Lho Choejung

The Lho Choejung (Lho'i Chos 'Byung), meaning "Religious History of the Southern Lands," is widely regarded as the first comprehensive national history of Bhutan. Composed in the mid-eighteenth century by the 10th Je Khenpo, Tenzin Chogyel (1700–1766), under the patronage of the 13th Desi (secular ruler) Sherab Wangchuk, the work documents Bhutan's religious and political development from its earliest legendary origins through the establishment of the dual system of governance by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. As a primary source, the Lho Choejung holds a central position in Bhutanese historiography and has informed virtually all subsequent historical writing about the country.^[1]

The title itself reflects the traditional Tibetan geographical designation of Bhutan as the "southern lands" (lho), a region south of Tibet. The term chos 'byung (literally "origin of dharma") is a well-established genre in Tibetan literary tradition, denoting a religious history that traces the development and transmission of Buddhist teachings within a particular region or lineage. The Lho Choejung adapts this genre to serve as a distinctly Bhutanese national chronicle.^[2]

Historical Context

The Lho Choejung was composed during the long and comparatively stable rule of Desi Sherab Wangchuk, who served as Bhutan's 13th Desi from 1744 to 1763. His twenty-year tenure was one of the longest in the history of the office and provided the political stability necessary for ambitious scholarly and cultural projects. Under his patronage, the 10th Je Khenpo Tenzin Chogyel undertook the compilation of a comprehensive religious and political history, drawing upon earlier Tibetan chronicles, monastic records, oral traditions, and the institutional archives of the Drukpa Kagyu establishment in Bhutan.^[3]

The collaboration between the Desi and the Je Khenpo in producing this work reflects the dual system of governance (chos srid gnyis) established by the Zhabdrung, in which secular and religious authority operated in tandem. The production of a national history under joint secular and religious sponsorship served both scholarly and political purposes, legitimising the existing order by grounding it in a continuous narrative of dharmic transmission from the earliest times.

Content and Scope

The Lho Choejung covers a broad chronological span, beginning with accounts of the pre-Buddhist period in the southern Himalayan lands — the era of Lhomon (Monyul) and the aboriginal Monpa inhabitants — and extending through the arrival of Buddhism, the visits of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), the establishment of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition, and the unification of Bhutan under the Zhabdrung in the seventeenth century. It records the founding of major monasteries and dzongs, the lineages of important religious figures, and the political events that shaped the country's development.^[4]

As a chos 'byung, the work is primarily concerned with the transmission and flourishing of dharma in the southern lands, but it necessarily encompasses political and social history as well. The text provides accounts of territorial disputes, the construction of fortresses, and the relationships between Bhutan and its neighbours, particularly Tibet. Early printed copies of the Lho Choejung were sent as gifts to the Drukpa lamas of Tibet, reflecting the ongoing connections between the Drukpa Kagyu establishments on both sides of the Himalayas.^[5]

Significance in Bhutanese Historiography

Before the Lho Choejung, historical knowledge of Bhutan existed primarily in fragmentary form — in monastic chronicles, hagiographies of individual saints, and oral traditions. The Lho Choejung was the first work to synthesise these disparate sources into a unified national narrative. In doing so, it established many of the foundational accounts and chronologies that later historians have relied upon, debated, and built upon.^[6]

The text has been used as a primary source by both Bhutanese and international scholars, including Michael Aris, whose pioneering English-language studies of Bhutanese history drew extensively upon the Lho Choejung and related chos 'byung texts. However, as with all historical sources written within a particular religious and political tradition, the Lho Choejung reflects the perspectives and interests of its patrons and must be read critically alongside other sources.^[7]

Manuscript Tradition

The original text was composed in classical Tibetan script, the literary language of Bhutanese scholarship in the eighteenth century. Manuscript and early woodblock-print copies were distributed to major monastic centres in Bhutan and, as noted, to Drukpa Kagyu institutions in Tibet. The work remains an important reference text in Bhutanese monastic education and continues to be consulted by scholars studying the country's pre-modern history.^[8]

References

1. "Bhutan as recognised by history." The Druk Journal.
2. "chos 'byung." Rangjung Yeshe Wiki.
3. Dorji Tenzin. "Bhutan: The Era of Chaos." A Clown's Tears and Cries, 2012.
4. "Bhutan — Historical Sources." Choki Wangchuk, 2019.
5. "Bhutan as recognised by history." The Druk Journal.
6. "Bhutan's Religious History in a Thousand Words." Mandala Collections, University of Virginia.
7. "History of Bhutan." Wikipedia.
8. "A Brief Historical Background of the Religious Institutions of Bhutan." National Taiwan University Library.