TIBET, TARTARY AND MONGOLIA by WANDERING TRIBE OF MONGOLIA

;

TARTARY AND MONGOLIA

TIBET,

SOCIAL

AND POLITICAL CONDITION,

THE RELIGION OF BOODH, AS THERE EXISTING.

COMPILED FROM THE REPORTS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TRAVELLERS, ESPECIALLT

FROM

M. Hue's REMINISCENCES OF

AND

THE RECENT JOURNEY OP HIMRELF

GABET, LAZARISTE MISSIONARIES OF MONGOLIA.

Tb*

HENRY

PRINSEP, 1

Esq.

Scconti lElfUton.

LONDON:

Wm. H. 7,

ALLEN

CO.,

LEADENHALL STREET. 1852.

I.F.V IS

AND SON, PIUNTEKS,

21, FINCH LANE, CORMIILL.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

This

little

volume pretends

no higher merit

than to be a faithful abstract of the information, regarding the civil

tions of Tibet, Tartary,

been furnished by

and

religious Institu-

and Mongolia, that has

travellers, or

by men who

have made the language and literatm'e

those countries their especial study. It

was undertaken before M. Hue's account

of his adventurous journey through these regions, in

quu'ed

company with M. Gabet, had

the

popularity

ac-

has since attained.

That work will now have been read, either

in the

original French, or in the English translation,

all

who

description,

take an interest in matters of this

and by many more

besides,

who

read only for entertainment and to pass the hour.

have no wish, and

effort

the

would be

volumes. likely to

vain, to

of these

perusal If,

we had

however,

the desire, the

withdraw readers from

and

lively

instructive

we had thought them

be so soon made generally accessible to

English readers, the idea of printing and pub-

which

lishing a work, the half of

M. Hue's " Souvenirs"

its

an abstract

of his journey,

But our

never have occurred to us.

with

would

abstract,

notice of antecedent journeys into the

same regions, and

its

summary

of the result of

recent researches into the sacred literature of the

Boodhists, appeared just

began to

M. Hue's work

excite attention in England,

been read along

with

;

and has

finding so

much

favour, that the whole of the copies originally

printed have been sold, and the book

longer procurable by those refer to

it.

This alone

now no

who desire to read or reason sufficient for

reprinting the work, with such revisions and corrections, as,

on a

careful re-perusal,

has

seemed

need

these, the

most

matcrical

have been suggested by the discovery, that the Chinese itinerary, which guided these missionaries in their

journey on return, was the iden-

tical

work

sian

by the Archimandrite Hyacinthe Bitchou-

rin,

and was commented upon and fm-ther

that

had been translated

into

Rus-

illustrated

by the learned Klaproth, and so

pubhshed

in Paris

this

work,

in 1831.

we have been enabled

curately the route followed

re-

the aid of

to trace ac-

tlfese

travellers

in the latter part of their adventm'ous journey,

and greatly to improve the sketch map given the

first

edition, so as to

add

to its value as

a geographical record.

But there

a fm'ther reason for republish-

ing this volume at the present juncture, and that

is,

that the

those to keep

book

a useful

summary

by them, whose profession

for

whose pursuits may require them to have some practical acquaintance with Boodhist notions

and Boodhist

institutions.

The whole would seem

now

India being

to be the destiny of

British,

England

be drawn, day by day, more into relation with the races of gion,

mankind who

profess that

reli-

and who, occupying the countries beyond

India, have hitherto

made

their study

isolate themselves frona the contagion of west-

ern

and European

intelligence,

The war with China, to break

down

1841-42, did much

the barrier which fenced round

her social institutions; discoveries

civilization.

in the

and the recent gold

countries

washed by the

Pacific ocean, are fast contributing to establish

an intercourse, that must soon revolution-

ize,

and fuse into a community of

intelligence

and of perceptions, the races which have

for

centuries prided themselves on the strength of their separate civilization,

and on the progress

made

in arts

and

of Europe,

by the

force of native ingenuity

they

sciences, even in

indigenous institutions.

advance

and

But while the ships

and steamers of Europe, or of her Anglo-Saxon

Vll

descendants, are appropriating the Pacific, and

working out the ends of Providence

in their

upon the Tartar races of Boodhist

influence

faith in that quarter of the globe, the

violent

and

upon the

war

direct action of

work

barrier of Indo-Chinese races,

which

has hitherto severed the same countries from

communion with

the rest of the world from

the west and south.

are

now

war

with Biu'mah, a nation of exclusively Boodhistical institutions

the

and

issue

tribute

progress,

upon.

late

To what degree

and faith.

results of this

war

forward the social

would be

will

con-

revolution in

fruitless yet to

specu-

This war, however, must add to

the interest already existing in respect to the religion

which has so widely spread amongst

these nations, and cannot

fail

stimulate

enquiry into the characteristic features of doctrine, ritual, osity

and

institutions.

the object of this

satisfy. October, lf<52.

work

its

That curiin part to

TIBET,

TARTARY AND MONGOLIA.

were unknown

the ancients, except as lands of fable, occupied

Tibet, Tartary and

]\'Iongolia

wandering Scythians.

Tibet was the

country

whence came the Indians of the Persian

who

ate their* dead, as told

court,

by Herodotus, and

they themselves report to have been their ancient custom. tic

the

There

travel into

is,

however, no record of authen-

any region of the East, lying above

Himalaya, and beyond the

which the Oxus and Jaxartes have anterior to the journey of Father

quis to

Karakurum,

France, and of

mountains

William Rubru-

in the reign of Louis

Mangoo Khan,

Jungeez Khan, of Tartary. undertaken in a.d. 1253,

their sources,

IX. of

the grandson of

This journey was

at the

time

when King

Louis was in Syria, engaged in a holy war. B

had

TARTARY

TIBET,

origin in an overture made, through, a real or

its

Khan of the Mongols, Don and the Wolga rivers,

pretended ambassador of the settled

between the

who was to

have professed Christianity, and

said to

have held out the hope of a diversion from the

North in favour of the cause of

The Khan

against Islam.

that religion

referred to

called

Rubruquis, Sartach, but in the works of later

French missionaries, he

called

Gayook Khan.

was the son of Batoo, at that time great

Khan

of the western tribes, and conquered territories of the Mongols beyond the Caspian Sea.

Crossing

the Euxine to the Crimea, Rubruquis found Sar-

tach in the pastures between the

Don and Wolga,

which are now occupied by the Cossacks. By Sartach he was sent on to Batoo, who was then near the

Wolga

;

and the

into Syria appearing, his competency, the

the Court of

made

aifair

even

of an expedition

him, to be beyond

monk envoy was

Mangoo Khan,

sent on to

Karakurum.

the journey in winter, riding relays of horses

along with a Tartar noble, and found no obstruction except

roads.

from cold, fatigue, starvation and bad remained

Khan, and was

five

months with Mangoo

similarly sent

back in the summer.

writes in his official report of this mission,

made

King

Louis, "

came

two months

AND MONGOLIA. and ten days from Karakurum saw a town nor

much

as the

3 Batoo, and never

appearance of any

house but graves, except one village, wherein did not so

much

rest in these

day, because

as eat

bread

;

nor did

ever

two months and ten days, save one

could not get horses.

went

two days, and sometimes three, without taking any

The geograby Rubruquis are very

other food but cosmos (Kurmis)." phical particulars given

scanty, but great interest attaches to

ports of the habits

and of

what he

re-

and character of these Khans,

their courts,

and likewise of the religious

condition of the Moghuls, or Mongols, in that age.

Mangoo Khan was the grandson of Jungeez Khan, who died in the year a.d. 1227, diily twenty-six years before the date of this mission.

The conquest

of China had not yet changed the character and habits of the conquering horde,

and we find both

Batoo and Mangoo to be the same simple-minded illiterate

barbarians that

still

read of as occu-

pying the station of Tartar Khans, but not wanting in shrewdness, high-minded feeling, and even dignity. A^^ith respect to religion,

apostle

of the

Jungeez Khan was the

most complete

toleration.

Mahommedans report that he had the subject cussed in a Mosque of Bokhara, and there

The dis-

laid

TIBET,

down

TARTARY

the principle, that he reqnired only faith in

one all-powerful God, leaving supplied this

all

the rest to be

by man's free study and judgment.

was the early creed of

Mohammed

upon him

himself

more than half Mohammedan. But the creed of Jungeez was Boodhism. The very title of Jungeez Khan was given to him by a Kotooktoo, or regenerate Boodh,

the Moolaves looked

of great sanctity, after his wars with Tangoot or Tibet, and he was too deep a politican not to use

the agency and influence of that

extraordinary

priesthood to assist him in binding the Tartar,

Tibetan and Mongol races in the wonderful sociation he contrived to establish

and Avhich subsisted

many

for

as-

amongst them,

generations after

his decease.

In the Shensi province a stone tablet was found

by the

Jesuits, in the seventeenth century, record-

ing the presence of Nestorian Christians in the country, and their success in spreading Chi'istianity, as early as a.d.

636

;

and there are imperial

edicts in its favour of dates A.D. 782,

and

which are

still

between that year and

preserved in the archives

histories of China.

find also

from the report of Father Rubru-

quis, that Nestorian Christians abounded

at the

courts and in the territories, as well of Batoo

Khan,

;

AND MONGOLIA. as of his superior,

Mangoo Khan that they had many at court, especially of ;

great influence with

the wives and daughters of these and other chiefs that they

were allowed publicly

religion, to

to profess their

open chapels, and parade the cross in

public streets and market-places, dressed in canonical vestments

;

and

that they

were especially

called on to administer medicines, and to pray for

Father Rubruquis,

persons in extremity.

sick

himself, took part in a controversy of these Christians,

faith

;

Mohammedans, Mangoo Khan, on matters of

held with Boodhists and

in the presence of

and one cannot read

his report without Avon-

dering at the patience with which these simple-

minded people, and the

priests

and professors of

their ancient religion submitted to

the ill-man-

nered arrogance and pretensions of the intrusive Christian zealots, who, while proclaiming the mysteries of the Trinity,

and of the Host, and of holy

water, too frequently insulted those to the faith of their fathers,

their books,

and declared publicly

and those of the Mahommedans,

and the believers "

lies,

who adhered to

vile dogs."

Rubruquis thus reports, in a general way, of the

Lama

priesthood he found at the courts of the

Mongol Khans; and we give because

of importance

the extract verbatim, to

show

that their

TIBET,

TARTARY

forms and habits have suffered very the six

hundred years

and had not

their

little

origin

any imitation of

Romish observances, he being the

who

that church

change in

since his visit to Mongolia,

known

fii'st

priest of

have entered the

country.

" All their priests had their heads shaven quite over, and they are clad in saffron coloured gar-

Being once shaven, they lead an unmarried

ments. life

from that time forward, and they live a hundred

two hundred of them together in one

Upon

the days

when they

cloister.

enter into these temples,

they place two long forms therein, and so sitting

upon the

said forms, like singing

men

in a choir,

one half of them du'ectly over against the other, they have certain books in their hands, which

sometimes they lay down upon the forms their heads are bare as long as they

temple

and then they read

;

not uttering any voice at

among them, manner,

sibly.

and

softly to themselves,

On my coming

all.

time of their superstitious de-

and finding them

votions,

them

at the

;

remain in the

all

sitting

mute

in a

attempted several ways to provoke

to speech, yet could not

They have with them

by any means posalso,

whithersoever

they go, a certain string, with a hundi*ed or two

hundred nutshells thereupon, much like our beads.

AND MONGOLIA. which we carry about with mutter these

mani padyne

words,*

horn)

them expounded

us,

and they do always matii

hactavi

God, thou knowest,'

And

me.

one of

(om

often

they expect a reward at God's hands as they pro-

nounce these words in remembrance of God." Again " I made a visit to their idol temple, and :

outward portico,

found certain priests

sitting in the

and those which

saw seemed by

beards as

(Qy

They

they had been our countrymen.

wore certain ornaments upon

made

mitres

their shaven

The

of paper.

heads like

their

priests of the

Jugures

Chakars) use those ornaments wherever

they go. jackets,

They wear always which are very

their saffron-coloured

straight-laced, or buttoned

from the bosom downwards, fashion,

the

after

and they have a cloak upon

shoulder, descending under

theii"

French

their left

right arm, like

deacon carrying a collector's box in time of

Lent." This description corresponds exactly with what

one sees at

this

day in any Boodhist temple of

Mongolia, China, Burma, or Siam.

Pythagorean

* The proper translation of this universal prayer of Boodhists is

the jewel in the Lotus,

who have been absorbed and ike the jewel-shaped

mark

Amen," meaning, "

Boodh,

incorporated in the divine essence

in the

Lotus flower."

TIBET,

silence

and abstraction

TARTARY is

there the universal rule.

