Tibet World Travel Tibet Tour, Tibet Trip, Tibet Travel, Tibet Train, Tibet Trekking,
Gonlung Jampa Ling is an important Geluk monastery in Amdo that was founded in 1604 by Gelse Donyo Chokyi Gyatso. The site was visited by the Third Dalai Lama and Fourth Dalai Lama prior to its founding. Regarded as one of the four great monasteries of the north, it is the seat of the Changkya and Tukwan incarnations. The monastery now houses monks of Tu (Monguor), Tibetan and Mongolian origin. Though destroyed in 1724 during the reign of Lhazang Khan, it was rebuilt in 1732. It was partially destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Reconstruction began in 1980. Today it is well-known for its new year’s festival as well as masked dance ceremonies that are held throughout the year. Changkya Rolpe Dorje is the main Lama of the monastery and was born on the 10th day of the fourth (Hor) month of the Fire-Bird year (1717) in Wuwei (formerly known as Liangzhou) near Lanzhou in Gansu. At an early age he was recognized by the first Jamyang Zhepa as the incarnation of the previous Changkya Kutuktu of Gönlung Jampa Ling monastery. At his investiture the Kangxi Emperor sent Kachen Sherap Dargye as his representative. In 1723, soon after the death of Kangxi, the new ruler, Yongzheng (r. 1722-1735) 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 Gonlung. 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. Rolpe Dorje’s monastic teachers included Zhangshu Kachen Sherap Dargye; the second Thuken Hotogtu, Ngakwang Chokyi Gyatso and Atse Choje Lozang Chodzin. Changkya Rolpe Dorje 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 (r. 1735-1796). 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. Located in an evergreen forest at the foot of snow mountains, Gonlung Jampaling is a rare gem that few tourists visit. The monastery, a major pilgrimage site along the northern Zongchu River. There is great hiking in the area, and the monastery has many ancient thangka paintings of interest to art lovers.
