Gruschke on Serkhog

Gruschke states (218, n. 56 1) that much of his information in on Serkhog (Gser khog gdon pa) comes from Xie et al. (2), Pu (3), and his informants on site. On the basis of these sources, he lists Guomang Si, Zanbu Si, Saikehe Si, Guanghui Si, Btsan po dgon and Dga’ ldan dam chos gling as the names of this site. Furthermore, he sets the construction of Serkhog after 1649-1651, when Don grub rgya mtsho built Dga’ ldan dam chos gling. Gruschke also writes that Serkhog gained the name Guomang Si when its first abbot – who trained at Sgo mang grwa tshang - was sent by the Fifth Dalai Lama (36 4). While Serkhog began as a subsidiary monastery of Rgolong, it became independent and controlled nine subsidiary monasteries in the eighteenth century (36 5). Around the same time, according to Gruschke’s reading of Schram 6, Serkhog had over 2000 monks and 18 tulkus before it was destroyed in 1724 for supporting Lobsang Tendzin’s rebellion. Gruschke also records that the monastery was rebuilt with imperial funds and named Guanghui Si (37 7).

Gruschke describes the post-reconstruction history of Serkhog by stating that Serkhog gained considerable fame, especially after the Dalai Lama sent one of Serkhong’s abbots, “the 2nd Mindröl Khutukhtu Lobsang Tendzin Gyatsho” in 1727 to the Imperial Court (in Beijing), where he was given gifts and a high title (37 8). He also states that Serkhog also became well-known as the site where Tsenpo Nomun Khan (d. 1839) wrote the “Mirror which illuminates all the Inanimate and Animate Things and explains fully the Great World (Tibetan title: ‘Dzam gling rgyas bshad)” (37 9).

• 1. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 2. Xie, Zuo. Qinghai De Siyuan [Monasteries of Qinghai], Edited by Ben Gesang and Ling He. Xining, 1986.
• 3. Pu, Wencheng. Gan Qing Zang Chuanfojiao Siyuan [Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries of Gansu and Qinghai]. Xining: Qinghai renmin, 1996.
• 4. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 5. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 6. Schram, Louis. "The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier, Second Part." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47, no. 2 (1957): 1-164.
• 7. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 8. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.
• 9. Gruschke, A.. The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Vol 1. The Qinghai Part of Amdo. White Lotus Press, 2001.