Rinchen Gyaltsen (; ) (1238 – 24 March 1279) 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 ...

imperial preceptor at the court of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

-led

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

of China. His tenure lasted from 1274 to his death in either 1279 or 1282.

Family background

Rinchen Gyaltsen was born in 1238 as the son of Zangtsa Sonam Gyaltsen and his wife Jomo Dro. His father belonged to the Khon family, members of which were hereditary abbot-rulers of the

Sakya Monastery Sakya Monastery (), also known as Pel Sakya (; "White Earth" or "Pale Earth") is a Buddhist monastery situated in Sa'gya Town (ས་སྐྱ་), Sa'gya County, about 127 km west of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region. History ...

in Tsang in western

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 the time of his uncle, the abbot

Sakya Pandita Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen (Tibetan: ས་སྐྱ་པཎ་ཌི་ཏ་ཀུན་དགའ་རྒྱལ་མཚན, ) (1182 – 28 November 1251) was a Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar and the fourth of the Five S ...

(1182-1251),

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depic ...

became brokers between the various Tibetan petty lords and the Mongol power. Rinchen Gyaltsen's elder half-brother Phagpa enjoyed a close relationship with

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

and was appointed to the title

Imperial Preceptor The Imperial Preceptor, or Dishi (, lit. "Teacher of the Emperor") was a high title and powerful post created by Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty. It was established as part of Mongol patronage of Tibetan Buddhism and the Yuan administra ...

(''Dishi'') in 1270. As such he was a standing institution in the Yuan government, enjoying extraordinary honours and resources. The ''Dishi'' had a paramount influence on the

Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs __NOTOC__ The Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, or Xuanzheng Yuan () was a government agency of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China to handle Buddhist affairs across the empire in addition to managing the territory of Tibet. It was original ...

(Zongzhi Yuan, later Xuanzheng Yuan). Meanwhile, another brother, Chakna Dorje, was the viceroy of Tibet from 1264 to 1267.

Tenure as Imperial Preceptor

Rinchen Gyaltsen served for a time as chaplain (''lacho'') to Kublai Khan. However, when his brother Chakna Dorje died in 1267, this led to serious unrest as the important Drigung Monastery tried to push back the position of Sakya. When his other brother Phagpa left Sakya and temporarily settled in

Amdo Amdo ( �am˥˥.to˥˥ ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being U-Tsang in the west and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Amdo is also the bi ...

in the same year, Rinchen Gyaltsen took over as a "quasi-abbot" (''dansa tawu'') of the Sakya Monastery. Phagpa arrived to the imperial court 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 ...

in 1370 and was appointed ''Dishi'' (

); however, he renounced the title in 1274 in order to return to Sakya. Instead, Rinchen Gyaltsen was summoned the court to fill the post in the same year. As imperial preceptor he resided in the palace compound Metog Rawa (Flowery Enclosure), as his brother had done. There he gathered a community of clerics. During his tenure the worldly affairs of Tibet were handled by a succession of administrators in Sakya, called ''

dpon-chen The ''dpon-chen'' or ''pönchen'' (), literally the "great authority" or "great administrator", was the chief administrator or governor of Tibet located at Sakya Monastery during the Yuan administrative rule of Tibet in the 13th and 14th centuries ...

'' (''ponchen''). They were: * Shakya Zangpo (c. 1264–1270) * Kunga Zangpo (c. 1270–1275) * Zhangtsun (c. 1275-?) * Chukpo Gangkarwa (?-1280) Rinchen Gyaltsen died in Shingkun (Lintao) at an uncertain date, most probably 24 March 1279. According to another chronicle he died as late as 1282, which seems to be incorrect.Luciano Petech 1990, p. 23; Shoju Inaba 1963, p. 109. He was succeeded as ''tishri'' by his nephew

Dharmapala Raksita Dharmapala Raksita (; ; 1268 – 24 December 1287) was the head of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which was the most powerful school in Tibet under the Yuan dynasty from 1280 to 1282. He also held the title of Imperial Preceptor (Dishi), fr ...

, a son of the viceroy Chakna Dorje.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyaltsen, Rinchen Sakya Trizins Imperial Preceptors 1238 births 1279 deaths 13th-century Tibetan people 13th-century lamas

Family background

Tenure as Imperial Preceptor

See also

References