Drepung Monastery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tibetan name | |
|---|---|
| Tibetan: | འབྲས་སྤུངས་ |
| Wylie transliteration: | ’bras spungs |
| pronunciation in IPA: | [ʈʂɛpuŋ] |
| official transcription (PRC): | Zhaibung |
| THDL: | Drepung |
| other transcriptions: | Dräpung, Drebung |
| Chinese name | |
| traditional: | 哲蚌寺 |
| simplified: | 哲蚌寺 |
| Pinyin: | Zhébàng Sì |
Drepung Monastery (literally “Rice Heap” monastery),[1] located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet.
The other two are Ganden and Sera. Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries, and indeed at its peak was the largest monastery of any religion in the world. It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Chojey, a direct disciple of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukpa school. It is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, 5 kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa.
F. Spencer Chapman reported, after his 1936-37 trip to Tibet, that Drepung was at that time the largest monastery in the world, and housed 7,700 monks, "but sometimes as many as 10,000 monks."[2]
After Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, the army of occupation tried to enforce the official atheism doctrine of the Chinese Communist Party. Tibetans resisted, and in 1959 the Chinese government increased the level of violence against Tibetans, and particularly against Buddhist monks and nuns. Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans were killed by the Chinese over the next 15 years, and almost 4,000 monasteries and temples were destroyed or heavily damaged. Before 1959, the monastery housed 15,000 celibate monks. In the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Drepung had as few as several hundred monks.
When China's leader Mao Zedong died in 1976, saner voices within the Chinese government halted the large scale massacres of Tibetans. Drepung and other monasteries were gradually allowed more freedom, as long as they stayed away from criticism of the Chinese.
[edit] History
Drepung was known for the high standards of its academic study, and was called the Nalanda of Tibet, a reference to the great Buddhist monastic university of Nalanda.
Chapman reported that in the late 1930's Drepung was divided into four colleges, each housing monks from a different locality: "one being favoured by Khampas, another by Mongolians, and so on." Each college was presided over by an Abbot who had been appointed by the late 13th Dalai Lama.[3]
Drepung is now divided into what are known as the seven great colleges - Gomang (sGo-mang), Loseling (Blo-gsal gling), Deyang (bDe-dbyangs), Shagkor (Shag-skor), Gyelwa (rGyal-ba) or Tosamling (Thos-bsam gling), Dulwa (‘Dul-ba), and Ngagpa (sNgags-pa). It can be a somewhat useful analogy to think of Drepung as a university along the lines of Oxford or the Sorbonne in the Middle Ages, the various colleges having different emphases, teaching lineages, or traditional geographical affiliations.
Today the population at the monastery located in Tibet is much smaller with merely a few hundred monks, due to population capping enforced by the Chinese government. However, the institution has continued its tradition in exile within South India, relocated to land in Karnataka given to the Tibetan community in exile by Prime Minister Nehru. The monastery in India today houses over 5,000 celibate monks, with around 3,000 at Drepung Loseling and some 2,000 at Drepung Gomang. Hundreds of new monks are admitted each year, many of them refugees from Tibet.
[edit] References
- ^ Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land. Patrick French. (2003) Alfred A. Knopf. New York City, p.240 (in quote from 13th Dalai Lama). ISBN 1-4000-4100-7
- ^ Chapman F. Spencer. Lhasa the Holy City, p. 195. Readers Union Ltd., London.
- ^ Chapman F. Spencer. Lhasa the Holy City, p. 198. Readers Union Ltd., London.
- Dowman, Keith. 1988. The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0
[edit] See also
- An multimedia guide to Drepung
- Drepung Loseling Institute in North America
- A Brief History of Drepung Monastery link broken
- The Gomang College home page
Lhasa Prefecture, Tibet | ||
|---|---|---|
| County-level Divisions | Lhünzhub • Damxung • Nyêmo • Qüxü • Doilungdêqên • Dagzê •Maizhokunggar •Chengguan District | Image:Lhasa.png |
| Lhasa | Barkhor • Lingkhor • Potala Palace • Norbulingka • Jokhang Temple • Ganden Monastery • Sera Monastery • Lhasa Airport • Lhasa railway station • Chokpori • Drepung Monastery • Ramoche Temple • Sanga Monastery • Tibet University • Yangbajain • Drapchi Prison | |
| Towns and Townships | Caina | |
et:Drepung fr:Drepung nl:Drepungklooster ja:デプン寺 ru:Дрепунг zh:哲蚌寺
