Phüntsok Wangyal Goranangpa (2 January 1922 – 30 March 2014), also known as Phüntsog Wangyal, Bapa Phüntsok Wangyal or Phünwang, was a
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 ...
politician. A major figure in modern Sino-Tibetan relations, he is best known for being the founder and leader of the
Tibetan Communist Party
The Tibetan Communist Party was a small communist party in the Tibet, which functioned in secrecy under various names. The group was founded by Phuntsok Wangyal and Ngawang Kesang in 1943. It emerged from a group called the Tibetan Democratic Y ...
.
He was arrested by the Chinese authorities in 1960 and subsequently spent 18 years in the infamous Chinese high security prison
Qincheng in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. After his release he lived in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
until his death.
Biography
Phüntsok was born in 1922 in
Batang, in the province of
Kham
Kham (; )
is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...
in eastern
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
(in what is now eastern
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, then under the control of
Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui (; 1895 – 24 June 1976) was a Chinese general and warlord of Sichuan province (Sichuan clique). At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT), commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1927 to 1929. ...
, an important Chinese warlord who was affiliated with the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
). Phüntsok began his political activism at the special academy run by
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
's
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission
The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was a ministry-level commission of the Executive Yuan in the Republic of China. It was disbanded on 15 September 2017.
History
The first model was created during the Qing dynasty in 1636 a ...
in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, where in 1939 he and a small group of friends secretly founded the Tibetan Communist Party. He was expelled from his school in Nanjing the following year. From 1942 until 1949, he organized a
guerilla movement against the Kuomintang, which expanded its military influence in
Kham
Kham (; )
is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...
.
The strategy of the Tibetan Communist Party under his leadership during the 1940s was twofold: Influence and gain support for his cause amongst progressive Tibetan students, intellectuals, and members of the powerful aristocracy in Central
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
in order to establish a program of modernization and democratic (i.e.
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
) reform, and wage a guerilla war against the rule of Liu Wenhui. For some time, Wangyal lectured at
Tromzikhang
Tromzikhang ( Tibetan: ཁྲོམ་གཟིགས་ཁང་།; Wylie: ) is a historic building in Barkhor, Lhasa in Tibet, China. It is located northwest of Jokhang temple at the corner of the left side of Barkhor Tromshung Jang (street) ...
on
Barkhor
The Pargor Subdistrict, traditionally known as the Barkhor (; ), is an area of narrow streets and a public square located around Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, China.
The Barkhor is a popular devotional circumambulation for pilgrims and l ...
square in the 1940s when it was used as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
school.
Phüntsok's political goal was to establish an independent and socialist Tibet through fundamental transformations of Tibet's feudal social structures.
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
was part of Phüntsok's vision of a united Tibet.
He was exiled by the Tibetan government in 1949, and after joining the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
's fight against the Kuomintang, he merged the Tibetan Communist Party with the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
at the behest of the latter's military leaders. As a result of this merger, Phüntsok had to abandon his goals of an independent Tibet.
Phüntsok was present during the negotiations for the
Seventeen Point Agreement
The Seventeen Point Agreement is a short form of the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, ( zh, 中央人民政府和西藏地方政府关于和平解放 ...
in May 1951, in which Tibetan leaders saw no viable option than that of capitulating to China's insistence in the preamble that Tibet had formed part of China for over a century. He played an important administrative role in the organization of the Chinese Communist Party in
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...
and was the official translator of the young
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
during his famous meetings with
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
in Beijing in the years 1954 and 1955.
In the 1950s, Phüntsok was the highest-ranking Tibetan in the Chinese Communist Party, and although he spoke fluent Chinese, was habituated to Chinese culture and customs and was completely devoted to the cause of socialism and the Chinese Communist Party, his intensive engagement for the well-being of the Tibetans made him suspicious to his powerful party comrades.
Eventually, in 1958, he was placed under house arrest and two years later disappeared from the public eye. He was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Beijing for the next 18 years. During his imprisonment, his wife, a
Tibetan Muslim
Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee (; ; also spelled Kache), form a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are officially recognized as Tibetans by the government of the People's Republic of China, unlike the Hui Muslims, w ...
from Lhasa who stayed behind in Beijing with their children, died while she was imprisoned, and all their children were sent to different prisons. It was only in 1975 that his family was told that he was still alive and had been incarcerated in a maximum-security prison for political prisoners. Unbeknownst to Phüntsok, his younger brother was also imprisoned in
Qincheng for 16 years.
Phüntsok was officially rehabilitated a few years after his release in 1978 but was forced to remain in Beijing without any outside contact. Later, he was offered the position of Chairman of the
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...
government, which he declined.
A biography of Phüntsok has been published in English, where he particularly emphasises the need to better understand the interests of the Tibetan people in the context of peace and unity within the People's Republic of China.
Later, he declared in an open letter to
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
that he should accommodate for the return of the
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
to Tibet, suggesting that this gesture would be "...good for stabilizing Tibet." In a third letter dated 1 August 2006, he wrote: "If the inherited problem with Tibet continues to be delayed, it is most likely going to result in the creation of 'The Eastern Vatican of Tibetan Buddhism' alongside the Exile Tibetan Government. Then the 'Tibet Problem', be it nationally or internationally, will become more complicated and more troublesome."
In a letter to Hu Jintao in 2007, Phüntsok criticised cadres of the Chinese Communist Party who, to support
Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden ( bo, རྡོ་རྗེ་ཤུགས་ལྡན་, Wylie: ''rdo rje shugs ldan'', ), also known as Dolgyal and Gyalchen Shugden, is an entity associated with the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. ...
, "make a living, are promoted and become rich by opposing
splittism".
He died on 30 March 2014 at a Beijing hospital.
Published works
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wangyal, Phuntsok
Tibetan writers
Chinese communists
Tibetan politicians
Tibetan people
2014 deaths
1922 births