The Treasury of Lives

Akyong Wangpo (a skyong dbang po), was born in 1908 in Golok, in modern-day Jigzhi County (gcig sgril rdzong). He was the last head of the Khanggen family (khang rgan tshang), which belonged to the Akyong Bum clan (a skyong 'bum, Ch: Ashiqiangben 阿什羌本), one of the three clans of Golok, alongside the Wangchen Bum (dbang chen 'bum) and Pema Bum (padma 'bum) clans.

 

The name of Akyong is said to have been the name of the first head of the clan. His son Tenzin (bstan 'dzin) inherited his position and was appointed as chieftain (dpon po) by the Qing court, which included the duties of administrative leader, commander of the armed forces, and regulator and enforcer of the rules. When Tenzin's son Tsering Puntsok (tshe ring phun tshogs) was in power, a new branch of the tribe formed, which came to be known as Gongma (gong ma tshang). Tsering Puntsok had two sons: Tsewang Bum (tshe dbang 'bum), who had no sons of his own, and Danlong (his Tibetan name has yet to resurface), who inherited his elder brother's position and passed it on to his own sons. The eldest of Danlong's four sons initiated the Khangsar family (khang gsar tshang), which means "new house," while the second son took charge of the main line of the Akyong clan and renamed it Khanggen (khang rgan), or "old house." Danlong's fourth son was the first head of the Gongma, the name of which refers to the location of the family in the upper, or higher (gong ma) part of the valley. Together these three—Khangsar, Khanggen, and Gongma—made up the three divisions of the Akyong clan.

 

When Akyong Wangpo was eight years old he was identified as a reincarnation at Pelyul Monastery (dpal yul dgon) in Derge. It is not known whether he took vows; if he did, it appears he renounced them, as from 1925 to 1957 he served as the chieftain of the Khanggen branch of his clan, with fourteen tribes and 1176 households. His younger brother appears to have attempted a separation of the family's territory, initiating a new sub-clan. When his father died, in 1937, Akyong Wangpo killed his younger brother and assumed his father's position. 

 

During that time, the Golok area was confronted with a series of military campaigns undertaken by two Hui warlords, Ma Qi (馬麒 1869–1931) and his son Ma Bufang (馬步芳1903–1975). Ma Qi occupied Labrang Tashikhyil Monastery (bla brang bkra shis 'khyil) with his troops in 1917, which marked the start of what are known as the "Golok conflicts" or the "Amdo-Ma clique conflicts," lasting until 1947. In 1928, Ma Qi waged a war against the Golok. This was followed by Ma Bufang's seven expeditions into Golok which are said to have killed thousands of people. In this exceptionally tense atmosphere, Akyong Wangpo united with other tribal heads to fight against the Ma warlords. 

 

In 1933, when Ma Bufang sent his army to attack Golok for the second time, Akyong Wangpo, together with Kang Guangliang, Kang Wanqing (whose Tibetan names have yet to resurface) and other Tibetan chieftains led their troops against Ma Bufang's army in what today is called Gande County (dga' bde rdzong). This campaign lasted for about half a month and ended with Ma's retreat. 

 

In June 1939, Akyong Wangpo and his elder brother Wanqing (Wangchen / dbang chen?) led the Khanggen and Khangsar tribes to crush a company of bandits in Jigzhi County. In 1944, finding no way to resist Ma's invasion of Golok, together with Apa Alo Lobzang Tsewang (P6070 a pa a blo blo bzang tshe dbang; Ch. Huang Zhengqing, 1903–1997) and Kang Wanqing (whose Tibetan name has yet to resurface), he went to Chongqing to petition Chiang Kai-Shek and other government officials of the Nationalist government. To secure Nationalist protection, they are said to have requested, unsuccessfully, that Golok be included in Sichuan or Gansu Provinces.

 

In the early 1950s Akyong Wangpo was cautious when the Golok working group of the Northwest Military and Political Commission entered Golok. After the Ngawa (Aba) Revolt and Serta Revolt in Sichuan Province, he led a meeting in 1956 and is said to have announced, "The policy of the Communist Party will be changed. We should not be close to the Communist Party." In that meeting he also discussed buying guns in order to mount resistance to the Chinese army. Nevertheless, like many reform-minded Tibetan leaders, that same year he is said to have put forward the plan of running the first cooperatives in his tribe. 

 

In 1958 he participated in uprisings against the Chinese government and was shot dead in battle.