Lhalu Tsewang Dorje (, , January 1914 – 15 September 2011) commonly known as Lhalu, Lhalu Se, or Lhalu Shape, was a Tibetan aristocrat and politician who held a variety of positions in various Tibetan governments before and after 1951.
Biography
Early years Lhalu's father was Lungsharwa Dorje Tsegyel, an influential official in the Lhasa government and a favourite of the 13th Dalai Lama's.According to the Xinhua press agency "he is the son of high-ranking Tibetan official appointed by the Qing emperor." His mother was Yangdzon Tsering, the Shatra family's youngest daughter, with whom Lungshar had been having an affair.Cirenyangzong, The aristocratic families in Tibetan history, op. cit., p. 23: "When Lungsharwa Dorje Tsegyel was giving full play to his political talent, Yangdzom Tsering became his intimate friend."
Lungshar was born into the noble Lhalu family whose ancestors lived in Tana of the Tsang region at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama. He is famous for taking four noble youths – "the Rugby Four" – to the United Kingdom to receive a modern education (for the first time in Tibet's history).Tsering Yangdzom, Shao Da, On the dominant Dalai Lama's Yabgzhis families , China Tibet Information Center.
As a child, Lhalu attended a private school at the foot of the Potala Palace in Lhasa. He then went on to a school for children of secular officials at Jokhang monastery.Tibetan Consultative Body Member Says Dalai Lama "Stooge of the Westerners", Xinhua News Agency, 6 mars 1996.
Earlier official positions Following the Dalai Lama's death in 1934, Lungshar Dorje Tsegyel, a moderate reformist who advocated replacing lifelong tenure for the government ministers (Kalon) with a vote for a four-year term, was outmanœuvred by the more conservative minister Trimön; Lungshar was arrested and punished by blinding. All of Lungshar's descendants were then banned from government service. Lhalu had entered government service as a boy in 1927, but he was dismissed from his position after his father's arrest.Cirenyangzong, The aristocratic families in Tibetan history, op. cit., p. 24: "Lungsharwa Dorje Tsegyel, who was in the 13th's favor, advocated abolishing lifelong tenure for the Galoin; instead, a 'referendum' should be held to vote the Galoin for a four-year term. Since his radical reform was targeted at the Gaxag - the supreme administrative organization of the local government, and thus encroached on the interests of the big nobility, after the 13th's death Lungshar was removed from office and his eyes were gouged out. The government also issued orders that none of the Lungsharwa family's offspring could inherit a noble title or have an official career."
Lhalu was later adopted into the wealthy family of Lungshar's common law wife, the Lhalu family,The Lhalu owned a magnificent mansion about one kilometer north of the Potala Palace. The three-story residence was originally built by the Tibetan government for Tsangyang Gyatso, the 6th Dalai Lama. See Tsering Yangdzom, Shao Da, On the dominant Dalai Lama's Yabgshis' families , China Tibetology.Sir Charles Bell took a picture of it while on a mission to Lhasa in 1920-1921. It was published in his book The People of Tibet (Oxford, Clarendon Press) in 1928, with the caption Lha-lu Mansion. Reckoned by the Chinese as one of the five beauties of Lhasa. See The Tibet Album. British photography in Central Tibet 1920-1950. which lacked a male heir. By making the public claim that Lungshar was not his biological father, and by applying in the name of Lhalu se and paying large bribes,Tsering Yangdzom, Shao Da, op. cit.: "Goldstein writes: 'Lungshar's' son Lhalu later petitioned to be reinstated as a government official, arguing that he was not really Lungshar's son. He claimed his biological father was Shekarlingpa, another aristocrat, and both his mother and Shekarlingpa swore that this was so. Using this rather feeble ploy (and massive bribes), he was reinstated under the family name of Lhalu and given the Seynamba status." he was able to become an official again in 1937, after which he became increasingly influential. The Lhalu family had attained nobility by producing two incarnations of the Dalai LamaTibetan Consultative Body Member Says Dalai Lama "Stooge of the Westerners", Xinhua News Agency, 6 March 1996.Governmental Organization of Old Tibet : "From the seventh Dalai Lama to the 14th, seven families had been formed, such as the Lhangdun and Lhalu families."Cirenyangzong, The aristocratic families in Tibetan history, 五洲传播出版社, 2006, 272 p., , , p. 18: "The Lhalu family has produced two Dalai Lamas - the 8th and the 12th Dalai Lama – as well as numerous reincarnated soul boys." but did not belong to the old nobility that traces back its lineage to ancient Tibetan kings.Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, New World Press, Beijing, 1960, chap. VIII Lhalu's Serfs Accuse: "Lhalu's family was not of the 'old nobility' in Tibet; it did not, like Apei's (Ngabo Ngawang Jigme), trace lineage back a thousand years to ancient kings. It had produced the eighth and twelfth incarnations of the Dalai Lama and thus attained nobility."
