastu Monastery, under the patronage of Prince Jasagt of the Qorcin Banner, Jerim League. The fourth Kālacrakra was at Abaga Beizi Monastery in the Kesikten banner, Juu Uda league, in 1929, and the fifth was in the Western Üjümücin banner of the Shilingol league in 1930.[46]

By this point the princes were largely in agreement on the value of joining the Chinese Republican state, but continued to debate the conditions, differing on whether to preserve or abolish the traditional power of the princes. Both sides sought autonomy within China, but the Guomindang leader Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石 1887–1975), displaying the typical Nationalist disregard for its own goal of the "union of five peoples," declared the territory would be divided into five separate provinces, all under Nanjing's direct control. As the Paṇchen Lama increased his stature among the Mongolians, he took it upon himself to negotiate both between them and on their behalf with Nanjing. The Paṇchen :ama sent Chiang several telegrams and letters earnestly entreating him to respect ethnic autonomy, even as he encouraged the Mongol princes to accept Republican sovereignty. It appears that he considered this arrangement to be the best model for the status of Tibet within the modern Chinese state.

Among the relationships with Mongol princes that the Paṇchen Lama cultivated, one of the most productive was with Demchüg Dongrub, the head of the Western Sünid banner of the Shilingol league. This prince was a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, and had become head of the banner in 1919. During the Paṇchen Lama's visit, in 1931, the prince sponsored the construction of a monastery, bringing in an architect from Beijing, Chinese labor from Shanxi, and Tibetan lumber that was sent downriver from Amdo. The Paṇchen Lama opened three colleges there, for medicine, tantra, and logic, and enrolled one hundred fifty-nine monks. The name of the monastery was apparently simply "Monastery of the Ninth Paṇchen Lama." In 1932 he gave his sixth Kālacakra initiation during exile, on Üjümücin banner lands of the Shilingol League, likely sponsored by Prince Sonam Rabten. The Paṇchen Lama later taught at Wangjie Suoma Temple, also known as Gajin Temple, on Demchüg Dongrub's territory, and the monks offered it to him. In 1933 the same prince offered him the Bayanqota Monastery, Ganden Choling Puntsok.[47]

Later years of Exile: Service to the Nationalist Chinese Government

As the Paṇchen Lama grew closer to his Mongolian patrons and audiences he increasingly advocated on their behalf to the Republican government. This included urgent pleas for resistance to the Japanese, who were advancing through northern China into Mongolian territory—Japan would invade Chinese territory in September, 1931. Before then, in 1929, the Guomindang completed their northward push and took Beijing from the Beiyang league. The newly unified China was ruled by the Republican government out of Nanjing, with Chiang Kai-shek at the helm. From Inner Mongolia the Paṇchen Lama sent Chiang his congratulations, and Chiang, recognizing that the Paṇchen Lama could command audiences of tens of thousands of Mongols, invited him to Nanjing.

The Paṇchen Lama arrived in Nanjing in May, 1931, timed to participate in the National People's Convention, which celebrated the unification of China. The Paṇchen Lama gave several speeches in which he praised Sun Yat-sen's theories and admonished the Nationalists to respect Tibetan and Mongolian autonomy. These speeches have been taken by Chinese historians as evidence that the Paṇchen Lama willingly advocated for a Chinese state that included Tibet, yet, as Tuttle points out, the full text of the speeches have never been released, and what is available is vague enough to suggest that the Paṇchen Lama did not, in fact, speak on the topic of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.[48] According to Tuttle, the Paṇchen Lama was consistent in his vision of Tibet being ruled by its lamas.[49]

Following the convention, Dai Jitao, a high-ranking Guomindang official and ardent Buddhist, arranged for the Paṇchen Lama to teach in Nanjing. The Paṇchen Lama taught Avalokiteśvara's mantra, and gave initiations to Dai and his wife. Dai would continue to be a significant patron and advocate for the Paṇchen Lama among Nationalists. On Dai's recommendation, Chiang awarded the Paṇchen Lama a new title: Protector of the Country, Propagator of Transformation, Great Master of Infinite Wisdom (Huguo xuanhua guanghui dashi 護國宣化光慧大師). The Paṇchen Lama left again for Inner Mongolia, and in July, 1932 he gave his seventh Kālacakra initiation in Inner Mongolia, again in Üjümücin banner of the Shilingol league. 

