The Treasury of Lives



Zangpo Pel (bzang po dpal) was born in 1262  in Podang E (po dang e). His father, a half-brother of Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen ('phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235-1280), was named Yeshe Jungne (ye shes 'byung gnas, d. 1273) and his mother Jomo Bumme (jo mo 'bum me). Yeshe Jungne had settled in the Jang kingdom in Yunnan, in service as house chaplain to Khubilai's son Hügeči, who was governor there. Yeshe Jungne died either in Jang or in Amdo.

Zangpo Pel was sent to Sakya Monastery in his youth. Beginning at the age of sixteen he received empowerments and transmissions from Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen. According to legend, during an empowerment Pakpa stopped and started at the boy, and told him "Study until your hair reaches your knees."

In 1282, at the age of twenty-one, he was summoned to the Yuan count by the Empress Abu. However, he appears to have been slandered by rivals who questioned the legitimacy of his membership to the Khon family, and was dispatched to the southeast coast of China, first to Suzhou, then Hangzhou, and ultimately to Putou Island.

When he was twenty-seven, the Ninth Sakya Tridzin, Dharmapālarakṣita (d+harma pA la rak Shi ta, 1268-1288) passed away, leaving the Khon family with no heirs. A member of the Luding family associated with the Zhitok Labrang (gzhi thog bla brang), Sharpa Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen (shar pa 'jam dbyangs rin chen rgyal mtshan, 1258-1306) ruled as the Tenth Sakya Tridzin from 1288-1297. Leaders of Sakya advocated for the return of the Khon family, which had suffered some damage to its status due to the machinations of Sang ge桑哥, an ethnically Tibetan official in the Yuan court, who was put to death in 1291.

During his tenure a group of Sakya hierarchs led by the Ponchen Aglen (dpon chen ag len), in an effort to identify a suitable member of the Khon family, encouraged the fifth Imperial Preceptor (dishi 帝師), Drakpa Ozer (grags pa 'od zer, 1245-1305/1308), to seek the intervention of the new Chengzong Emperor (成宗 r, 1294-1307). Drakpa Ozer, together with the other Sakya officials at court, petitioned Chengzong to confirm Zangpo Pel as a legitimate member of the Khon family. The emperor agreed, and in 1296 summoned him to the capital, where he issued a decree proclaiming him the nephew of Pakpa and urging him to propagate the Khon family.

The emperor gave Zangpo Pel a wife, a princess of the royal family named Müdegen, who bore him a son named Sonam Zangpo (bsod nams bzang po). He returned to Tibet and studied religious and other subjects, while the monastery continued to be run by Sharpa Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen, from whom he received teachings. He studied there for the next decade or so at the Lhakhang Labrang (lha khang bla brang) receiving many teachings and empowerments from Ga Anyen Dampa Kunga Drakpa (sga a gnyan dam pa kun dga' grags pa, 1230-1303), and Nyenchen Sonam Tenpa (gnyan chen bsod nams brtan pa, d. 1317).

In 1298, the age of forty-five, he was enthroned as the eleventh Sakya Tridzin (sa skya khri 'dzin), the religious and political head of Sakya. He is said to have presided over a period of great prosperity for Sakya, both institutional and personal; he sired a total of seventeen children from five or possibly seven wives. His thirteen sons divided Sakya into four labrang (bla brang), or dynastic houses. Among his wives and sons were:

Jomo Kunga Bumpulwa (jo mo kun dga' 'bum phul ba), the widow of the Ponchen Aglen, who bore Kunga Lodro Gyeltsen (kun dga' blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1299-1327).

Lhachik Nyima Rinchen (lha cig nyi ma rin chen), who bore Nyima Pel (nyi ma dpal).

Machik Zhonbum (ma gcig gzhon 'bum), from Zhalu, the mother of the Thirteenth Sakya Tridzin, Jamyang Donyo Gyeltsen ('jam dbyangs don yod rgyal mtshan, 1310-1344) and the Fourteenth Sakya Tridzin, Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen (bla ma dam pa bsod nams rgyal mtshan, 1312-1375), who became the head of the Rinchen Gang Labrang (rin chen sgang bla brang).

Namkha Gyelmo (nam mkha' rgyal mo), the mother of the Twelfth Sakya Tridzin, Namkha Lekpai Gyeltsen (nam mkha' legs pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1305-1343), who took control of the Zhitok Labrang (gzhi thog bla brang), which was by then the residence of the Sakya Tridzin.

Kunga Namkha Gyeltsen (kun dga' nam mkha' rgyal mtshan), from Ralung, the mother of Kunga Lekpai Jungne Gyeltsen (kun dga' legs pa'i 'byung gnas rgyal mtshan, 1308-1336/1341), who established the Ducho Labrang (dus mchod bla brang) and served as Imperial Preceptor, and Kunga Gyeltsen (kun dga' rgyal mtshan, 1310-1358) who became the head of the Lhakhang Labrang (lha khang bla brang).

Zangpo Pel is said to have taken novice monastic vows seven years after his ascent to the throne of Sakya, at the age of fifty-two, although this would call into question the birth dates of some of his children. He took the ordination name of Amoghadhāśrīpa. In 1311 he was elevated to the office of National Preceptor, and in 1313 he took full ordination. 

He held the monastic vows until his death in the wood bird year of 1324, at the age of sixty-three.

His progeny were successful in restoring the status of the Khon family. In 1314 Zangpo Pel's son Kunga Lodro Gyeltsen was appointed Imperial Preceptor, the eighth person to hold the office and the first Khon to hold to do so since 1286, and three other sons collectively held the office of Sakya Tridzin for twenty years after his death.

Dirk Schmidt is Ph.D. student in Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. www.dirkpschmidt.com

Published May 2015

参考书目

Grags pa 'byung gnas and Rgyal ba blo bzang mkhas grub. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su'u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 857-859. TBRC W19801.

Mkhan po bsod nams rgya mtsho. 2011. Gdan rabs ngo mtshar bang mdzod. Dehradun: Sakya College, pp. 240-248. TBRC W1KG17209.

Petech, Luciano. 1990. Central Tibet and the Mongols -- The Yuan- Sa-skya Period of Tibetan History. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, pp. 72-82.

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