Tenpai Wangchuk (1855–1882) was the eighth
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high la ...
of
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 s ...
.
8th
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high la ...
, Tenpai Wangchuk, also known as Namgyal Wangdui Gyaltsen, was born in 1855 in
Namling County (རྣམ་གླིང་རྫོང་། 南木林),
Shigatse
Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê () or Rikaze ( zh, s=日喀则, p=Rìkāzé), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...
prefecture, western
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 s ...
. He was born into an aristocratic family of
Nyingma
Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...
school. One member of his family was an incarnation of Nyingma school. The fact that the new Panchen Lama came from a different tradition created a discontent among the
Tashilhunpo Monastery monks (who profess the
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' ...
tradition). His father's name was Tenzin Wangjia and his mother's name was Zhaxila (Chinese transcription).
In 1857 Tenpai Wangchuk was identified as the eighth incarnation of the Panchen Lama. He was the first Panchen Lama to be identified by drawing a lot from the
Golden Urn
The Golden Urn is a method introduced by the Qing dynasty of China in 1793 for selecting Tibetan reincarnations by drawing lots or tally sticks from a golden urn. After the Sino-Nepalese War, the Qianlong Emperor promulgated the 29-Article Ord ...
. In 1860 Tenpai Wangchuk (aged 5), in the presence of
Reting Rinpoche Hutukthu, was finally enthroned as the 8th incarnation of Panchen Lama in the Tashilhunpo Monastery.
In 1877 (or 1878) Tenpai Wangchuk along with regent Tenzin Hutukthu identified the 13th
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 Shu ...
using the Golden Urn. The 8th Panchen Lama died in 1882 in the age of 27.
All the tombs from the Fifth to the Ninth Panchen Lamas were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and have been rebuilt by the 10th Panchen Lama with a huge tomb at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, known as the Tashi Langyar.
[Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) ''Tibet''. 6th Edition. Lonely Planet Publications. p. 175.]
References
1855 births
1882 deaths
Panchen Lama 08
Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet
19th-century Tibetan people
{{Tibetan-Buddhism-stub