The Search for the Panchen Lama [Paperback]

Isabel Hilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

"An excellent primer on Tibetan history and ....a chilling picture of the brutality of Chinese repression in Tibet."—Wall Street Journal

In May 1995, a seven-year-old Tibetan boy and his family were taken from their home by Chinese security forces. They have not been seen since. The boy's devotees believe him to be the eleventh incarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most important incarnation in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy.  Isabel Hilton tells the gripping inside story of how this child became the pawn in a battle between the Chinese regime and Tibet's exiled religious leader, the Dalai Lama. In revealing the political intrigue that accompanied the race to choose and enthrone the eleventh Panchen Lama, Hilton "clarifies a great deal about the nature of Tibetan culture and history and the complexities of Tibet's relationship with China" (New York Times). "Lively and vastly entertaining.... Hilton has seen—and participated in—one of the final moments of a lost Tibet."—Boston Sunday Globe "Riveting ....captures the panoramic scope of a remarkable story.... The ending is heartbreaking."—Los Angeles Times "[A]n outstanding book, well-researched, lively, scholarly, humorous, sympathetic, and eminently readable."—The Tablet "[A]n important book, a work of impeccable scholarship, erudition and great personal courage."—Literary Review "[A] crash course in Tibetan history and affairs in addition to a rattling good story."—The Spectator "Hilton's excellent new book is a cool and intelligent explanation of the political intricacies surrounding the Panchen Lama."—The Observer 21 black and whtie photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While working on a documentary film, British journalist Hilton was permitted to accompany the Dalai Lama as he sought to identify the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual authority of Tibet's ruling Buddhist sect. This excellent and artfully written book (part of which has appeared in the New Yorker) tells the complicated recent history of the Panchen Lama. The 10th incarnation died under mysterious circumstances in 1989 and is considered by many Tibetans to have been a traitor. The 11th--still a child--is missing; the six-year-old boy was detained along with his family in the mid-'90s by Tibet's Chinese rulers and has not been heard from since. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities have offered another child as the spiritual leader incarnate. Although she reveals the end of the story in the early pages of the book, Hilton relates this history with great drama and subtle wryness (for Westerners, she says, Tibet is "a kind of religious Disneyland"). Her wonderfully detailed writing illustrates the spiritual and political contours of these events. She describes, for example, a group of Tibetan lamas' two-day journey to Lhamo Latso Lake, where they went to gain insight that helped them find the reincarnated Panchen Lama; their trek, which involved 20 yaks, a video camera and a set of binoculars, was also monitored closely by Chinese spies. Hilton reports the story of the quest with great skill, weaving the history of Tibet with visits to monasteries in Tibet, China and India and conveying the power of a religion to survive the destruction of its institutions, the imposition of martial law, jailings and death in labor camps and prisons.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

An excellent primer on Tibetan history and ....a chilling picture of the brutality of Chinese repression in Tibet. -- Wall Street Journal

Lively and vastly entertaining.... Hilton has seen—and participated in—one of the final moments of a lost Tibet. -- Boston Sunday Globe

Riveting ....captures the panoramic scope of a remarkable story.... The ending is heartbreaking. -- Los Angeles Times

[A]n outstanding book, well-researched, lively, scholarly, humorous, sympathetic, and eminently readable. -- The Tablet, 18 September 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393321673
• ISBN-13: 978-0393321678
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > History > Asia > Tibet
  • #80 in Books > History > Asia > Central Asia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written! Highly recommended!, May 15, 2000

By 

B. Pua "bp888" (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Search for the Panchen Lama (Hardcover)

Have you ever read a book and afterwards felt like jumping up from the sheer joy of enjoyment? This book did that. It is part Tibetan history, part travelogue, part adventure story, part politics. But the sum is greater than the parts. Ms. Hilton's unprecedented access to some of the main protagonists and her meticulous research show in her insightful writing. This is such a timely book in understanding the tragedy that is modern-day Tibet. My only wish is that the author had provided a glossary and a timeline because some of the Tibetan terms and names can be quite confusing.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, and Much More Than the Title Suggests, August 25, 2001

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Search for the Panchen Lama (Paperback)

This outstanding book covers not just the search for the Panchen Lama - currently the biggest struggle in Tibet/China relations, but offers an extensive history of Tibetan Buddhism's struggle with the Chinese communists. Isabel Hilton has become a trusted correspondent of the Dalai Lama, and has gained his confidence in accurately reporting his conflicts with China. Thus Hilton not only gets many interviews with the big guy himself, but also extensive access to the intricate world of Tibetan Buddhism.

The search to find the current Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama who died in 1989, is not covered in detail until you are two-thirds through the book. In the meantime, Hilton interrupts descriptions of her travels through Tibet, China, and India (which serve as an enjoyable travelogue in themselves) with extensive forays into the history of the numerous Dalai and Panchen Lamas, as well as Tibetan Buddhism itself and the Chinese invasion and continuing suppression of the religion. The late Panchen Lama is covered in great detail, and his lifetime of persecution by the Chinese government occupies much of the book.

Hilton delivers many keen revelations about the current situation. She debunks the view of our American celebrity Buddhists that Tibet is a shangri-la in which everyone deeply meditates in pure devotion, and a serene life of deep thought is enjoyed by all. We learn instead that they have their factionalism and infighting like everyone else. We also learn that the Dalai Lama does not have the universal devotion of all Tibetan Buddhists (there are some dissidents), and that he may be losing his spiritual grip on his people, from his continuing exile in India.

The heartbreaking conclusion of the book reveals the cruel fate of the little boy who was found by the Dalai Lama to be the reincarnated Panchen Lama. He was taken into custody by the Chinese and hasn't been seen since. The Chinese have spent the past fifty years suppressing all religious activity, but now are trying to convince the world that they are better able to perform a profoundly religious ritual, the search for the Panchen's reincarnation, than the spiritual leader himself (the Dalai Lama). The actions of the Chinese have lead to scorn and derision from the rest of the world, as they have imprisoned one small boy indefinitely and installed another boy as the spiritual leader of a religion that doesn't accept him, and condemned him to life as a puppet. Yes, the Chinese government has egg on its face, but that doesn't alleviate the sad fate in store for those two young boys.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The fate of Tibet, September 4, 2001

By 

"ah-ling" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Search for the Panchen Lama (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book to introduce some of the basic issues and history that lead to the current state of Tibet, its government, its people and its religion. Hilton walks you through some historical passages so that by the time she is delving into the search for the 11th Panchen, you have a good sense of the urgency of the situation and why both the Tibet government in exile and China were desparately trying to control the outcome. The fact that Hilton was privy to some top secret information and met with a variety of other key figures allows her to provide more emotion and intimacy to the story than perhaps otherwise. While we all now know the terrible outcome of the search, reading the details and chronology are still suspenseful and gripping. I felt so hollow at the end, knowing that little has changed in Tibet and wondering if it ever will. Where is the true Panchen (I can't believe China has not been forced to free him) and what is the fate of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism after the passing of the 14th Dalai Lama??? Reading about China's cruelty made me wonder if Tibet can survive even the next thirty years but yet, there is hope when thinking of the courage Tibetans have demonstrated thus far.