As the Dalai Lama turns 90 this month, he is focusing attention on the future of Tibetan Buddhism and the exiled Tibetan nation.

本月将迎来90岁生日的达赖喇嘛正将注意力集中在藏传佛教和流亡藏人群体的未来上。

The spiritual leader, who led a flock of tens of thousands out of Tibet and into exile to escape Chinese persecution nearly seven decades ago, has long raised questions about the future of Tibetan Buddhism’s highest office, in the face of Chinese interference.

近70年前，为了逃避中国的迫害，这位精神领袖带领数万民众离开西藏流亡海外。面对中国的干涉，他长期以来对藏传佛教最高职位的传承问题表示担忧。

The Dalai Lama has hinted that he might upend established practices for his succession, as part of an apparent strategy to throw off the Chinese government and avoid a leadership vacuum that Beijing can exploit as it seeks to control Tibetan Buddhism.

达赖喇嘛曾暗示他可能会改变传统的转世体系，这似乎是他为了摆脱中国政府控制、避免北京利用领导层的真空来掌控藏传佛教的一种策略。

On Wednesday, he said the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue, without offering many specifics. But he said the Gaden Phodrang Trust, an organization run by the Dalai Lama’s office, had “sole authority” to recognize a future reincarnation.

他在周三表示，将延续现有的转世体系，但没有提供太多具体细节。不过他表示，由达赖喇嘛办公室管理的甘丹颇章基金会拥有认定未来转世的“唯一权力”。

Who is the Dalai Lama?

达赖喇嘛是谁？

Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama.

丹增嘉措是第十四世达赖喇嘛。

He was born into a farming family in 1935 in what was then northeastern Tibet and is now Qinghai Province in China. He was recognized at age 2 as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and afterward began monastic training and Buddhist philosophical studies.

他于1935年出生于当时的西藏东北部（现中国青海省）一个农民家庭，两岁时被认定为第十三世达赖喇嘛的转世灵童，此后开始接受寺院教育并研习佛学。

Chinese troops entered Tibet in 1950. At age 15, the Dalai Lama became Tibet’s political leader, guiding the Tibetan people through the crisis. In 1959, during the Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama left the country for India with many of his followers, and he has never returned.

1950年，中国军队进入西藏。达赖喇嘛在15岁时成为西藏的政治领袖，带领藏人度过危机。1959年西藏起义期间，达赖喇嘛与众多追随者一起离开西藏前往印度，此后再未返回故土。

He settled in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala and formed a government in exile. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2011, he relinquished his political leadership role in the Tibetan government in exile but kept his position as spiritual leader.

他在位于喜马拉雅山的小城达兰萨拉定居下来，并建立了一个流亡政府。1989年，达赖喇嘛被授予诺贝尔和平奖。2011年，他卸任流亡政府的政治领导职务，但保留了精神领袖的地位。

In a book he published this year, the Dalai Lama describes how, after years of fruitless negotiations with Chinese leaders, he came to the decision that fighting for Tibetan independence was a lost cause. Instead, he began advocating that Tibetans be given cultural autonomy within China.

在他今年出版的一本书中，达赖喇嘛描述了自己在与中国领导人多年徒劳无果的谈判后，认定争取西藏独立已无望，于是转而主张在中国境内争取藏人在文化上的自治。

How will his successor be chosen?

如何选出继任者？

Traditionally, the search for a Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, who becomes his successor, begins only upon the incumbent’s death and could take several years.

传统上，寻找达赖喇嘛转世灵童的工作须待其圆寂后方能启动，可能历时数年之久。

Tibetan Buddhist leaders say they follow ancient customs of parsing mystical visions, clues left by the previous Dalai Lama and astrology to help narrow their search. Candidates are then tested to see if they show any traits that could be deemed especially holy.

藏传佛教领袖表示，转世灵童的寻访过程遵循古老仪轨，通过解析神秘的异象、前任达赖喇嘛留下的线索及星象占卜来缩小寻访范围。候选灵童会经严格甄别，检验其是否显现特别征兆。

The Dalai Lama has offered hints that he might diverge from the customs. He has said that his successor will be born in a free country, indicating that the next Dalai Lama could come from among Tibetan exiles, who number about 140,000, half of them in India. He has also said that his successor could be an adult, and not necessarily a man.

