Xiazi Banchin Sonam Zaba, male, 1478 was born in Zedang. Father's name is Xiang Barramba. Master of Tibetan Buddhism.

Chinese name: Xiazi Banqin Sonan Zaba

Nationality: China.

Ethnic group: Tibetan

Place of birth: Zetang

Date of birth: A.D. 1478

Date of death: thirty-three years of Ming Jiajing (1554)

Occupation: Tibetan Buddhism

Faith: Buddhism

Representative works: Complete Works of Banchin Sonanzaba, History of New and Old Kadang Religion, New Red History, ganden's Motto, etc.

Gender: male

Biographical notes

Xiazi Banqin Sonan Zaba was born in Zedang in the 14th year of Chenghua, Ming Xianzong (the eighth year of Tibetan calendar, A.D. 1478). Father's name is Xiang Barramba.

In the seventh year of Hongzhi (1494), Sonam Zaba 16 years old became a monk, and he studied under Qinbo Sonam Tashi, so he was named Sonam Zaba. After that, I studied in Pu Sang Nimatang and Selajie, and learned Manjusri Bodhisattva according to the Lama's Tunyuebei Temple. In order to gain further knowledge of Buddhism, he traveled to Zetang to debate the scriptures. At the same time, he got Misha's precepts and anklets from Sanji Sambo, the Lama of Jonah. Then he went to Zhacang, Luoselin, and drepung monastery, Lhasa for further study, and learned the secret method. Because he is diligent in studying classics and exploring the mysteries of Buddhism, he soon obtained a degree in Guth.

In the eighth year of Zheng De (15 13), Sonan Zaba, who entered middle age, preached his book "Gathering together is a dense life, the second largest sparse life".

In the third year of Jiajing (1524), Sonan Zaba served as a lecturer in drepung monastery Chiba (abbot, also known as Fatai) of Roselin Zacang.

The following year, he was appointed as Xia Zi Zhacang Chiba in Gandan Temple. More than half a century (1529) was honored as the 11th Chiba in drepung monastery.

Nearly sixty-five years old (1536), he was finally welcomed as a master of Buddhism in Uszang-"The year of Gandanhong, the fifteenth year of Chenghua (1479). Its birthplace is "Caiba", and since then, it has been completely hidden.

In the thirty-third year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1554), Sonan Zaba died at the age of 77, and his silver spirit bone tower was in drepung monastery.

Cultivate the third Dalai Lama

Xiazi Banqin Sonan Zaba made great efforts in the whole process of finding and identifying the reincarnation of the second Dalai Lama, and personally took care of the childhood life of the third Dalai Lama Sonan Gyatso, serving as a teacher and teaching Misha precepts.

Master of Tibetan Buddhism

Sonam Zaba lived in the heyday when the Langs family and their local forces of Pazhu ruled Uszang, and it was also the era when Master Zong Kaba defeated the forces of various sects and implemented religious reforms, which made the Gelugpa gradually grow. Objectively speaking, all these are extremely beneficial to him and create good conditions for his success in life. Subjectively speaking, the reason why he can achieve such a prominent reputation in Tibetan religious circles and has outstanding talent in writing cultivation is inseparable from his hard work, strict discipline and continuous progress throughout his life. In particular, from an ordinary Zaba who came from afar, without devoting all his life energy and profound knowledge, it is absolutely impossible for him to climb to the realm of "Chiba, ganden", a Buddhist master in Uszang, which has been coveted by many monks for a long time. Chiba, ganden: It means the main seat of Gandan Temple. A monk who teaches Huang wants to be promoted to this position. First of all, I studied Xianzong's lessons in three major monasteries (including Zabu for 3 years, Prajna for 7 years, Guan Zhong for 65,438+0 years, Jia She for 4 years, and discipline for 4 years), and then I got a degree from Ranbagsi. Then, he entered the upper secret school or the lower secret school, became Zuo Renba (meaning perfect second), and studied tantric for 5 years. After passing the test of argumentation, he successively served as Luo Guo for 4 months, Lama Weng Ze for 3 years, Kampot for 3 years, Kansu for several years, Xia Zi Cheyenne or Jiang Zi Cheyenne 14, and gradually upgraded, and finally became a candidate, so as to be eligible to ascend to the throne of Chiba, ganden. There is only 1 person in Chiba, ganden, with a term of 7 years. In Buddhism, because of its profound Confucian classics, it is unparalleled; The religious status is second only to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. Therefore, it is highly respected by people. According to legend, he is the incarnation of Zong Kaba. After Zong Kaba's death, this position was passed on to the most learned monk. However, due to the study of Buddhist scriptures for half a century, people who finally got the title of "Chiba, ganden" are often full of white hair.

Knowledge display

Sonam Zaba has extensive knowledge all his life, and has his own unique opinions and incisive research expositions in the fields of religion, history and literature. His works are numerous, except the Complete Works of Banchin Sonanzaba, which has been handed down from generation to generation. There are also History of New and Old Kadang Religion, New Red History, Gandan Xun, Buddhist Calendar Lights, Interpretation of All Houses, Buddhist History of Pinaye, Judge, Answering the Karmapa Prajna Question, Interpretation of Four Continuations, Four Continuations, and Mimi Introduction of Two Saints. Three Essentials, Twenty-second Training, etc., among which literature and history works such as Gandan Xun and New Red History still have high artistic, historical and practical significance.