The ceremonies and public occasions,

on particular

services

and especially those of the Tibetan mo-

nastic establishments, are of a different character, as will hereafter

The only bruquis

is,

letter of

King

in the

be noticed.

further thing to be gathered from

Mangoo Khan

that the reply of

Louis,

stated to have

Mongolian language, but Clu'istians,

to the

been written

in the character

had been

of the Jugures or Chakars, which

duced by Nestorian

Ru-

intro-

and was derived

from the Syrian, but written in

lines doT\ai the

page, commencing from the

left.

so written at the present day.

We wonder if there

any trace of

France this

still

which led said to

this letter

Mongolian

among

the archives of

There are records of older times than subsisting in

England, and the

to the mission of father

letter

Erubruquis

be extant.

The next account of these regions obtained by Europe was furnished through the relation of the Two noblemen of the Vetravels of Marco Polo. netian family of Polo had relations of commerce and friendship

with

the

Tartar

northern shores of the Euxine,

chiefs

at the

of the

very period

of the journey of Rubruquis, above noticed.

some

vicissitudes they

were led

Bokhara,

at the

AND MONGOLIA. time

when Alan Khan,

better

kncmi by

name

the

of Hulakoo, sent an ambassador to Kublai Khan,

whom

he acknowledged

Mongol

Tartar and

races.

the Venetians were invited to in

company.

head of the entire

as the

that

make

ambassador the journey

occupied an entire year, but

have no record of the line of route followed from

Kublai

Bokhara.

Khan

received them well, and

having kept them some time

at his

court, sent

them back with letters and a message to the Pope, inviting him to open communications with him.

Some troubles and changes a

of the papacy prevented

prompt acknowledgment of

this overture

at last, in A. D. 1269, as nearly as

tained, the

two Polos, Nicolo and

with them

INIarco, the

set out

soon

priest,

who

letters into

were three years and a half upon

Upon

journey. call

taking

Starting from Acre, on the coast of

Syria, the Polos

they

^Nlaifei,

them, delivering the Pope's

their hands.

this

but

young son of the former,

on their return, along with a

left

;

can be ascer-

their arrival at Pekin,

Cambala, which

the

Tartar

which

name

Khanbaliq, young Marco was taken immediately into favour,

and was

for twenty-six years after-

wards a nobleman of the great Khan's court, cmployed in several missions, and other high of state.

came away

offices

at last, in a. d. 1295, in

B 3

10'

TARTARY

TIBET,

who was

charge of a princess

be married

to the

Tartar sovereign of Persia.

The information obtained

China and Tartary was committed

to writing

from his dictation, during a

iNIarco Polo, or

captivity It

in this long sojourn

he suffered

Genoa,

after his return.

was thus given only from memory, and

But

vague.

by subseqiient

often

has been confirmed in most respects

The

travellers.

route followed, on

the Polos' second journey into China, was

through Budukhshan

up the

whence crossing the Pamir table-land to Kotun, they went across the Hamil or Shamil desert, to Cambala (Khanbaliq), or Pekin. The return was by sea to Oxus,

to its soui'ces,

;

Singapore, and round Ceylon, to the Persian gulf.

Of Tibet and Mongolia, Marco Polo His employments seem

says

little.

have carried him chiefly

into the provinces of China Proper,

and other south-

ern countries, the magnitude and population of the cities of which, he details with exaggeration.

dwells also with animation upon the magnifi-

cence of the court of Kublai

Khan

strange change of habit between decessor,

Mangoo Khan,

;

him and

as described

years before by Rubruquis.

shoiving a

find,

his pre-

only a few

however, in

Marco Polo, continued evidence of the extreme by this race of emperors to all

toleration allowed religions,

and of the impartiality with which ho-

AND MONGOLIA. nours were granted to

men

stated to have

been a Nestorian

stance,

and

have built a church

his

own

faith.

also

for in-

Chi-istian,

Roman

Catholic

;

and Mahom-

were numerous, and freely employed.

It is, indeed, stated to

shrines,

The

at Nankin for those of Marco Polo was himself in high

favour, though a

emperor

of every faith.

who conquered southern China,

general

medans

have been the custom of the

send offerings on his birthday to the

and presents

to the priests of all religions,

on the same principle,

would seem,

was

re-

Romans when they

erected their

temple to the gods of lesser nations.

This spirit

cognised by the

of general toleration did not orginate with the

Mongol emperors. We learn from the Mahommedan travellers who visited China as early as a.d. 850, that it then prevailed and that, when Canton was taken and sacked in a.d. 877, by a rebel army, as many as 120,000 Mahommedans, Jews, Christians, ;

and Parsees perished in the

sack.

This shows that

the policy of China in those days allowed the free

and residence of men of

The all religions. common with Rubruquis, relate same travellers, in conferences had with the emperor, or with men in

resort

power, on subjects of spirit of free

faith, affording

evidence of a

inquiry into such matters quite con-

sonant with the

known

principle of

Boodhism

which recognises the pursuit of truth by abstrac-

TIBET, TARTARY

12 tion,

and by the

human mind,

free exercise of tlie

as the first duty,

powers of the

and only road

These Mahommedans came

perfection.

China

by sea, and did not penetrate into Tibet or Tartary, which have ever been the head quarters of the reBoodh, but they knew of that religion

ligion of

having been derived from India, of

its

being very

and of its being based on a belief in the

ancient,

transmigration of

souls,

combined with image

worship.

The earliest travels into Tibet Proper which have been transmitted fathers,

us, are

China by that route in dred years

after

They were the known to have of Tibet

;

for

Marco

first

a.d. 1661, just four

hun-

Polo's journey westward.

Christians of

Europe who are

penetrated into the populous parts

Marco

Polo's journey was, as

stated, to the north-west,

Oxus.*

those of the Jesuit

Grueber and Dorville, who returned from

we have

by the sources of the

Father Grueber was

much

struck with

* Benedict Goez, a Portuguese monk, went from Lahore by Kabool, to Kashghur, and across the sandy desert, into China,

where he died in a.d. 1607 but his route also was far north of Another Jesuit, Anthony Andrada, passed through Kumaon to the Manoosa-Rahwa lake, and thence went on to Rudak on the western confines of Tibet. His journey was made in 1624, and is discredited by commentators and geographers, because of ,

Tibet.

Ganges and Indus, no doubt, however, that the voygenuine, though we have no details of it.

his mentioning this lake as the source of the

instead of the Sutlej.

age

There

AND MONGOLIA,

the extraordinary similitude he found, as well in

the doctrine, as in the rituals, of the Boodhists of

own Romish faith. He noticed cli-ess of Lamas corresponded with

Lassa to those of his first,

that

that the

handed

doA\ai to us in ancient paintings, as

the di-ess of the Apostles.

and of the

pline of the monasteries,

Lamas

2nd. That the disci-

or priests, bore the

Romish church.

that of the

of an incarnation was

different orders

same resemblance 3rd.

common

That the notion

to both, so also the

belief in paradise and purgatory. 4th. He remarked that they made suffrages, alms, prayers, and sacrifices for the dead, like the Roman Catholics. 5th. That they had convents, filled with monks and friars, to the number of 30,000, near Lassa, who all made the three voavs of poverty,

obedience, and chastity, like sides other vows.

licensed

and

Besides

;

Roman monks,

6th, that they

be-

had con-

by the superior Lamas, or empowered to receive confessions,

fessors,

bishops

And

impose penances, and give absolution. all

this,

there Avas found the practice of

using holy water, of singing service in alternation, of

prapng

for the dead,

and a perfect

similarity in

the costumes of the great and superior

Lamas

those of the different orders of the Romish hierarchy

These early missionaries, further, Avere led

to con-

TIBET, TARTAR

14 elude, from

what they saw and heard, that the an-

cient books of the

Lamas contained

traces of the

Christian religion, which must, they thought, have

been preached in Tibet in the time of the Apostles.

We reserve the further discussion until

we have

of this question,

given the more complete and accu-

by recent

rate information afforded

travellers,

who

followed very nearly the same route with these

The

missionaries.

sources of our geographical in-

formation deserve the

The map

of Tibet,

first

notice.

which

given in connection

with that of China, was not framed from actual surveys

made by

employed by the

the Jesuits

Emjjeror Kanghi to prepare the l^uted

some Lamas,

whom

They

latter.

de-

they had imparted

the rudiments of the science of surveying, and from their information, filled in that portion. state it

was published by

we have on

the subject.

on no account

into

Tibet, with

ficulties

and

to this

day

therefore,

the

who have penetrated

exception to Captain Turner,

Warren Hasting's envoy, sufferings,

notices of the

The map,

be depended upon.

other hand, the few Europeans

this

Halde, in the begin-

ning of the eighteenth century, and all

tell

us only of their

dif-

and give very imperfect

geography of the routes they

fol-

lowed. Fathers Grueber andDorville crossed China

AND MONGOLIA. from Pekin, by Singanfoo

to Sining,

and reached

Koko-noor valley, and thence passed into Tibet, rovmd the sources of the Kwang-ho, and crossing the

They came on

those of the Yang-tse

Kiang

from thence

through the valley of Nipal

to India,

river.

by Katmandu, and Hetounda to Patna, on the Ganges, where Dorville died. Another missionary, Pere Desideri, started from Goa in November, 1T13, and passing through Dehli and Kashmeer into Baltistan, arrived at

Leh, or Ladak, on the

25th June, 1714, and remained there for an

From

year.

entii'e

thence, he continued his journey, in

autumn of 1715, to Lassa, by a route of extreme elevation, of which we have no details whatthe

sover

;

Desideri, like the rest, only reporting his

own sufferings from

occupied from August 1715, to the worst part was to

The journey March 1716; and

the intense cold.

made

be the case with

all,

in the winter, as seems

because of the impossi-

bility of crossing the rivers

and torrents

at other

Desideri found the temporal sovereignty

seasons.

of Lassa in the hands of a Tartar prince (a Sifan),

who had

recently conquered the country

;

the

Lamas were, however, respected and reverenced, and

dii'ected all things spu-itual.

After

this, a

sent into Tibet

mission of twelve Capuchins was

by Pope Clement XL,

at the

head

TARTARY

TIBET,

of which was a

Penna.

Bhatgaon

monk named

j^assed

in Nipal,

Francis Horace della

through Betia in Behar,

and thence reached Lassa.

1732, letters were received in

Rome from

this mis-

an interval of years, announcing

sion, after

its

favourable reception, and soliciting a reinforcement,

which was sent

In 1742, there was pub-

in 1738.

Rome

lished in

a very

meagre report of the pro-

ceedings of this mission, making pretence of great success,

of the

and of having brought even the sovereign

kingdom to acknowledge the

tianity

truths of Chris-

but stating that he was restrained from

proclaiming his conversion by policy, and by a respect for old customs.

branch of,

Bhatgaon

The

which had

mission,

not further heard

and no geographical, or other

details of interest,

in Nipal,

have ever been obtained

fr-om

bishops in partihus nominated title

of BishojD of Tibet

is still

but among the by the Pope, the

;

in use.

After these comes, in point of date, the authentic

and highly interesting narrative of Captain

who was

by Warren Hastings Grand Lama of Teeshoo Vor Djachi Loomboo. Full particulars Turner,

on a special

sent in 1783

political mission to the

of this journey were published in 1785 in London,

map of the route known to need either

with an accurate is

too well

;

and the book

citation, or

any

AND MONGOLIA. statement in abstract of

its

contents.

shall

hereafter have occasion to refer to the account

gives of the state of society and of religion

Captain Turner's route to Djachi was from

Tibet.

Rungpoor

in Bengal, to Tassisudon in Bqotan,

and

thence by the Chumulari pass, across the Himalaya.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; He never

Avent to Lassa.

nearly from Rungpoor was taken

who made

The same route by Mr. Manning,

the attempt to pass through Tibet into

China, but was sent back from Lassa in 1811. are not aware of

any other Europeans having ever

penetrated from India into this interesting region

but the government of India has received

;

intel-

ligence on several occasions from merchants of

who

Patna,

Katmandoo

trade with Lassa indirectly through ;

and

its

relations with Nipal, have,

more than once, brought the governor-general direct

communication with the Chinese

into

officers in

Tibet. It

may be

convenient to mention in this place

the nature and circumstances of these

communi-

cations.

In the time of Warren Hastings, the Bootan chiefs

made an

incursion into the district of

Rung-

poor, and the detachment employed in driving back the Booteas penetrated into the lower hills, and

took Dclamcotta.

The Booteas then sued

for

TIBET, TARTAR

peace, using the good offices of the Teeshoo

Lama

for intercession, for they are Boodhists, o"\vning

the spiritual supremacy of the Tibetan Lamas.

Favourable terms were given cotta

them, and Delam-

was restored. The missions, first of Mr. Bogle and afterwards of Captain Turner,

to Tassisudon, to

Djachi Loomboo, had their origin in

war.

