Changkya Rölpé Dorjé


Changkya Rölpé Dorjé was a principal Tibetan Buddhist teacher in the Qing court, a close associate of the Qianlong Emperor of China, and an important intermediary between the imperial court and Inner Asia. He also oversaw the translation of the Tibetan Buddhist canon into Classical Mongolian and Manchu. He also was involved in the compilation of a quadralingual set and supervised the translation from Chinese into Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan of the entire Śūraṅgama Sūtra completed in 1763; the Tibetan translation is currently preserved in a supplement to the Narthang Kangyur.

Biography

Birth and early education

Changkya Rölpé Dorjé was born on the 10th day of the fourth month of the Fire-Bird year in Wuwei near Lanzhou in Gansu. At an early age he was recognized by the first Jamyang Zhépa as the incarnation of the previous Changkya Kutuktu of Gönlung Jampa Ling monastery in Amdo, one of the four great Gelug monasteries of the north. At his investiture the Kangxi Emperor sent Kachen Shérap Dargyé as his representative.
In 1723, soon after the death of Kangxi, the new ruler, Yongzheng was just establishing his authority, Mongol tribesmen claiming the succession of Güshi Khan, together with their Amdo Tibetan allies and supported by some factions within the monasteries, rose up against the Qing in the region of Kokonor. Yongzheng insisted on violent reprisals and in Amdo the Manchu army, destroyed villages and monasteries believed to have sided with the rebels including in 1724 Gönlung. However the emperor ordered that the seven-year-old Changkya incarnation not be harmed but brought to China as a "guest". At the Yongzheng Emperor's court, he was raised and educated to serve as an intermediary between the seat of Manchu power and the Buddhists of Amdo, Tibet and Mongolia. Rölpé Dorjé's monastic teachers included Zhangshu Kachen Shérap Dargyé; the second Thuken Hotogtu, Ngakwang Chökyi Gyatso and Atsé Chöjé Lozang Chödzin.
Changkya Rölpé Dorjé and his teachers realised that in order for the Gelug teachings to flourish in China and Manchuria they would need to be available in Chinese, Mongolian and Manchu and so he began the study of those languages. One of his fellow students was Prince Hungli, who became his friend — and eventually the Qianlong Emperor.
He also took an interest in Chinese Buddhism and thought that their principle philosophical views had close similarities with those of the Yogachara school. He was also apparently the one who came up with the notion that Dampa Sangye, the Indian founder of the Pacification school in Tibet who supposedly also visited China, and Bodhidharma were the same person.

Exile of the 7th Dalai Lama

In the late 1720s Polhané Sönam Topgyé mounted a successful campaign to take control of Tibet and the Seventh Dalai Lama was exiled, leaving Lhasa at the end of 1728. The Manchu ambans in Lhasa, representatives of the Yongzheng emperor, arranged for an invitation to the Paṇchen Lama Lozang Yéshé to travel to Lhasa, which he reluctantly did, in October 1728. Polhané granted him dominion over most of Tsang and Ngari, forcing him to cede the eastern part of the region to Lhasa.
In 1729 after the Panchen Lama sent a letter and numerous gifts to the Yongzheng emperor Rölpé Dorjé obtained permission from the emperor for his monastery Gönlung Jampa Ling to be rebuilt.

First Visit to Tibet

In 1732 the Panchen Lama petitioned the Emperor to enable the Seventh Dalai Lama to return to Lhasa. When the petition was granted in 1734 Rölpé Dorjé was ordered by Yongzheng to accompany the 7th Dalai Lama to Lhasa. This trip gave Rölpé Dorjé the opportunity to study with the Dalai Lama as well as to make offerings at Lhasa's major monasteries and to present gifts from the emperor. In 1735 Changkya and the Dalai Lama went on to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse to pay his respect to Lobsang Yeshe, 5th Panchen Lama, where he took both his initial and final monastic vows under the Panchen Lama's supervision.
When Yongzheng died in 1736, Rölpé Dorjé had to give up his plans to study under the Panchen Lama and returned to Beijing. Both the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama offered him religious statues and other significant gifts as parting presents.

Lama of the Qianlong Emperor

In 1744, the Qianlong emperor decided to transform the Yonghegong Palace in Beijing into a Gelugpa monastery as well as an Imperial Palace. This became the residence of Changkya and many other important incarnations from Amdo and Mongolia and the centre for the Qing to manage Tibetan Buddhist affairs and control local authorities in Mongolia, Amdo, Tibet and other areas which followed Tibetan Buddhism.
In 1744, Qianlong also indicated to Rölpé Dorjé that he wanted to receive private religious teachings and Rölpé Dorjé first taught him the commentary on how to take refuge in the three jewels as well instructing him in Tibetan grammar and reading. Later, Qianlong requested teachings on the bodhisattva path and Rölpé Dorjé taught him the commentary of the Graduated Path by Vajradhara Kunchok Gyaltsen, together with a commentary by the previous Changkya, Ngawang Losang Chöden. "By studying these two texts, Qianlong developed great faith and made a commitment to practice daily, which he kept despite his busy schedule"
In 1745, after Rölpé Dorjé completed a retreat, the Qianlong emperor asked him for the tantric teachings and empowerment of his yidam, Chakrasamvara. As the disciple and requester of the abhisheka, the emperor had to gather all the necessary materials and equipment. Rölpé Dorjé conferred on the emperor abhisheka the five deities Chakrasamvara according to the lineage of the Indian siddha, Ghantapa. During the initiation, Rölpé Dorjé as vajra master sat on the throne and the emperor knelt to receive the initiation according to the prescriptions for disciples. The emperor offered 100 ounces of gold with a mandala to receive the initiation. After the initiation, Qianlong said to Rolpai Dorje, “Now you are not only my lama, you are my vajra master.”
In 1748, Rölpé Dorjé made his first trip back to Gönlung Jampa Ling, his monastery that he had left as a child, and at his request the monastery was granted an Imperial Plaque which was installed above the entrance to the main assembly hall.

Timeline

In 1757, went to Tibet
In 1760, returned to China
In 1763, Father died
Trouble with the Bönpo in
In 1792, Qianlong, who had been the generous patron, friend and dedicated student of Rölpé Dorjé, sought
to assure his Chinese subjects that foreign priests exercised no influence over him. His Pronouncements on Lamas preserved in a tetraglot inscription at the Yonghe Temple in Beijing, Qianlong defends his patronage of the "Yellow Hat" sect from his Chinese critics by claiming that his support had simply been expedient: "By patronizing the Yellow Sect we maintain peace among the Mongols. This being an important task we cannot but protect this. we do not show any bias, nor do we wish to adulate the Tibetan priests as Yuan dynasty."

Teachers

Works

Changkya Rölpé Dorjé's collected works consist of seven large volumes containing nearly 200 individual texts. He also supervised and participated in the translation of the Kangyur into Manchu and the entire Tengyur into Mongolian.
Some of Changkya Rölpé Dorjé's most well known works include: