Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa
Encyclopedia
Tsepon Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa (Tibetan: tsi dpon dbang phyug bde ldan zhwa sgab pa, January 11, 1907 – February 23, 1989) was a Tibetan
nobleman, scholar and former minister. Tsepon was his title as Finance Minister
In 1948, Shakabpa, in his capacity as Tibet's Finance Minister, was despatched abroad by the Tibetan Cabinet
, or Kashag
, as head of a Tibetan Trade Mission
, a delegation that travelled around to world to investigate the possibilities of commercial treaties, particularly with the United States. He travelled to China, India, England, USA, Italy, Switzerland and France. The mission was intended also to strengthen claims for Tibet as an independent, sovereign nation. The Tibetan Government in Exile argues that the official passport he was issued with at the time illustrates that Tibet
was an independent country.
As Chinese forces spilled over into Amdo
and Kham
, Shakabpa and Tsechak Khenchung Tupten Gyelpo were appointed to serve as chief negotiators with the Chinese. The mission was aborted when the Tibetan cabinet minister in eastern Tibet, Ngapöpa Ngawang Jikmé
, apparently arranged an agreement with the Chinese. When the PRC
entered Tibet in 1951, Shakabpa decided to go into exile, moving to India where, from 1959 until 1966, he was the principal representative of the 14th Dalai Lama
in New Delhi. It was from this time on that Shakabpa began to concentrate on a thorough study of Tibetan history.
As events in Tibet deteriorated in the mid-fifties, he began to organise the Tibetan resistance together with the Dalai Lama's two older brothers, Gyalo Döndrup and the Taktser Rinpoche
Thubten Jigme Norbu. After China's violent suppression of Tibetan demonstrations, and the flight into exile of the Dalai Lama and 80,000 Tibetans into exile, Shakabpa played a key role in developing the infrastructure for assisting the new diaspora
in India. His major work, Tibet: A Political history, published by Yale University Press in 1967, has been judged 'the most thorough explication in a western language of a Tibetan's view of their history' down to recent times, His perspective views the historical relationship
between China and Tibet as flowing from the model of preceptor and patron(mchod gnas dang yon bdag) established by Genghis Khan
, whereby 'the lama serv(ed) as the spiritual guide and preceptor of the khan, while the khan played the role of the protector and patron of the khan,' and that Tibet was 'forcibly incorporated into China under the threat of military destruction only in 1951'. This book, and in his more definitive account in Tibetan, published in 1976, have been subjected to thorough academic critique by Chinese Tibetologists.
Shakabpa lived in New Delhi, Kalimpong and Manhattan. He died of stomach cancer, at the age of 82, in 1989 in the house of one of his sons in Corpus Christi, Texas
.
A photograph of Shakabpa's passport was first published in his Political History of Tibet in 1967. In 2003, this Tibetan passport was rediscovered in Nepal
. Issued by the 13th Dalai Lama
to Tibet's finance minister Shakabpa for foreign travel, the passport was a single piece of pink paper, complete with photograph, and had visas issued by many countries, including Britain. It has a message in typed English and hand-written Tibetan, similar to the message by the nominal issuing officers of today's passports. There is no Chinese script on the passport. Two square stamps are impressions of a seal belonging to a Tibetan government office. The existence of this passport, which is believed to be genuine, is used by pro-Tibetan independence groups to demonstrate the recognised independence of Tibet in the mid 1900s.
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
nobleman, scholar and former minister. Tsepon was his title as Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
Biography
M. Shakabpa, was born in Tibet. His father, Tashi Phuntsok Shakabpa, was the steward of Lhasa. His uncle Trimon Norbu Wangyal, served as a Minister in the Cabinet of the 13th Dalai Lama. Shakabpa joined the Government at the age of 23, in 1930, as an official of the Treasury, and was appointed Minister of Finance in 1939, a position he held until 1950. His uncle, who had participated in the tripartite negotiations between Great Britain, China and Tibet in 1914, strongly encouraged him to take up an interest in Tibetan history, handing him in 1931 many documents he had personally collected from the Simla Accord negotiations, in order to counter the Chinese narrative accounts concerning his country.In 1948, Shakabpa, in his capacity as Tibet's Finance Minister, was despatched abroad by the Tibetan Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
, or Kashag
Kashag
The Kashag was the governing council of Tibet during Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. It was set by Qianlong Emperor in 1751. In that year the Tibetan government was reorganized after the riots in Lhasa of the previous year...
, as head of a Tibetan Trade Mission
Trade mission
Trade mission is an international trip by government officials and businesspeople that is organized by agencies of national or provincial governments for purpose of exploring international business opportunities. Business people who attend trade missions are typically introduced both to important...
