Jalsan (November 16, 1947 – April 28, 2013) was a politician, scholar, and Buddhist leader (''
tulku
A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor.
High-profile examples ...
'') in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. He was of
Mongol ethnicity.
Early life and education
Jalsan was born in
Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County
Bairi (Tianzhu) Tibetan Autonomous County (; ) is in the prefecture-level city of Wuwei in the central part of Gansu province, China, bordering Qinghai province to the south and west. It has an area of and approximately 230,000 inhabitants (2003 ...
,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
, on the 13th day of the 12th month in the
lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...
. He went to
Alxa League
Alxa League or Ālāshàn League (; mn, , Mongolian Cyrillic. Алшаа аймаг) is one of 12 prefecture level divisions and 3 extant leagues of Inner Mongolia. The league borders Mongolia to the north, Bayan Nur to the northeast, Wuhai ...
,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
in 1958 to attend primary school.
[.] After his middle school graduation, he participated in the
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China between mid 1950s and 1978. As a result of what he perceived to ...
. In 1978, he entered the M.A. programme in
Mongolian language
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residen ...
at the
Inner Mongolia University
Inner Mongolia University is a university in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, under the authority of the Inner Mongolia regional government. It is a member of the Chinese state Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211, and identified as ...
. After his graduation, he went to Japan in 1985 to study for a further two years as an
international student
International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying.
In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...
at the
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
, often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan.
TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution.
History
The Uni ...
before returning to Gansu to study
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
at the
Northwest University for Nationalities
Northwest Minzu University (), formerly known as Northwest University for Nationalities, is the first minority institution of higher learning founded in China after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, directly under the State Ethn ...
in 1988.
Politics
Jalsan served as a member of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
and the
Standing Committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
of the
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Religious positions
Jalsan was a ''
tulku
A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor.
High-profile examples ...
'' of the Southern Temple of the
Helan Mountains
The Helan Mountains, frequently called Alashan Mountains in older sources, are an isolated desert mountain range forming the border of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League and Ningxia. They run north-south parallel to the north-flowing Yellow River in ...
, the largest Buddhist temple in Inner Mongolia. He was also involved with a number of organisations relating to
Buddhism in China: he is a board member of the
Buddhist Association of China
The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since ...
, president of the Buddhist Association of Inner Mongolia, and principal of the Buddhist School of Inner Mongolia.
Academic work
In the academic world, Jalsan was both a regular professor at the
Inner Mongolia University
Inner Mongolia University is a university in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, under the authority of the Inner Mongolia regional government. It is a member of the Chinese state Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211, and identified as ...
and a visiting professor at the
Northwest University for Nationalities
Northwest Minzu University (), formerly known as Northwest University for Nationalities, is the first minority institution of higher learning founded in China after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, directly under the State Ethn ...
.
Selected publications
*
*; a ''
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'' in honour of Professor
Chinggeltei
Chinggeltei (12 June 1924 – 27 December 2013; also Činggeltei, Chinggaltai, Chenggeltai, or Chenggeltei) was a professor of linguistics at the Inner Mongolia University in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, focusing on the Mon ...
References
External links
*
Jalsan's obituary
{{authority control
1947 births
2013 deaths
People's Republic of China Buddhists
People from Wuwei
Tulkus
People's Republic of China politicians from Gansu
Educators from Gansu
Academic staff of Inner Mongolia University
Chinese people of Mongolian descent
Linguists from China
Writers from Gansu