A Study on the Formative Background and Influence of the Love Songs of Tsangyang Gyatso

Abstract

The reincarnation system of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, as a special selection and succession mechanism based on the reincarnation theory in Buddhism, has gradually been accepted in the complex religious changes. However, in the early stage of the formation of the inheritance system, the process was not smooth due to the complicated situation. Over the centuries, there have been many victims of this system, and Tsangyang Gyatso, the sixth Dalai Lama, is one of them. Tsangyang Gyatso is known to us as a genius of writing. His poems are romantic, sincere, bold and realistic, and people often focus on the literary value of his poems. However, as Tsangyang Gyatso, whose main identity is the reincarnation of a living Buddha, his works reflect more of his perception of Buddha rather than his feelings. Most of the time, what we needs to understand is the truth in his poems rather than the depth of his love. Since the original text is in Tibetan and mixed with many Buddhist texts, many times people may like the Chinese translation of a certain text rather than the meaning of the original text. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze Tsangyang Gyatso’s historical status and the profound meaning of his writings from the perspectives of Buddhist historical background, social structure, religious belief and literary tradition.