(TibetanReview.net, Mar30’25) – In what may be a response to the Dalai Lama’s move, made known in his most recently published book, to have his reincarnation taking birth in the free world, without any possibility of interference by Beijing, China has said Mar 29 that it would not recognize any such rebirth.
“If the next Dalai Lama is declared to have been reincarnated abroad, I think it is illegal,” the scmp.com Mar 29 quoted Li Decheng, deputy director general of the official China Tibetology Research Centre, as saying at a forum in Beijing on Mar 27.
“He cannot be recognised,” Li has said, contending that the concept of a foreign successor to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader “does not conform to religious rituals, historical customs or China’s management methods for the reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhism’s living Buddhas.”
The forum, organised by the All-China Journalists Association and open to reporters and diplomats, was stated to have been held to explain the Communist Party of China-state’s narrative on the reincarnation system of Tibetan Buddhism’s living Buddhas.
This narrative radically differs from the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist tradition which holds that it is the reincarnating lama who determines his own rebirth.
In keeping with it, the Dalai Lama has said in his new book, Voice for the Voiceless, published earlier this month: “Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue.”
In a rewriting of the historicity of this system, however, Li has said the reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas had historically been “approved by the central government”, referring to the emperor Shunzhi in the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911) who he has falsely claimed anointed the fifth Dalai Lama.
The title “Dalai Lama” (Ocean of Wisdom) was conferred on the Tibetan lama Sonam Gyatso by the Mongol chief Altan Khan, a descendant of Kublai Khan, in 1578 to honour him after receiving a religious teaching from him, with the title being applied posthumously to his two preceding incarnations as well, making him the third.
China’s attempts to interfere in the Dalai Lama reincarnation process happened as early as during the latter-day Qing emperor Qianlong, who proposed the “golden urn” method of selecting the reincarnated spiritual leader. But Tibetan history says the golden urn method was only a suggestion from a religious patron in the event of a difficulty in making the final recognition and was, in fact, hardly ever used.
Claiming that “the Dalai Lama reincarnation system is a Chinese system.” Li has said “the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will proceed normally” with his “mother temple in China, the Drepung Monastery,” making “a request to the authorities to find the reincarnated child.”
Turning the very basis for the recognition of the reincarnation of a top Tibetan lama on its head, Li has said “the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation … could not be proposed by himself while he was still alive.”
As regards the Dalai Lama’s recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, some 30 years ago, Li has maintained that it was “illegal” and “invalid”, adding, “as far as I know, he is currently living in a good condition and does not want to be disturbed by others.”
Nevertheless, the fate and whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains one of China’s best kept secrets to this day. The Panchen Lama is Tibet’s second most prominent religious figure, after the Dalai Lama. The Chinese government has installed Gyaincain Norbu in his place as the 11th Panchen Lama in a reprisal against the Dalai Lama for announcing his recognition of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 14, 1995.