Ü-Tsang
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Ü-Tsang
Ü-Tsang (དབུས་གཙང་། Wylie; dbus gtsang) is one of the three Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo to the northeast and Kham to the east. Geographically Ü-Tsang covers the Yarlung Tsanpo drainage basin, the western districts surrounding and extending past Mount Kailash, and much of the Changtang plateau to the north. The Himalayas define Ü-Tsang's southern border. Ü-Tsang is the cultural heartland of the Tibetan people. It was formed by the merging of two earlier power centers of Ü (), controlled by the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism under the early Dalai Lamas, and Tsang (), which extended from Gyantse to the west and was controlled by the rival Sakya lineage. Military victories by the Khoshut Güshi Khan who had backed the 5th Dalai Lama consolidated power over the combined region. The region of Ngari in the northwest was incorporated into Ü-Tsang after the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War. The Yarlung dynasty had governed the Yarlung and ...
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Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups such as Mongols, Monpa people, Monpa, Tamang people, Tamang, Qiang people, Qiang, Sherpa people, Sherpa, Lhoba people, Lhoba, and since the 20th century Han Chinese and Hui people, Hui. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of . Located in the Himalayas, the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire extended far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, from the Tarim Basin and Pamirs in the west, to Yunnan and Bengal in the southeast. It then divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was often at least nominally unified under a ser ...
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Amdo
Amdo ( am˥˥.to˥˥ zh , c = 安多 , p = Ānduō ), also known as Domey (), is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions. It encompasses a large area from the Machu (Yellow River) to the Drichu (Yangtze). Amdo is mostly coterminous with China's present-day Qinghai province, but also includes small portions of Sichuan and Gansu provinces. In the 7th century, Amdo became a part of the Tibetan Empire until its dissolution in the 9th century. A local Tibetan theocracy called Tsongkha ruled the region from 997 to 1104. In the 13th century, Mongol forces conquered the area, which led to the beginning of a priest and patron relationship. From the 14th to the 16th century, the Ming Dynasty controlled some border areas of Amdo while Mongol presence remained significant. In the 1720s, the Yongzheng Emperor of Qing dynasty seized Amdo from the Dzungars and began forming the modern boundaries of Qinghai. He allowed most of the area to be administered by a series of local Tibet ...
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Ü (region)
Ü () is a geographic division and a historical region in Tibet. Together with Ü-Tsang, Tsang (, ), it forms Central Tibet Ü-Tsang (, ), which is one of the three Tibetan regions or ''cholka'' (). The other two ''cholka'' are Kham (, ) (Dotod) and Amdo (; ) (Domed). According to a Tibetan saying, "the best religion comes from Ü-Tsang, the best men from Kham, and the best horses from Amdo". Constituent districts Taken together, Ü and Tsang are considered to be the center of Tibetan civilization, from historical, cultural, political and economic perspectives. They are centered on the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which flows eastward at about above sea level. Of this territory, Ü constitutes the eastern portion, up to Sokla Kyao in the east where it borders to Kham. It includes the Lhasa River valley system, where Lhasa is situated, and the Yarlung and Chonggye valleys to the south of the Tsangpo. During the period of Mongols, Mongol rule at the end of the 13th centur ...
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5th Dalai Lama
The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being the key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. He is credited with unifying all of Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang, after Gushri Khan's successful military interventions. As an independent head of state, he established priest and patron relations with both Mongolia and the Qing dynasty simultaneously, and had positive relations with other neighboring countries. He began the custom of meeting early European explorers. The 5th Dalai Lama built the Potala Palace, and also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects. Early life To understand the context within which the Dalai Lama institution came to hold temporal power in Tibet during the lifetime of the 5th, ...
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Güshi Khan
Güshi Khan (1582 – 14 January 1655) was a Khoshut prince and founder of the Khoshut Khanate, who supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan as the main benefactor of the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1637, Güshi Khan defeated a rival Mongol prince Choghtu Khong Tayiji, a Kagyu follower, near Qinghai Lake and established his khanate in Tibet over the next years. His military assistance to the Gelug school enabled the 5th Dalai Lama to establish political control over Tibet. Name It is also spelt Gushri Khan and Gushihan. In other languages it is: * Chinese: 固始汗 * * Early years Güshi Khan was born Torobaikhu, the third son of Akhai Khatun and Khanai Noyan Khonggor, chief of the Khoshuts. He was descended from a younger brother of Genghis Khan, Qasar. At the age of 12, Torobaikhu had already won renown in battle against the Turkistanis. In 1625 a conflict erupted between the Khoshot chief Chöükür and his uterine brother Baibagha ...
