Tenpai Wangchuk (1855–1882) was the eighth

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, h ...

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, Taman ...

. 8th

, Tenpai Wangchuk, also known as Namgyal Wangdui Gyaltsen, was born in 1855 in

Namling County Namling County (; ) is a county of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Geography Namling is the current administrative name given to the valleys of Oyuk, Tobgyet, and Shang ... ssociated.. with both Buddhism and Bon. Through these valle ...

(རྣམ་གླིང་རྫོང་། 南木林),

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histor ...

prefecture, western

. He was born into an aristocratic family of

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

school. One member of his family was an incarnation of Nyingma school. The fact that the new Panchen Lama came from a different tradition created a discontent among the

Tashilhunpo Monastery Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (), founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama, is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama, and an historically and culturally important monastery in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. The monastery was sa ...

monks (who profess the

Gelug 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

tradition). His father's name was Tenzin Wangjia and his mother's name was Zhaxila (Chinese transcription). In 1857 Tenpai Wangchuk was identified as the eighth incarnation of the Panchen Lama. He was the first Panchen Lama to be identified by drawing a lot from the

Golden Urn The Golden Urn refers to a method for selecting Tibetan reincarnations by drawing lots or tally sticks from a Golden Urn introduced by the Qing dynasty of China in 1793. After the Sino-Nepalese War, the Qianlong Emperor promulgated the 29-Article ...

. In 1860 Tenpai Wangchuk (aged 5), in the presence of

Reting Rinpoche Reting Rinpoche () was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a Buddhist monastery in central Tibet. History of the lineage Historically, the Reting Rinpoche has occasionally acted as the selector of the new Dalai Lama incarnation. It is f ...

Hutukthu, was finally enthroned as the 8th incarnation of Panchen Lama in the Tashilhunpo Monastery. In 1877 (or 1878) Tenpai Wangchuk along with regent Tenzin Hutukthu identified the 13th

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 D ...

using the Golden Urn. The 8th Panchen Lama died in 1882 in the age of 27. All the tombs from the Fifth to the Ninth Panchen Lamas were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and have been rebuilt by the 10th Panchen Lama with a huge tomb at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, known as the Tashi Langyar.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) ''Tibet''. 6th Edition. Lonely Planet Publications. p. 175.

References

1855 births 1882 deaths Panchen Lama 08 Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet 19th-century Tibetan people {{Tibetan-Buddhism-stub