The British power,

it is

this petty

be observed, was

not then viewed with the same suspicion as at present, either

by Tibetans

by Chinese, nor was

the authority of China so firmly established in Tibet.

In 1792, the Goorkhas having mastered the whole of the valley of Nipal, and of the hill country from

Sikhim

to the

Gogra, a party of them crossed the

Himalaya, and

a])j)eared

suddenly before Djachi

Loomboo. The Lama and priests hastily evacuated their convents, and fled to Lassa, and the place was plundered by the Goorkhas, who retired immediately with their booty. to

China

for aid,

The Tibetans applied

and an army was collected

for

the punishment of this act of unprovoked outrage.

The Goorkhas met them

Tingri

My dan,

and the two armies were for some time in presence, but the Chinese made

at last a

the Nipalese were defeated.

general attack, and

The Chinese

general,

following up his victory, took the frontier post of

AND MONGOLIA.

Nipal, called Koti,and showed a disposition further

southern

to penetrate into the

hills.

Captain Kirk'

patrick was at this tinie resident at

Katmandoo,

on the part of Lord Cornwallis, governor-general

His instructions were, studiously

of India.

avoid anything like interference in the quarrel

with Tibet

;

but

hold always the language of

reprobation and displeasure in respect to this un-

provoked

act of the

Goorkha

court.

The

conse-

quence was, that despairing of aid from us, the

Goorkhas submitted unconditionally nese commander,

who imposed

to the Chi-

a tribute, and

tri-

ennial mission to Pekin, besides restitution of all

the booty taken at Teeshoo

Loomboo, and took

hostages for the performance of these stipulations.

The Raja

of Sikhim was at the same time taken

under Clunese protection, so

as to

prevent the ex-

Goorkha conquest eastward. This is principality with which we recently had

tension of

the a

hill

quarrel

consequently upon the detention of

Dr. Campbell, our agent

at Darjeeling,

while

upon an excursion beyond the limits of that station, which excited Chinese jealousy. The attempt tains

to explore

the passes through the

moun-

was thus checked, and resented by the

in-

tervention of the local authorities, most probably at the instance or suggestion of the at Lassa.

Chinese

officers

TIBET, TARTARY

Checked towards the East by these events, the Goorkhas extended jugating

Kumaon,

their

Sirinugur,

country to the Sutlej.

Their

could not be restrained croaching upon

dominion westward, sub-

British

ÂŁi"oin

and

the

hill

rapacity

plundering and en-

subjects,

within the British frontier.

all

restless

and on

rajas

This brought on the

Nipal war of 1814-16, which terminated in the British conquest of hills,

tish

Kumaon, and of

all

the western

and the cession of that territory

to the Bri-

a formal treaty,

which was signed and de-

livered to General Ochterlony, on the 4th March,

1816. that at

It is

under the stipulations of

we have now

this treaty

permanent resident stationed

Katmandoo.

The Chinese viewed, with

great jealousy, the

establishment of a British political officer at the court of one of their tributaries, for the Nipal

Raja had continued since 1792

send the

tri-

ennial mission, with presents, to Pekin, in ac-

knowledgment of fealty. the court of Pekin sent with

su.ch

In September, 1816, a special commissioner,

troops as could be collected, to call

their feudatory to account for his proceedings.

mission of explanation was accordingly sent from

Katmandoo, which was rated soundly by the Chiname was Choong Chang,

nese commissioner, whose

AND MONGOLIA. for

having brought war upon their country by

wanton aggressions and

acts of violence,

and

for

having represented the British object in the war be to obtain

command

of the passes into Tibet

the Governor-General of India,

wrote as follows

Choong Chang

" His Imperial Majesty, who, by God's is

blessing,

well informed of the conduct and jirocecdings all

mankind, reflecting on the good

faith

and

wisdom of the English, and the firm friendship and constant commercial intercourse which has so long subsisted

between the two nations, never

placed any reliance on the calumnious imputations

put forward by the Goorkha E.aja," &c. &c. "

You

mention that you have stationed an envoy in Nipal.

This

as the raja

a matter of no consequence

but,

from his youth and inexperience, and

fi"om the novelty of the thing, has

picions, if

;

imbibed sus-

you woidd, out of kindness

to us,

and

in consideration of the ties of friendship subsisting,

withdraw your envoy,

would be

better

;

and

we should

feel inexpressibly gratified for the con-

sideration

shown

government would send a high through

whom we

our wishes."

Marquis of Hastings replied, that might seek

the

this,

the Chinese

officer to

Nipal,

redi'ess, in case

future injuries and aggressions,

we might then

TIBET, TARTARY

Z^ dispense with

mandoo

presence of an envoy at Kat-

tlie

otherwise there seemed no alternative

but to keep him there,

to give

and receive expla-

and only way of preventing

nations, as the best

differences hereafter.

replied, after a long interval, in these

" Be

kno^vn

China

this the court of

words

you, that the Goorkha Raja has

long been a faithful tributary of the Chinese go-

vernment, and refers himself to sion requires.

There

is,

whenever occa-

therefore,

no need of

deputing thither any one from this empii-e. sides,

Be-

by the grace of God, His Majesty, possessing kingdom of China,

the sovereignty of the whole

and other countries, does not enter the one without cause.

happen

city of

any

that his vic-

torious forces take the field, in such case, after

punishing the refractory, he, in his royal clemency,

We have

restores the transgressor to his throne.

not thought

our duty to represent this matter

to the tlirone, as this

opposed

to the

customs of

The merchants who frequent

empire.

the

port of Canton, can inform your lordship of our

customs. to

For

the future, a proposition so contrary

usage, should not he introduced into a friendly

dispaichr

With

this display of

respondence closed. gular, that Tibet

humour

the cor-

be remarked

never once referred

as sin-

the

AND MONGOLIA, Chinese

officers.

The

cerning Cliina and

its

affair is

treated as one con-

tributary, Nipal,

and none

In the time of Warren Hastings, when

other.

we were embroiled with Bootan, under circumstances not very dissimilar, it was the Lama who interceded, and with whom we had relations in consequence. The Emperor of China was then only the friend and patron of the Lamas of Tibet, but in 1816 their political existence was absolutely ignored.

This change seems to have resulted from

the resort to Chinese military aid, in order to repel the Nipalese incursion of 1792.

Tibet thus rested in

sleep of isolation, shut

its

out fr'om European travellers and unheard of in the annals of the world's history, until the Sikh

conquest of Ladak and Balti, on disturbed in some measure

tier,

wur Singh,

the Sikh general,

its

western

repose.

fi'on-

Zora-

who commanded

the

Kashmeer by Goolab Singh taking Ladak and Iskardo, marched

expedition, sent from in 1839, after

up the valley of the Indus

into Gnari, a province

of Tibet, and captured Gurtokh,

its capital.

His

was inconsiderable, and he wrote in vain They were not supplies and reinforcements.

force for

easily

furnished

across

the

many

intervening

ranges of snow-capped mountains. Winter was

approaching, and ZoraAvur Singh self a

fortified for

now him-

cantonment near Gurtokh, when a Chinese

TIBET, TARTARY

and Tibetan

force surrounded hiin

His detachment

supplies.

and himself

and cut

^vas thus

liis

About 120 miserable Sikh

slain.

found their way, half frozen, across the

fugitives

Niti Pass, into the British province of

and

off

overpowered

told the tale.

1841-1842,

at the

Kumaon,

This occurred in the winter of

very time when the British force

by the AfThe Chinese and Tibetans did not follow up their victory, and made no use of it to extend their frontier towards Ladak. The Sikhs, thereof Kabool was similarly overpowered

ghans.

fore,

soon recovered, and have since maintained,

their possession of the valleys as well of the Indus, to Debrung, as of the entire Shayuk river. W^ien the Sikh war with the British terminated in

Tip

the establishment of our ascendancy in the Punjab,

and in the permanent assignment of Kashmeer and its

tributaries to

were sent

Raja Goolab Singh, British

to ascertain

and

officers

settle the frontier line

of the territory so committed to his management,

where China.

met

that of territory subject to Tibet or

This duty was executed by Lieutenant

Strachey,

whose

mission

has

geographical information, and tails

respecting

much

scientific de-

the elevated regions he visited

beyond the Himalaya, and rivers

furnished

many

which these two

have their sources.

While, however, Tibet has been thus hermeti-

AND MONGOLIA. cally sealed against us

on the side of India, two

French missionaries have succeeded passage into

it,

and in reaching

from the north-east.

its

in effecting a

capital, Lassa,

They came from

the

Koko-

noor lake, or inland sea, by the same route that

had been followed by fathers Grueber and Dorville, two centuries before, and one of them, M. Hue, has recently published in two volumes, in French, a full account of the incidents of this journey It is the conviction of the trustworthiness of the

information contained in these volumes, and the desire to

make

British public,

more extensively known

and especially

to those

whose occupations abroad give value

Englishmen to authentic

details regarding the habits, religion, and

of these to

make

little

known regions,

this compilation

stance of

M. Hue's work

and

that to

to the

geography

we have been led

compress the sub-

into the following pages.

Every one has heard of the mission established Pekin under French Jesuits. The founder of it was Pere Ilicci,who went from Macao into the interior of China, in a.d. 1585, and established himself in the first instance at Nankin. He was a good mathematician, and making himself master of the Chinese language, published some maps of the world in Chinese and gave lessons and instructions generally in European science. He thus at

;

TIBET,

TARTART

acquired in that country a high reputation for

and commenced circulating

upon religion, and upon the immortality of the soul, and Sometimes persecuted, and somea future state. times applauded and followed, he removed, after a few years, from Nankin to Pekin, where he was well learning,

received, and his doctrines

made an impression

on some nobles of the court. for

many

years, the recognised

missionary

establishments,

tracts

lived there

head of several

located in

different

making many converts, and reuntil his death, which occurred at

parts of China,

spected

all

the age of fifty-seven, in the year 1610.

The

Ming dynasty was at this period in its decadence. Chun-chi, the Manchoo Tartar completed its fall During the convulsions which attended this revolution, the French Jesuits met with varied fortune, but Chun-chi, upon his assumption .of in 1644.

the imperial dignity, in the year stated, called

Father Schall, the successor of Father Ricci, to his court at Pekin,

and received him there with

great distinction, nominating

him president of the him the entree

tribunal of mathematics, and giving to his

own

presence at

was in the

last

Grueber returned

all

times, with other favours.

year of this reign, that Father to

Europe through Tibet and

India as before mentioned.

AND MONGOLIA.

Upon Chun-Chi's

death,

27 1662, his

cessor, Kang-hi, was only eight years

suc-

old,

and

during his minority the Jesuits and their converts

were proscribed and persecuted by the Chinese tribunals.

Father

Adam

Schall died in prison

during these persecutions, under sentence of death,

and the Jesuit missions were

for a time

broken up.

But when Kang-hi came to his majority, and took into his own hands the reins of power, he caused the sentence of condemnation passed against Adam

Schall to be reversed, and received the Jesuits

A maternal uncle

again into favour.

of the

Em-

peror declared himself a convert in a.d. 1672, and

was publicly baptized

others followed, and fresh

;

missions were, at this period, established in different parts of China, rapidly.

where the

religion spread

Father Verbien, the successor of

Schall, wrote

now

to the

Pope,

Adam

to ask for assist-

ance in the work of conversion, and further missions of Dominicans, Franciscans,

were despatched from Rome,

and Augustins, carry out the

views and realize the high expectations then entertained.

Father Verbien

just at the time rived,

when

died unfortunately

these remforcements

ar-

and a schism then arose between the Jesuits

and the Dominicans,

as to the propriety of allow-

c 2

ÂťÂť

TIBET, TARTARY

ing Chinese converts to continue the rites and

observances practised universally by that nation in

honour of parents and ancestors. were

for yielding this,

and

The

Jesuits

for not regarding the

reverence so paid to ancestry in the light of an idolatrous worship, inconsistent with the Christian

notion of the Divine nature, as the sole object of

Not

adoration and prayer.

and

this

so the

Dominicans

schism not only divided and paralyzed

the action of the missions in China, but for half a

century was

was carried even decision.

After

debated to the

many

Europe,

and

papal authority for

final

all

over

rescripts,

and several

less attempts to reconcile differences

fruit-

and avoid

giving a final judgment, Clement XI. at

last, in

1710, declared finally against yielding any indul-

gence to Chinese usage in the matter of reverence to parents and ancestors, and sent out a Legate Cardinal, a

M. de Tournon, to

enforce this decision,

in 1715.

Kang-hi, the Chinese Emperor, had in the mean time taken the Jesuits into great favour. He employed them in rectifying his calendar, and in sur-

veying and mapping his dominions, and in teaching his subjects to cast cannon and other useful arts,

and but

for this

schism magnificent results

AND MONGOLIA. might have followed.

