Tag: Dge lugs pa

Posted on

Bagha Ba Lama

Bagha Ba Lama

A stele from 1630 refers to Bagha Ba Lama as the junior to Uluk Darhan Nangsu Lama, an important figure in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the Manchus. Bagha Ba Lama was responsible for seeing through the construction of a stupa to house the relics of Uluk. The building of the stupa had been decreed by the Manchu ruler Nurghaci (who became the first Qing emperor, Taizu) after Uluk’s death in 1622. Uluk had converted Nurghaci to Tibetan Buddhism. Actual construction was delayed, however, due to frequent warfare during Nurghaci’s reign (which ended with his death in 1626), and Uluk’s relics were kept temporarily in a temple in Liao yang converted from the estates of Lieutenant Colonel (cang jiang) Han. In 1630 Bagha Ba Lama convinced Hong Taiji, the second Qing emperor and son of Nurghaci, to begin construction of the stupa in honor of his father’s commitment to the lama and to Tibetan Buddhism.

Tak-Sing Kam argues that because the stele inscription referring to Bagha Ba Lama is not in the Tibetan language, but only Manchu and Chinese that he was probably of Mongolian, not Tibetan, descent. His title appears as Bida, Bide, or Bi Lama in the Mongolian language version of the Qing Veritable Records. Kam notes that the title Bagha Ba, which appears in Manchu sources, should not be confused with the Tibetan title ‘Phags pa. The Mongolian term bagha means “small, young, or lower in rank,” and usually distinguishes a lama from his senior counterpart, as it distinguished Bagha Ba from his master the “Great” (Uluk) Darhan Nangsu Lama (Kam 168n.47, 169).

Source:
Kam, Tak-sing. The dGe-lugs-pa Breakthrough: The Uluk Darxan Nangsu Lama’s Mission to the Manchus. Central Asiatic Journal. 44:2 (2000) p. 161-176.

Entry by Stacey Van Vleet, 3/6/07

Posted on

Lcang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje (Changkya Rolpe Dorje)

Lcang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje (Changkya Rolpe Dorje)

Lcang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje (1717-1786) was an important Buddhist figure in the Qing court, a teacher and close associate of the Qianlong emperor and an important intermediary between the court and Inner Asia. Over the course of his career he acted as Qianlong’s main Buddhist translator, tutor, and National Preceptor. He was of Mongour descent, born in Northeastern Tibet and raised for the most part within the imperial court. He was recognized as a reincarnation of the previous Lcang skya lama (1642-1714) in 1720 and taken to court in 1724, after his home monastery was destroyed by Qing troops in response to a rebellion led by Lobjang Danjin. He would also later be identified as an incarnation of ‘Phags pa. At the Yongzheng Emperor’s court, he was educated in close proximity to the boy who would become the Qianlong emperor. This relationship would prove significant in later years, since Rol pa’i rdo rje served as Qianlong’s main Buddhist teacher and advisor in matters related to Buddhism, including art, literature, religious initiations and practices, and diplomacy. His education included training in most of the languages in use under the Qing as well as Buddhist topics suited to his role as a lama.

In 1734 Rol pa’i rdo rje made his first trip to Lhasa when Yongzheng permitted him to accompany the 7th Dalai Lama on his return to the Tibetan capital. This trip gave Rol pa’i rdo rje the opportunity to meet and study with the Dalai Lama as well as to make offerings to Lhasa’s major monasteries and present gifts from the Qing emperor. In 1735 Lcang skya lama traveled to Shigatse, where he met the Panchen Lama Blo bzang ye shes at Tashilhunpo monastery. Lcang skya took the vows of a novice at this time with the Panchen Lama, who gave him a new Dharma name, Ye shes bstan pa’i sgron me. A few days later he took the vows of a fully ordained monk, under the supervision of the Panchen Lama and other major lamas. When Yongzheng died in 1736, Lcang skya gave up his plans to stay on and study under the Panchen Lama and had to return to Beijing. The Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama offered religious statues and other significant gifts as parting presents.

