After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Tenth Panchen Lama resolutely supported the decision of the Party Central Committee on rectifying chaos and actively assisted the Party Central Committee in implementing various policies on ethnic and religious affairs. The Party Central Committee also gave full trust to the Tenth Panchen Lama.
Pictured in April 1986, Xi Zhongxun (center) with the 10th Panchen Lama (right) and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme (left). Image source: Xinhua Net
At the end of 1980, after returning to the Central Committee from Guangdong, Xi Zhongxun was in charge of ethnicity, religion, and united front work, and successively served as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, and member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. At this time, the 10th Panchen Lama also shouldered the dual responsibilities of national leaders and religious leaders. Although their respective tasks during this period were heavier and busier. However, the time they spend meeting and interacting has not decreased, and the habit of being honest with each other is the same as ever.
Whenever the Tenth Panchen Lama inspected, went abroad, and carried out other major activities, Xi Zhongxun always advised him: first, pay attention to physical health and safety; second, calm and not get angry. Every time the Panchen Lama came back, he always came to talk to Xi Zhongxun about his heart and talk about anything. Xi Zhongxun was sincerely touched and happy about every achievement and progress he made in his work, and also gave him great support for his work.
In the summer of 1982, the 10th Panchen Lama returned to Tibet and was properly arranged and warmly received by the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the inspection went smoothly. On July 10, the 10th Panchen Lama said at the Lhasa Cadre Conference: I grew up as an adult under the education and care of the Communist Party of China and the proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation. "All my concern for the Party cannot be separated, and I have a special and profound affection for the Party and for the proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation. Over the past thirty years, in accordance with the Party's teachings, I have always subjectively demanded that I do something useful to tibet's revolution and construction, to strengthen the brotherhood of the Han and Tibetan nationalities, and to safeguard the unity of the motherland. That's what the Tenth Panchen Lama said, and that's what he did. During his stay in Tibet, in accordance with the requirements of the central authorities and the instructions of Xi Zhongxun and other central leaders, he repeatedly made speeches to publicize that Tibet has always been a part of China's territory and resolutely safeguarded the unity of the Han and Tibetan nationalities. Xi Zhongxun has also been paying attention to the return of the Tenth Panchen Lama to Tibet.
In February 1986, Xi Zhongxun also attached great importance to helping the Tenth Panchen Lama to improve politically, and at the same time, he patiently persuaded the Tenth Panchen Lama to study history, strengthen the study of political study and scientific and cultural knowledge, and improve political quality and cultural literacy, so as to adapt to the development of the situation, adapt to the requirements of the position he held, do a good job, and make greater contributions to the country and the nation. This sincere help played a subtle role in the political maturity of the Tenth Panchen Lama. The 10th Panchen Lama was deeply touched by this and repeatedly said to the staff around him: "Comrade Zhongxun's care and education for me is really meticulous, and every time I hear his conversation, it makes my understanding of the problem a step higher." He was really my teacher and a sincere friend. ”
Xi Zhongxun once said: The Panchen Lama's love for the CPC and his becoming a loyal friend of the party came from in-depth thinking about the destiny and future of his own nation, out of a deep understanding of the party's principles and policies, and from a profound study of history and reality. In 1982, the Tenth Panchen Lama made a lengthy report at the Lhasa Cadre Conference in Tibet, systematically recounting the history of relations between Tibet and the motherland: "Tibet has become an inseparable part of the great motherland, an inevitable result of long-term historical development, and an undeniable historical fact. Realistically speaking, the development and progress of Tibet in the thirty years since its peaceful liberation have exceeded those of hundreds or thousands of years in history, which is yet another undeniable fact. History and reality tell us that only in the big family of the socialist motherland under the leadership of the Communist Party of China can Tibet have a brilliant future and a prosperous and developed nation; only by safeguarding the reunification of the motherland, strengthening the great unity among the Han and Tibetan nationalities and among the various nationalities of the motherland, and firmly taking the socialist road under the leadership of the Communist Party of China can the Tibetan people have a truly happy and happy future. ”
The picture shows Xi Zhongxun (first from left), 10th Panchen Lama (middle), deng Yingchao (first from right), attending the inaugural meeting of the Higher Buddhist College of the Department of Tibetan Language in China. Image source: People's Daily
On January 9, 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama left Beijing by special plane and went to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse City, Tibet, to preside over the opening ceremony of the 5th to 9th Panchen Lama's joint burial of the remains of the Ling Pagoda - the Panchen Tomb Tashnan Jie Opening Ceremony. In 1982, the 10th Panchen Lama asked the central government to build a joint burial pagoda temple, and the central government quickly approved it. The pagoda was built under the auspices of the 10th Panchen Lama himself. Panchen said, "The magnificent and magnificent spiritual pagoda shrine of 'Panchen Tanglin Tashnanjie' is a symbol of the correctness and authenticity of the CPC's ethnic and religious policy, a symbol of the unity of the two major ethnic groups in Tibet and China, a symbol of patriotism among the religious circles in Tibet and the broad masses of monks and laypeople, and a crystallization of the common labor of the Tibetan and Han peoples. ”
Pictured here is Xi Zhongxun (second from right) and Ulan Fu (first from right), the 10th Panchen Lama (third from right), Saifuding Azezi (fourth from right), and Yang Jingren (fifth from right) at the National Culture Palace in Beijing. Image source: China Tibet Magazine
Before leaving, the 10th Panchen Lama made a special trip to Xi Zhongxun's house to resign. Going out to say goodbye and coming back to talk is a habit formed by Xi Zhongxun's long-term interaction with the Tenth Panchen Lama. Xi Zhongxun warned the 10th Panchen Lama: "This season Tibet is seriously deficient in oxygen, you should pay attention to your body, do not be anxious, and combine work and leisure." The Panchen Lama said, "After the opening ceremony, I fulfilled my greatest wish, and when I die, I am blind." Xi Zhongxun took the hand of the Tenth Panchen Lama and said, "The Buddha does not want you to go, and Marx does not want you to go." ”
The day after the 10th Panchen Lama arrived in Lhasa, he went to pay homage to the Jokhang Temple. On the 14th, it drove another 300 kilometers to Shigatse. On the 22nd, he presided over a five-hour opening ceremony. He then held a series of symposia and blessed tens of thousands of believers despite days of exhaustion. Finally due to overwork, he suddenly suffered a myocardial infarction on the morning of the 28th, although he was treated urgently by many parties, but due to the ineffectiveness of rescue, he unfortunately died in his new palace Deqing Kelsang QuiteZhang that night, at the age of 51. When the bad news came, Xi Zhongxun was very shocked and extremely sad. On February 20, he wrote an article in the People's Daily entitled "Deeply Missing the Loyal Friend of the Communist Party of China, Master Panchen Lama", in which he lamented that "I have lost a close friend who has worked together for 40 Spring and Autumn Festivals."
Xi Zhongxun mentioned in his article "Deeply Remembering the Loyal Friend of the Communist Party of China, Master Panchen Lama": As an outstanding leader of Tibetan Buddhism, Master Panchen loves the religion he believes in; as an excellent representative of the Tibetan nation, he loves his own nation; as a great patriot, he loves the motherland; as a loyal friend of the party, he loves the Communist Party of China. Perfectly unifying the love of religion, the love of the nation, the love of the country, and the love of the party is precisely the portrayal of the life of the Panchen Lama. (China Tibet Network Reporter/Kong Xia Some of the materials are referenced from: "Deeply Remembering the Loyal Friend of the Communist Party of China, Master Panchen", "Selected Materials on Tibetan Literature and History")