But when he heard of the

Pope's decision in favour of the Dominicans, he took a decided part for the maintenance of the institutions

ness,

He his own subjects. M. de Tournon, with harsh-

and usages of

treated the Legate,

and ordered him back

to Canton,

immediately

he learned that he was the bearer of orders from the Pope, to disallow parental reverence, and the

usual observances. Christianity has from that time forward, been exhibited and proclaimed to the

Chinese, as a false and seditious conspii'acy to

overturn the laws and institutions of the empire,

and

to set sons against fathers,

husbands. It

this

and wives against

ground that the preaching

and proclaiming of Christianity are proscribed in the

China.

to this

day

Ail the persecutions of

eighteenth century had their

origin in the

conviction, that the defence and maintenance of

the ancient laws in favour of the parental authority required

an overt action against doctrines,

quite repugnant to those usages and observances,

and which substituted the

priest for the parent in

every family.

But Kang-hi, though he took

this strong part

against the papal decree in support of the nicans, continued to

court,

whose

Domi-

favour the Jesuits of his

scientific services

still

needed.

TIBET, TARTAR

died in 172^, after a prosperous reign of sixty

Yong-Ching, who succeeded him, en-

years.

couraged the tribunals in their persecution of the converts to Christianity, and even banished from court the Jesmts, and several

members of his own

who favoured the new religion. who succeeded to the throne in and who reigned, like Kang-hi, for sixty

family,

Kien-long, 1735,

years, recalled his Christian relatives from exUe,

and seemed his

high

favourably disposed to the

at first

Jesuit missions

but upon a representation ii'om

;

officers,

expulsion of

all

at last

priests

passed an edict for the

and missionaries.

Jesuits were, at this period, proscribed in

The

Europe

and the mission they had established in China languished in consequence, and fell into also,

inaction; and thus, for want of due support to keep alive the zeal both of professors and preachers,

the hope of extensively spreading Christianity in

China yielded

to the severity

against preaching

execution.

Some

its

doctrines

Jesuits

have been permitted

with which the edicts

were carried

into

appear, however, to

maintain a small establish-

ment at Pekin, for the purpose of assisting in the preparation of the annual almanacks

were

restricted

;

but they

from preaching, and not allowed

to travel, or to conunimicate freely

with strangers.

AND MONGOLIA.

The Emperor,

and were scarcely recognised.

Kia-King, who ascended the throne in 1799, completed the destruction of the hopes of the propa-

and driving the

gandists,

last

remains of the

French mission out of Pekin, renewed the persecution of converts with greater rigour.

In China Proper, there are tribunals with a strict police,

tion, that

and a machinery of

make

local administra-

nearly impossible for converts to

Christianity to evade the law and escape punish-

They were everywhere discovered and

ment.

plundered

;

and

diey would not consent to re-

nounce the new

faith, their lives

even were in

danger. But the influence of Chinese laws, and of the civil power for the execution of edicts

called

Tartar tribes retain their

tary, rules his

light

very

beyond the Great "Wall. by the Chinese, the Land of Herbs, the

men

and

own

Each Khan,

of government.

of the

In Mongolia,

different

own

tribe,

laws and forms

or Tao-tse tribu-

and the simple habits

make that rule very The Chinese, taking advantage

of the desert

easy.

of this simplicity, emigrate largely from China,

and

settle

in the valleys of Mongolia,

they can find a

They appear

soil that will

settle

down

wherever

repay cultivation. as

separate

and

nearly independent communities, under elected

TIBET,

chiefs or captains,

TARTARY

and whether dealing with the

chief of a tribe, or with individuals, contrive generally to get the better, displacing the

nomade po-

own

usages and

pulation,

and establishing

modes of

life.

their

The persecution

by the Chinese become emigrants

of Christian con-

verts

authorities, led

Mongolia.

many

of them

Several settle-

ments were thus formed by them in the valleys of the southern

feeders

or Sagalien, about one

of Pekin. the

Empire

of the

river

Amour,

hundred miles due north

In the days of the Republic, and of in France, little

heed was taken of the

relations of the ancient French Church with these people but upon the restoration of the Bourbons, ;

they became the subject of inquiry, and zealous

men

of the religious orders were not wanting, to

undertake the mission of reclaiming and bringing again within that Church, the scattered flock of

persecuted proselytes.

In the Ooniot

its

district of

"the Land of Herbs," there is a valley called that of " the Black Waters," whither many of the Chinese converts had retired. There an establish-

ment was formed, under Lazarist missionaries from Paris, which unobtrusively following its vocation, gathered together a considerable congre-

gation of these converts, and brought

many Mon-

golians also to accept the Christian creed.

Hearing

AND MONGOLIA. of their

the

success,

Roman

appointed the head of this mission, at

Siwang,

Excited by

1842,

Pontiff,

who

resided

be his vicar-apostolic in Mongolia. to

this

fresh efforts, these Lazarist

missionaries conceived the design, of exploring the desert,

and of penetrating even

a view

to the establishment there of a subordinate

mission. fathers

Two members

into Tibet, with

brotherhood,

the

Gabet and Hue, were selected by the

vicar -apostolic for this adventurous duty

account, recently published

by the

;

and the

latter,

of the

circumstances and events of their journey, and of its toils

and dangers, furnishes proof abundant of

the judicious selection made, and of the high qua-

undertaking possessed by both

lifications for the

missionaries.

the

dress

and character

Tibetan Lamas, attended by a single servant, a

man

of a half-civilised race from the vicinity of

the Koko-noor,

who had been brought

Christianity, these

to profess

two French gentlemen started

from the "Valley of Black Waters," north of Pekin, to live for years the life of Tartars of the desert

subsisting on their their hardships

meagre

fare,

supported during their severe

aim of their sacred to the faith

and enduring

and privations, calling,

cherished

trials

and by

all

and

by the high

their devotion

they desired to spread. They took the c 3

TIBET, TARTAHY

line of the great wall of China,

but kept generally

and so followed up the Hoang-Ho, or Yellow River, till they reached and on the desert side of

it,

rounded

"Wintering in the valley of

its

sources.

the Koko-noor,

salt lake, they next year crossed

the yet more mighty Yang-tse-Kiang, or Blue

River, and so reached the Snowy Mountains and high table-lands of Tibet, which separate the waters

Passing these in

of China from those of India.

the midst of winter, they penetrated at last to the city of Lassa, where they were well received

There,

the Tibetan authorities.

was

their de-

sign to have established a separate mission under

the Mongolian vicar-apostolic

;

but the Chinese

envoy at Lassa, the same Ke-Shin, British admiral at the

1840, and

Mr.

who

mouth

who met

the

of the Pichelee, in

negociated the

first

treaty with

Elliot afterwards at Canton, laid his veto

the scheme, and sent the two missionaries back into

China, by a route, hitherto, so far as

know, quite imexplored by any European.

They

passed among the mountains north of Bootan and

Ava, and so made their way due east to the plains of " the Central Elowery Land," where these are watered by the Yang-tse-Kiang, in nificence.

It is of this

ships, perils

its

journey, and of

full

mag-

its

hard-

and privations, exceeding perhaps

AND MONGOLIA. by

those ever endured

the tale, that

The

tions.

M. Hue

lived to tell

keep no journal

forfeited, if

seen to take notes, or to

they saw and heard.

who

has given us his recollec-

travellers could

would have been

lives

traveller

make on

It is

;

their

they had been

sketches of what this

account, that

find a lamentable deficiency of dates, distances,

and of other

kind that one

particulars, of the

usually looks for in books of travels. Nevertheless, there

volumes an aggregate of

in the

gence, and a fund of characteristic

traits,

intelli-

and well

told anecdotes, bearing intrinsically the stamp of truth, that gives to far

and the

them

sufficient ftilly to

want of the

a Pallas.

interest,

compensate the reader

the

for

Humboldt and by far the most recollections of M. Hue,

scientific details of a

But, what

in our eyes

important part of these is

and an

a value,

exceeding those of ordinary books of the kind,

detailed

account

find

there

the

monastic and academic institutions of Tartary and Tibet, and of the studies, habits and discipline of

the several classes of Lamas.

The two

missionaries

lived for months together in Lamaserais, or convents, in the valley of the Koko-noor, salt lake,

associating daily with

mixing in their these

subjects,

Lamas of

studies.

therefore,

all

degrees, and

Their information on is

not that of mere

TIBET,

passing travellers

and

;

TARTARY their observations

on the

working of the Boodhist monastic system, influence the

on the people, and

its

relations

Manchoo Government of China, derive

tional value

But we this

with addi-

Europe.

trespass

on the patience of our readers

They

preface.

summary

its

from their own connection with similar

institutions of

be impatient

will

for a

of the real contents of the volumes.

this, therefore,

hasten.

In prejDaration for the journey, the missionaries

employed a Mongol convert

procure camels

They had nearly

from the borders of Tibet.

de-

spaired of the arrival of these animals, owing to

the time that had elapsed their

dispatch,

and had

arrangements for their

own

since in

they heard of

consequence made

departure in a waggon

of the country,

when

pearance, under

theii* faithful

the camels

made

their ap-

conductor, a Chiaour

named Sambda-Chamba, who had been brought up as a Lama before his conThe caravan version, and still wore the dress. was then arranged, and commenced its march in the following order The Tibetan led, mounted on a black mule, and drawing after him a string of of Northern Tibet,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

two camels, bearing a tent

and the baggage.

M.Gabet rode next upon a dromedary, and M.Huc

aud Mongolia.

brought up the rear, mounted on a white horse. These, with a watch-dog, formed the entire train that started for a

journey of five-and-twenty

grees of longitude and ten of latitude, across the

unknown

elevated regions of central Asia.

tume.

had

Before

change their cosAmongst their Chinese converts, they had

starting, the missionaries

dressed habitually in the secular habit of China,

wearing the long of this nation.

tail,

so inestimably prized

For the journey, they shaved

all

their

heads, and assumed the same dress as their con-

ductor

Sambda Chamba, which was

habit of a Tibetan

Lama.

the secular

This was essential for

the character the travellers intended to bear,

was that of Lamas of the west, come into the

which

to inquire

doctrines and ritual of Tibet, the holy

religion. As laymen by Tibetans, black men), it would have been impossible for them to have talked of religion, or to have shown any acquaintance with

ground of the Boodhist (called

its

doctrines or ritual, but as secular

Lamas

enquiry was both natural and praiseworthy. missionaries,

though they carried a

tent,

the

The were

glad to put up at the hotels of the country, where there were any, as was ordinarily the case, within

the

fii'ontiers

of China Proper.

There they found

always a hot meal, and a hang, or elevated dais,

TIBET, TARTARY

be heated by the same

SO contrived as to

fire that

served to boil the caldron that cooked their din-

The

ner.

guests

for their meal,

cross-legged

sit

and spread

upon the kang

their beds afterwards

in rows, with their feet towards one another,

and so

in the severest winter our travellers contrived to sleep with some comfort. In the tent there was no such security from the cold, and sometimes they had the greatest difficulty in even lighting a fire,

which,

at the best,

was but of argols or dung-fuel.

Yan-pa-ool was the start

was made.

district

Thence,

town from which the

after three

hours of

la-

borious ascent, the caravan reached the table-land of the Sain-ouia Mountains, in which the Chara Mooren,a large tributary of the Amour or Sagalien,

has

its

sources.

this table-land, the travellers

began

their experience of the hardships of Tartar

travel.

After pitching their tent, they had to col-

by the camels and other animals of preceding caravans, which ordi-

lect the

argols, or

dung,

left

narily was the only fuel available thi-oughout the

whole of

their long journey.

With

this fuel,

when

they had made their pot to boil, they heated some " Kioamin^'' a kind of vermicelli, prepared for the purpose, which, with a

slice of

bacon added, when

procurable, formed the whole of their luxurious

meal

at the

commencement of the journey.

AND MONGOLIA.

they proceeded, this meal was reduced to " Tsamba," a decoction of brick-tea,*

For more than an

butter.

little

and meal mixed up with

these French missionaries rior

meal

such as

entire year,

had very rarely

we have above

a supe-

described, and

never better beds than their skin cloaks spread

upon the ground. Hear this, ye travellers by rail and steam-boat who grumble if your dinner of !

three courses be not served in ten minutes, and

who

find nothing but discomfort in the princely

Rhine and of the high roads of

hotels of the

Europe

the table-land of the Sain-oula, the travellers

crossed part of the hunting ground of Jeho-ool,

which they describe richness.

them

as of surpassing

The descent

to the district of

fertile

beauty and

to the south-west

brought

Jeshekten (Gechekten), a

country, in which

Chinese industry and

chicanery are encroaching largely on the pastoral habits,

and on the

this district, as

proj^erties of the

well as in that of the Ooniots,

by the missionaries on the other oula range, gold exists in mines,

and

In left

side of the Sain-

procured in abundance.

and there

* Tlie tea of Tartary the leaves,

Mongols.

a class of

men among

formed into bricks by compression of

very coarse and inferior to that sold by the

Chinese for the European market.

