Third Changkya Rolpai Dorje

CHINA, Gansu, Wuwei; Qing dynasty

Rolpai Dorje was the Third Changkya, as well as an artist and scholar of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1720 when he was only three years old, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Second Changkya, Ngawang Lobzang Choden, and was brought to Gonlung Monastery for enthronement. In 1724 he was taken to the Qing Imperial Palace in Beijing where he was educated alongside the prince, the future Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736–1795).
Rolpai Dorje was reputed in Mongolia and Tibet to be extremely knowledgeable, especially for his proficiency in Buddhism and foreign languages. He was also a skilled sculptor and painter, and excelled in distinguishing Chinese and Tibetan artworks and appraising thangkas. It is said that he could identify the material and quality of a sculpture simply by touching it. During his time at Gonlung Monastery, he sculpted numerous clay figures of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and ultimately dedicated them to the monastery.
Serving as Emperor Qianlong’s National Master and chief administrative lama, he was involved in the construction of several Tibetan monasteries. He was also placed in charge of the supervision of the manufacture of Buddha images and Dharma instruments in the royal palace. When the Three-Story Hall of the Summer Palace was built, Rolpai Dorje oversaw the production of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Usnisa Sitatapatra. His contributions to the palace during Emperor Qianlong’s rule, and subsequently to the development of Buddhism in Tibet, were outstanding.
Rolpai Dorje’s written works include Guide to the Sacred Images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, A Song on the View, and The Source of Learning. Another tremendous contribution was his supervision of a major translation of the Tibetan Tengyur canon into Mongolian.