When Lcang skya arrived in Beijing, the new emperor, his childhood peer the Qianlong, named him chief administrative lama in Beijing. Early in his career as administrator, Lcang skya urged the emperor to grant disputed border areas to the Dalai Lama. While the emperor refused to grant the land, he did follow Lcang skya’s advice in part, by granting the Dalai Lama a yearly allowance of five thousand taels (taken from the Dajianlu revenue). After the internal political tensions in Lhasa came to a climax in 1751 (with the execution of the secular leader ‘Gyur med rnam rgyal), Qianlong named the Dalai Lama the political and religious leader of Tibet. Lcang skya’s biographer Thu’u bkwan asserts that this significant decision was largely due to Lcang skya’s advice.

After the death of the 7th Dalai Lama, the Qianlong sent Lcang skya on a second mission to Lhasa. There was debate among Tibetan officials over whether the new Dalai Lama’s regent, De mo, would have both religious and secular power. The bka’ blon or cabinet members aimed to take over secular control and let the Dalai Lama manage religious matters. Lcang skya advised the emperor to entrust De mo with full religious and secular authority in order to avoid conflict among the cabinet members. The emperor granted De mo religious authority and relied on the ambans to limit the power of the lay elite cabinet members. In 1757, Lcang skya departed for Lhasa again, this time with a large entourage including a minister, several officials, and two Imperial physicians. During this stay, Lcang skya performed various religious and political tasks for the emperor, keeping the Qianlong apprised of the situation in various Inner Asian locales, as far west as Ladakh. He was closely involved with identifying the 8th Dalai Lama and wrote the 7th Dalai lama’s biography. At the same time, Lcang skya studied under major lamas, most significantly the Panchen Lama. In 1779, Lcang skya arranged for the Panchen Lama to undertake a trip to Beijing to celebrate the Qianlong’s birthday. A monastery modeled after Tashilhunpo was built in Jehol in honor of the visit. During the Panchen Lama’s visit Lcang skya performed religious and diplomatic functions such as instructing the lama on how to approach the emperor and translating Dharma teachings between the two. The Panchen Lama contracted smallpox and passed away during this visit.

Lcang skya’s work as a translator was by no means limited to oral translations – he also oversaw the creation of (Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, Chinese, and Chagatay language) dictionaries and translations of Buddhist teachings in textual form. As a Buddhist administrator in Beijing, he played an important role in founding Yonghegong, a monastic college for Mongol, Manchu, and Chinese monks. Like Wutaishan, this college combined an Imperial palace and a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. He was also instrumental in developing the systems of iconography, cataloguing, and inscribing that would prove so important to the Qianlong’s projects in Buddhist art.

Sources:
Berger, Patricia. Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Qing China.
Tuttle, Gray. Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China.
Wang Xiangyun. The Qing Court’s Tibet Connection: Lcang skya Rolpa’i rdo rje and the Qianlong Emperor.

Entry by Dominique Townsend

user-1541802581

Posted on

Olug Darhan Nangso

Olug Darhan Nangso (Uluk Darhan Nangsu)

Olug Darhan Nangso was the title given to a Tibetan missionary monk whose name remains unknown. Although existing sources omit information regarding his religious sect, he is thought to be of the dGe lugs pa school and sent from Tibet to missionize in Mongolia. The title of “Olug,” which means “great” is derived from Turko-Mongolian cognates and was likely due to his proselytizing efforts in Mongolia. “Darhan” is a Mongolian title meaning “One who does not pay taxes”—a status granted to some lamas and princes. “Nangso” is also a Yuan-period title that had devolved into a position of local authority. His missionary efforts took place within the context of a larger dGe lugs pa eastward drive in search of a new powerful patron to offset the bKa’ rgyud in Tibet.

The head of the dGe lugs pas, bSod nams rgya mtsho (aka the 3rd Dalai Lama) met and converted Altan Khan, ruler of the Tumed Mongols, in 1578. Altan Khan’s conversion to the dGe lugs pa sect can be seen as part of a broader attempt to subvert his nominal superiors, the Chakhar Mongols, who had cultivated relationships with the Sa skya pas, and who were allied with the declining Ming against the new Manchu state. Altan Khan bestowed the title of “Dalai Lama” on bSod nams rgya mtsho while the Dalai Lama recognized the khan as “Protector of the Faith.” The 3rd Dalai Lama later established relationships with the Khorchin Mongol leader in 1588 where he gave the Khorchin leader a Hevajra empowerment and consecrated the establishment of a monastic community. After bSod nams rgya mtsho’s death in 1588, the fourth Dalai Lama was recognized as a descendent of Altan Khan and several other Mongol infants were recognized as reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist lamas.