达赖喇嘛曾暗示，他可能突破传统仪轨。他说，转世灵童将降生于自由国度，这表明下一任达赖喇嘛可能来自约14万流亡藏人群体，其中半数生活在印度。他还表示，他的继任者可能是成年人，且未必是男性。

At times, he has even suggested that the institution of the Dalai Lama had served its purpose and did not necessarily need to be continued.

这位宗教领袖甚至数次暗示，达赖喇嘛制度已完成了历史使命，因此不一定需要延续。

On Wednesday, in a video statement to a meeting of religious leaders, he said that the Tibetan people wanted the institution to continue, and that the next Dalai Lama’s search and recognition should happen “in accordance with past tradition.”

周三在一场藏传佛教高僧会议上发表的视频讲话中，达赖喇嘛表示藏人希望这一制度继续存在，并且下一任达赖喇嘛的寻访和认定应“按照过去的传统”进行。

Officials would not clarify whether the leader was ruling out his earlier proposals, saying that the Dalai Lama remained in good health, and that he would give clearer instructions on reincarnation when the time was right.

流亡政府的官员没有澄清这位藏传佛教领袖是否否定了自己之前的提议，只说达赖喇嘛健康状况良好，会在适当时机就转世问题作出更明确的指示。

Lobsang Tenzin, the Tibetan trust’s second-most-senior leader, who is known by his religious title of Samdhong Rinpoche, said the Dalai Lama had weighed the future of the institution for decades, but over time he found that Tibetan people favored preserving it.

甘丹颇章基金会的二号人物、法号桑东仁波切的洛桑丹增表示，达赖喇嘛数十年来一直在考虑该制度的未来，但随着时间的推移，他发现藏人倾向于保留它。

But he did not say how the Dalai Lama planned to shield the reincarnation process from Chinese interference. “When the time comes, he will give instructions,” Samdhong Rinpoche said.

但他没有说明达赖喇嘛计划如何避免中国对转世制度的干预。“时机成熟时，他会给出指示，”桑东仁波切说。

How might China try to control the succession?

中国会如何干预转世体系？

China’s leaders claim that only the ruling Communist Party — an avowed atheist organization — can name the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama.

中国领导人声称，只有执政的共产党——一个公开宣称为无神论者的组织——才能批准下一任达赖喇嘛。

By seeking to control Tibetan Buddhism’s leadership, China hopes it can all but erase the Dalai Lama’s influence in Tibet and any challenges to the party’s rule.

中国希望通过控制藏传佛教的领导层彻底消除达赖喇嘛在西藏的影响力，以及对中共统治的任何挑战。

The Chinese government has tried to resurrect a “golden urn” system — using a relic once employed by the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty to anoint Tibetan lamas — to further control successions. Beijing has said that after a reincarnated lama is selected using the urn, the choice must be approved by the Chinese government.

为了进一步掌控转世程序，中国政府试图恢复“金瓶掣签”制度——这一办法曾由清朝的满人皇帝用于任命藏传佛教活佛。北京方面表示，通过金瓶掣签选出活佛后，最终人选必须得到中国政府的批准。

China already has a blueprint for inserting itself into Tibetan Buddhist successions. When the 10th Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second-highest spiritual figure, died in 1989, the Dalai Lama named the 5-year-old son of a herder as the successor. The boy and his family were kidnapped by China, and the boy — who has not been seen since — was replaced with a monk chosen by Beijing.

事实上，中国已经有一个干预藏传佛教转世的“蓝图”。1989年，藏传佛教中排名第二位的精神领袖第十世班禅喇嘛圆寂后，达赖喇嘛认定一名牧民的五岁儿子为其转世灵童。然而，这个男孩及其家人被中国政府绑架，从此下落不明，男孩被北京选择的一名僧侣取代。

Last month, that monk met with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and pledged his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, state media reported.

据中国官媒报道，就在上个月，那名被中国政府认可的僧侣与中国领导人习近平会面，并宣誓效忠中国共产党。

In his statement to the conference of monks on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama said a trust under his office has “sole authority” for the search and recognition of the next Dalai Lama. Without naming Beijing, he said “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”

周三向与会高僧讲话的达赖喇嘛表示，他办公室下属的一个信托机构拥有寻访和认定下一任达赖喇嘛的“唯一权力”。他虽未点名北京，但明确表示“任何人都无权干涉。”

The monks were more blunt. In a statement, they condemned “the People’s Republic of China’s usage of reincarnation for their political gain.”

僧侣们则表达得更为直接。他们在一份声明中谴责“中华人民共和国将转世制度用于政治目的”。