Kelzang Gyatso

7th Dalai Lama

Reign 17201757
Predecessor Tsangyang Gyatso
Successor Jamphel Gyatso
Tibetan -q------
Wylie bskal bzang rgya mtsho
Chinese
Born 1708
Lithang, Kham, Tibet
Died 1757 (age 49)
Tibet
7th Dalai Lama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kelzang Gyatso (Wylie: bskal bzang rgya mtsho) (17081757), also
spelledKalzang Gyatso, Kelsang Gyatso andKezang Gyatso, was
the 7th Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Early life
Kelzang Gyatso was born in Lithang of Eastern Tibet, in the
present-day Garz Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of present-day
Sichuan province. At that time, the Dalai Lama's throne in Lhasa was
occupied by Ngawang Yeshey Gyatso, who had been installed by
Lha-bzang Khan as "the real 6th Dalai Lama" in place of Tsangyang
Gyatso. Ngawang Yeshey Gyatso still held this position (though most
Tibetans did not consider him to be a legitimate Dalai Lama) when a
monk at Litang monastery, spontaneously channeling the Nechung
Oracle, identified Kelzang Gyatso as the reincarnation of Tsangyang
Gyatso. Since this presented a contradiction of Lha-bzang Khan's
Dalai Lama, it was a controversial matter and potentially dangerous to
the child. Subsequently, the Tibetan leader of a delegation from Lhasa
covertly confirmed that the child was Tsangyang Gyatso's
reincarnation. The child was quietly taken into Litang monastery for
protection and training. In 1715, the Qing emperor Kangxi sponsored
Kelzang Gyatso's entrance into Kumbum Monastery. This entrance
was marked by formal ceremonies due to a Dalai Lama and thus
signified a public challenge to Lha-bzang Khan's Dalai Lama.
[1]
He
was ordained by Ngawang Lobsang Tenpai Gyaltsen.
[2]
While still a boy, Kelzang Gyatso demonstrated himself a prodigy of
profound wisdom. Kelzang Gyatso became famous for his ability to
spontaneously compose verse. Inspired by a sambhogakaya vision of
the poet-monk Tsongkhapa, Kelzang Gyatso (whilst a youth),
travelled to central Tibet where he gave a sermon before thousands of
people.
"Of all the Gyalwa Rinpoche [Dalai Lamas], we Tibetans
probably respect the seventh, Kalzang Gyatso, most of all
because of his saintliness, because he devoted his whole life to the Three Precious Ones, seeking refuge not for
himself but for all his people."
[3]
The Dzungars invaded Tibet in 1717, deposed Ngawang Yeshey Gyatso, which met with widespread approval, and killed
Lha-bzang Khan. However, they soon began to loot, rape and kill throughout Lhasa, destroying Tibetan goodwill towards
them. They also viciously destroyed a small force sent by Emperor Kangxi in 1718 to support clear traditional trade
routes.
[4][5]
Many Nyingmapa and Bonpos were executed and Tibetans visiting Dzungar officials were forced to stick their tongues
out so the Dzungars could tell if the person recited constant mantras (which was said to make the tongue black or
brown). This allowed them to pick the Nyingmapa and Bonpos, who recited many magic-mantras.
[6]
This habit of
sticking one's tongue out as a mark of respect on greeting someone has remained a Tibetan custom until recent times.
Enthronement
A second, larger, expedition sent by Emperor Kangxi, together with Tibetan forces under Polhaney (also spelled
Polhanas) of Tsang and Gangchenney (also spelled Kanchenas), the governor of Western Tibet,
[7]
expelled the Dzungars
from Tibet in 1720. They brought Kelzang Gyatso with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and he was enthroned as the
seventh Dalai Lama in the Potala Palace in 1721,
[4]
or in November 1720.
[8]
He took the novice vows of monk-hood
from the 5th Panchen Lama Lobsang Yeshi, who gave him the name Kelsang Gyatso. He took the Gelong vows (full
ordination) from Lobsang Yeshi in 1726. He received teachings from the tutor of Lobsang Yeshi, the Abbot of Gyumey
Monastery and also from the Abbot of Shalu Monastery, Ngawang Yonten on all the major Buddhist philosophical
treatises and became a master in both sutra and tantra. He was a great scholar and wrote many books, especially on the
tantra. He was also a noted poet who, unlike the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, dwelt mainly on spiritual themes.
[2][9]
Emperor Kangxi (16221723) declared Tibet a protectorate of the Qing Empire and in 1727 installed two high
commissioners, or ambans, and a garrison of Qing troops from China in Lhasa.
[10]
The walls of Lhasa were torn down
and "Kham (with Batang, Litang, Tatsienlu, etc.) annexed to the Chinese province of Sichuan. The Qing protectorate,
which was to last till the end of the Qing Dynasty (1912), was established."
