The 10th Panchen Lama

by Yukiyasu Osada

Since photographs of the Dalai Lama have disappeared from monasteries across Tibet, the most common images that you will encounter inside these religious centers are pictures of the late 10th Panchen Lama. Because the late 10th Panchen Lama received the title of Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress from the Chinese government, there are no problems displaying his picture, unlike that of the Dalai Lama's.

The title of 'Panchen Lama' or 'Panchen Rinpoche,' meaning 'Great Scholarly Lama,' has been given to successive abbots of the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. Regarded as the embodiment of the Buddha Amitabha (Opame), he is ranked second in the order of Tibetan religious leaders, after the Dalai Lama. Although he is a high-ranking religious leader, the Panchen Lama originally carried no political authority; however, successive Panchen Lamas were used by both Britain and China in their efforts to subjugate the Dalai Lama's government in Lhasa.

Even after the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 upheaval in Tibet, the 10th Panchen Lama, then 21-years-old, decided to stay in Tibet. Some say that he collaborated with the Chinese government. However, by the early 1960s, he observed that the Chinese policies at work in Tibet were resulting in hunger, death and suffering for the Tibetan people. He decided to use his position to deliver a report critical of the Chinese methods and the report became known as the '70,000 Character Petition.' The Chinese government replied by imprisoning him in Beijing for 9 years and 8 months. He was then placed under house arrest in the capital for another 14 years. He was finally allowed to return to his homeland in 1982.

In 1983 the 10th Panchen Lama married a Chinese woman and a girl was born to them. Though this was a violation of the ethical codes governing the life of a monk, this has never affected Tibetans' belief in him. It is probably the case that most Tibetans feel that he was in Beijing to support the Tibetan cause.

On his return, the 10th Panchen Lama devoted all of his energies to the revival of Tibetan religion and culture, which had almost been totally annihilated during the Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, these efforts were short-lived. In January 1989, he returned to Shigatse after his long absence and was welcomed home by 30,000 Tibetans jubilant at his return. He made a statement to this crowd that could be interpreted as a criticism of the Chinese government, saying: 'Tibet has paid a price that could never be met by the development achieved over the last 30 years.' Five days later he suffered a massive heart attack and died. He was only 50 years old.

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