Ganden's motto

The book "ganden's Motto" is entitled "A Bai Lianhua with a Good Motto". This work was written in imitation of Sagar's Motto and was written in the middle of16th century, that is, after Sonam Zaba was honored as "Chiba, ganden". The author regards it as a continuation of Sagar's maxim, whose main content is to teach people how to distinguish right from wrong. Explanation: What? It did not expose the darkness and evil of the ruling class and society, and attacked the greedy and incompetent nature of the rulers in the old society, as Sakya's motto did. So ideologically, it is not as good as Sakya's motto. However, his writing is easy to understand, close to folk language, and there are many choices about truth, goodness, beauty and ugliness in content.

Gandan has 124 aphorisms, each with seven words and four sentences. Most of the books use the rhetorical device of "antithesis". The first two sentences are the original intention, and the last two sentences are metaphors (allusions), which contain many meaningful funny stories. For example, the story of "The Tiger is Afraid of Leakage", which is circulated among Tibetan and Han nationalities and originated from Buddhist scriptures, is vividly written by the author:

A fool meets an important moment,

Don't be afraid of a little thing;

Please mistake it for "water leakage".

The tiger was scared to death.

As far as the artistic technique of the book is concerned, it adopts the method of contrast, with four sentences as a paragraph, one poem praising the wise and the other criticizing the fool. There are many contents, and the contrast between them is dwarfed, and the praise and criticism are clear. Such as advocating hard study and criticizing lazy behavior:

When the wise seek knowledge,

Patience and persistence despite suffering;

Look, it's hard to go out to sea,

Happy to take the baby's heart!

Fools are easygoing and lazy,

Don't learn how to acquire knowledge?

Please look at business and agriculture,

How poor this family is!

Praise unity and oppose division;

Smart people are hard to separate at first,

Even if it is split, it is easy to close;

Please note that fruit trees are hard to cut down.

If grafting is easy to survive.

At first, fools are easily divided,

It is difficult to reunite after division;

Look at the broken charcoal.

There is no way to re-bond.

People who advocate a clean life and oppose greed for money;

Smart people don't value food and clothes,

And be proud of your reputation;

Please look at the hero and ask for nothing more.

Committed to winning the battlefield.

Fools especially despise good names,

Be proud of a little property;

Look at those thieves,

Always show beauty with clothes.

Praise modesty and criticize complacency;

A wise man is silent when he measures a lot.

It just means depth and breadth;

Look at the slow-moving sea water,

Its depth is difficult to measure.

Fools talk about complacency everywhere,

It just shows that the knowledge is not wide;

Look at that noisy stream,

The depth of the river bottom is very easy to measure.

Advocate observation and thinking, and oppose blind listening;

No matter what the wise man says,

Check the truth before choosing;

Look at brahmins,

Oppose Master's teaching thieves.

In a word, Sonam Zaba collected a lot of first-hand materials from the people, borrowed some popular folk stories and fables as metaphors, and wrote an easy-to-read and easy-to-remember motto in popular folk language, explaining the philosophy to be expounded. It's really commendable.

The representative work "New Red History"

Comparable to it is his famous historical work "New Red History" written on the basis of extensive reading and expressing opinions.

The book is divided into seven parts: Wang Tong of India, Wang Tong of Shambora, Emperor Inheritance of Han Dynasty, Wang Tong of Mongolia, Wang Tong of Xixia, Wang Tong of Tubo and the local separatist forces in Uszang during the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The first five parts are relatively general and simple. The latter two parts occupy the main space, recording and expounding the history of Uzbekistan in detail. First of all, from the narrative of Tibetan source to the revival of Buddhism in the Five Dynasties, it mainly talks about the activities of the Tubo dynasty and its descendants after the decline of the dynasty; The formation of Tibetan ancient humans; The appearance of Zanpu and the inheritance of more than 40 Zanpu; The emergence and development of agriculture, animal husbandry and other economies; Buddhism and its emergence, function and struggle: the relationship between Tibetans and neighboring countries in politics, economy, religion and culture, especially the relationship between the Tubo dynasty and the central government; The formation process, ruling measures, internal struggles and dynasty collapse of the Tubo dynasty; After the Tubo slave uprising, the royal family fled and its descendants developed; The culture created by the Tibetan people. The second part records the formation, development and changes of 27 feudal separatist forces in Tibetan areas from the Song Dynasty to the mid-Ming Dynasty, among which Sakya School and Pazhu School recorded the most. In addition, it also records the political measures implemented by the central government in Tibet and other places in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

The new red history can also be said to be a Tibetan history. Since its publication, it has not only attracted the attention of domestic Tibetan scholars and translated it into Chinese, but also been studied and quoted by foreign scholars, and some English versions have been handed down to the world.