Lect. #8– Panchen Lama:  Tensions, Competition and Leadership

I. Panchen Lama
       A. Basic Facts
              1. Tashilhunpo (Tashi Lhunpo) Monastery
                     - Shigatse
              2. Panchen Lama
                     - Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1391-1475)
                     - "Great Scholar" = Panchen (Pandita)
                     - Fifth Dalai Lama (1672)

       B. Ninth Dalai Lama
              1. Early 20th Century Tibet
                     a. 1911 - End of Qing Dynasty
                     b. 1914 - World War I (British)

              2. Issue of Reform
                     a. Strong military
                     b. Rise in expenses
                            - Kham border (Chinese warlords)
                            - Army equipment

              3. Dalai - Panchen Relations
                     a. 1917 (Fire-Snake Year):
                            - one-seventh horse and animal corvee tax
                            - Panchen Lama: illegal (Tashilhunpo exempted)
                            - 30,000 ke of grain (ke=31lbs)
                     b. 1791 Precedent?
                            - Unpaid taxes pile up
                            - Issue of authority

              4. Panchen Lama flees to Mongolia (Dec 26, 1923)
                     a. Republic of Mongolia (Soviet influence)
                     b. Turns to China
    

II. 1930s:  Stand-off
       A. Efforts at reconciliation
              1. Panchen Lama's demands
                     a. June 2, 1933:  replies from Lhasa uninterested in compromise
                     b. Difference of opinion?
                            - Panchen Lama:  earlier system
                            - Dalai Lama:  reform & modern state
                     c. December 17, 1933 - 13th Dalai Lama dies

       B. Renewed efforts/Renewed Fears
              1. Panchen Lama officials original demands stand
                     a. Nationalist China (Nanjing)
                     b. British Interests

              2. 1936- 1937
                     a. Panchen Lama's return?
                     b. Chinese 'bodyguards'
                            - Arrow Letter (March 1937)
                            - 'via Lhasa'
                     c. Panchen Lama
                            - returns to Kanze (China -controlled Tibet)
                            - December 1, 1937