He was called back later that year, however, invited to perform the Kālacakra in Beijing, in October, 1932. This remains the only time the popular initiation has ever been given there. The invitation came from Duan Qirui, with the express goal of helping to thwart the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. It took place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, the location for the enthronement of the Chinese emperors, among other state ceremonies. According to newspaper reports it was attended by sixty- to seventy-thousand people, including the Changkya Hutuktu, Prince Demchok Dongrub, Dai Jitao, and Duan Qirui.[50]

The Chinese elites saw the event as evidence that Buddhism, and, specifically, the Paṇchen Lama, held considerable potential for the propagation of Nationalist rhetoric. Dai Jitao was then corresponding with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, attempting to convince him that the Nationalist government recognized Tibetan autonomy under the Dalai Lama's rule, even as he worked within the Chinese government to gain acceptance of this policy. Like Duan, Dai saw Buddhism as the historically unifying element in Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese relations.[51] Dai had a difficult task in gaining acceptance among other Nationalist leaders for recognizing a role forof the lamas; the Guomindang had little interest in Buddhism and the government was then intent on nationalizing Buddhist property; the Buddhist modernist Taixu later credited the Paṇchen Lama for saving the Chinese Buddhist monasteries from the Nationalists.[52]

Part of Dai's program was to arrange for the Paṇchen Lama's return to Tibet as an official representative of the Nationalist government. Thus, in December, 1932, Dai brought the Paṇchen Lama to Nanjing and gave him the title of Western Borderlands Propagation Commissioner (Xichui xuanhua shi 西陲宣化使). The Paṇchen Lama's acceptance not only made him an official employee of the state, but it indicated that he was willing to work for the Chinese state's interests in Tibet. The position came with a monthly stipend of 30,000 yuan for expenses and an annual salary of 120,000 yuan. Ironically, the Paṇchen Lama spent most of the next several years not in Tibetan regions expounding on Sun Yat-sen's writings, but in Inner Mongolia.

Although it was the Changkya who had received the position of "propagation commissioner" for Inner Mongolia, the Paṇchen Lama held much greater influence in the region, probably in part due to his repeated appeals to Nanjing to resist the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. Over the course of the spring and summer of 1933 the Japanese took control of additional Mongol lands, including the Shilingol and the Üjümücin leagues. The Paṇchen Lama sent telegrams to Nanjing appealing for intervention—Republicans, however, signed a treaty with Japan ceding the territory. The Paṇchen Lama declined entreaties from the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission to return to safe territory. In October, 1933, the Mongol princes convened an assembly at Bat Khaalga Monastery to discuss autonomy, and they arranged for the Paṇchen Lama to teach the Kālacakra. His teaching at the Mongol autonomy convention would have been a means to ensure a large turn out—Tuttle counts fourteen times that the Paṇchen Lama taught the Kālacakra in Mongol regions in 1933, events which brought large crowds each time. The Paṇchen Lama, who counseled his patrons to accept Chinese sovereignty, served as intermediary with the two representatives sent by Nanjing. [53]

Death of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and a Second Chinese Kālacakra

On December 17, 1933, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama passed away, an event that largely reoriented the Paṇchen Lama's focus away from Mongolia and back towards Tibet. On learning that the Thirteenth Dalai Lama was dead, the Paṇchen Lama quickly returned to Nanjing, arriving on January 22, 1934. He met with the acting president of the country, Lin Sen (林森 1868–1943), on February 2, and then, on February 20, he was named a member of the Republican government with the rank of Commissioner of the National Government (minguo zhengfu weiyuan). According to Tuttle, only now, at a teaching he gave at Huguo Shenghua Longchan Si, did the Paṇchen Lama begin to use Nationalist language advocating for the unity of the five peoples, suggesting unequivocally that Tibet was a part of the Chinese state (Tuttle, however, doubts the Paṇchen Lama prepared the speech himself).[54]

