Labrang Monastery

Labrang Tashikyil Monastery or simply Labrang, was founded in 1710 by the First Jamyang Zhepa, Ngawang Tsondru (1648-1722), in the Amdo province of northeastern Tibet. It lies 250 kilometers southwest of Lanzhou, and is presently included in southwestern Gansu Province of China, near the border of Qinghai Province. It is counted among the six major monasteries of the Gelug Tradition.

The First Jamyang Zhepa, also known as Kunkyen Jamyang Zhepey Dorje, a disciple of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lozang Gyatso (1617-1682), was from Amdo and had studied sutra at Gomang College of Drepung Monastery and tantra at Gyume Lower Tantric College. He authored the Kunkyen textbooks later used at Gomang, Drepung Deyang College, and Labrang.

When he was Abbot of Gomang, Jamyang Zhepa was requested by Ganden Erdene Junang, the Mongol King of Kokonor, to return to Amdo where many Mongols lived among the Tibetans. Jamyang Zhepa accepted, and on the eve of his departure, the Gadong State Oracle prophesied that he would found a monastery in Amdo called Tashikyil. In establishing this monastery, Jamyang Zhepa adopted the Drepung rules of discipline and chanting style for the main temple, and the Gomang style of debate.

Jamyang Zhepa himself gave the name Genden Shedrub Dargye Tashi Kunne Kyilweling to his new monastery. The Fifth Panchen Lama, Lozang Yeshe (1663-1737), gave it a second name, Ganden Damcho Shedrub Dargyeling. “Labrang” means the residence of a great Lama. The monastery in general became known as Labrang, or Labrang Tashikyil, after the residence of Jamyang Zhepa. The line of his reincarnations, the Jamyang Zhepa Rinpoches, have been the traditional heads of the Labrang Monastery.

There has always been a strong connection between Labrang Tashikyil and the Mongols. Many lineages from Labrang, such as that of Kalachakra, spread to the Mongolian monasteries. The Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvinian regions of Russia used exclusively the Kunkyen textbooks of Jamyang Zhepa. Many monasteries in Inner and Outer Mongolia used them as well. In Lhasa, the Mongols mostly studied at Gomang and Gyume, as did Jamyang Zhepa.

Labrang has six colleges. The largest is Mejung Tosamling, for the study of sutra and debate, established by the First Jamyang Zhepa in 1710 when he founded the monastery in general. It awards the Geshe Dorampa degree. When the First Jamyang Zhepa received the Se lineage transmission at Segyu Tantric College from Segyu Konchog Yarpel (1602-1682), this great master asked him to establish a tantric college as part of the monastery he would found in Amdo in the future. Keeping this request in mind, the First Jamyang Zhepa established Megyu Dratsang, Lower Tantric College, in 1719.

The Dukor Dratsang or Kalachakra College, Ewam Chokorling, was founded in 1763 by the Second Jamyang Zhepa, Konchog Jigme Wangpo (1728-1798), on the advice of the Sixth Panchen Lama, Palden Yeshe (1738-1780). The Panchen Lama’s home monastery, Tashilhunpo, built a Buddhist temple two years later, in 1765, devoted to the daily practice of the Kalachakra rituals. Since the first half of the 18th century, Kalachakra Colleges had already existed in Inner Mongolia. The first was at Ari-in Monastery, founded by the First Kanjurwa Gegen, Lozang Choden. The Dukor Datsang at Labrang was the first of its kind in Amdo.

The Menpa Dratsang or Medical College, Sorig Zhenpenling, was established in 1784, also by the Second Jamyang Zhepa. The Kyedor Dratsang or Hevajra College, Sang-ngag Dargyeling, was started by the Fourth Jamyang zhepa, Kelzang Tubten Wangchug, in 1879. The Gyuto Dratsang or Upper Tantric College, Sangchen Dorjeyling, was established in 1943 by the Fifth Jamyang Zhepa, Lozang Jamyang Yeshe Tenpey Gyaltsen.

The two Tantric Colleges at Labrang, like their models in Lhasa, studied mostly the Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara, and Vajrabhairava tantric systems. They awarded Geshe Karamapa and Geshe Ngagrampa degrees, as at the two Lhasa Tantric Colleges. The Kalachakra College was responsible for not only the Kalachakra rituals, but also those of Samvid and Vairochana Abhisambodhi. The monks of the Kalachakra College also studied astronomy, astrology, and mathematics. In addition to medical studies, the monks of the Medical College were responsible for the rituals of the Medicine Buddha, Akshobhya, and the Hiddenly Actualized form of Hayagriva. The Hevajra College maintained the rituals for Hevajra and Vajrapani Mahachakra, and prepared a calendar/almanac each year according to the Chinese-style black calculation system.

As at the Jokang in Lhasa, every year from the 3rd to the 17th of the first Tibetan month, Labrang held a Great Prayer Festival with examinations for the highest grades of Geshe. At this festival, there were ritual masked dances and other rites as in Lhasa.

At its height in 1957, Labrang had nearly 4,000 monks. About 3,000 of them were at the Mejung Tosamling College, with the rest evenly distributed among the other five colleges. Approximately three-quarters of the monks were Tibetans. The rest were mostly Outer Mongolian Mongols, Inner Mongolian Mongols, Kokonor Mongols, Mongours from northern Amdo, Yellow Yugurs from Gansu (Kansu), Xinjiang Kalmyk Mongols, and ethnic Chinese. Labrang had 138 branch monasteries.

Starting in 1958, the monastery was closed for twelve years by the Chinese. During the 1970s, it was opened for tourism. It was reopened as a functioning monastery by the Tenth Panchen Lama, Chokyi Gyaltsen Trinle Lhundrub (1938-1989), in 1980. At present there are about 500 monks, divided among the six colleges in the same proportions as before. The study program is only a fraction of what it previously had been.