In 1940, Lhalu married a daughter of the Labrang Nyingpa (Thonpa) family. In 1941, he was promoted to 4th rank and made a tsepön.Lhalu Se, Tibet Album. British photography in Central Tibet 1920-1950 (entry from Who Was Who In Tibet? by Frank Drauschke).
In 1946, he was appointed a shape, i.e. a member of cabinet, by the regent, Taktra.Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, op. cit., chap. VIII Lhalu(s Serfs Accuse: "He had been one of the six kaloons who made up the kashag, the local secular government under the Dalai Lama; it was said that he had bribed the kashag in 1945 with two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver for the post. He had then become both secretary and vice-chairman of the kashag at different times." He played an active role in the arrest of the former regent, Reting Rinpoche, when Reting was charged with attempting to assassinate Taktra.
Governor of Kham Shortly after the Reting incident, Lhalu was appointed governor of Kham, with his headquarters in Chamdo. He was serving in this position in 1949 when the People's Republic of China consolidated its control of China proper and began a build-up of troops in the provinces bordering Tibet. Lhalu began preparations to resist Chinese forces, but he was replaced by Ngabö Ngawang Jigme before the invasion actually occurred.
Robert W. Ford's testimony In his book Captured in Tibet, Robert W. Ford, a former British radio operator in Kham, portrays Lhalu "as typical of the more progressive Tibetan officials. They knew they were backward, and genuinely wanted to learn and to modernize their country - so long as no harm was done to their religion." Although Lhalu had never left Tibet (unlike his father, who "was one of the very few Tibetans who ever went to Britain"), he "was keenly interested in the outside world and studied the pictures in [Ford's] illustrated magazines. He wanted to know about tractors and other agricultural machinery and about industrial processes in the West."Robert W. Ford, Captured in Tibet, p. 23.
Commander-in-chief of the 1959 uprising Lhalu returned to Lhasa in July 1951. After Tibet was annexed by the People's Republic of China, the Tibetan government was reorganised. He was dismissed from government service in May 1952 (on account of his maladministration of Kham during his tenure as Governor) but was allowed to retain his rank.
In 1955, he headed a delegation to Beijing and met Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.Jiawei Wang, Nimajianzan, The historical status of China's Tibet, China Hanban donation, 五洲传播出版社, 1997, 333 p. , , p. 280.
In 1957, he was appointed "Governor of the grain supply".Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up, New World Press, Beijing, 1960, chap. VIII Lhalu's Serfs Accuse: "He continued to hold high post in Tibet's local government (..) and was governor of grain supply in 1957."
According to American journalist and Marxist writer Anna Louise Strong, unlike some of the sincere signers of the 17-point agreement, Lhalu continued plotting for Tibet's secession from China.Cf Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, op. cit., chap. VIII Lhalu's Serfs Accuse: "Some of the signers of the Agreement took it sincerely; Lhalu did not. (..) His plotting for Tibet's secession from China continued; it had a history of years."
In 1959, he participated in the Tibetan uprising, and would later describe himself as having been the commander-in-chief of the rebel forces.Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, op. cit., chap. VIII Lhalu's Serfs Accuse: "Lhalu Tsewong-Dorje, commander-in-chief of the March rebellion in Lhasa."
He was captured, subjected to struggle sessions (known in Tibetan as thamzing), and imprisoned in Drapchi Prison.Palden Gyatso, Le feu sous la neige: "Drapchi housed some of Tibet's most famous prisoners and dissidents. The prison was divided into five different brigades, or ruka. The fifth ruka housed all the former Tibetan government officials and high lamas, including Lobsang Tashi, the last prime minister of Tibet, and Lhalu, the former commander of the Tibetan army in eastern Tibet."
At a mass meeting of ten thousand people in Lhasa circa 1959, he was implicated in the murders of former Regent Reting and tulku Geda, both supposedly sympathetic to the Chinese.Cf Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, op. cit., chap. VIII Lhalu's Serfs Accuse: "Recent accusations made before a mass meeting of ten thousand people in Lhasa had implicated him in the murder of Rabchen, the Dalai Lama's first regent, and of the progressive Living Buddha Geda, both of whom opposed secession and had been killed for this not long before the liberation. Evidence of Lhalu's participation had been filed with the courts and would be considered later." He narrowly escaped being beaten up thanks to the protection of PLA soldiers.Jiawei Wang, Nyima Gyaincain, The historical status of China's Tibet, op. cit., p. 280: "how the PLA soldiers protected him from being beaten at the mass rally."
Anna Louise Strong's testimony