Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa (Tibetan: ཕ་སྤྲེལ་རྒན་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་པ།, Wylie: pha sprel rgan byang chub sems pa) is a mythical monkey-ancestor of the Tibetan people. With King Gesar and Avalokiteśvara, of whom he is an incarnation, he is one of the most important figures in Tibetan culture.[1] Pha means "father", Trelgen "old monkey" and Changchup Sempa refers to the bodhisattva (Changchub meaning "enlightenment" and Sempa meaning "intention").
- ^ The myth is attested in the book Maṇi bka' 'bum, allotted to[clarification needed] King Songtsen Gampo.