TIBET,

the Chinese,

who possess,

of discovering from the this

metal

TARTAR^

is to

or pretend to, the

soil

Upon

be found.

power

and vegetation where a discovery being

declared by one of these, parties

of vagabonds

gather about hitn, who, with their head-quarters at the

mine, commit excesses exceeding those of

California,

and

neighbourhood. of miners, the

who

number

subsist

by plundering the

M. Hue

tells a

story of a

entire

body

so settled in the Ooniot country to

of 12,000, and for two years were the

terror of the vicinity.

last,

Mongol

princess

passing near the mine, was plundered of her jewels,

which induced the Ooniot horde for vengeance.

chieftain to collect his

The Chinese were

over-

powered, and massacred without mercy, and many

them taking refuge in their mine, the mouth was blocked up, and they perished miserably. This, be it observed, was not 200 miles from the capital Pekin, and shows how little real authority the Chinese government possesses over the free hordes of Mongolia: but of that, more presently. From

Jeshekten, the travellers passed into the district of the eight banners of Chakars, the

apparently that Father

Rubruquis

same nation calls

Jugures.

There, meeting some Tartars in search of stray horses, they

were much importuned

cast a

horoscope to determine in what direction the

lost

AND MONGOLIA. animals would be found.

by acceding

tion, it seems, is

Their servant wondered

and told how well he had fared

at their refusal,

heretofore

such requests.

Divina-

one of the recognised sources of

Lama's livelihood.

they came to the city of Tolo-Noor (seven lakes) called by Chinese " Lama

In the Chakar

district,

Mias," by Mongols " Nadan Omo," by Tibetans " Sat Doon." On the French map the place bears

name

the

of "

What

Naiman Soome."

geographer do with such a nomenclature city, like

lights.

police,

obstructions of

This

no drainage, no pavement,

The passage through

consequence, perilous as well as

sets,

most of those out of China, has no mu-

nicipality,

can a

mob

all

kinds

plunders

;

its streets is,

difficult,

from

a wheel carriage up-

with impunity, and camels

and other laden animals are frequently disabled in the

muddy

quagmires, and similarly

rifled.

Still,

commerce of Tartary, as well with Northern China as with Kiakhta. There are foundries in Tolo-Noor for casting brass and iron statues, bells and metal utensils of all kinds, and the missionaries witnessed the dispatch to Tibet of ^ statue of Boodh, cast in pieces, and laden upon eighty-four camels. the city

They

a great mart of the

availed themselves of the opportunity of their

TIBET, TAKTARY

42 visit to this

mart, to have a Christ cast in bronze

after a

French model, and M.

to the

high

that

Hue bears testimony

state of art of the

was impossible

Chinese, declaring

to distinguish the

copy from

the original.

the 1st of October, 1844, one of the very

few dates of our calendar given by M. Hue, the missionaries left Tolo-Noor. Their camels passed through the slippery and deep mire of the

streets

But they were no sooner they entered upon the than beyond the suburbs, with extreme

difficulty.

After a fatiguing

sands of the great Tartar desert. day's march, they

encamped

at a mineral spring

of very nauseous water, but finding

made

wood

fuel,

The next day they

a luxurious meal.

fell

in with the suite of a princess of the royal race of

Jungeez Khan, of the Khalkhas travelling hist

upon

monastery of the

of Shense.

tribe,

who was

a pilgrimage to the famous

They

left

teous interchange of

five

Bood-

towers in the province

the princess, after a cour-

civilities,

and pushed on

until

overtaken by a storm of wind and rain, in the set up They were relieved Mongols, who saw their dis-

midst of which they vainly endeavoured to their tent

and

light their

fire.

by some hospitable One of these proved tress.

be a

soldier, not

long returned from the war with the English.

AND MONGOLIA.

stated the order of service in the Chinese empire

be that "

first

the Chinese militia are sent

against an invading enemy.

the Solo hordes

"Were

tribes are called out."

the banner of

After them the Chakar

raised.

all

the Chakars

on this occasion?" asked the mission" Yes/' said the soldier, " all." " At first,

called out aries. little

was thought of the war, and

Chakars will not be required. militia could do nothing.

The

it was said the But the Chinese

Solo troops marched,

Then

but the heat of the South destroyed them.

came the Emperor's order

into our country

;

every

one immediately furbished his arms and prepared for the

campaign.

For

us this fine country,

now

"We were bound in duty

required our services.

answer the

eight banners were gathered, and

Pekin.

we had who gave

six generations

not been called upon, but the Emperor,

Thence they sent us

The

call.

we marched

Tien-Tsin-vei,

for three months." " Did enemy and meet in battle ?" he dared not show himself. The Chinese

where we were in camp

you ever "

told us

the

see the

we were marching

enemy were

to certain death

;

that

sea monsters, hiding themselves

under water, and coming out when not expected, to discharge fiery

water melons (bombs and

that before one could

bend

bow

shells),

against them.

TIBET,

TARTARY

they disappeared again under water like frogs. Us, too, they thought to frighten with such

But we cared

stories.

The Grand Lama had been

not.

consulted and had assured us of a prosperous

issue.

had a Lama acquainted with medicine

attached to each (Chounda) company, and

why

But the enemy, when they heard of our approach, were alarmed and sued for peace ; and our holy master (the Emperor) acceded to should

fear

their request out of compassion, so

without meeting them in battle."

This Mongol

soldier

left

returned

the missionaries before they could

further satisfy their curiosity about the events of

the war.

The Chakar country

bounded on the

east

Jeshekten, on the west by Tourmet, and by the

Sooniot district on the north, and

hundred and broad.

The

fifty

said to be a

leagues long, by a hundred

district

was assigned

banners of the Chakar horde

the eight

as a barrier against

the Khalkhas, which, as being the tribe of Jun-

geez Khan, the Manchoos view with great jealousy, as well because of

its

ancient glories, as of the

aspirations

which the descendants of

conqueror

still

cannot

Chakar.

sell

his

delight to entertain.

this

mighty

Chakar

assigned land to other than

Chinese purchaser

is at

once ejected.

AND MONGOLIA. The Chakars

are guardians of the imperial stud,

and draw considerable emoluments from the frauds which the

trust enables

them

to perpetrate.

From theChakar country, the missionaries passed to

Chaborte (the swamp), which they reached on

the day of the Yue-piiig

(moon cake)

festival is of great antiquity

1368,

This

but, since the year

has been kept by the Chinese with par-

honour

ticular

;

festival.

;

for in that year, a Sicilian vesper

was prepared secretly against the Tartars, and the announcement of the hour of rising was circulated in the cakes of the festival.

This perversion of

the rites of the day has, however, been forgotten in the lapse of years,

the Chinese in

its

and Mongols now join with

celebration.

were invited by a Mongol vities,

The

missionaries

to partake of the festi-

and with very questionable good breeding

reminded the host of the massacre of his ancestors, to

which the

festival

had contributed but

this

;

not affect the cordiality of their reception.

were presented with brother Benjamin's

did

They

slices

the fat of monstrous sheep's-tails, a great delicacy,

though

far

beyond

guests,

They among the

their digestive powers.

divided and distributed the

tit-bits

and then fared heartily on the

flesh,

Toolholos sang in this assembly several national songs commemorative of the glory of the Mongols,

TIBET, TARTARY

and amongst them, the spirited'lament

so exciting to a Tartar.

for

Tymoor,

gave them but half-

an-hour, and then went his round to other households, singing at each for a large gratuity, pro-

portioned to his

skill.

After a stay of two days, to

replenish their stores with fresh purchases, they

prepared for a

start firom

Chaborte, but found their

The

mule and horse missing.

friendly

Mongols

undertook the search, and soon reeoved them.

The

missionaries then took the route to

Khoton, or " the blue

city."

Koko

the third day of

their march, they fell in with a deserted city, the

walls of

which they found

entire,

half buried in sand and earth.

and the houses

The

place had the

appearance of having been so deserted for centuries,

and no Tartar could furnish information the time or cause of the desertion.

either of

M. Hue

says

that the desert abounds in such remains of all

dimensions.

assigned to them a date coeval

with the expulsion of the Mongols from China,

and ascribed them

Young-ho,

to the severities of

an early sovereign of the Ming dynasty, who en-

deavoured

to annihilate the Tartars.

should

rather suspect some failure of water to be the cause

of the desertion of these localties, for

the site

were favourable, they would assuredly have been soon re-peopled.

Near

this

ruined

city, the tra-

AND MONGOLIA.

vellers crossed the great southern road

akhta,

by which the Russian missions are

conducted

Two more

from Ki-

ordinarily-

Pekin.

days carried the travellers into the

of Efe, a part of the ancient territory of

kingdom

by them during the wars which preceded the establishment of the present the Khalkhas, but lost

The

dynasty.

early sovereigns of

gave this tract to the Chakars

;

Manchoo

but

race

was taken

again from the eight banners of this nation, to be

given by Kien-long as dower of a princess of the imperial family, married

by him

to a prince of the

ancient race of Jungeez.

The Mongols wrestlers,

of Efe are famous for their skill as

and fr-om infancy are continually training

themselves.

They

take pride in carrying off the

prizes in the annual contests held at

many

places,

one of which occurred when M. Timkoiiski was Oorga, and he

the

certifies to

22nd day of the 8th moon,

after passing

out of Efe, the travellers crossed a range of

on the road

to the

the skill of this tribe.

hills

Chorchi Lamaserai, of one of

had heretofore made a them the Mongol lan200 Lamas on the Chorchi

the inmates of which they convert, while he taught

guage.

There are

establishment, which, being a favorite of the

Em-

But these

insti-

peror's, has

been richly endowed.

â&#x20AC;˘

TIBET, TARTARY

tutions rarely

When

it is

Lamas

owe

their origin to imperial bounty.

proposed

buUd

number

one, a

start in all directions to collect subscriptions

from the pious.

Wlierever they go they are hos-

pitably received, and rarely collection, which,

fail to

on their return,

make

a large

devoted to the

erection of suitable buildings of brick or stone

Round

these again, the pious further build temples

and tombs, by which means the desert verted into the appearance of a /

are themselves the sculptors

quently the these

The

soon con-

The Lamas fre-

the construction of

principle

that of the Great

Kooren of Tim-kouski),

and painters, and

artificers also in

edifices.

Mongolia

city.

Lamaserai of

Kouren

(the

all

Oorga

situated in the country

of the Khalkas, on the banks of the Toula river,

and standing on the edge of the great stretches

forest that

northward into Siberia. To the south,

the desert of a month's journey. ever, in a pleasant valley,

lies

how-

amid mountains near the

source of the Toula, whigh river

Baikal lake.

It stands,

falls into

the great

There are 30,000 Lamas, under

several heads, at

Oorga;

their chief is the Geesoo-

Tamba, a regenerated Boodh, of great sanctity. There has, of course, risen a large city and mart of commerce in the immediate vicinity of the convent, and

the head quarters of Mongolia, having

AND MONGOLIA.

been the capital of the princes of the family of

Jungeez Khan, before their conquest of China. Tea-bricks are here the measures of value, an ounce of silver representing five tea-bricks.

There are

Grand Kouren,

ostensibly to

Chinese mandarins

preserve the peace amongst the Chinese merchants,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but,

in reality, to act as spies on the Geesoo-

Tamba, whose influence and power are very much dreaded at Pekin. In 1839, the Geesoo-Tamba announced a visit to the -court of Pekin, which was His retinue was ordered the cause of great alarm. to

be reduced

3,000 Lamas, and the three petty

sovereigns of Oorga, descended from Jungeez, were

forbidden to accompany him. Still, as this hierarch marched through Mongolia, he was received every-

where with extraordinary honours. Supplies were pro\'ided, and wells dug at the resting-places of his route,

and the Tartars thi-onged from

meet and worship him.

all

parts to

the Great Wall, half

his small retinue Avas further stopped,

still

his pre-

sence gave inquietude to the imperial government,

and he was soon despatched from the visit the

Blue City. it

was

capital, to

Lamaserai of the Five Towers, and the

died on his

way home,

said, of imperial jealousy

;

for

the victim,

was strongly

suspected that he received at Pekin a slow poison.

The same thing,

will

be recollected, occurred

TIBET, TAETARY

when the Djachi Lama visited Pekin in the days of Warren Hastings, and it is observed to be very much the custom for these sanctified persons to die, before they reach the seats of their spiritual supre-

macy, on their return.