The Paṇchen Lama presided over the official Chinese funeral observances for the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in Nanjing, on February 14. The government had budgeted 50,000 yuan for the services, which were organized by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. Eight thousand people are said to have attended the event at the campus of the Education Ministry, of which Dai Jitao was then the head.[55]

As a function of his new role as a government commissioner, the Paṇchen Lama opened several new institutes designed to promote Buddhism and Republican values in multiple cities such as Wuhan, Chengdu, Beijing, and Chongqing. These included the Association of Enlightenment Studies (Puti xuehai) in Hangzhou, in association with Duan Qirui, with the goal of translating Tibetan texts into Chinese. He also opened the Institute of Mongolian and Tibetan Studies (Meng Zang xueyuan), under the leadership of the Changkya Hutuktu. Both were funded by the Chinese government.[56] He also expanded the activities of his offices in various cities on the Sino-Tibetan borderlands, publishing Tibetan and Tibetan-Chinese language propaganda materials espousing Nationalist ideology.[57]

That spring he was invited to celebrate a Kālacakra at Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, his second in China. According to Jagou, the hosts were the monastery's abbot and the Chinese Buddhist reformer Taixu, as well as members of the national and provincial government and the local Chinese lay Buddhist association. He arrived in the city by train in late April to a confused welcome, presided over by the provincial warlord, Sun Chuanfang and civil governor Xia Chao, and attended by upwards of several thousand people, few of whom knew the protocols for receiving a Tibetan lama. Reports on the initiation, which took place from May 13 to the 15, state that tens of thousands of people received it.[58]

Following the Hangzhou Kālacakra the Paṇchen Lama gave a lecture at Central University (Zhongyang Daxue) in Nanjing on the topic of the traditional unity of religion and politics in Tibet, likely in service of his mission to preserve traditional religious rule in his homeland. He then gave a lecture—possibly a series of lectures—in Shanghai on the topics of Tibet's traditional relationship with China and the rule of lamas there.[59]

The Attempt to Return to Tibet

In the spring of 1934 the Paṇchen Lama, heartened by the support from Dai Jitao, met with Chiang Kai-shek to discuss his return to Tibet. He presented the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission with a proposal, including travel itinerary and a list of necessary items and funding. That he requested the government pay for the travel and transportation is further indication that he considered himself returning to Tibet as a Chinese government employee. His proposal included a military escort and two high-level Chinese officials, one military and one civil. The Paṇchen Lama asked that Huang Musong (黃慕松), the Nationalist's agent in Tibet at the time and later the head of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, negotiate on his behalf with the Tibetan government; he would need Lhasa's permission to cross the border.[60]

Since his arrival in China in 1923 the Paṇchen Lama had consistently maintained that he intended to return to Tibet, and the negotiation for his return had been in near-constant development. Over the course of the decade he had appealed to the British rulers of India for intervention and had Tibetan and Chinese officials represent him in meetings with Tibetan officials to discuss terms. These included the Ngakchen Rinpoche, Lobzang Tenzin Jigme Wangchuk (ngags chen rin po che blo bzang bstan 'dzin 'jigs med dbang phyug, d. 1947), also known as Darba Hutuktu (bdar pa ho thog thu), and Huang Musong. The Paṇchen Lamademanded of Lhasa that all confiscated property of Tashilhunpo and its leadership be returned, and that the taxes imposed by the Tibetan government be rescinded. Lhasa, in turn, stood by its taxation, and protested the Paṇchen Lama's Chinese titles.

The two main barriers to the Paṇchen Lama's return were the nature of his status as an agent of China and his insistence that he be accompanied by an armed escort. The Tibetans had good reason to be concerned that the Paṇchen Lama saw himself as a potential replacement for the Dalai Lama, with full backing of the Chinese government. Were he to return, it would need to be with assurances that he would not attempt to take a role in ruling Tibet. These suspicions were in part due to the Paṇchen Lama's proximity to a 1932 effort in Batang to establish an independent state in southern Kham. One of the leaders of this movement, Kelzang Tsering (skal bzang tshe ring) was a translator for the Paṇchen Lama. He had been sent to Batang as a Commissioner of Guomindang Affairs of Xikang to organize the Nationalist Party in the region, but once back in his hometown he joined the Kham independence movement known as "Khampa rule for Kham" and attacked the Chinese garrison there. Lhasa reasonably suspected the Paṇchen Lama of involvement.[61]