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Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shunyi King of Ming dynasty, Ming China. He offered it in appreciation to the Gelug school's then-leader, Sonam Gyatso, who received it in 1578 at Yanghua Monastery. At that time, Sonam Gyatso had just given teachings to the Khan, and so the title of Dalai Lama was also given to the entire tulku lineage. Sonam Gyatso became the 3rd Dalai Lama, while the first two tulkus in the lineage, the 1st Dalai Lama and the 2nd Dalai Lama, were posthumously awarded the title. Since the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, the Dalai Lama has been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet. The Dalai Lama was an important figure of the Gelug tradition, which was dominant in Central Tibet, but his religious authority went beyond sectarian bo ...
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Tibetan People
Tibetans () are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group Indigenous peoples, native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in the provinces of China, Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, as well as in Bhutan, Tibetan refugees in India, India, and Nepal. The Tibetic languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language group. The traditional or mythological explanation of the Tibetan people's origin is that they are the descendants of the human Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. It is thought that most of the Tibeto-Burman speakers in southwest China, including Tibetans, are direct descendants from the Qiang (historical people), ancient Qiang people. Most Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism, although a significant minority observe the Indigenous Bon religion. There ...
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Karma Tenkyong
Karma Tenkyong (1606 – Neu, Central Tibet, 1642), in full Karma Tenkyong Wangpo (), was a king of Tibet who ruled from 1620 to 1642. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty which had been prominent in Tsang (West Central Tibet) since 1565. His reign was marked by the increasingly bitter struggle against the Gelugpa sect and its leader the Dalai Lama. The outcome was the crushing of the Tsangpa regime and the establishment of the Dharma-based Tibetan state that endured until 1950. Succession and Mongol incursion Karma Tenkyong was born in 1606 as the son of the Tsangpa ruler Karma Phuntsok Namgyal. He was considered an incarnation of Chakna Dorje ( Vajrapani, the protector and guide of Buddha). At that time the dynasty had entered a phase of military expansion from its bases in the Tsang region. It was strongly allied with the Buddhist hierarchs of the Karmapa (Black Hat) and Shamarpa (Red Hat) sects. In 1618, when Karma Tenkyong was twelve years old, his father successfully inva ...
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Rinpungpa
Rinpungpa () was a Tibetan dynastic regime that dominated much of Western Tibet between 1435 and 1565. During one period around 1500 the Rinpungpa lords came close to assembling the Tibetan lands around the Yarlung Tsangpo River under one authority, but their powers receded after 1512. Rise to power The Rinpungpa belonged to the Ger () clan, which is traced back to the days of the Tibetan Empire. One of their line, Namkha Gyaltsen, served as ''nanglon'' (minister of internal affairs) under the Phagmodrupa ruler Jamyang Shakya Gyaltsen, who held power over Ü-Tsang. He was appointed ''dzongpon'' (governor) of the fief Rinpung in Rong, a region in Tsang in an unknown year before 1373. His political position was strengthened by the marriage with the Phagmodrupa princess Sönam Palmö. Their daughter in turn was given in marriage to Sangye Gyaltsen, a Phagmodrupa prince, and gave birth to the later ruler Drakpa Jungne (r. 1432–1445). The son of Namkha Gyaltsen was Namkha Gy ...
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Tsangpa
Tsangpa () was a dynasty that dominated large parts of Tibet from 1565 to 1642. It was the last Tibetan royal dynasty to rule in their own name. The regime was founded by Karma Tseten, a low-born retainer of the prince of the Rinpungpa dynasty and governor of Samdrubtsé (also called Shigatse) in Tsang (West-Central Tibet) since 1548. Superseding the Rinpungpa During the 16th century Tibet was fragmented among rivaling factions along religious as well as dynastic lines. The Phagmodrupa dynasty lost any semblance of power after 1564 and its rival Rinpungpa was also unable to achieve unity. Among the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the Karma Kagyu school competed against the Gelug, which was headed by the Dalai Lama. According to tradition, Karma Tseten obtained a troop of horsemen by altering a document issued by his master, the Rinpungpa lord. He then raised the standard of rebellion in 1557 and managed to supersede the Rinpungpa by a surprise attack in 1565. This was facil ...
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Gelug
file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous')Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation,'' p. 39. Routledge. is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan people, Tibetan philosopher, Vajrayana, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples (such as Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama, Khedrup Je, Gyaltsab Je, Gyaltsap Je, Dulzin Drakpa Gyaltsen, and 1st Dalai Lama, Gendün Drubpa). The Gelug school is alternatively known as Kadam (''bKa’-gdams gsar-pa''), since it sees itself as a continuation of the Kadam (Tibetan Buddhism), Kadam tradition of Atiśa, Atisha (c. 11th century). The school of New Kadam, or New Kadampa ...
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Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, some regions of China such as Northeast China, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism stemming from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism (which included many Vajrayana, Vajrayāna elements). It thus preserves many Indian Buddhist Tantra, tantric practices of the Gupta Empire, post-Gupta Medieval India, early medieval period (500–1200 CE), along with numerous native Tibetan developments. In the pre-modern era, Tibetan Buddhism spread outside of Tibet primarily due to the influence of the Mongol Emp ...
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