Zhang Yudrakpa Tsöndru Drakpa

Who was Zhang Yudrakpa Tsöndru Drakpa?

Zhang Yudrakpa Tsöndru Drakpa [1122-93], also known as Gungtang Lama Zhang and popularly simply as “Lama Zhang,” was the founder of the Tshalpa Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Although a prominent religious figure, Lama Zhang was also deeply, and controversially, involved in the political and military conflicts in the Tibet of his time.

Lama Zhang was probably the first to establish a system of theocratic rulership centered on the figure of the charismatic lama in the Lhasa area of Central Tibet. Together with Tsongkhapa, and Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo, Lama Zhang was considered as one of the "Three Jewels of Tibet".