Buddhist diplomats and scholars first set foot in Tibet during the Zhangzhung Kingdom (500 BC – AD 625), and their influence was immediately felt on the native religion of Tibet, Bon. The relationship between Buddhism and Bon is now so close that modern Bon is considered a regional variant of Buddhism. The bonpo (followers of Bon) for their part consider the founder of their religion, Shenrab Miwo, to have been a Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism was properly founded in the Seventh Century AD, however, when Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo (AD 618 – AD 649) sponsored the translation of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures from India into the classical Tibetan language. Later, King Trisong Detsen (AD 755 – AD 797) established Buddhism as the Tibetan state religion. The unique evolution of Buddhism in Tibet, which was secluded from the outside world, and where it mixed with Bon and Tibetan Shamanism.

Tibetan Buddhism began as something of a state religion, sponsored by the native Tibetan Kings. Over time, however, this fractious mountain kingdom spawned numerous schools of Buddhism, each with different philosophies and practices. The most influential of these schools is Gelug, the sect to which the Dalai Lamas belong, and which became the dominant religion in Tibet from the Sixteenth Century AD to the seizure of Tibet by the Chinese in AD 1951. The leader of the sect is actually the Ganden Tripa, the abbot of the monastery at Ganden, but political and spiritual authority is vested in the Dalai Lama. Gelug was founded in the Fourteenth Century AD as a continuation of the Kadam School, a previous Tibetan school which stressed compassion, self-discipline, and study. The arrival of Kadam’s founder Atiśa in AD 1042 marked the beginning of a thousand years of monastic Buddhism in Tibet. Gelug, like Kadam, had a charismatic founder, Je Tsongkhapa. Tsongkhapa was born in the northeastern region of Amdo, son of a leader of the Longbo tribe. His father was probably a Mongolian, since the Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruled over Tibet at the time, and appointed their own to leadership positions in Tibet’s traditional tribal structure. Tsongkhapa studied as an itinerant monk, travelling from monastery to monastery, composing commentaries on major Buddhist texts. From AD 1390 to AD 1398, Tsongkhapa secluded himself in meditative retreats, during which he had visions of the bodhisattva Manjuśri (patron of wisdom, prajna). These visions influenced Tsongkhapa’s view of emptiness, the core principal in his philosophy. His ‘major insight’ (ngeshe chenpo), however, came in a dream. In it, various Buddhist masters placed the scroll of a text on his head. When he awoke, he identified the text as Buddhapalita’s commentary on Nagarjuna’s Middle Way Verses; when he reached Chapter 18, his comprehension became totally clear.

This marvellous little effigy depicts Tsongkhapa as a bodhisattva, seated on a lotus throne (padmapitha) in the lotus position (padmāsana). His ovoid face is exquisitely cast, with his eyes downcast, a petite nose, and his mouth drawn up in a half-smile that indicates his achievement of enlightenment. He has long arms and slender fingers, both among the signs of a great man (mahāparusa laksana) which are shared by the Buddha. His hands are in the dharmachakra mudra, a hand gesture that represents the wheel of dharma, and which signifies teaching and the passing on of wisdom. Each hand holds between the thumb and index finger the stem of a lotus, which grows along Tsongkhapa’s arm and up to his shoulders, where each blooms spectacularly. Unlike the Buddha, Tsongkhapa is depicted with a portly appearance, folds of fat across his collarbone, and a rounded stomach. He wears the pandit hat, headgear which became associated particularly with the Gelug School, but was in fact the most ancient of the various hats worn by Tibetan monks. Originating in India, the pandit hat consists of a pointed central part (representing the Middle Way of the dharma), with two trailing streamers which rest over the shoulders. He wears the kasaya, monk’s robes, consisting of three parts: antarvasa, a square cloth wrapped around the lower body, the uttarasanga, an undergarment for the torso, visible around his neck; and the samghati, an outer garment draped over the shoulders and, in his case, tied in place with a Chinese-style belt or sash. On the base is the visvajra, crossed versions of the vajra, a weapon combining the properties of a thunderbolt and diamond which was wielded by the Vedic god Indra. At the central point is the yin and yang, the symbol imported from Chinese Taoism. In this combined symbol, the role of Tibet as intermediary between India and China is expressed in condensed form.

References: similar gilt bronzes of Tsongkhapa can be found in Oxford (Ashmolean Museum LI1059.3), Liverpool (World Museum 1967.45), and San Francisco (Asian Art Museum B60B145).