page_title: Panchen Lama
section_title: Modern times
hierarchical_section_title: Panchen Lama / History / Modern times
caption_attribution_description: English: Panchen Lama during the struggle (thamzing) session 1964
context_page_description: The Panchen Lama, is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. "Panchen" is a portmanteau of "Pandita" and "Chenpo", meaning "Great scholar".
  The recognition of Panchen Lamas began with Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, tutor of the 5th Dalai Lama, who received the title "Panchen Bogd" from Altan Khan and the Dalai Lama in 1645. "Bogd" is Mongolian, meaning "holy". Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, Sönam Choklang and Ensapa Lobsang Döndrup were subsequently recognized as the first to third Panchen Lamas posthumously.
  In 1713, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty granted the title Panchen Erdeni to the 5th Panchen Lama. In 1792, the Qianlong Emperor issued a decree known as the 29-Article Imperial Decree for Better Governing in Tibet, and Article One of the decree was designed to be used in the selection of rinpoches, lamas and other high offices within Tibetan Buddhism, including the Dalai Lamas, Panchen Lamas and Mongolian lamas.
context_section_description: In 1924, the thirteenth Dalai Lama prohibited the 9th Panchen Lama's followers from holding any office in the Central Tibetan government and imprisoned them in Lhasa, prompting the Panchen Lama to flee to Inner Mongolia, China. The Dalai Lama was attempting to collect revenue from the Panchen Lama's estate to cover Tibet's military expenses, and to reduce the power of the Panchen Lama. In China, the ninth Panchen Lama worked on plans to develop Tibet. He also held a position in the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, and was considered extremely "pro Chinese". There, he adopted the ideas of Sun Yatsen through revolutionary Pandatsang Rapga of the Tibet Improvement Party.
  When the Ninth Panchen Lama died in 1937, two simultaneous searches for the tenth Panchen Lama produced two competing candidates, with the Dalai Lama's officials selecting a boy from Xikang and the Panchen Lama's officials picking Gonpo Tseten. The Republic of China government, then embroiled in the Chinese Civil War, declared its support for Tseten on June 3, 1949.  Chinese Nationalist governor Ma Bufang allowed Kumbum Monastery to be totally self-governed by Gyaltsen. The Dalai Lama refused to recognize Tseten, now called Gyaltsen.
  The 10th Panchen Lama sought revenge on the Dalai Lama by leading an army against him, and requested aid from Ma Bufang in September 1949. However, the Chinese Nationalist government, facing defeat from the communists, requested the Panchen Lama's help instead, formulating a plan where 3 Khampa divisions would be led by him as a broad anti-Communist base in Southwest China, but the Panchen Lama decided to defect to the Communists instead. The Panchen Lama, unlike the Dalai Lama, sought to exert control in decision making.
  The Panchen Lama initially supported the Communist reform policies for Tibet. Radio Beijing broadcast the religious leader's call for Tibet to be "liberated" into the PRC, which created pressure on the Lhasa government to negotiate with the People's Republic. He also called on Tibetans to support the Chinese government."
  However in 1962, he wrote the 70,000 Character Petition detailing abuses of power in Tibet and discussed it with Premier Zhou Enlai. However, in 1964, he was imprisoned. In October 1977, he was released but held under house arrest in 1982. In 1979, he married a Han Chinese woman and in 1983 they had a daughter. In 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama died suddenly in Shigatse at the age of 51 shortly after giving a speech criticizing the excesses of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet but however praising the reform and opening up of the 1980s. His daughter, now a young woman, is Yabshi Pan Rinzinwangmo, better known as "Renji".
  The Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995,. The Chinese government kidnapped the boy, and chose from a list of finalists which excluded Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. In selecting a name, lottery numbers were drawn from the Golden Urn. Chinese authorities announced Gyancain Norbu as the search committee's choice on November 11, 1995. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has not been observed by an independent party ever since May 17, 1995. The Chinese government claims he is living a "normal private life". Tibetans and human rights groups continue to campaign for his release.
caption: 10th Panchen Lama during the "struggle session" (thamzing in Tibetan) 1964, before imprisonment by China
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