Qoigyijabu

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Qoigyijabu
Tibetan name
Tibetan: ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་
Wylie transliteration: chos kyi rgyal po
pronunciation in IPA: [tɕʰøcitɕapu]
official transcription (PRC): Gyaincain Norbu
other transcriptions: Gyantsen Norbu
Chinese name
traditional: 堅贊諾布
simplified: 坚赞诺布
Pinyin: Jiānzàn Nuòbù

Qoigyijabu (born February 13, 1990) is, according to the government of the People's Republic of China, the eleventh Panchen Lama of Tibet. Installed under the instruction of the Chinese government, he is the son of two members of the Communist party[1]. This is a different boy than was selected using religious Buddhist means: Seven year old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima had originally been identified as the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama, the traditional revealer of the reincarnated tulku. However, the CPC disagreed, and placed the young boy into secret custody outside of Tibet[2]. The Government of Tibet in Exile, along with the majority of the Panchen Lama's followers outside of mainland China, hold that Qoigyijabu is not the genuine 11th Panchen Lama.[3] Qoigyijabu's secular name is Gyaincain Norbu.

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[edit] Background

Following the unexpected death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the search for his reincarnation quickly became enmired in controversy. Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the search committee, was able to secretly communicate with the Dalai Lama. However, after the Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the new Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities arrested Chadrel Rinpoche, who was replaced with Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen. Sengchen had been a political opponent of both the Dalai Lama and the previous Panchen Lama. The new search committee determined to ignore the Dalai Lama's announcement, and chose the Panchen Lama from a list of finalists, which did not include Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese authorities removed the Dalai Lama's selection, Nyima, from the possible choices. The tradition of using the Golden Urn, which is unrelated to the religious or spiritual proceedings preferred by Tibetan Buddhists, had been introduced in the year 1792 by the Qianlong Emperor of China to deal with a previous controversy.

Using the urn, six-year-old Gyancain Norbu, the son of two communist party members from Lhari County, Tibet Autonomous Region, was selected and proclaimed the Panchen Lama, with the religious name Erdini Qoigyijabu. He was enthroned at Tashilhunpo Monastery and has since assumed the full functions of Panchen Lama[citation needed]. He had been living in Beijing during his childhood to be educated in a Chinese way, and moved back to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the official seat of the Panchen Lamas. He developed altitude sickness when he first moved back, but overcame it quickly. As of 2006, according to the Associated Press, Qoigyijabu "is believed to live in Beijing amid intense secrecy and is almost never seen in public." He made a rare visit to Tashilhunpo in September 2006, and was invited to the World Buddhist Forum months before. However, fellow Buddhists did not acknowledge or recognize his attendance during opening ceremonies.

According to Tashi Wangdi, the Representative to the Dalai Lama, he lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the Tibetan people, who are forced to attend his ceremonies. "They can’t keep their Panchen Lama in Tibet. They tried to bring him to his monastery many times but people would not see him. How can you have a religious leader like that?"[4]

On February 13, 2008, Qoigyijabu turned 18 years old. At about the same time, reports indicated that the Chinese government had decided that he would be elected to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. [1] However, his appointment failed, officially because he was not yet 18. According to some analysts, the decision is a punishment of Qoigyijabu by the PRC’s government, unsatisfied because the young man would be insufficiently aggressive toward the Dalai Lama. [2]

[edit] Names

Gyaincain Norbu's full religious name is Jizün Losang Qamba Lhünzhub Qoigyijabu Baisangbu, although he is generally called Qoigyijabu. Meaning "Dharma king", this name can also be written Chökyi Gyalpo, Choekyi Gyalpo, or, in Wylie transliteration, Chos-kyi Rgyal-po. The Chinese equivalent is Quèjí Jiébù (确吉杰布).

The name Gyaincain Norbu (རྒྱལ་མཚན་ནོར་བུ་ Wylie: Rgyal-mtshan Nor-bu) can also be written Gyaencaen Norbu, Gyancain Norbu, or Gyaltsen Norbu.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Choekyi Gyaltsen		 Reincarnation of the Panchen Lama
(People's Republic of China interpretation)		 Succeeded by
—

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'A Year In Tibet' Broadcasted on BBC Four on Thursday, 6 March, 2008 at 2100GMT
  2. ^ Students for a Free Tibet : Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet: still disappeared
  3. ^ Struggle over Tibet's 'soul boy' | World news | guardian.co.uk
  4. ^ Interview with Tashi Wangdi, David Shankbone, Wikinews, November 14, 2007.