Shirob Jaltso

1884

China

In the mid-thirties he went (via India) to China proper, where he lectured at National Central, Chung-shan, Peking, Tsinghua, and Wuhan universities. He apparently spent most of the war years in Chungking; by at least the early 1940’s he was associated with two organizations headquartered in that city. One was the Association for the Promotion of Tibetan Culture, of which he was the president, and the other was the China Association for the Promotion of Border Culture. In the latter, Shirob served as one of the executive directors under President Ch'en Li-fu, a top KMT leader. Shirob Jaltso was one of the three representatives from Tibet to the National Government’s Third People’s Political Council, which first met in October 1942. In the following year he was assigned to Lhasa to improve Sino-Tibetan relations, but was evidently not permitted to enter Tibet. From May 1945 to 1949 he served as an alternate member of the Sixth Supervisory Committee of the Kuomintang, and from 1947 to 1949 as a vice-chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission of the Nationalist Government. Already an elderly 65, Shirob Jaltso elected to remain on the mainland when the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949. For this he was rewarded with a number of nominal positions within the government. When the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NWMAC) and the Tsinghai provincial government were formed over the winter of 1949-50, he was made a member of the former and a vice-governor of the province, he continues to hold the latter post. In March 1950 he was concurrently appointed as a vice-chairman of the NWMAC Nationalities Affairs Committee, member of the NWMAC Culture and Education Committee, and chairman of the Tsinghai Culture and Education Committee. In 1951 he also assumed membership on the Tsinghai Land Reform Committee and in 1952 on the NWMAC Political and Legal Affairs Committee. Finally, when the NWMAC was reorganized into the Northwest Administrative Committee in January 1953, he was reappointed to membership and held it until the NWAC was abolished in 1954. Thus, ostensibly, Shirob Jaltso was a fairly senior official in the northwest in the early years of the PRC. During these same years in tlie early 1950’s, the first steps were being taken toward the establishment of the Chinese Buddhist Association, although Shirob Jaltso apparently did not have any major role in this endeavor. He was, however, in Peking in June 1950 to attend the second session of the First CPPCC, and during that same summer he took part in a meeting in the capital, which initiated the first steps toward the establishment of the Buddhist Association. At that time the decision was made that the formation of an association would he premature. Two years later, however, at another meeting (November 1952) it was announced that the association would be formed. Shirob Jaltso and Chao P’u-ch’u jointly presided over this meeting. Finally, at a May-June 1953 meeting in Peking, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established with Shirob named as the first vicechairman. The chairmanship went to Yuan-ying, a revered and conservative Han Chinese Buddhist monk who had been head of the (original) Chinese Buddhist Association from the time it was established in Shanghai in 1929 until the reformer Tai-hsu won control over it in 1945. Already ill when he was elected, Yuan-ying died on September 20, 1953, and in the next month the association named Shirob Jaltso as the acting chairman. Then in August 1955 he was elevated to the chairmanship, a post he continues to hold. In August 1955 the decision was taken to establish the Chinese Buddhist Theological Institute to train monks. At that time Shirob Jaltso was named as one of the 12 members of the preparatory committee for the Institute, and when it was formally established in September 1956 he was named as the president, another position he continues to hold. In February 1956 he was also named as the honorary editor-in-chief of the committee to prepare an encyclopedia of Chinese Buddhism and contribute to the international encyclopedia being compiled in Ceylon. Apart from his work in the field of Buddhism, Shirob Jaltso has also held a number of official and semi-official positions within the PRC. In 1954 he was elected a deputy from his native Tsinghai to the First NPC (1954-1959) and was then re-elected for the Second NPC (1959-1964), under both he also served as a member of the NPC Nationalities Committee. He was not, however, re-elected to the Third NPC, which opened its first session in late 1964. He also served as a religious delegate to the National Committee of the Second CPPCC (1954-1959), and in March 1957 was elevated to the Standing Committee, he was then reelected to both posts under the Third CPPCC (1959-1964). Aithough he was re-elected as a delegate to the CPPCC in late 1964 when the Fourth National Committee was being formed, he was not re-elected to the Standing Committee. In both instances, his failure of re-election can probably be attributed to his advanced age.

Shirob Jaltso

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chairman politician Buddhist

Background

Nothing is known about his background.

Education

He is said to be a man of great learning. After earning his degree, he remained at Drepung where he spent a number of years collating a new edition of the Tibetan Tripitaka. Jt is reported that he fell into disfavor with the 13th Dalai Lama because of unauthorized emendations made in this new edition.

Career

In the mid-thirties he went (via India) to China proper, where he lectured at National Central, Chung-shan, Peking, Tsinghua, and Wuhan universities. He apparently spent most of the war years in Chungking; by at least the early 1940’s he was associated with two organizations headquartered in that city. One was the Association for the Promotion of Tibetan Culture, of which he was the president, and the other was the China Association for the Promotion of Border Culture. In the latter, Shirob served as one of the executive directors under President Ch'en Li-fu, a top KMT leader. Shirob Jaltso was one of the three representatives from Tibet to the National Government’s Third People’s Political Council, which first met in October 1942. In the following year he was assigned to Lhasa to improve Sino-Tibetan relations, but was evidently not permitted to enter Tibet. From May 1945 to 1949 he served as an alternate member of the Sixth Supervisory Committee of the Kuomintang, and from 1947 to 1949 as a vice-chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission of the Nationalist Government.

