Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai meeting Mao Zedong in 1956

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai (Tibetan: འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་དགེ་ལེགས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་, Wylie: phags pa lha dge legs rnam rgyal ; Chinese: 帕巴拉·格列朗杰; pinyin: Pàbālā Géliè Lǎngjié; born February 1940) is the 11th Qamdo Pagbalha Hutuktu of Tibetan Buddhism and a politician of the People's Republic of China. He is a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and the Honorary President of the Buddhist Association of China. He also formerly served as a Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China.[1] As a Tibetan tulku (incarnate lama), he is notable for his willingness to work in the Chinese government, except during the Cultural Revolution.[2]

Biography

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai was born in February 1940 in Litang County, in present-day Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. In 1942, he was recognized as the 11th incarnation of Pagbalha Hutuktu (living Buddha).[1][2] He is a member of the Qangdin Monastery in Qamdo, Tibet.[3]

Following the Battle of Qamdo in 1950, Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai was appointed Vice Chairman of the Qamdo Liberation Committee at the age of 10.[1][2] From 1952 to 1956 he studied Buddhist sutras at the Sera Monastery in Lhasa.[3] In 1956 he became a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Preparatory Committee, and appointed its Vice Chairman in 1960.[2] He also served as Chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee from 1956 to 1965, and visited Beijing several times, together with the 10th Panchen Lama.[2] In 1959, he became a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (3rd CPPCC National Committee).[1]

As a Tibetan tulku, he is notable for his willingness to work in the Chinese government since boyhood, except during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76),[2] when he was sent to perform manual labour.[1]

After the end of the Cultural Revolution, he resumed his position as Vice Chairman of the CPPCC, and was most recently re-elected in 2013 to the position in the 12th CPPCC National Committee.[1] From 1993 to 2002, he served as Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Committee, Vice Chairman of the TAR People's Congress Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the TAR People's Government, and Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China. From 1993 to 2003 he also concurrently held the post of Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress.[1] Since 2002 he has been the Honorary President of the Buddhist Association of China.[1]

Family

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai had an elder brother named Kamqoin Soinam Gyamco. According to Chinese sources, he was killed by the rebels during the March 1959 Tibetan uprising, in front of Lhasa's Norbulingka.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai". China Vitae. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mackerras, Colin (2001). The New Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China. Cambridge University Press. p. 1992. ISBN 978-0-521-78674-4.
  3. 1 2 "Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai". Global Times. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Zhang Xiaoming, ed. (2005). Eyewitnesses to 100 years of Tibet. Wuzhou Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 978-7-5085-0816-0.
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