#Today in History #10th Panchen Erdene Choekyi Gyaltsen passed away
On January 28, 1989 (the 21st day of the lunar month), the 10th Panchen Lama Erdene Choekyi Gyaltsen passed away.
The Panchen Lama, commonly known as Kampot Cidan, was born in 1938 on the third day of the first lunar month of the Year of the Earth Tiger in the Tibetan calendar as a farmer in Wendu Township, Xunhua County, Qinghai Province. In 1941, the Panchen Lama's Khenpo Conference Hall identified Kampot Tsz-dan as the reincarnation of the Ninth Panchen Lama according to religious procedures, took the name of Panchen Erdeni Lobsangchi, and went to Qinghai Tar Monastery to make offerings. On June 3, 1949, he was approved as the 10th Panchen Lama by Li Zongren, then President of the Nationalist Government. After the founding of New China, he successively served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and honorary president of the Buddhist Association of China.
On January 9, 1989, the Panchen Lama traveled from Beijing to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet to preside over the opening ceremony of the 5th to 9th Panchen Lama's joint burial of the remains of the Panchen Lama. Due to overwork, a heart attack occurred. After hearing the news, the central authorities immediately dispatched a team of well-known cardiologists from Beijing Hospital to rush to the rescue by special plane, which ended in ineffective rescue by many parties. The remains of the Panchen Lama have been preserved for a long time.