Perhaps the Chinese know

they return dissatisfied in their hearts,

not

disgusted, with the result of their visit to Pekin

and

;

fearing, therefore, to leave this feeling rank-

ling in the breast of persons of such extensive influence, prefer to promote a regeneration,

and

take the opportunity of professing reverence and regret,

and the most profound personal attachment,

in a long obituary notice in the

Pekin Gazette.

In 1844, the Geesoo Tamba was regenerated in Tibet, and our missionaries

met

in the

Koko-noor

vaUey the mission of Khalkas Tartars, which was proceeding to bring him from thence

to the Grand In Mongolia, besides the Kouren monastery. Grand Kouren, monastery at Oorga, there are the Mingan Lamari Kouren, i. e., the thousand Lama

monastery, also that of

Koko Khoton, "

the Blue

City," and the Polou-noor, and Jeho-ool, serais, in all of

and criminal

Lama-

which, the Lamas have both

jurisdiction.

civil

Within the wall of

China there are the monasteries of Pekin, of the Five Towers, and of Shensi,

all

of the same high

rank and privileges.

From

Chorchi, the missionaries entered again

AND MONGOLIA. They were now

the territory of the Chakars. lands of the

Red Banner

51 in the

From

of that nation.

thence, after several days march, they passed into

The

Western Tourmet.

name the

lies

on the other side of the Chakar

In the western

tory.

eastern district of that

ascendancy, and

district

terri-

Chinese habits have

agriculture

extending.

Everything seemed here prosperous, and trees even had been planted on the road-side. Three days march in Western Tourmet brought the travellers Koko-Khoton, as it is called to the " Blue City"

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Mongolian

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Kui-hwa-chen in Chinese.

There

are two cities close to one another, the old and the

new; the new being the

Tartar, or military estab-

by Kang-hi, with magnificent Here the missionaries found a force of 10,000 men, under a Kiang-kian. The soldiers were originally Manchoo Tartars, but had nearly forgotten the Manchoo language. The missionaries

lishment, built walls.

remarked, indeed, that generally, in China as in

Mongolia, the Manchoos had

tionality as the result

Manchoo

some banner, and, vileges. tarily in

Sifo

of their

under obligation

Many

as well

lost their na-

ascendancy.

to enrol himself under

failing to

so, loses his pri-

neglect to enrol themselves volun-

order to avoid the conscription.

and Solo are the highest

These are proud of

tribes of

their position

and

The

Manchoos. history, but 7>

TIBET, TARTARY

52 without

much

cause on the ground of antiquity or

Manchoos had no written was the language reand arranged in dictionaries and

of civilization, for the

character

duced

until 1641, nor

to rule,

grammars, until the reign of Kien-long, that

MokManchoos. The

towards the end of the eighteenth century.

den

the native capital of the

Emperor has city,

a palace there, and

one quarter of which

" Yellow Belts," that is, perial family.

it is

handsome

appropriated to the

to the

members of the Im-

In the northern

districts,

near the

Sagalien, a very productive kind of cotton to

said

grow, yielding, says M. Hue, in a square of French,

fifteen feet,

much

two thousand

pounds of cotton. Losing themselves in the

Khoton, the

travellers

of a sharper,

muddy streets

were exposed

who reckoned upon

of Koko-

to the villany

selling

them

Tartar simpletons, but they extricated themselves adroitly

by taking refuge

in the very respectable

Chinese hotel of " three perfections." Here estabblishedjthey prepared for the coming winter by the

purchase of sheep-skin cloaks and clothing. There is

no coined money in China, except the brass

pieces with a hole in the centre, of

one will have seen specimens. the weight, and an ounce

1700

which every

Silver

sold

the equivalent of from

1800 of these brass coins, which are called

AND MONGOLIA.

sapeks by Europeans, by the Chinese Tien, and

by Tartars Deboy.

In taking change for some

ounces of silver to make these purchases, the

Chinese money-changer, thinking he was dealing with simple Tartar Lamas, allowed a high rate,

and gave

fall

weight, but endeavoured to cheat in

the calculation; the missionaries, however, with their arithmetic,

were too much

for the

Chinese

money-changer, with his saopan, and got their

full

Their means compelled them to put up

change.

with second-hand sheep-skin cloaks, and fox-skin caps; they took, however, the precaution to treat

them with a mercurial process

to get rid of the

vermin, a necessary operation before they could venture to wear them.

At Koko-Khoton there are five great Lamaserais, in each of which there are more than 2000 Lamas, besides

fifteen smaller

a low estimate for the

famous

city.

The

ones ; 20,000

number

Lamas

chief of the whole

a " Hobil-

gan," established at the Five Towers; that

Lama, who, having by

thus

in this

is,

abstraction and study, ob-

tained Boodhism, has been transmitted since

regeneration. In the reign of Kanghi,the *Geesoo*

M. Timkowski

says " Koutouktou, in Mongol, and Goussee

is the name of the highest class of the priests Boudha the one resident at Ourga is called by the Mongols, Gheghen Koutoukton."

(G-eesoo) in Tibetan,

;

TIBET, TARTARY

Tamba

resided at Koko-Klioton

ror paid

;

and that empe-

when on an expedition against Hi tribes. The insolent hierarch

him a

visit

the Ooloo, or

received him without rising or taking the least

whereupon a military mandarin in attenhim on the spot. The city was immediately in emeiite, and the Em-

notice,

dance, drew his sword and slew

peror's person

was

most of those

for

some time in great danger

with him

were

sacrificed,

and

amongst them the perpetrator of the violence on

Tamba. The Khalkhas tribe of Monup the cause, and declaring that the Geesoo Tamba had re-appeared in their country, established a grand Lama with that title at Grand the Geesoo

golia took

Kouren. Everything was ripe

for

an insurrection;

but Kang-hi proved equal to the occasion.

immediately courted the Delai Lama, of Lassa,

and through him gained over

all

the

Lamas of

Tibet and Tartary not already compromised in the quarrel.

Thus he restored

farther collision or violence.

Kouren, however, wear on the

collar of their

mourning

was

tranquillity without

The Lamas

to this

yellow dress, in

for this slaughtered

settled

Grand

day a black border

memory and

Geesoo Tamba.

this occasion that the

Geesoo

Tamba should remain

Grand Kouren, and an

Hobilgan replace him

Koko-Khoton, and

that

AXD MONGOLIA. the regeneration

of the

Geesoo Taniba should

always take place hereafter in Tibet, by which

means the

local influence

hierarch are

much

and attachments of

this

diminished.

Koko-Khoton is an university in which Lamas from all parts come to study and take degrees, returning afterwards to

ments.

whe

Lamas

theii-

provincial establish-

are of three kinds

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

religious,

devote themselves to study and abstraction,

and become teachers, and eventually domestic, to tribes

who

and

live in families, or attach

localities;

and the

saints; the

themselves

itinerant,

who

are

always moving from convent to convent, and travelling for travel's sake, often without aim, not

knowing

at all

where they are going. There

country that some of these have not visited, and

when they have

a religious or partisan feeling they

must be the best

spies in the world.

In the monasteries of Mongolia there religious discipline, but each his

cows and sheep,

every establishment

Lama

a strict

has generally

as well as a horse. is

Almost

nobly endowed, and the

funds are distributed on fixed days in the year, in

by the rank attained by But each Lama is free to seek other emoluments, such as by practising as a physician, or by performing domestic religious serproportions regulated the members.

TIBET, TARTARY

56 vices, or

casting horoscopes, or in any similar

manner, not inconsistent with the profession of a

Lama.

Some

families,

they generally spend prodigally.

attain

number of Lamas all

wcahh, which, having no

in Tartary

extreme

;

The almost

the younger sons are devoted from infancy to

this destiny

laymen,

;

the eldest only being brought

The younger

brothers have no choice, but have

their heads shaven

from childhood.

be the policy of the court of Pekin this multiplication of

in the idea that

The shaven

tion.

tend the flocks and keep up the family.

influential, if not

Lamas among

It is said to to

encourage

the Tartars,

checks the increase of populaare the most intelligent and

the most numerous

these sons of the desert, and

body of

the Chinese pay

court to them assiduously in consequence.

China Proper the corresponding

class of

Bonzes

by the government, and has sunk into the most abject poverty. The reason is obvious. A regenerated Boodh of Tibet or Tartary can at any time call round him thousands of dequite neglected

Lama

voted

bidding

at his * It

title

;

and* these no

curious to observe in

how many the

followers, ready to sacrifice their lives

less

than the lay

Gruigne's History of the

of the generals and lieutenants of Jungeez

of Kotooktoo.

Hnns,

Khan bore

AND MONGOLIA.

whom

Tartars, fluence,

they lead by their religious in-

have a high military

and the

spirit,

recol-

lection of the past glories of their race in the days

of Jungeez and of Tymoor, to excite them to great enterprises.

It is

hence the study of the Chinese,

and a recognised part of their policy, this influence

with the State, just

to associate

as the

Church

Europe is made by most governments an engine To effect this, of order and of civil government. largely to all government of Pekin contributes the the monastic institutions of Mongolia, Tibet and

Tartary, and supports the hierarchy and even the theocracies

by aspiring priests in Lassa, and at the Grand Kouren

established

various parts, as at

of Oorga, using these institutions to control the nobility as well as to lead the

seat of theocratic

mob. But there is

each

government a skiKul Chinese

di-

plomatist, who advises, and even controls, the deified

Lama and who, upon ;

of any kind, affairs,

occasions for political action

the prompter and director of

all

holding the strings and wires that move the

puppet, while he

treated with

all

outward

re-

spect and reverence.

the fourth day of the ninth

sionaries left difficulty

moon

the mis-

Koko-Khoton, but found the utmost leading their

narrow, ever-muddy

streets.

camels

through the

The country they D 3

TIBET, TARTAR

now passed througli was

rich

the second day they put

and highly cultivated

an inn, where

they met a singular character, who called himself a " Tartar-devourer," and who was an agent to recover debts owing to Chinese.

The next day they White En-

arrived at Chagan-Kouren, or the "

As they reached

closiu'e."

it,

they

fell

in with a

caravan of camels laden with merchandize of the west, which extended for fifteen It

had been

desert,

there

ti'avelling for five

lis,

or five miles.

months across the

and came probably from Kashghar, whence

a large import of jade stones and western

products.

They

arrived at the town late at night, and

found a lodging with Mongol's.

difficulty

at a hospitable

They were now approaching

the

Hoang-Ho, or Yellow River, and learned here

that

the inundations were out, and the passage across

They determined, nevertheless, Chagan-Kouren is a new town,

nearly impossible. to

attempt

it.

built with great regularity,

and open squares its

;

having broad

streets

but the inundation reached to

suburbs, and the camels after leaving them had

to proceetl fields

muddy embankments,

with the water up

to their

knees

or through ;

while the

whole plain before them had the appearance of a great lake.

a village

which they reached,

after

AND MONGOLIA,

a laborious but short march, they bargained with

some boatmen

for the passage,

two thousand sapeks channel.

to carry

They reduced

and were asked

them over the

first

the charge to eight hun-

dred, and were so conveyed to a station on the

bank of the main stream, which was rapid but not

Here they bargained again

very broad.

carried across this channel for another thousand

making an ounce of silver for the whole passage. Then* camels were taken into the boat at sapeks,

the second passage, an enterprise effected with ex-

treme

They had forded

difficulty.

the

under bad guidance and were nearly missionaries, after crossing this

first

stream

The

lost.

main stream, had

yet a third branch, the Paga-Gol, to get over, and a

march

muddy

across

inundated

before they could reach

its

fields

bank.

make

That march

remained some days on the northern bank of the Paga-Gol, disputing about the terms

effected, they

of transport.

last

they affected the transit by

the favour of a fisherman,

by a

fierce dog,

ment.

When

came

who having been them

the styptic they administered had

been applied with success, the fisherman,

ashamed of

bitten

for medical treat-

his inability to

pay the usual

being-

fee,

un-

dertook for the passage of the party on reasonable terms.

The

right of ferry,

may be

observed,

TIBET, TARTAR

60 a

monopoly enjoyed under

family,

a royal grant

whose exorbitant demand was beyond the

travellers'

means, and

long detention

Beyond

this

was the cause of

their

at this point.

the Paga-Gol lies the country of the

Ortoos, which extends a hundred leagvies from

and sixty-six from north

east to west,

In A.D. 1635, the

to south.

with

tribes of this region sided

the Manchoos, in their contest with the last of the

Ming

dynasty, and thus came into great favour

who

with Kanghi,

and

declared them the most honest

intelligent of his subjects,

breeders

country

of is

all

the

Mongol

and the best Tartars.

cattle

But the

a sandy desert throughout, producing

nothing except wild hemp, the dried remains of

which formed a or camel's

fuel

much

superior to the argols,

and bullock's dung, which our

usually depended upon for their meal. great want of

this countr}' is water,

travellers

But the

and owing

the sterility in consequence, the Ortoos are in the greatest misery, and beggars are here

ous than in Ireland. ritory, the travellers

and

rain

more numer-

In crossing the Ortoos

ter-

encountered a storm of wind,

and snow, that reduced them

greatest possible state of distress

But they found by good

and

fortune,

the

difficulty.

some caves

and deserted rock habitations, which gave them

AXD MONGOLIA.

shelter,

and aiFordcd the means of di-ying their

clothes

and

refitting

the

who

told

here a Tartar,

They met

caravan.

them

that

the

caves

had been thus prepared by a party of Chinese

who had lands.

settled there to cultivate the adjacent

When

they grew rich and insolent, the

Tartars resolved to expel them, and accordingly

drove cattle into their ripe

fields,

destroying 'the

entire crop, which had led to the Chinese decamp-

ing in a body about two years before.