[11]
Pho-lha-nas or Polhaney of Tsang,
[7]
an important Tibetan aristocrat, ruled Tibet with Qing support in 17281747. In
1728 Kelzang Gyatso was invited to visit Beijing,
[12]
but Pho-lha-nas only had him moved from Lhasa to Litang to make
it more difficult for him to influence the government. After Pho-lha-nas died, his son ruled until he was killed by the
ambans in 1750. This provoked riots during which the ambans were killed. A Qing army entered the country and restored
order.
Removal of the Regents and establishment of the Kashag
There are two main versions of how this occurred. The Chinese version is that:
In 1751, the Qianlong Emperor (17111799; ruled 17371796) issued a 13-point decree which abolished the position of
Regent (Desi), put the Tibetan government in the hands of a four-man Kashag, or Council of Ministers, and gave the
ambans formal powers. The Dalai Lama moved back to Lhasa to preside (in name) over the new government.
[citation needed]
The Tibetan version has it that:
In 1751, at the age of forty-three, Kelzang Gyatso constituted the "Kashag" or council of ministers to administer the
Tibetan government and the abolished the post of Regent or Desi, as it placed too much power in one man's hand and the
Dalai Lama became the spiritual and political leader of Tibet.
[2][9]
"The 'king' or governor of Tibet was no longer appointed by the Chinese after 1750, and the Dalai Lama was
tacitly recognized as sovereign of Tibet, with the exception of Kham and Amdo on the one hand and, on the other,
Ladakh which was at first under Moghul suzerainty before being annexed by Kashmir after the Dogra war
(18341842)."
[11]
In 1753, Kelzang Gyatso founded the Tse-School in the Potala Palace and built the new palace of Norling Kalsang
Phodrang at the Norbulingka.
[2]
"At the request of the Shabdung Rinpoche Jigmi Dagpa (Jigs med grabs pa, 17241761),
spiritual and temporal ruler of Bhutan, Dalai Lama VII helped in the creation of a gold-and-copper monastery roof in
Bhutan."
[13]
Notes
^ Mullin 2001, pp. 276-82 1.
^
a b c d
Seventh Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyatso (http://namgyalmonastery.org/hhdl/hhdl7) 2.
^ Norbu & Turnbull, Tibet: An account of the history, the religion and the people of Tibet, p. 311. 3.
^
a b
Richardson, Tibet and its History, p. 48f. 4.
^ Mullin 2001, p. 288 5.
^ Norbu, "Bon and Bonpos", p. 8. 6.
^
a b
Mullin 2001, p. 290 7.
^ Mullin 2001, p. 289 8.
^
a b
The Dalai Lamas of Tibet, p. 101. Thubten Samphel and Tendar. Roli & J anssen, New Delhi. (2004). ISBN
81-7436-085-9.
9.
^ Mayhew & Kohn, Tibet, p. 31. 10.
^
a b
Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 85-88. 11.
^ Richardson, Tibet and its History, p. 52. 12.
^ Sheel, "The Institution of the Dalai Lama", p. 30. 13.
References
Mayhew, Bradley; Kohn, Michael. Tibet, Lonely Planet Publications (2005). ISBN 1-74059-523-8.
Mullin, Glenn H. (translator), Essence of Refined Gold by the Third Dalai Lama: with related texts by the Second
and Seventh Dalai Lamas (http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/G/GyatsoKelsan/index.htm) , Tushita Books,
Dharamsala, H.P., India (1978).
Mullin, Glenn H. (2001). The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation. Clear Light Publishers.
Santa Fe, New Mexico. ISBN 1-57416-092-3.
Norbu, Namkhai, "Bon and Bonpos", in: Tibetan Review (December 1980).</ref>
Norbu, Thubten Jigme; Turnbull, Colin M., Tibet: An account of the history, the religion and the people of Tibet.
Touchstone Books, New York (1968). ISBN 0-671-20559-5.
Richardson, Hugh E., Tibet and its History, Shambhala, Boston & London (1984). ISBN 0-87773-376-7.
Sheel, R.N. Rahul, "The Institution of the Dalai Lama", in: The Tibet Journal Vol. XIV, No. 3, (Autumn, 1989),
p. 30.
Stein, R. A., Tibetan Civilization, Stanford University Press (1972). ISBN 0-8047-0901-7.
Buddhist titles
Preceded by
Tsangyang Gyatso
Dalai Lama
17201757
Succeeded by
Jamphel Gyatso
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7th_Dalai_Lama&oldid=500451804"
Categories: 1708 births 1757 deaths Dalai Lamas Tibetan writers Child rulers from Asia
18th-century Tibetan people
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