Creator's Description: In addition to being an influential artist, author, translator, and doctor, Si tu was also a central figure in the history of monasticism in eighteenth-century Khams. Over the course of more than four decades Si tu officiated over numerous ordination ceremonies and by the end of his life had ordained more than four thousand monks, a prodigious feat in any time period or region in Tibet. The first half of this article chronicles and characterizes this essential facet of Si tu's lifework, beginning with an overview of Si tu's own monastic training, followed by an exploration of his career as a monastic preceptor at Bka' brgyud monasteries. The historical impact of Si tu's monastic endeavors is perhaps best represented in his ordinations of hundreds of Rnying ma monks in Sde dge and the latter half of this article provides a critical account of this important episode in the religious history of Sde dge. (2013-07-01)