Kagyu – Columbia tibetan studies

The Fifth Karmapa

The Fifth Karma-pa, (1384~1415), De-Bzhin gShegs-pa or Helima (Halima) (Chin.: 哈立麻), is the reincarnated head of the Black –Hat (Zwa-nag) Karmapas. The fifth Karma-pa was invited by Yongle emperor (Zhu Di, 朱棣) of the Ming dynasty in 1407, to perform a mass of universal salvation (pudu dazhai) at Linggu Monastery in honor of the Yongle emperor’s late father, the Hongwu emperor, and his late putative mother, the Empress Ma. The Fifth Karma-pa received a title “Rulai dabao fawang xitian dashan zizai fo” (Chin.:如來大寳法王西天大善自在佛; Tathagata, Great and Precious Dharma King, Great Goodness of the Western Heaven, Self-Abiding Buddha) during his stay in Nanjing.

What is worth noting is that the title “dabao fawang” (Chin.: 大寳法王) was initially bestowed by Mongol’s Yuan court to Phags-pa (1235-1280), a member of the Sakya sect of Buddhism. That two distinct figures who represent two sectarian traditions in Tibet received the same imperial title from Yuan and Ming dynasty respectively suggests that the title “dabao fawang” was an emblem of importance of Tibetan Buddhism for both Yuan and Ming dynasties in terms of legitimacy. The Yongle emperor’s uncertain origin and his usurping the power made it necessary for him to employ Tibetan Buddhism (then, called Buddhism without any qualifications) for the purpose of legitimacy. Sources from both Tibetan and Chinese sides glorify, or rather, apotheosize the Fifth Karma-pa and his visit. The Fifth Karma-pa, at a matter of fact, was destined to perform the magical powers from the Tibetan’s perspective, because he was the fifth exponent of a lineage of lamas especially noted for their ecstatic visions and magical powers. A silk handscroll that was first kept in Tsurphu Monastery and transferred to Norbulingkha in Lhasa afterwards illustrates the Fifth Karma-pa’s visit to Nanjing. By adding glory to the emperor and the Fifth Karma-pa, the surreal, magical signs that were described in historical records in both China and Tibet were translated into a non-Buddhist idiom and made to serve the legitimation of imperial power.

However, it would be oversimplified to suggest that the Fifth Karma-pa’s visit to Nanking, the capital of Ming dynasty and Mt. Wutai afterwards was merely a religious activity. During the early Ming dynasty, the Ming government might have been trying to obtain horses in Khams, fighting Tibetan tribes in A-mdo and drawing support from Tibetan Buddhism in a hope of legitimizing the newly usurped throne (in the case of Yongle emperor, particularly.) These aspects of the visit of The Fifth Karma-pa and the role of Tibetan Buddhism in early Ming dynasty deserve more attention.

Sources:
Berger, Patricia, Miracles in Nanjing: An Imperial Record of the Fifth Karmapa’s Visit to the Chinese Capital, Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, UH.P. 200
Sperling, Elliot, The 5th Karma-pa and Some Aspects of the Relationship Between Tibet and Early Ming, Tibetan Studies in honor of High Richardson: Proceedings of the International Seminar of Tibetan Studies, Oxford 1979, Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd. & Did the Early Ming Emperors Attempt to Implement A “Divide and Rule” Policy in Tibet?, Contributions on Tibetan Language, History and Culture, Wien, 1983 & Si-tu Chos-kyi rgyal-mtshan and the Ming Court, Lungta 13, Winter 2000
Silk, Jonathan A, Notes on the History of the Yongle Kanjur, Suhrllekhah: Festgabe für Helmut Eimer. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tiebtica Verlag, 1996

Entry by Lan Wu, 2/18/ 07

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Gtsang po pa Dkon mchog seng ge/ Gtsang pa Bkra shis (?-1218/1219)

Gtsang po pa was a Tibetan from central Tibet. He was a disciple of the first Karma pa, Dum gsum mkhan pa (1110-1193). When his teacher was summoned by the Mi nyak king, Dkon mchog seng ge went in his place. He is most famous for being one of the later Imperial Preceptors (dishi 帝師) of the Mi nyak or Xia Dynasty, which is why he is also called Gtsang pa Ti shri (Ch. dishi), or “the one from Tsang, Imperial Preceptor.” He was richly rewarded for his services and was permitted to send gifts and go on leave to his home monastery of Mtshur phu. In the end though, he died in the culturally Tibetan city of Liangzhou (Ling chu gser khab/ Byang ngos), in southern Mi nyag territory, where he had students.

His most important student was another central Tibet, named ‘Gro mgon Ti shri ras pa (Protector of Beings, the Imperial Preceptor, Cotton-clad) Sangs rgyas ras chen (1164/1165-1236). Although originally trained in different branch of the Bka’ brgyud tradition, the ‘Ba’ rom pa, he was a student of Gtsang po pa after he arrived in the Mi nyag realm in 1196/1197. He was thus the second and last of the ethnically Tibetan imperial preceptors to serve at the Mi nyag court. When the Mongols eliminated the Mi nyak dynasty, one of his students, a Tibetan native to the Mi nyak region named Gsang ba ras pa dkar po (The Secret One, Clad in White Cotton) Shes rab byang chub (1198/1199-1262) continued the ‘Ba’ rom pa Bka’ brgyud tradition. He later met Qubilai Khan, creating a direct link between the Mi nyag tradition of imperial preceptors and the Mongol Yuan establishment of a position bearing the same title.

Sources:

Ruth Dunnell. The Hsia Origins of the Yüan Institution of Imperial Preceptor. Asia Major. Third Series, Vol. 5, part 1, 1992, pp. 85-111
Elliot Sperling. “Rtsa-mi lo-tsā-ba Sangs-rgyas grags-pa and the Tangut Background to Early Mongol-Tibetan Relations,” in Per Kvaerne, ed., Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oslo, 1994, pp. 801-824 & “‘Lama to the King of Hsia’” The Journal of the Tibet Society, vol. 7, 1987, pp. 31-50 [based mainly on an 18th century source that cites much earlier original sources now lost].

Entry by Gray Tuttle