Olug Darhan Nangso was sent to this region in the early 17th century, where dGe lugs pas had gained a foothold, and proselytized under the patronage of the Khorchin Mongols. It remains unclear how he established contact with the founder of the new Manchu state, Nurhaci (r. 1616–26), in Mukden. According to some accounts, Nurhaci extended an invitation upon hearing about the Olug’s fame. Other sources record that it was the Olug who came to Nurhaci on his own accord after hearing about Nurhaci’s generosity and fame. The first recorded visit took place in 1621, which is perhaps the first direct contact between the Manchus and the Tibetans. During this visit, the Olug successfully converted Nurhaci and gave him an empowerment. In return, Nurhaci appointed him as the dynastic preceptor of the Manchu state and granted him jurisdiction over Lianhua si, a reconsecrated temple from Tang times located outside the capital at Liaoyang. In addition, Nurhaci endowed Lianhua si with property and workers, which was called Lama Yuan.

The Olug died in 1622, just three months after his arrival in Mukden. Nurhaci ordered the construction of a reliquary stupa, however this was delayed due to warfare. Finally in 1630, at the insistence of the Olug’s junior, Baga Ba Lama, Hong Taiji, Nurhaci’s son and successor, began the construction of the stupa. Additionally, two stelae were erected at this site in 1630 and 1658. The stelae were bilingually inscribed in Chinese and Manchu. The 1630 stele records that the Olug came from Wu ssu tsang (dBus gTsang) as a missionary, converted and initiated emperor Nurhaci, and was endowed with the Lama Yuan by Nurhaci. The 1658 stele recounts that Nurhaci had invited the Olug and additionally documents the transfer of the Mahakala statue to Mukden in 1638. This important Mahakala statue was originally offered at Wutai Shan and placed in Xixia lands by Phags pa, and later brought to the ruler of the Chakhars, Ligdan, by Shar pa Qutugtu. After the defeat of the Chakhars by Hong Taiji, Mergen Lama brought the image to Mukden where it was enshrined in the Shishengsi, which was completed in 1638 at the order of Hongtaiji, just west of the city. Such an act physically appropriated a relic of Khubilai Khan, who later Qing emperors claimed descent from.

Despite what little remains known about Olug Darhan Nangso, his significance lies in his role in establishing the relationship between the dGe lugs pa and the Manchus at a time when the dGe lugs pas were seeking a powerful patron in their sectarian struggles in Tibet, and the Manchus were seeking allies in their struggles against other Mongol tribes, particularly the Chakhars, as well as against the Chinese Ming. The Mongols had revived the lama-patron relationship in the late 16th century as a means to expand their political authority. In the Manchus’ quest for consolidating power over Mongol and other groups, Tibetan Buddhism may have been one of various means of winning the allegiance of these groups, although the significance of its role within this project remains disputed.

Sources:
Evelyn S. Rawski. 1998. The last emperors: a social history of Qing imperial institutions. Berkeley: University of California Press. 244-262.
Samuel M. Grupper. 1984. Manchu Patronage and Tibetan Buddhism during the First Half of the Ch’ing Dynasty: a review article. The Journal of the Tibet Society 4:47-74.
Kam, Tak-sing. The dGe-lugs-pa Breakthrough: The Uluk Darxan Nangsu Lama’s Mission to the Manchus. Central Asiatic Journal. 44:2 (2000) p. 161-176.
Johan Elverskog. 2006. Our Great Qing: The Mongols, Buddhists and the State in Late Imperial China. pp. 14-16, 63-126.