, a delegation that travelled around to world to investigate the possibilities of commercial treaties, particularly with the United States. He travelled to China, India, England, USA, Italy, Switzerland and France. The mission was intended also to strengthen claims for Tibet as an independent, sovereign nation. The Tibetan Government in Exile argues that the official passport he was issued with at the time illustrates that Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
was an independent country.
As Chinese forces spilled over into Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...
and Kham
Kham
Kham , is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China , most of the region was...
, Shakabpa and Tsechak Khenchung Tupten Gyelpo were appointed to serve as chief negotiators with the Chinese. The mission was aborted when the Tibetan cabinet minister in eastern Tibet, Ngapöpa Ngawang Jikmé
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was a Tibetan senior official who assumed various military and political responsibilities both before and after 1951. He is often known simply as Ngabo in English sources.-Early life:...
, apparently arranged an agreement with the Chinese. When the PRC
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
entered Tibet in 1951, Shakabpa decided to go into exile, moving to India where, from 1959 until 1966, he was the principal representative of the 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
in New Delhi. It was from this time on that Shakabpa began to concentrate on a thorough study of Tibetan history.
As events in Tibet deteriorated in the mid-fifties, he began to organise the Tibetan resistance together with the Dalai Lama's two older brothers, Gyalo Döndrup and the Taktser Rinpoche
Taktser Rinpoche
Taktser Rinpoche was a Tibetan lama. Thupten Jigme Norbu, the brother of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was recognized in Tibetan Buddhism as his reincarnation....
Thubten Jigme Norbu. After China's violent suppression of Tibetan demonstrations, and the flight into exile of the Dalai Lama and 80,000 Tibetans into exile, Shakabpa played a key role in developing the infrastructure for assisting the new diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
in India. His major work, Tibet: A Political history, published by Yale University Press in 1967, has been judged 'the most thorough explication in a western language of a Tibetan's view of their history' down to recent times, His perspective views the historical relationship
Tibet during the Ming Dynasty
The exact nature of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming Dynasty of China is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts, and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist...
between China and Tibet as flowing from the model of preceptor and patron(mchod gnas dang yon bdag) established by Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
, whereby 'the lama serv(ed) as the spiritual guide and preceptor of the khan, while the khan played the role of the protector and patron of the khan,' and that Tibet was 'forcibly incorporated into China under the threat of military destruction only in 1951'. This book, and in his more definitive account in Tibetan, published in 1976, have been subjected to thorough academic critique by Chinese Tibetologists.
Shakabpa lived in New Delhi, Kalimpong and Manhattan. He died of stomach cancer, at the age of 82, in 1989 in the house of one of his sons in Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
.
Works and Articles
- Buddha's Relics in Tibet, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta 1951.
- Tibet: A Political History, Yale University Press, 1967.
- Bod-kyi srid don rgyalrabs, 2 vols. Shakabpa House, Kalimpong, 1976. See 2010)
- Tibet, in Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, 15th. ed. 1977. - Catalogue and Guide to the Central Temple of Lhasa, Shakabpa house, Kalimpong, India, 1981.
- (with Yongten Gyatso)The Nectar of the Immortal Gods Inducing Recollectionj in the Brethren Living at Home in the Three Provinces of Tibet and Living in Exile,(booklet, Tibetan), 1988.
- A Brief History of Ancient Monasteries and Temples in Tibet, (ed. T.Tsepal Taikhang), Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa Memorial Foundation, VaranasiVaranasi-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, 2002. - One hundred thousand moons,(translation of Shakabpa, 1976) tr. Derek F. Maher, BRILL, 2010.
Passport found in 2003
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. Issued by the 13th Dalai Lama
Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama
Thubten Gyatso was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet.During 1878 he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He was escorted to Lhasa and given his pre-novice vows by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and named "Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal"...
to Tibet's finance minister Shakabpa for foreign travel, the passport was a single piece of pink paper, complete with photograph, and had visas issued by many countries, including Britain. It has a message in typed English and hand-written Tibetan, similar to the message by the nominal issuing officers of today's passports. There is no Chinese script on the passport. Two square stamps are impressions of a seal belonging to a Tibetan government office. The existence of this passport, which is believed to be genuine, is used by pro-Tibetan independence groups to demonstrate the recognised independence of Tibet in the mid 1900s.
See also
- The 17-Point Agreement, The full story as revealed by the Tibetans and Chinese who were involved (1950-1951 : involvement of Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa in the 17 points agreement)