After

leaving these caves, the missionaries experienced the extreme cold of one of those winds of Tartary,

which are described

as so terrible.

The

cold was

too severe to allow of their continuing the march,

and

for a

gave them

good

fire.

full

employment

to collect fuel

After a halt of tAvo days, the wind

becoming more moderate, they resumed their march, but could not draw their tent pins without first

heating them several times with hot water

poured round them. They had, however, no sooner

commenced

the

quite oppressive ;

march than they

perature in that terrible climate.

day of the Ninth

felt

the heat

such are the alternations of tem-

the 15th

jNIoon, the missionaries fell in

way Lama, who had vowed

Rash-chooren, to see

with pilgrims on their

there to cut open his

bowels in public.

For

this the

devotee prepares

TIBET, TARTARY

by long penance, prayer and day appointed he

sits

on an

abstraction

altar,

on the

and deliberately

ripping open his belly, lays the bowels before him,

and

falling

oracularly

all

into

a kind of trance,

questions put

operation finished, he gathers his bowels

and reciting a long prayer, readjusts nothing had happened. to

answers

the pilgrims.

The again,

his girdle as if

commend this miracle The missionaries

the Magician of the North.

resolved to go a

little

out of their road to witness

the exhibition, but lost their way, and passed a

Beyond the mo-

miserable night in the desert.

nastery of Rash-chooren, they came to the salt lakes of Dabsoon-noor, which, though nearly dry,

required great care in the crossing, owing to the

multitude of quicksands, and general treachery of the

soil.

cattle,

Round

these lakes are rich pastures for

and especially for camels.

beyond them, the pastures,

Two days' journey

travellers halted,

and purchased a sheep

still

amid rich

for a feast

from a

Lama, who procured them also an accomplished butcher, and brought his family to partake of the dainty meal. The description of these festivities will well repay the reader

;

entering into the details.

but

refrain

from

the next day, after

a long march, the water had to be drawn from a

deep well, the mouth of which was closed with a

AND MONGOLIA. large stone. Another long

march brought them

the "

Hundred Wells ;" and on the day after, they met the Prince or King of Alishan, on his way to Pekin

render homage.

Three Tartars of

this

prince's suite passed the night"svith the missionaries,

and explained the relations which subsisted between

The

Alishan, and the court of Pekin.

tributes

paid by

all

nominal,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a camel, or a horse of particular breed,

these Tartar chiefs are

any special

little

more than

may produce

rarity the country

the vegetable or animal kingdom, forms the tribute.

One

of the chiefs of the

Chakar

tribes, for instance,

pays tribute in pheasants' eggs, which are used to give lustre to the hair of the imperial concubines.

But

all

such tributes must be offered in person by

the head of the principality, and the visit

re-

quired to be annual, unless in consequence of the distance the period

great favour.

extended

Arrived

to thi'ee years as a

Pekin, the tributaries

are treated very unceremoniously

;

they have no

separate audiences, but on great days, like that of the

New

Year, or the Emperor's birthday, they

stand round, and see the Imperial countenance ap-

proach from a distance. pearance, they must

all

Immediately on his apfall

on their knees, and

perform the Kotou, never rising has passed.

till

the other hand,

the

all

Emperor

these petty

TIBET, TARTARY

chiefs are pensioned,

some receiving

ÂŁ2,000 per annum, and others

less.

much

The

stipends

are paid in hard silver, at the time of presenting

the tribute, but occasionally the tributaries receive plated ingots instead of genuine ones.

The information given by

these Tartars of the

character of the Alishan country, and of

to take a

its

recent

from drought, decided the missionaries

sufferings

more eastern route through Chinese terKoko-noor valley, crossing again the

ritory to the

Hoang-ho, or Yellow this route,

river, for the purpose.

they would pass withm two days' march

Sambda Chamba, which was to him a source of great satisfaction, as he had not seen his family for eighteen years. From due west, the travellers now turned of the native country of their servant,

little

to the south,

march by their

map

a Tartar, :

and were directed on

their

whose information confirmed

but the water

very putrid, and required

at their to

next stage was

be purified by char-

coal.

They passed here through mountains

schist,

which had the appearance of having been washed by an ocean wave, and presented

heretofore

the most grotesque forms, besides being covered

with

shells

and marine

caves evidently

fossils,

by water

and being worn

into

action.

After crossing this range, the Yellow River was

AND MONGOLIA. seen at

a magnificent stream,

its foot, still

passed to the

little

and was

town of She Tsui Dze

The

reasonable ferry charge.

found themselves upon Chinese ground,

now

missionaries at the

end

of two months from the date of theu' departure

At She Tsui

from the "Valley of Black Waters." Dze, they put up

at the hotel of

From

passion."

the day of their

Khoton, they had not seen the

They were here

house.

and

theii'

whom

" Justice and

Comleavmg Koko-

interior of a habited

in comparative comfort,

host was a communicative person, from

they obtained

future route

much

intelligence as to their

After two days' rest, the travellers

proceeded, and crossed the Great Wall, which surmounted the rismg ground beyond the river. It was here a barrier of little strength and rough

workmanship. Works of irrigation, and other dences of Chinese

skill

parent on their line of march the province of

;

and the contrast of

Kan-sou with the arid desert of

the Ortoos was remarkable.

sou was

evi-

and enterprise, were ap-

The

fii'st

Wang-ho-po, where they

halt in

fell

Kan-

in with a

Chinese caravan, bound like themselves to NingHia.

the road to this last city, they found

guard-houses

every half league, consisting of

square towers, built for the protection of travellers.

Arrived

Ning-Hia, a demand was made

TARTARY

TIBET,

for passports

by three pretended public

for purposes

of extortion.

camels

made

free with

some fresh

oziers

on a cart

A tumult

within reach of their long necks. in consequence,

officers,

In the night, their arose

which ended in a demand upon

the missionaries to

make good

But

the damage.

a jury of bystanders, a tribunal always available in China,

adjudged the reparation

be made by

the hotel-keeper, as he had been forewarned.

Re-

sistance to anything unjust or unreasonable

is al-

ways the best course even for strangers. Ning-Hia is a city of the first rank, but trayed unmistakeable signs of decadence.

road carried them to Hia-ho-po,

nificent

hotel of which,

named " the Hotel

a white -buttoned

cities,"

quired them to make

official

way for his

be-

A magat the

of Five Feli-

impudently

re-

master, a manda-

But here

also

the travellers stood on their right, as being the

first

rin of high rank, with a large suite.

arrived,

and thus shared

Two more days

carried

fairly the

them

accommodation.

Chong-Wei,

a for-

town on the banks of the Yellow River, which contrasted favourably with the misery of Ning-Hia;

tified

but to their wonder, the river was here without boats.

At Chong-Wei,

the Great

Wall was again

passed, and the travellers found themselves once

more amid the sandy mountains of Alishan, show-

AND MONGOLIA.

ing no signs anywhere of vegetation, and moving

with every breath of wind.

It is

from these sands

that the

Yellow River acquires the

derives

its

sand lers

to theu*

tint

The camels sank

name.

whence

in the loose

knees at every step, and the travel-

were compelled

to dismount, in order to pur-

sue their laborious journey. These sands seem to be

blown up by the western winds of the great Shamo desert,

and are piled up

on the bank of

in hills

the river, but are there arrested.

oasis in the

middle of these sands, called Chang Lieon-Choui

(Ever Flowing Waters), was their next resting-

where

place, a delightful spot, plaint

was of overcharge

modation.

From

this

stations

penal

settle-

Cliina in the extreme north-west.

The

this

to Hi, the

road are maintained by convicts,

whose banishment

remitted on the condi-

tion of their providing water

public travellers, this

accom-

village, they followed for

some distance the high road

ment of

com-

their only

for their night's

and provisions

who else would find none. Along

road they proceeded

till

they again crossed

the Great Wall, and soon after an interior barrier, called that of

San yen Tsin,

at the resting-place

beyond which they were again importuned

for

passports, as a plea for extortion, but again successfully resisted.

They were now

in the province

TIBET, TARTARY

of Kan-Sou, a well cultivated wheat and pasture

country; but they encountered here a dry tornado of a most formidable character, which, fallen

upon them while amid the sands

must

infallibly

had

if it

of Alishan,

have destroyed the whole party.

After a day's rest at a respectable farm, they

reached Choang Long, or Ping-Fang, the hotel of which was kept by a Chinese,

asked them

who

once

they were not Ing-kilee (English).

This they denied, and a bystander relieved them from the embarrassing question by saying, " Don't

you know that those English have all blue eyes and red hair." " True," said the master of the hotel, " I did not think of that besides those Ing-kilee never leave the sea, and can't ride, but ;

shake like

little fish

on horseback."

Lama, who was

out of water this hotel

a regenerated

tribe, returning

when they mount

they met a grand

Boodh of the Khalkas

from Tibet. All but our travellers

prostrated themselves

before him.

The

saints'

curiosity brought him, however, to terms of familiarity with them, notwithstanding this

spect,

and he asked

want of

re-

they were Russians, or Eng-

lish (Peling)*

from the Ganges and Calcutta.

had

between Tibet and the country of

travelled

* Peling

the Tibetan corruption of the

word

Feringi, itself

a corruption of Frank, the Oriental word for European.

AND MONGOLIA. the Khalkas

more than once, and had there heard

of these two nations, but he

knew nothing

France.

The next

stage, after leaving

Choang-Long, was

Ho Kiao-y, which also has another name, Tai-tongFou, which

used.

is less

Here they put up

at the

hotel of " Temperate Climates," where they rested

days for the sake of their

for eight

cattle,

backs were chafed by the long travel. the

whose

Being near

country of their Chiaour servant, Sambda

Chambda, they gave him leave which he found

the expense of his

to visit his family,

much distress, and relieved at own wardrobe. Leaving Ho-

Kiao-y, they crossed a high range called Ping-Kiou, the summit of which they reached only at mid-day,

beginning the ascent passed felt

at sunrise.

snowed

they

but in the descent on the other side, they

;

inconvenienced from the heat.

was so

steep, as to

mount

and one of

;

The pathway

compel the travellers

to dis-

their camels t"wice rolled over,

but without suffering in this range of hills

much injury. There is coal much of it was met under :

conveyance to the river on bullocks, mules, and

other animals.

the further side of the Ping-

Kiou range they came knitters,

called

beyond which

to a village of stocking-

Lao-Ya-Pou,

five days'

journey

the city of Sining-Fou, situated

TIBET, TARTARY

in a well cultivated country, abounding in tobacco

but the road of the

last

day was amid rocks, and

along the line of a torrent presenting

The

gers.

Dorville

many

dan-

route of the missionaries Grueber and

fell

in here with that of our travellers, but

they had come across China proper by Singanfoo.

Sining, strangers

hotels

;

called Sie-Kia, as

are not received into

the

but there are separate lodging-houses,

where they are boarded

as well

lodged for nothing, the keepers of the houses

drawing their

and

profit

from the agency of purchases

sales for these strangers,

ately extortionate.

The

which

proportion-

missionaries having con-

tributed nothing in this way, paid for their accom-

modation.

The

route after this was rocky, and

crossed several torrents, and the Great

Wall was

passed twice before they reached Tong-Keou-ool, a small but thriving commercial town, in the valley

of the Koko-noor, full of inhabitants of

from

all

quarters,

and speaking

missionaries were

all

all races,

languages.

The

here also received at a free

lodgmg-house, kept by a Mussulman.

was now

month of January, and consultation was held upon their further proceedings. To pass the mountains into Tibet at this season was full of hardships, and dangerous in many respects. Yet they could the

not think of abandoning the object of their long

AND MONGOLIA.

journey, and in summer, the torrents and melting

snows would present even greater difficulties. After a stay of six days, wliile they a party of

were yet deliberating,

Khalkhas Tartars arrived on

from Grand Koiu'en (Oorga)

mage

to a

new Geesoo Tamba,

to Lassa, to

men

way

do ho-

declared to be rege-

nerated in a family of that country.

but eight

theii*

There were

of the party, but each had more

than one horse, besides forty camels for the bag-

gage of the whole.