Entry by Eveline S. Yang 3/5/2007

Posted on

Dabaoji Gong

Dabaoji Gong 大宝积宫

Dabaoji Gong was founded in 1582 in an ethnically Naxi village called Baisha (白沙村), several miles from Lijiang in Yunnan (云南丽江). The Naxi (纳西族) was a group ethnically and linguistically related to the Tibetans, but who had, by the Ming era, more closely identified themselves politically and culturally with the Chinese. Lijiang prefecture was officially recognized as beyond the direct control of the Ming court, but was still of strategic military and economic importance since major invasion as well as trade routes lay within its territory. Thus the Ming court recognized the authority of its local rulers and relied on them to maintain control over the Tibetans along the southwest border of the empire.

The height of Lijiang military conquests and territorial expansion into Tibetan areas occurred during the mid-16th and 17th centuries and corresponded with an increased interest in Tibetan Buddhism. This interest was reflected in a sharp increase in temple-building activity, which can be interpreted as Lijiang’s efforts to attract the support of major Tibetan Buddhist figures to install the Lijiang court with politico-religious legitimacy in the eyes of Tibetan, and perhaps also Chinese, communities. The Kar ma bKa’ brgyud in the early Ming were widely known for their esoteric powers, and were therefore targeted for religious patronage.

The founder of the Dabaoji Gong, Mu Wang (木旺) (r.1580–98), was the ruler of Lijiang. He, according to the Ninth Karmapa’s biography, had a Tibetan Buddhist preceptor named Byang bshes pa, and also wished to commission a new woodblock edition of the bKa’ ‘gyur, which his son and successor, Mu Zeng (木增) (r.1598–1646) later completed. In addition to the Kar ma pas, Mu Wang also patronized other sects, particularly the dGe lugs pa.

Mu Wang’s son, Mu Zeng, expanded the Lijiang kingdom to its greatest breadth and at the same time was involved in building an unprecedented number of temples. He renounced the throne in 1624 at the age of 36 to pursue religious instruction at Fuguosi (福国寺) (one of the five main bKa’ brgyud schools in Lijiang). He is thought to be responsible for the paintings extant at Dabaoji Gong.

While Ming-era murals in Lijiang predating the Daobaoji Gong reflect Chinese and Bai styles and subjects, the murals in Dabaoji Gong are unique in the Sino-Tibetan painting tradition they exhibit. Temple murals that succeed the Dabaoji Gong show the increasing influence of Tibetan styles and themes. Thus Daobaoji Gong can be identified as the earliest extant temple that demonstrates the Sino-Tibetan painting tradition executed by local patronage and workshop.

The murals in the front half of the hall contain a mixture of Chinese Buddhist, Daoist, and Tibetan Buddhist figures and themes, while the murals in the rear of the hall are Tibetan Buddhist in nature, particularly that of the Kar ma bKa’ brgyud order. Of significance is the mural on one section of the rear wall that depicts the root of the Mahamudra lineage from Vajradhara to what is thought to be the Tenth Karmapa, Chos dbyings rdo rje (1604–74), who later fled to Lijiang following the devastating attack inflicted by the Fifth Dalai Lama on the Karma bKa’ brgyud (c. 1642). The style executed in this mural link the paintings in both the front and back of the temple while the dating of this mural links it to Mu Zeng’s patronage program that aimed to build new temples in Lijiang as well as connect them to specific Tibetan Buddhist lineages.

In total, thirteen Karma pa temples were built in the Lijiang area, and all, including Dabaoji Gong later became branch temples of dPal spungs in sDe dge when the sDe dge Si tu lineage reassembled the scattered bKa’ brgyud leadership in Eastern Tibet.

Thus the Dabaoji Gong reflects the intricate role the Lijiang kingdom played as a peripheral, autonomous region involved in conflicts among the Tibetans as well as between the Tibetans and Chinese. Through Buddhism, the Lijiang court sought legitimacy as religiously-sanctioned rulers among the Tibetans via their patronage of lineages and building of temples, as well as the Chinese in their patronage of temples at Mt. Wutai and other sites in China.


Source:

Karl Debreczeny. Sino-Tibetan Artistic Synthesis in Ming Dynasty Temples. Tibet Journal. 28: 49–107.