Already an elderly 65, Shirob Jaltso elected to remain on the mainland when the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949. For this he was rewarded with a number of nominal positions within the government. When the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NWMAC) and the Tsinghai provincial government were formed over the winter of 1949-50, he was made a member of the former and a vice-governor of the province, he continues to hold the latter post. In March 1950 he was concurrently appointed as a vice-chairman of the NWMAC Nationalities Affairs Committee, member of the NWMAC Culture and Education Committee, and chairman of the Tsinghai Culture and Education Committee. In 1951 he also assumed membership on the Tsinghai Land Reform Committee and in 1952 on the NWMAC Political and Legal Affairs Committee. Finally, when the NWMAC was reorganized into the Northwest Administrative Committee in January 1953, he was reappointed to membership and held it until the NWAC was abolished in 1954. Thus, ostensibly, Shirob Jaltso was a fairly senior official in the northwest in the early years of the PRC. During these same years in tlie early 1950’s, the first steps were being taken toward the establishment of the Chinese Buddhist Association, although Shirob Jaltso apparently did not have any major role in this endeavor. He was, however, in Peking in June 1950 to attend the second session of the First CPPCC, and during that same summer he took part in a meeting in the capital, which initiated the first steps toward the establishment of the Buddhist Association.

At that time the decision was made that the formation of an association would he premature. Two years later, however, at another meeting (November 1952) it was announced that the association would be formed. Shirob Jaltso and Chao P’u-ch’u jointly presided over this meeting. Finally, at a May-June 1953 meeting in Peking, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established with Shirob named as the first vicechairman. The chairmanship went to Yuan-ying, a revered and conservative Han Chinese Buddhist monk who had been head of the (original) Chinese Buddhist Association from the time it was established in Shanghai in 1929 until the reformer Tai-hsu won control over it in 1945. Already ill when he was elected, Yuan-ying died on September 20, 1953, and in the next month the association named Shirob Jaltso as the acting chairman. Then in August 1955 he was elevated to the chairmanship, a post he continues to hold.

In August 1955 the decision was taken to establish the Chinese Buddhist Theological Institute to train monks. At that time Shirob Jaltso was named as one of the 12 members of the preparatory committee for the Institute, and when it was formally established in September 1956 he was named as the president, another position he continues to hold. In February 1956 he was also named as the honorary editor-in-chief of the committee to prepare an encyclopedia of Chinese Buddhism and contribute to the international encyclopedia being compiled in Ceylon. Apart from his work in the field of Buddhism, Shirob Jaltso has also held a number of official and semi-official positions within the PRC. In 1954 he was elected a deputy from his native Tsinghai to the First NPC (1954-1959) and was then re-elected for the Second NPC (1959-1964), under both he also served as a member of the NPC Nationalities Committee. He was not, however, re-elected to the Third NPC, which opened its first session in late 1964. He also served as a religious delegate to the National Committee of the Second CPPCC (1954-1959), and in March 1957 was elevated to the Standing Committee, he was then reelected to both posts under the Third CPPCC (1959-1964). Aithough he was re-elected as a delegate to the CPPCC in late 1964 when the Fourth National Committee was being formed, he was not re-elected to the Standing Committee. In both instances, his failure of re-election can probably be attributed to his advanced age.

Politics

In spite of his advanced age, he spends a large amount of time entertaining foreign Buddhist delegations, a great number of which have visited China since the mid-1950’s, particularly from countries with large Buddhist populations such as Burma, Ceylon, and Japan. He has also led Buddhist delegations abroad on at least five occasions, in addition to serving as a member of a delegation to a meeting of the World Peace Council in Sweden in May 1959. Two of his five trips as head of Buddhist groups took him to Burma (April-May 1955 and December 1960-January 1961), and in June 1961 he took another such delegation to Ceylon. But clearly the most important of these trips were the ones he took in 1956 and 1961. In November 1956 he led a 15- member group to the Fourth Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) in Nepal, where he was elected a vice-president of the WFB and was re-elected to it (in absentia) at the fifth conference in 1958. The other visit of importance took place in November 1961 when he attended the sixth WFB conference in Cambodia where he was elected as one of the religious advisers of the WFB. A person who attended this meeting in Cambodia stated that Shirob was in fact only the titular head of the Chinese delegation and that the real head was Chao P'u-ch'u China’s leading lay Buddhist and very probably a Party member, who is in effective control of the Chinese Buddhist Association as its secretary-general. An illustration of this relationship between the two men is found in the fact that Chao has accompanied Shirob Jaltso on all five Buddhist delegations abroad, of which Shirob has been the ostensible leader. Chao speaks a little English whereas Shirob purports to know only Tibetan, and thus the former has been able to communicate more effectively when abroad.

Membership

At the semi-official level, he has been a member of the Asian Solidarity Committee of China from its formation in February 1956 (renarxied Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee in 1958), and of the National Committee of the China Peace Committee from July 1958. When the Asia- Africa Society of China was formed in April 1962 as an organization to conduct research, he was named to membership on the council. On the occasions when the Chinese Communists have reorganized provinces into “autonomous regions” in an attempt to win favor among minority groups, they have always held large celebrations in the areas in question. Shirob Jaltso has attended two of these, he was in Sinkiang in October 1955 for the inauguration of the Sinkiang-Uighur Autonomous Region and in Kwangsi in March 1958 for the establishment of the Kwang-si-Chuang Autonomous Region. Similarly, he journeyed to Inner Mongolia for the May 1957 celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of that autonomous region.

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Shirob Jaltso

Background

Education

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Career

1945 - 1949

1951

1951

1954

1954 - 1959