Regarding the escort, the Paṇchen Lama had been contemplating military support since soon after his arrival in China. In early 1930 he informed the British officer James Leslie Weir (1883–1950), through his representative in Kalimpong, that he was assembling an army to effect his return to Tibet and requested weapons.[62] He put the same request to Chiang Kai-shek that same year, but Chiang refused unless that Paṇchen Lama publicly repudiate the Thirteenth Dalai Lama's declaration of independence, which the Paṇchen Lama was not willing to do.[63]

In 1931 Weir had been able to convince the Dalai Lama to free the Paṇchen Lama's family members still being held, but only in 1935, inside of the void left by the Dalai Lama's death, did the Tibetan government agree to return all confiscated property and rescind the taxation, preparing the way for the Paṇchen Lama to return.[64] In preparation the Paṇchen Lama traveled to Amdo, arriving at Kumbum Monastery in May, 1935 to wait for his escort and favorable weather. By the end of summer four trucks, a radio transmitter, and over a million yuan in travel expenses arrived at the monastery. The Paṇchen Lama requested pack animals from Ma Bufang, and continued to wait for his military escort and for the Chinese official who would accompany him, Cheng Yun, who reached Kumbum in December.[65] He finally left Kumbum in May, 1936, on a circuitous route that allowed him to gather donations and delay his entrance into Tibetan territory until his military escort arrived. He was in Jyekundo in June, when the escort arrived. The Tibetan cabinet, the Kashak (bka' shag), sent representatives from the three main government monasteries in Lhasa and dispatched Doring Tenzin Norbu (rdo ring bstan 'dzin nor bu, b. 1900–d. after 1959) to prepare the route and the welcome.[66]

However, the Kashak refused to allow the military escort into Tibetan territory. Lhasa had earlier protested the Paṇchen Lama's title of Western Propagation Commissioner, and the cabinet reasonably suspected that the escort was a pretext for an invasion—when the Tibetan army searched baggage that had been sent ahead they discovered rifles and ammunition, and other rifles had apparently already arrived in Tashilhunpo.[67] Ngakchen Rinpoche was dispatched from Lhasa to try to convince the Paṇchen Lama to forgo the escort. Displeased with Ngakchen's advocacy of the Tibetan position, the Paṇchen Lama relieved him of his duties.[68] Meanwhile, Lhasa prepared for the worst by mobilizing its own troops along the border. The Kashak was sufficiently concerned that they appealed to Britain, which sent Basil Gould (1883–1956) to Lhasa to aid the negotiations. Gould brought a wireless with him, thereby setting up the first British office in Lhasa.[69]

In August, 1936, the Paṇchen Lama left Jyekundo for Tibetan territory, with his Chinese escort. However, before he reached the border word came from Nanjing that they would not support a forced entry into Tibet, and he returned to Jyekundo.[70] According to Jagou, after Huang Musong left government service in 1936, the Chinese government lost its main proponent of the Paṇchen Lama's return.[71] At the beginning of 1937 the Tibetan regent, the Fifth Reting Rinpoche (rwa sgreng 05, d. 1947), sent the Second Pabongkha, Dechen Nyingpo (pha bong kha 02 bde chen snying po, 1878–1941) to convince him to abandon the escort. Pabongka, who had been teaching in Chamdo, was unsuccessful.[72]

During their meeting, however, Pabongka witnessed and praised a long-life empowerment that that Paṇchen Lama gave to local nomads, and the two discussed the search for the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. The following month the two lamas in charge of the Tibetan government's search met with the Paṇchen Lama in Jyekundo to confer and to ask for the Paṇchen Lama's help getting safe passage in Amdo from Ma Bufang. The Paṇchen Lama shared his list of candidates with the search party, one of whom was the boy who would later be chosen as the fourteenth Dalai Lama.[73]

The Death of the Ninth Paṇchen Lama

By May the Kashak relented and granted permission for the Chinese escort, on the condition that they leave Tibet immediately upon the Paṇchen Lama's arrival in Tashilhunpo.[74] However, the concession came too late. Still in Jyekundo, the Paṇchen Lama fell ill in October and passed away on December 1, 1937.

