“China Requires Government Permission to Reincarnate — But Only for Buddhist Lamas”
China's State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5 (2007) makes it illegal to recognize a Tibetan Buddhist 'Living Buddha' (tulku) reincarnation without multi-level government approval. The law is real, but the popular claim that it applies to all Chinese citizens reincarnating is false — it targets the institutional recognition of senior lamas.
The 2007 Regulation and Its Process
In 2007, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs issued a 14-article regulation governing how Tibetan Buddhist 'Living Buddhas' — revered spiritual teachers called tulkus, believed by Tibetan Buddhists to consciously choose rebirth — may be officially recognized. The regulation requires applications to flow through up to four levels of government, with the most influential reincarnations requiring approval from the State Council itself.
Political Stakes Over the Dalai Lama's Succession
Tibetan Buddhism's unique system of recognizing reincarnated lamas gives enormous institutional power to figures like the Dalai Lama, who traditionally oversees or validates many such recognitions. The immediate political target was the succession of the 14th Dalai Lama, then 72 years old and living in exile in India, whose eventual reincarnation Beijing wanted to control.
The 1995 Panchen Lama Crisis
A flashpoint predating the 2007 law was the 1995 Panchen Lama crisis: when the Dalai Lama recognized a six-year-old boy as the 11th Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities detained the child (who has not been seen publicly since) and installed their own approved candidate.
Historical Roots and International Criticism
The 2007 regulation builds on the Qing Dynasty's 1793 '29-Article Ordinance,' which first introduced the 'Golden Urn' lot-drawing system for selecting senior lamas. China has since built a national database of state-approved reincarnate Buddhas, reportedly containing over 870 verified entries. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and UN human rights rapporteurs have criticized the law as an infringement on religious freedom.
Where the story gets it wrong
Many believe this law applies to all Chinese citizens, banning ordinary people from reincarnating. In fact, it governs only the formal institutional process by which Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and associations officially identify and install a tulku (reincarnated lama); it does not regulate private religious belief.
Some claim the law imposes personal fines on individuals for unauthorized reincarnation. In reality, penalties — administrative sanctions or criminal charges — fall on monasteries, religious organizations, and officials who conduct unauthorized recognition proceedings, not on the spiritual candidates themselves.
Some treat this as a novel or uniquely absurd law. In fact, Chinese and Qing imperial governments have claimed authority over senior lama appointments since at least the 1793 Golden Urn edict.
Article 5: Reincarnating living Buddhas should carry out application and approval procedures. Applications must be submitted through local religious affairs departments up to provincial or State Council level depending on the lama's influence. Article 9: No group or individual may without authorization carry out any activities related to searching for or recognizing reincarnating living Buddha soul children. Article 11: Persons and units who without authority carry out living Buddha reincarnation affairs shall be dealt administrative sanction; when a crime has been constituted, criminal responsibility shall be pursued. The decree states: 'The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid.'
- Current status
- Actively Enforced
- Enacted
- September 1, 2007
- Penalty
- Administrative sanctions under the Regulations on Religious Affairs for unauthorized recognition proceedings; criminal liability may be pursued where offenses constitute a crime. No specific fine amounts are enumerated in the Order itself. Institutions, not individuals seeking reincarnation, face liability.
- Jurisdiction
- National law effective throughout the People's Republic of China wherever Tibetan Buddhist institutions operate, including Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces.