Tibet: Known People

Visual artist

• Jampa Tseten(1914 – 2005) is known for his photo-realistic painting style and many portraits of the Dalai Lama.
• Gendun Choephel(1903-51) was an artist and scholar.

Musician

• Tenzing Tsewang is a contemporary Tibetan musician.

Politicians and rulers

• Nyatri Tsenpo
  the first king of Tibet, (reign: 797 – 804) ruled in the 2nd century BC.
• The most important rulers of the Tibetan Yarlung dynasty were Songsten Gampo(617-649), Trisong Detsen (742-797) and Ngadhak Tri Ralpachen (815-836).
• Muni Tsenpo
  , Tibetan king from 797-804.
• The last Tibetan king was Lang Darma.
• The Sakya Lamas
  were a dynasty of 20 lama kings who ruled over Tibet politically and religiously from 1249 to 1358.
• The most important lama and abbot of the Sakya monastery was Kunga Gyaltsen(1162 – 1251).
• Sakya Drogön Phakpa(1235-1280)
  was elevated to secular ruler of Tibet in 1253.
• The Tibetan prince Changchub Gyaltsen(1302-1364)
  was the first of eleven rulers of the noble Phagmo-Drupa family, who ruled over Tibet from 1358 to 1436.

Athlete

• Sadar Tenzing Norgay(1914 – 1986)
  Norgay from the Sherpa people was the first to climb Mount Everest on May 29, 1953 with the New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (born 1919). He was probably born in a Buddhist monastery and probably grew up in a remote Tibetan village until he was eight and emigrated with his parents to Nepal, in the Khumbu region.

All Dalai Lamas and a monk

• Gedün Truppa(1391-1474), first Dalai Lama of Tibet
• Gedün Gyatso(1475-1542), second Dalai Lama
• Sonam Gyatso(1543-1588), third Dalai Lama
• Yönten Gyatso(1589 – 1617), fourth Dalai Lama
• Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso(1617 – 1682), fifth Dalai Lama
• Tsangyang Gyatso(1683-1746), sixth Dalai Lama
• Kesang Gyatso(1708-1757), seventh Dalai Lama
• Jamphel Gyatso(1758-1804), eighth Dalai Lama
• Lungtog Gyatso(1806-1815), ninth Dalai Lama
• Tsultrim Gyatso(1816-1837), tenth Dalai Lama
• Khedrup Gyatso(1838-1856), eleventh Dalai Lama
• Trinle Gyatso(1856-1875), twelfth Dalai Lama
• Thubten Gyatso(1876-1933), thirteenth Dalai Lama
• Tenzin Gyatso (born July 6, 1935)
  The current spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhists is the 14th Dalai Lama, who lived in exile in Dharamsala, India after his expulsion from Tibet by the Chinese in March 1959. The Dalai Lama is revered as the God-King and received the Nobel Prize in 1989. The present Dalai Lama was born in 1935 as the ninth child of a simple farming family in the Tibetan village of Taktser with the name Lhamo Dhondrub. The village is located in the Amdo Province in northeast Tibet. He was discovered by a delegation of monks on the basis of mythical rituals as the rebirth of the former Dalai Lama. His monk name is Tenzin Gyatso. He was enthroned in a public ceremony as the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet in 1940 at the age of four and a half.
• Akong Rinpoche(born 1939), monk and founder of the first Tibetan Buddhist meditation center and monastery, Samye Ling, in the western world. It is located in Scotland.

 

Tibet: Political System

Tibet is part of China. Therefore, the Chinese laws and regulations apply there.

The official name of the country is:

Tibet Autonomous Region

National anthem

Since Tibet belongs to China, the Chinese national anthem applies there. But there is still a regional anthem written by Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche.

In the Tibetan language it reads:

Si-schi phän-de dö-gu jungle guard. Thub-tän sam-päl nor-bü wö-nang bar. Tän-drö nor-zin gya-cher kyong-wä gön. Trin-lä kyi röl-tso gyä. Dor-dsche kham-su tän-pä. Chog-kün dscham-tse kyong. Nam-kö ga-wa gya-dan u-phang gung-la reg. Phün-tsog de-dschii nga-thang gyä. Bö-dschong tschöl-kha sum-gyi khyön-la de-kyi dzog-dan sar-pä khyab. Tschö-si kyi päl-yön dar. Thub-tän chog-chur gyä-pä zam-ling yang-pä kye-gu schi-de päl-la dschor Böd-dschong tän-drö ge-tsän nyi-wö kyi. Ta-schi wö-nang bum-tu tro-wä si. Nag-tschog mün-pä yül-lä gyäl-gyur tschig !!

And in the German translation

The source of worldly and spiritual joys and unlimited benefits, The wish-fulfilling jewel of the Buddha’s teachings shines in glistening light, The patron saint of teaching and all living beings, The influence of his actions extends as far as an ocean through his eternal indestructible Buddha-nature, his compassion and his loving Devotion embraces all sentient beings, May the heavenly supremacy of Gawa Gyaden attain the height of glory and multiply his influence and prosperity, May a golden age of happiness and contentment fill the regions of Tibet again, and may it shine again in worldly and spiritual splendor, May the Buddha’s teachings spread in all 10 directions and May the spiritual sun of the Tibetan faith and its people send out countless rays of golden light and victoriously conquer the darkness.

National flag

The national flag of Tibet is that of China, but the autonomous region has its own flag.