Dingkye Rinpoche (sding skyes rin po che) took charge of the funeral. This lama was an attendant from Tashilhunpo who had joined the Paṇchen Lama in China in the mid 1930s. The Paṇchen Lama had sent him to Jyekundo in 1935 to install a shortwave radio in his office there, part of the preparations for his return to Tashilhunpo. According to reports, the Paṇchen Lama sat in the postmortem meditation posture of tukdam (thugs dam) for two and a half weeks, his head only bowing forward on December 18. All the government monasteries of Tibet initiated prayers, and Lobzang Gyeltsen commissioned Kyabje Zhelzang Rinpoche (skyab rje zhal bzang rin po che) to write a prayer for the Paṇchen Lama's swift rebirth. The prayer was printed from wooden blocks and distributed throughout Tibet.[75]

Regarding the mortal remains, the entourage was less confident in their arrangements. First it was decided to send the body to Kandze, following the route that the Paṇchen Lama would have taken in life. The Chinese ruler of the Kham region, Liu Wenhui (劉文輝 1895–1976) allowed the transfer. The Chinese government, however, demanded the body be taken to Dartsedo for the funeral. The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission assigned Dai Jitao to organize a government funeral in Chongqing, where the Nationalists had retreated following the Japanese occupation of Nanjing. The Changkya would give the service in Tibetan, while Taixu would give it in Chinese. Disregarding the Chinese, the entourage brought the body to Kandze, installing it in the private quarters of Shangkun Rinpoche (shang kun rin po che) at Kandze Monastery, Shedrub Norbu Ling (dkar mdzes bshad sgrub nor bu gling).

Almost as important to China as the issue of the Paṇchen Lama's body was the matter of the weapons. The Chinese Military Affairs Commission demanded the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission recover all rifles, needing them for the war against the Japanese and wary of their potential use in Sino-Tibetan conflicts. The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission also set about formally dissolving all of the Paṇchen Lama's offices, leaving some open in modified capacity, to continue spreading propaganda to Chinese regions. Ultimately all would close, save the Nanjing office, with Lobzang Gyeltsen in charge. Dai arrived in Kandze in April and delivered over a hundred thousand yuan to cover funeral expenses.

While Dingkye Rinpoche negotiated with Lhasa and Tashilhunpo on the repatriation of the remains, certain members of the entourage secretly transferred the body to Ragya Monastery (rwa rgya dgon) in Golok and made a replica for use in the Chinese-funded funeral in Dartsedo. The replica was still in Kandze in December, 1939 when Liu Wenhui drove the remaining members of the entourage out of Kandze. This action was the result of a marriage between the local Tibetan female chieftain, Khangsar Dechen Wangmo (khang gsar bde chen dbang mo, 1915–1952), and the captain of the Paṇchen Lama's guard, a man named Yeshe Dorje (ye shes rdo rje). Liu had hoped to marry the powerful chieftain to one of his own officials and in response to the marriage placed the newlyweds under house arrest. Dechen Wangmo's supporters and members of the Paṇchen Lama's entourage mounted a botched attempt to release her. Although he defeated them, Liu allowed the chieftain, her husband, and the entourage to escape. With the entourage gone, Liu took possession of what he believed were the mortal remains of the Paṇchen Lama, which he believed would provide a means to gain the support of the local population. On transferring the body to Dartsedo for the official funeral, however, he discovered the deception. Enraged, he left the replica in the hands of Dingye Rinpoche, who took it to Kumbum, where it was installed as a relic.[76]

Only after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s installation in Lhasa on February 20, 1940, was the Paṇchen Lama's body returned to Tashilhunpo. Ma Bufang made the arrangements. An entourage from Tibet arrived at Ragya, and Liu Wenhui was ordered to return all property of the entourage that he had confiscated the previous year. The Chinese brought the body to the border, after which the Tibetans took over. They arrived at Tashilhunpo on February 14, 1941.

Lobzang Gyeltsen was put in charge of finding the next incarnation, who would be found in Chokyi Gyeltsen (paN chen 10 chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1939–1989).

