Tukwan is the Tibetan rendering of the Chinese Tuguan, which denotes a type of local official or chieftain within the Monguor communities of Amdo. The important Tukwan incarnation lineage takes its name from this term, as the First Tukwan, Lobzang Rabten, was born into a family of Tukwan chieftans. Subsquent incarnations are also called Tukwans, though they were not actual lineal descendants.