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Dobdon: An Assistant of Shaliwan Gegen


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Authors

Bulag, Uradyn E. 
Fuerwa, Dorjraa 

Abstract

The fourteenth incarnation of Shaliwan Gegen was born and raised in Hobogsair. After being officially recognized as Shaliwan Gegen, he pursued Buddhist studies in Khumbum, Shigatse and Lhasa, and, subsequently, enrolled in the Minzu University in Beijing during the Cultural Revolutionary period. While studying in Beijing, he married a Han Chinese woman from Urumchi, but eventually was divorced. Following the conclusion of the political turmoil, he returned to Urumchi and played a pivotal role in advocating for the resurgence of Buddhism among the Mongol Community in Xinjiang, contributing to the rebuilding of destroyed monasteries and training young Buddhist figures. Later, he married Yaya, a Mongolian from Hobogsair, with whom he had four children. In addition to his Mongolian mother tongue, he was fluent in Kazakh, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Chinese. Dobdon, the one who closely collaborated and lived with Shaliwan Gegen, shared many of his insights about the life of Shaliwan Gegen. However, one regretful detail that Dobdon shared at the end of the interview is that two days before his death, Shaliwan Gegen had called and instructed Dobdon to prepare and heat his Ordo in Öljeet Uliyas in Hobogsair, claiming he would be there in two days. Unfortunately, Shaliwan Gegen passed away in Urumchi before he even returned to his Ordo. Upon hearing this heart-breaking news, Dobdon immediately went to Urumchi and resolutely expressed the wish to bring Shaliwan Gegen's body back to Hobogsair. Representatives from all over Xinjiang, including Bayangol, Har Us, as well as Urumchi government, initially debated where to place Shaliwan Gegen’s body, with each representative wanting the Gegen’s body buried in their homeland. After several hours of discussion, representatives from Hobogsair led by Dobdon insisted that the Gegen should rest where he was born. Fortunately, they succeeded and brought him back to Hobogsair after several official farewell events in Urumchi. In Hobogsair, upon the Gegen’s body arriving, people constructed two Mongolian Ordo for Gegen in the Obootin Khüre monastery yard and organised gatherings of believers from all Mongolian places. Two days later, Gegen's body was cremated, following the guidance of Cho Bagshi from Qinghai province, at the place where the thirteenth Shaliwan Gegen was cremated.

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Keywords

Shaliwan Gegen, Hobogsair, Buddhism, Incarnation, Torghuts

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Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

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Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.