Gruschke on Gonlung Jampaling Monastery

Gruschke states that all information in his description of Gonlung Jampaling comes from Xie et al. 1, HZZG 2, Liu & Li 3, and sources within the temple unless otherwise noted (217 4 n. 29). In his description of the temple, he states that many Tu / Monguor people are in the nearby area, and that it is known in Qinghai by the names Youning Si (“Peace-Protecting Temple”)  in Chinese, Dgon lung byams pa gling in Tibetan (which he translates as “Temple of Maitreya in the monastery valley”), and either Rgolong or Regulong by the Monguor.

Gruschke’s history of Gonlung Jampaling begins by mostly focusing on sectarian concerns within the Gelugpa order. For example, he cites Schram 5 for the founding year of either 1602 or 1604, and reproduces legends of the temple’s construction from Schram’s account, one of which links the founding of Gonlung Jampaling with the Dalai Lamas. He furthermore states that the Fourth Dalai Lama founded a lamasery at Gonlung Jampaling in 1604 by sending the lama Don yod chos kyi rgya mtsho, and suggests that the Gelugpa sect was motivated to establish this monastery in order to check the growing influence of the Karma Kagyupa sect. His history includes further notes that Gonlung Jampaling became a Gelugpa administrative centre in Amdo on good terms with other Gelugpa monasteries like Sera and Drepung. Gurschke cites Xie et al. 6 and Pu 7 to state that by 1723 Gonlung Jampaling housed over 2, 500 monks and had 42 satellite temples and monasteries, with six or even seven thousand monks  in the time of the Third Sumpa Khutukhtu (1704-1788), though this may be an overestimation that includes the populations of all satellite monasteries (34 8).

When describing Gonlung Jampaling’s later history, Gruschke turns more to imperial connections. He dates Gonlung Jampaling’s destruction to 1724 after it sided with Lobsang Tendzin’s rebellion, and states that it was rebuilt in 1732-1733 with the imperially-sanctioned name of Youning Si. Citing Wei 1993 (without listing this source in his bibliography!), Gruschke records that further attacks occurred during the Muslim uprisings of 1866 and 1895-1896, and that Gonlung Jampaling was rebuilt in 1915 by the Sixth Tuguan Khutukhtu, housing about 300 monks at the time of Communist control, nearly all Monguor. Gruschke records that Gonlung Jampaling was partially destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, rebuilt in 1980, and re-opened in 1984. He also cites Gyurme Dorje 9 when stating that the monastery in 1996 had about 300 monks, almost all of Tu / Monguor nationality, who could speak Tu, Mandarin Chinese and Amdo Tibetan, though his endnotes suggest that his informants may have meant Lhasa dialect instead of Amdo (218 10 n. 46).

In his extensive description of the temple’s layout, Gruschke includes architectural concerns and lists of various texts contained in the temple, notably the Kanjur and Tanjur. He also briefly describes pilgrimage practices in the area, including a mention of pilgrims carrying heavy books on their backs while walking around temple grounds (he does not specifically say “circumambulate,” but it appears likely) for apotropaic purposes or to fulfill vows (36 11). Gruschke also draws on Heissig 12 and Schram 13 when describing the many literary accomplishments of Gonlung Jampaling’s scholars, stating that Yeshe Panchur’s History of the Rise and Downfall of Buddhism in India and Tibet (Tibetan of the author and text not given) was written at Gonlung Jampaling.

• 1. Xie, Zuo. Qinghai De Siyuan [Monasteries of Qinghai], Edited by Ben Gesang and Ling He. Xining, 1986.
• 2. Huangnan Zangzu Zizhizhou Gaikuang [A Survey of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Huangnan]. HZZG. Xining, 1985.
• 3. Liu, Xianzhao, and Weihui Li. Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu Diqu Lüyou Daquan [A Comprehensive Tourism Manual of China's National Minorities' Districts]. Chongqing, 1992.
• 4. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 5. Schram, Louis. "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier, Second Part." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47, no. 2 (1957): 1-164.
• 6. Xie, Zuo. Qinghai De Siyuan [Monasteries of Qinghai], Edited by Ben Gesang and Ling He. Xining, 1986.
• 7. Pu, Wencheng. Gan Qing Zang Chuanfojiao Siyuan [Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries of Gansu and Qinghai]. Xining: Qinghai renmin, 1996.
• 8. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 9. Dorje, Gyurme. Tibet Handbook. Bath, England, 1996.
• 10. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 11. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 12. Heissig, Walter. Die Pekinger Lamaistischen Blockdrucke in Mongolischer Sprache. Wiesbaden, 1954.
• 13. Schram, Louis. "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier, Second Part." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47, no. 2 (1957): 1-164.