Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai (; ; born February 1940) is the 11th Qamdo Pagbalha Hutuktu of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

and a politician of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. He is a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and the Honorary President of the

Buddhist Association of China The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since ...

. He also formerly served as a Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions ...

, and Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China. As a Tibetan

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

(incarnate

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hig ...

), he is notable for his willingness to work in the Chinese government, except during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

Biography

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai was born in February 1940 in

Litang County Litang (; ) is in southwest of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. Litang is part of Kham in the Tibetan cultural zone, and several famous Buddhist figures were born here, including the 7th Dalai Lama, the 10th Dalai Lama, the ...

, in present-day

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, often shortened to Ganzi Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the western arm of Sichuan province, China, bordering Yunnan to the south, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west, and Gansu to the north ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

Province. In 1942, he was recognized as the 11th incarnation of Pagbalha Hutuktu. He is a member of the Qangdin Monastery in Qamdo, Tibet. Following the Battle of Qamdo in 1950, Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai was appointed Vice Chairman of the Qamdo Liberation Committee at the age of 10. From 1952 to 1956 he studied Buddhist sutras at the

Sera Monastery Sera Monastery ( "Wild Roses Monastery"; ) is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa and about north of the Jokhang. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery. The origin of its ...

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

. In 1956 he became a member of the

Preparatory Committee, and appointed its Vice Chairman in 1960. He also served as Chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee from 1956 to 1965, and visited

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

several times, together with the 10th Panchen Lama. In 1959, he became a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (3rd CPPCC National Committee). As a Tibetan

, he is notable for his willingness to work in the Chinese government since boyhood, except during the

(1966–1976), when he was sent to perform manual labour. 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. From 1993 to 2002, he served as Vice Chairman of the CPPCC

(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

. From 1993 to 2003 he also concurrently held the post of Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress. Since 2002 he has been the Honorary President of the Buddhist Association of China.

Family

Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai had an elder brother named . According to Chinese sources, he was killed by the rebels during the March

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agre ...

, in front of Lhasa's

Norbulingka Norbulingka ( bo, ནོར་བུ་གླིང་ཀ་; Wylie: ''Nor-bu-gling-ka''; ; literally "Jeweled Park") is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet, built from 1755.Tibet (1986), p.71 It served as the traditional summer resid ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai 1940 births Living people Gelug tulkus Politicians from Garze People's Republic of China politicians from Sichuan Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Tibetan politicians