Entry by Eveline Yang, 2/26/07

Posted on

Honghua si

Honghuasi (Monastery Honghua; Chin.: 弘化寺)

Honghua si is located in Zhuandao Village (轉導村), Minhe Huizu Tuzu Autonomous Prefecture (民和回族土族自治縣), Qinghai Province. It was built in 1442 in memory of Shakya-ye-shes, a dGe-lugs-pa high priest, who was granted the tile of Daci Fawang (大慈法王) by the Ming court and died in 1435 on the way back to his homeland from the capital of Ming.

What should catch our attention is that Honghua si was not merely a Buddhist monastery, but also played a significant role in meditating between Ming China and Mongols. The relationship between dGe-lugs-pa and the Ming court was rather a relationship including three parties, China, Mongols and the dGe-lugs-pa of Tibet.

Unlike the other two imperial titles (Dabao Fawang 大寳法王 and Dasheng Fawang; 大乘法王) granted by the court， the title of Daci Fawang was terminated later on, however. Nevertheless, the dGe-lugs-pa succeeded in maintaining preferential treatment from the Ming court on the ground of constructing Honghua si at the site of Shakya-ye-shes’s death. What’s more, Honghua si is said to be a chijiansi (敕建寺), which means it was constructed by imperial order. Honghua si served as a substitute for the role of Daci Fawang in terms of maintaining the relationship between the Ming court and the dGe-lugs-pa, one sect of Tibetan Buddhism. What kept the two parties close were that Honghua si sent tribute to the Ming court frequently while the Ming court was responsible for the expense of repairing the monastery.

Due to its crucial location, Honghua si also served as a military institution in order to resist Mongols, who had been active in Qinghai region in the course of the Ming dynasty. Though, the dGe-lugs-pa was in a close relationship with the Mongols, it might be improper to conclude that the dGe-lugs-pa was pro-Mongols. The 3rd Dalai Lama’s visit to Honghua si was a critical event that indicated the dGe-lugs-pa’s missionary activity towards the Mongols would not be against the Ming court’s interests in this area.

Besides considering Honghua si’s functions above, what ought not to be overlooked is its being a powerful political unit in this region. Its political function was executed mainly through maintaining the fortress and beacon tower as well as recruiting soldiers for the Chinese army with the benefit of having Qing China acknowledge its ownership of tax-exempt farmers. Honghua si did not only have political power, it also gained economic power by accumulating land under the pretext of fulfilling its responsibility of providing horses to the courts. Its both political and financial authority in the region was not disturbed by the courts. What differentiates Honghua si from other Buddhist monasteries also includes that the abbots of it were hereditary.

Its importance of maintaining stability in Qinghai was acknowledged, thus supported by the Ming court. Honghua si, as a local Tibetan religious authority played multiple roles during the Ming and Qing dynasties.


Resource:

Otasaka, Tomoko, A Study of Hong-hua-si Temple Regarding the Relationship between the dGe-Lugs-Pa and the Ming Dynasty, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, 1994

Entry by Lan Wu, 2/23/07

Posted on

Fayuan Si

Fayuan Si 法淵寺

Fayuan Si in Beijing housed a Tibetan sutra repository and a Chinese sutra repository during the Ming Yongle period. Shakya ye shes stayed in this temple when he visited Beijing in 1415 as an emissary for Tsong kha pa, who famously declined the invitation himself. Fayuan Si was located within the imperial compound in the Songzhu-si (嵩祝寺) temple complex.


Source:

Jonathan A. Silk. 1996. Notes on the History of the Yongle Kanjur. In Suhrllekhah: Festgabe für Helmut Eimer. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tiebtica Verlag.

Entry by Stacey Van Vleet, 2/20/07

Posted on

Bsod nams rgya mtsho–The Third Dalai Lama

Bsod nams rgya mtsho (Sonam Gyatso), The Third Dalai Lama (1543–88)

Bsod nams rgya mtsho was the leading hierarch of the Dge lugs pa (Gelugpa) school of Tibetan Buddhism during a time when competition from rival sects within Central Tibet, especially the bKa’ rgyud pa, drove them to seek political and religious patronage from sponsors outside the Tibetan cultural regions. Such a practice of Tibetan Buddhist leaders seeking support from non-Tibetan patrons stretched back to the Yuan and had become established by the end of the Ming. This was due to the decentralized power of the Mongols that allowed different Tibetan Buddhist leaders to gain support from different branches of the Mongol imperial family. While the Tibetans did not have a centralized missionary aim, their own quest for patronage took place within the broader context of struggles between Mongol, Manchu, and Chinese groups over political and territorial primacy in Inner Asia.