 


[1] MacDonald, p. 187; Bell, p. 83.

[2]Jagou, pp. 16-17; MacDonald, p. 187.

[3] Jagou, pp. 15–16.

[4] Jagou, p. 17.

[5] Jagou, p. 20

[6] Snelling, p. 77.

[7] Who's Who in Tibet, 1937, p. 5.

[8] Jagou, p. 43.

[9] Jagou, p. 43.

[10] Bell, p. 82; Jagou, p. 43.

[11] Bell, p. 84, Jagou, p. 44.

[12] Bell, p. 84.

[13] Jagou, p. 45.

[14] Ho, pp. 232–235.

[15] Cited in Goldstein, p. 62, and Jagou, p. 44.

[16] Jagou, p. 44.

[17] Jagou, p. 45.

[18] Shakabpa, p. 733.

[19] Bell, p. 120.

[20] Who's Who in Tibet, p. 5.

[21] MacDonald, p. 103.

[22] Ho, p. 226.

[23] Bell, p. 120.

[24] Jagou, p. 47.

[25] Jagou, p. 48.

[26] Jagou, p. 48.

[27] Gyurme Dorje, p. 323.

[28] Bell, p. 169.

[29] Goldstein, pp. 110–111; Jagou, pp. 31–32.

[30] Goldstein, pp. 110–111; Tuttle 2011, pp. 54–55; Jagou 23–34.

[31] Goldstein, p. 113; Tuttle 2011, p. 55.

[32] MacDonald, p. 188, Who's Who in Tibet, p. 5.

[33] Jagou, p. 55, 97–98; Goldstein, 115.

[34] Jagou, pp. 2–3

[35] Jagou, pp. 99–100.

[36] Jagou, p. 117.

[37] See Tuttle 2005 for a discussion of the integrity of the Paṇchen Lama's recorded speeches during his years in China.

[38] Jagou, pp. 79–80, Tuttle 2005, p. 88.

[39] Tuttle 2005, p. 84.

[40] Tuttle 2005, p. 81.

[41] Tuttle 2005, pp. 90–91.

[42] Tuttle 2005, pp. 92–93; Jagou, p. 100.

[43] Tuttle 2005, p. 130.

[44] Tuttle 2008.

[45] Jagou, p. 74.

[46] Jagou, pp. 206–207.

[47] Jagou, pp. 72–73.

[48] Jagou, p. 103, Tuttle 2005, p. 163.

[49] Tuttle 2005, 171.

[50] Jagou, pp. 66–67.

[51] Tuttle 2005, pp. 172–1745. 

[52] Tuttle 2005, pp. 1667–167.

[53] Jagou, pp. 110–112; Tuttle 2008, p. 323.

[54] Jagou, p. 125; Tuttle 2008, p. 324; Tuttle 2005, pp. 179–180, 184.

[55] Jagou, p. 76.

[56] Jagou, pp. 74–75.

[57] Tuttle 2005, p. 191.

[58] Tuttle 2005, p. 185; Jagou pp. 67–68.

[59] Tuttle 2005, pp. 187–188.

[60] Jagou, p. 138.

[61] Tuttle 20015.

[62] Jagou, p. 137.

[63] Tuttle 2005, p. 161.

[64] Jagou, pp. 151–153.

[65] Jagou, p. 139.

[66] Jagou, p. 153.

[67] Jagou, p. 161.

[68] Goldstein, p. 289; Jagou, p. 173.

[69] Goldstein, p. 299.

[70] Goldstein, p. 295.

[71] Jagou, p. 162.

[72] Goldstein, p. 289. An oral history recording preserved at the Library of Congress contains Pabongka's description of his 1937 visit with the Paṇchen Lama: https://www.loc.gov/item/2020705897/

[73] Jagou, p. 76.

[74] Jagou, p. 157. 

[75] Jagou, p. 178.

[76] Jagou, pp. 182–183.

 

_________________________________________________

Publication of this biography was made possible through support of National Endowment for the Humanities.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Additional Bios Sponsored By National Endowment for the Humanities

Alexander Gardner is Director and Chief Editor of the Treasury of Lives. He completed his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the author of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul The Great.

Published March 2023

Bibliography

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