Kunga Rinchen (kun dga' rin chen) was the son of Yagyel (ya rgyal), the fourth king of Derge. The was likely born towards the end of the sixteenth century. He had two brothers, named Namkha (nam mkha) and Dorje Lhundrub (rdo rje lhun grub). He is counted as the head of the family in its thirty-fifth generation.
Kunga Rinchen ordained and trained under a numbers of masters, including Sharchen Jampa Kunga Tashi (shar chen byams pa kun dga' bkra shis, 1558-1603), the fourteenth abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden (ngor e waM chos ldan) in Tsang.
It is not clear why he was enlisted to rule the kingdom, becoming the first ordained member of the family to do so. During his administration he built the Zungdrel Temple (zung 'brel lha khang) in Derge, which later provided the basis for Lhundrubteng Monastery (lhun grub steng), commonly known as Derge Gonchen (sde dge dgon chen).
His nephew Lhuntub (lhun thub), his brother Namkha's son, inherited the throne, although it was his nephew Sonam Puntsok (bsod nams phun tshogs, d. 1714), the fourth abbot of Lhundrubteng, who held real power.
参考书目
'Chi med rdo rje and Zla dbyangs. 2009. Khams sde dge rgyal po'i srid don lo rgyus. Beijing: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, pp. 21-22. TBRC W1KG5539.
'Ju chen thub bstan rnam rgyal. 2014. 'Ju chen thub bstan gyi sku tshe'i lo rgyus, vol. 3. Chauntra, District Mandi, H.P., India: Juchentsang. TBRC W1KG17456.
Karma rgyal mtshan. 1994. Sde dge chos 'byung. Hong Kong: Hang khong ya gling dpe skrun khang, pp. 10-11. TBRC W1KG15407.
Kolmaś, Josef. 1968. A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge. Prague: Oriental Institute in Academia, Publishing House of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, p. 32.
Srid gros sde dge rdzong rig gnas lo rgyus rgyu cha bsdu sgrik u yon lhan khang. 1995. Sde dge'i lo rgyus. Sde dge rdzong: Srid gros sde dge rdzong rig gnas lo rgyus rgyu cha bsdu sgrik u yon lhan khang, pp. 30-31. TBRC W26569.
Tshe dbang rdo rje rig 'dzin. 1994. Sde dge chos kyi rgyal po rim byon gyi rnam thar dge legs nor bu'i phreng ba 'dod dgu rab 'phel. Bir: D. Tsondu Senghe Yorey Tsang, pp. 7-8. TBRC W23737.