Within such a context, the Mongols revived the lama-patron relationship in the late sixteenth century in an attempt to expand their political authority using Tibetan Buddhism. Altan Khan (1521–82), ruler of the Tumed Mongols, then the most powerful group in Inner Asia, met with Bsod nams rgya mtsho in the region of Kokonor (Tib. Mtsho kha/Mtsho sngon, Ch. Qinghai) in 1578. During this meeting, Altan Khan accepted Bsod nams rgya mtsho as his “spiritual guide and refuge” and gave him the title of “Dalai Lama.” In return, Bsod nams rgya mtsho gave Altan Khan the title of “Protector of the Faith.” Altan Khan’s conversion to the dGe lugs pas can be seen as part of a broader attempt to subvert his nominal superior, Tumen Khan (1558–92) of the Chakhar Mongols, who had cultivated relationships with the Sa skya pa, and who were allied with the declining Ming against the new Manchu state. Meanwhile, Bsod nams rgya mtsho gained for the Dge lugs pa the support of a powerful and wealthy patron, which enabled him to consolidate Dge lugs pa strongholds in Tibetan and Mongol regions as well gain the attention of the Ming court in Beijing.

The year after this meeting, Bsod nams rgya mtsho sent Stong ‘khor chos rje Yon tan rgya mtsho, the first Chahan lama, to Altan Khan as his representative to the Mongols. In 1583, Bsod nams rgya mtsho embarked on a second mission from Central Tibet, which took him first to the birthplace of Tsong kha pa (1357–1419), the founder of the Dge lugs pa school, in A mdo. Here, he founded an innovative Dge lugs pa school at Sku ‘bum (Kumbum Monastery) that later produced many Dge lugs pa missionaries to northeast Asia for the next two centuries. He also visited monasteries linked to Tsong kha pa’s disciple, Shakya Ye shes, and ensured their legacies as Dge lugs pa institutions. In 1585, Bsod nams rgya mtsho went to Koke khota (Tib. Mkhar sngon, Ch. Guihuacheng), the capital of Tumed Mongol territory, at the request of Altan Khan’s son. Here he established a translation school near the Chinese border. The next year, Bsod nams rgya mtsho visited the territory of the Kharchin Mongols, where he established another translation school. In 1588, he traveled further northeast at the invitation of the Khorchin. There he gave the Khorchin khan a Hevajra empowerment and consecrated the establishment of a monastic community. Owing to his reputation and activities among the Mongols, Bsod nams rgya mtsho was invited to the Ming court in 1588 by the Wanli emperor (r.1572–1620), who gave him the title of the Great Imperial Preceptor who Confers Initiations (Guanding tai guoshi). Bsod nams rgya mtsho was intending to accept this invitation when he fell ill and died in Mongol regions in 1588.

Before his death in 1588, bSod nams rgya mtsho predicted he would be reincarnated in Mongolia (indeed, the fourth Dalai Lama was recognized in the nephew of Altan Khan), thus beginning the line of Dalai Lama reincarnations that continues to play an important role in Tibetan religion and politics.

Sources:
Tak-sing Kam. The dGe-lugs-pa Breakthrough: The Uluk Darxan Nangsu Lama’s Mission to the Manchus. Central Asiatic Journal. 44:2 (2000) p. 161-176.
Evelyn S. Rawski. 1998. The last emperors: a social history of Qing imperial institutions. Berkeley: University of California Press. 244-262.
Gray Tuttle. “A Tibetan Buddhist Mission to the East: The Fifth Dalai Lama’s Journey to Beijing, 1652-1653.” In Tibetan Society and Religion: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Bryan Cuevas and Kurtis Schaeffer, eds. Leiden: Brill, 2006; 65-87.
Gray Tuttle. “Imperial Traditions” from Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China.

Entry by Eveline S. Yang, 3/27/07

user-1541796308