Jowo Shakyamuni or Jowo Rinpoche ( Wylie ''jo bo rin po che'') is a large 7th century statue of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

, supposed to have been made in China, but of great influence on the tradition of

Tibetan art The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and sm ...

. Together with Jowo Mikyö Dorje, it is one of the most sacred statues in Tibet. Jowo Rinpoche is housed in the

Jokhang The Jokhang (, ), also known as the Qoikang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery and Zuglagkang ( or Tsuklakang), is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Tibetans, in ...

chapel of the Rasa Trulnang Tsuglakhang Temple, whereas the Jowo Mikyö Dorje is in the

Ramoche Ramoche Temple (; ) is a Buddhist monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. It dates back to the seventh century and is considered to be the most important temple in the city after the Jokhang Temple. Situated in the northwestern part of the ...

temple, both in Lhasa.

History

The Jowo Rinpoche has a long history. According to Tibetan legend, the Buddha Shakyamuni requested the divine craftsman create a proxy of him destined eventually for Tibet. It came to be owned by the king of

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

, who gave it to a

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

emperor of China. One of the emperor's clansman's daughters, Wenchen Kongjo, took it to Lhasa via Lhagang as part of her dowry when she become a foreign consort of the first Tibetan emperor

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepa ...

. During

Mangsong Mangtsen Mangsong Mangtsen (), Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan (r. 655–676 CE) succeeded to the throne after the death of his Father Gungsong Gungtsen. or, his grandfather, Songtsen Gampo, its Dispute of Succession however he was the third or, s ...

's reign (649-676), because of a threat that the Tang Chinese might invade and steal the Jowo, Princess Wencheng is said to have hidden the Jowo Rinpoche in a secret chamber in the Tsuglakhang. A subsequent princess from China had it placed in the central chapel of the

, sometime after 710 CE. It was replaced at Ramoche by a statue of Jowo Mikyo Dorje, a small bronze statue of the Buddha when he was eight years old, crafted by Vishvakarman, and brought to Lhasa by the Nepalese queen,

Bhrikuti Princess Bhrikuti Devi ( sa, भृकुटी, known to Tibetans as Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun, Bhelsa Tritsun (Nepal ), or simply, Khri bTsun ()) of Licchavi is traditionally considered to have been the first wife and queen of the earliest emperor ...

. Jowo Mikyo Dorje was badly damaged by the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

. The Ramoche temple was gutted and partially destroyed in the 1960s and the bronze statue disappeared. In 1983 the lower part of it was said to have been found in a Lhasa rubbish heap, and the upper half in Beijing. They have now been joined and the statue is housed in the Ramoche Temple, which was partially restored in 1986,Dowman, Keith. 1988. ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide,'' p. 59. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. (ppk). and still showed severe damage in 1993. The restoration of the Jowo Mikyö Dorje was possible thanks to Ribur Rinpoche (1923–2006), a revered Lama who was jailed by the Chinese Army in 1959 for 20 years in Lhasa and was released in 1979 in connection with the liberalization politics of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...

. Ribur Rinpoche was granted a position at the Office of Religious Affairs of Tibet and began attempts to bring back spiritual sacred treasures that had been taken to China. In 1983, with the help of the

10th Panchen Lama Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen (born Gönbo Cêdän; 19 February 1938 – 28 January 1989) was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni (), of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan Buddhis ...

, he succeeded in finding the upper part of Jowo Mikyö Dorje and returned it to Tibet. The Panchen Lama explained to the Chinese government how sacred the value of Jowos was for

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...

and that their response to the quest of Ribur Rinpoche would help to prove the sincerity of the new Chinese religious policies.Ribur Rinpocheis no more, His Story Remains with Us
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609184709/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Ribur+Rinpocheis+no+more%2C+His+Story+Remains+with+Us&id=11653 , date=2011-06-09 Preface and Short Biography
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References

Literature

*Warner, Cameron David. 2008. "The Precious Lord: The History and Practice of the Cult of the Jowo Śākyamuni in Lhasa, Tibet." Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University. *Warner, Cameron David. 2011. "Re/crowning the Jowo Śākyamuni: Texts, Photographs, and Memories." History of Religions 51 (1): 1-30. *Warner, Cameron David. 2011. "The Genesis of Tibet's First Buddha Images: An Annotated Translation from Three Editions of 'The Vase-shaped Pillar Testament (Bka' chems ka khol ma)'." Light of Wisdom 1 (1): 33–45. Bronze Buddha statues Tibetan Buddhist art and culture