Tibetan Buddhist High Monk Reported Dead After Being Missing for Eight Months

The landmark of Lhasa — the Potala Palace.

[People News] On Wednesday (April 2), officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) confirmed that a Tibetan Buddhist leader, who had been missing for eight months, has recently passed away. Two independent sources informed Radio Free Asia's Tibetan service that this influential leader disappeared after making public appeals for the protection of the Tibetan language and culture.

According to Radio Free Asia, Tulku Hungkar Dorje, the 10th abbot of Longgong Monastery in Gande County, Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, was 56 years old. He was widely respected in the Tibetan region as a philanthropist, educator, and religious teacher, with his followers referring to him as 'Khenpo,' which means a reincarnated high monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

Following the announcement of Tulku Hungkar Dorje's death, many Tibetan netizens took to social media to express their grief. Users commented: 'When such knowledgeable leaders pass away one after another, we feel like a flock of sheep without a shepherd, left all alone.' 'Hearing that another person who dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the Tibetan religious and ethnic cause has passed away brings deep pain to my heart.' 'How could someone as strong as gold simply die of illness?'

Independent sources informed Radio Free Asia that on Wednesday, officials from the Chinese Communist Party summoned seven monks from Longgong Temple to notify them of the passing of Tuerku Hongkar Dorge. However, they did not provide details regarding the time, location, or cause of death. When the monks received the news, they were also asked to sign an official government document confirming his death. The CCP officials did not reveal the whereabouts of the abbot's body, nor did they clarify where he had been held during the months he was missing.

Tuerku Hongkar Dorge's last public teaching occurred in July 2024, after which he was 'disappeared.' Since his disappearance, the CCP authorities have imposed strict restrictions on temple monks and local Tibetans, forbidding them from discussing his whereabouts and prohibiting the sharing of audio and video recordings of his previous teachings. By December 2024, concerns for his safety had grown significantly. At that time, a source disclosed to Radio Free Asia that Beijing had started detaining several well-known lamas from various regions of Tibet for questioning, raising fears that Tuerku Hongkar Dorge may have died while in custody.

Throughout his life, Tuerku Hongkar Dorge was committed to advancing education and charitable efforts in the Tibetan region. In 2005, he founded the first Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and went on to establish several schools and vocational training centers, offering free education to children from pastoral Tibetan families. These institutions not only taught the Tibetan language and history but also included subjects such as Chinese and English, mathematics, moral education, and vocational skills like thangka painting, Tibetan medicine, sewing, and carpet weaving. Reports indicate that most of these institutions were closed shortly after his disappearance, with one having been shut down as early as 2021.

Beyond his contributions to education, he founded a charitable foundation in 2004 that has consistently provided free food, clothing, and medicine to thousands of monks, nuns, and elderly Tibetans.

Tuerku Hongkaer Duojie completed his basic monastic education at Long'en Monastery from 1980 to 1989, after which he spent several years studying in India and the United States. He returned to Tibet in 2002 and has been serving as the tenth abbot of Longgong Monastery ever since.