The

missionaries rejoiced at

first

in the oppor-

tunity of continuing their journey in such com-

pany, but upon enquu-ing they gave up the idea, finding that these Tartars travelled fifty or sixty

miles a-day, which, with their

own

small supply of

was impossible, and they had not the money purchase more. These Tartars were all nobles

cattle,

of the royal race, and were visited by the young prince of the Koko-noor VaUey,

who

advised the

missionaries to wait for the return, in spring, of

the Tibetan mission, then at Pekin, which advice

they determined to follow.

At eleven leagues

dis-

tance from Tang-Kiou-ool, in the Sifan pasture district, is

and not

far

from the lake of Koko-noor,

the famous monastery of

Koon-boom, contain-

ing near four thousand Lamas of aU nations.

Thither

M. Gabet went

to seek a

Lama

preceptor

TIBET, TARTARY

them Tibetan, while they waited

to teach

caravan of the mission then

and engaged a cousin of

Pekin.

for the

their servant

Chamba, a Chiaour Lama, named Sandara, two years of age, who had lived

found

Sambda thirty-

for ten years in a

Lamaserai of Lassa, and who understood most of the languages of China. telligent,

tures,

was extremely

in-

and had passed through strange adven-

having

one time been an actor in a

travelling Chinese company

;

but he was cunning,

and not the best tempered of preceptors

how-

was most useful in the menage, and

ever, he

arranged for their removal to the Koon-boom

monastery after

begining of the Chinese year,

at the

about a month's residence

Tang-Kiou-ool.

At Koon-boom they obtained lodgings from generous

priest,

whose

liberality

had ruined him,

and who cordd take no rent consistently with the Opposite to them, in the same rules of his order. court, lived a niggardly Chinese

reputed wealth. titioner,

who

stuttered to a degree almost destroy-

ing his respiration defect

Lama, of great

one side was a medical prac-

when he attempted

to speak, a

which the Chinese Lama's apprentice took These neigh-

mischievous delight in mimicking.

bours and their host they met daily in the court, but very seldom visited or received each other in

AXD MONGOLIA. their apartments.

with

its

The Lamaserai

of Koon-boom,

4,000 Lamas, covers the two

mountain ravine, and

consists of a

mansions built upon either temples interspersed.

number of white with Boodhist

side,

At every

you meet caps, and red

step

Lamas with yellow mitre-shaped cloaks, walking gravely, as

thought. aries,

At the time

though absorbed in

of the arrival of the mission-

they were preparing for the feast of flowers,

which was expected

this

usual magnificence.

month of

year to be held with un-

15th of the

the

the year this festival recurs

of flowers, there are figures of

all

for

weeks before, wetting

;

first

but in lieu

kinds prepared

of frozen butter, which twenty chosen

upon

sides of a

their

Lamas work

hands in cold

water to prevent the butter from being melted they model.

Strangers from

all

quarters flock to

the festival, and the missionaries were most agree-

ably surprised by the exhibition.

The accuracy

with which the features and dress of the

human

all

types of

race were represented in bas relief,

especially the skin-dress of

thing they had yet seen in butter, destroyed

and

many, exceeded anyart,

and

all this

was

cast into the ravine, to be-

come food for crows, the day after the festival. While the missionaries were examining these displays of art, the Grand Lama of Koon-boom came

TIBET, TARTARY

.74

with mucli ceromony and

state to see the festival

he was a very ordinary-looking person of forty

them

years of age, but his costume struck

responding exactly with that of their

even

own

as cor-

bishops,

to the violet chape.

The Koon-boom monastery

Amdo

district,

situated in the

south of Koko-noor, and

sur-

rounded by barren red and yellow mountains. Tsong-Kaba, whose name is by Csoma Korosi, Tson-Kha-pa and of whose

It is the birth-place of

spelt

miraculous conception and infancy strange legends are current.

was born

a.d. 1347, and, devot-

ing himself when quite young to a

life

of privation

and abstract study, became, according

these

legends, the pupil of a stranger of the west, described as of great learning, and of peculiar phy-

siognomy, being remarkable for the length of his nose.

This stranger, after teaching

ing to Tson-Kha-pa, laid himself

all his

learn-

down on

the

top of a mountain and slept the sleep of death,

never to awake, being very probably frozen to death.

Upon this Tson-Kha-pa, resolved to

travel

south into Yunan, whence he

made

and went his

way

first

after a

tural injunction

time to Lassa.

bade him

accordingly preached his

introduced

new

There a superna-

fix his residence.

new

doctrine there, and

prayers and forms of ritual, and

AND MONGOLIA. gained

many

by yellow

converts.

capes,

His sect were distinguished

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;red being

the former coloui*.

Gaining ultimately the ascendant, Tson-Kha-pa

founded the Kaldan monastery, nine miles from Lassa, in a.d. 1409, being then sixty-two years old.

This monastery 8,000 Lamas. this

world

still

exists,

and numbers more than

In 1419, the reforming saint quitted

Tson-Kha-pa, besides

for the celestial.

reforming the

ritual, revised

and published a new

version of the doctrinal scriptures of Sakhya-Muni, the great founder of the religion, under the

name

the " graduated road of perfection."

mission-

aries

The

saw reason, in the conformity of ritual,

as of costume, especially in this sect of

as well

Lamas,

for

believing that the preceptor of Tson-Kha-pa must

have been a stray member of the Romish Church,

who found after

and

his

way

into these regions a century

Rubruquis and Marco Polo. ritual are

in all Tibet,

adopted in

now

His doctrine

the prevailing forms of worship

Mongolia and Tartary, and have been

many Chinese

Koon-boom was

built

at his bu'thplace,

some time

and there

was shorn on

said to

That of

after his decease

a miraculous tree

have grown on the spot

shown, which

where

his hair

monasteries.

his

becoming a Lama,

on every leaf of which tree there

a letter of the

Tibetan alphabet distinctly marked. The mission-

E 2

TIBET, TARTARY

76 aries

saw the

three

men

was

tree.

was not more than eight letters

old,

with a stem that

could scarcely circle in the girth, but feet

high

the Tibetan

;

were well formed, and seemed engrained in

the leaf as

They

grew.

but could not

at all

testify to the miracle,

account for

We presume

it.

the letters to be written

upon the young

with some substance that

affects their

texture,

and

so remains indelible.

say, is of a species that

where.

leaves

growth and

The

tree,

no one has seen

they else-

The Emperor Kang-hi, when he made

pilgrimage to Koon-boom, covered the tree with

endowment for the perpetual support of three hundred and fifty Lamas, which the monastery still enjoys. The a silver dome, and gave an

missionaries

speak highly of

management, and

its

discipline

and

testify to its well-merited cele-

brity as an university for the instruction of Lamas.

There are four great First

fessors for each.

classes,

mystical doctrines, and of the tion

which leads

with separate pro-

and highest, the faculty of of contempla-

life

to sanctification

Second, the

;

faculty of the liturgy, including the study of religious ceremonies cine, including

botany and pharmacy

faculty of prayer,

consequently

;

all

Third, the faculty of medi-

which

the best

;

Fourth, the

obligatory on

filled.

all,

and

There are thirteen

AND MONGOLIA.

branch of study only, the books of

classes in this

prayer being most numerous, and very voluminous,

and the students being graduated according

their progress in these books. for

age or length of study

;

one

advanced

very young persons,

even boys, take often the very highest places in

The

the hierarchy.

place

given after

strict

examination, but a handsome present to the tution, or to the examiners, mitigates

The

severity.

the open

air,

much

insti-

its

lectures are given at all seasons in

and the lessons having been

recited,

upon generally to maintain a thesis upon any subject. He must answer all opponents, and if victorious, is carried round one of the pupils

the

called

school-yard on the shoulders

The whole

quished.

disputation

of the

van-

conducted in

the Tibetan language, no other being taught or

admitted in the schools. are strictly enforced

Discipline and attention

censors, who carry iron rods

with which they punish summarily any delinquents.

The

proctors and their bull-dogs are dis-

tinguished by a grey dress and black mitre.

have great power in the

streets of the

They

town, as

well as in the courts of the monastery, and there are

Lama judges

any petty

for

serious offences.

theft, the culprit is

head and cheek by a hot

iron,

marked on the and expelled.

For fore-

TIBET, TARTARY

Our two

missionaries, with the aid of their pre" Sandara," prepared a Tibetan abstract of ceptor

summary of the principal The report of their

the Scriptures, and a doctrines of their

own

employment spread

many began

faith.

in the monastery,

anxious enquiries to

hope

for

of superstitions.

;

so, that

they

but their preceptor was

The

a confirmed sceptic.

much

extensive success in winning

converts to their faith

medicine was

;

and excited

stuttering student of

though full them one day,

ceremony

for the benefit

better disposed,

proposed

to assist in a charitable

of lost and forlorn travellers.

It consisted of the

very simple process of stamping the figure of a horse, caparisoned, on

little

pieces of light paper,

winds on a mounThe young student had the most perfect faith that many a poor wanderer would be relieved by this charitable

and giving these

to the strong

tain top, with certain prayers.

sending of horses in

all

quarters.

The missionaries had resided three months at Koon-boom, when they received a civil message, that the time had expired when they could live as stranger guests, dressing and comporting themselves as they pleased.

If they remained longer,

they must wear the mitre and costume of the They objected on monastery, and matriculate.

AND MONGOLIA.

the score of religious scruples, and were accord-

ingly advised to remove to a less strict monastery at

Chogortan, especially devoted to medical stu-

dents.

This advice they readily followed, and had

no reason

repent the change of their residence.

M. Hue

Before taking leave of Koon-boom, votes a chapter to the precepts of

the introduction of this religion into China.

cites,

and the

facts

and highly interesting

;

de-

Boodh, and

What

he mentions, are curious but through the writings

Csoma Korosi, and Mr. G. Turnour of Ceylon, we have much more fidl details on the of the late Mr.

subject of this

religion,

derived directly from

Tibetan and Pali sources.

The Chinese

give the year,

b. c.

1029, as the

date of the birth of Sakhya-Muni,

and the year,

death

B.C. 951, for that of his

Boodh, but

;

they admit that the religion was not introduced into

China

iintil

1,000 years

later.

They

state the

book of the Forty -two Precepts, from which the missionaries give extracts, to have been translated into the language of China, in the year a. d. 68.

comparison of many epochs has established in India the date, B.C. 628, for the year of the birth of

Boodh; and

B.C. 543, for that of his decease.

ask not for

him

greater antiquity than this, but

shall reserve the

examination of this question, and

TARTARY

TIBET,

Bood-

especially the discussion of the claim of the hist sacred

books

to greater

antiquity than our

own, until we have carried our missionaries to their journey's end.

The

climate in the elevated region of the

made

noor, wherein the missionaries sojourn,

Kokolong

this

snow falls nearly through-

so severe, that

out the year, though the latitude

only 36째 north.

sudden change, and

In July, however, there

vegetation proceeds as

the earth were in a state

of fermentation.

The mountains

suddenly

are

covered with verdure, and flowers show their bright colours on

sides.

all

this season the

camels of our travellers lost their long hair, and

were

for

grew

fast

some days quite uncomfortable, but it again, and the coat thus shed proved a

valuable acquisition, being converted into cords for fastening the loads.

mond,

Chogortan

or the Brighton, to

Koon-boom

the Rich-

which the Lamas of summer and season, the whole fa-

resort for recreation in

here especially came,

at this

culty of medicine, to

pharmacy.

;

simples for

collect

their

In the plains round about were rich

pastures, from

which the monastery was

with argols for winter fuel.

The

a special dissertation in this place,

of the argol of different animals

;

sui3plied

missionaries have

upon the merit

that of goats

and

AND MONGOLIA. sheep stands in the kine of

all

first class

;

kinds in the third

of that genus, in the

camels in the second ;

horses,

and animals

because the dung of

last,

these animals burns too quick, and gives a dis-

agreeable smoke.

The Chogortan Valley, favoured pasture-grounds,

in consequence of

its

subject to the attacks

of brigands, not plundering as individuals, but in

organized bodies and tribes.

boom

The Lamas

Koon-

take to arms immediately on hearing of the

approach of these banditti, but not with any fective organization, so that the valley

times swept before any succour can arrive

ef-

some;

and

the missionaries were witness to the confusion resulting from an incursion of this kind during their stay.

was the end of September, 1845, before the

Tibetan mission made

its

of the Koko-noor, on

Pekin.

appearance in the valley

its

return to Lassa from

Immediately, on hearing of

its

approach,

our travellers made their preparations so as to be

ready

accompany the caravan.

The

supplies

they laid in were, three bricks of tea, two sheep's

stomachs of butter, two sacks of flour, and eight sacks of Tsamba, that to

be mixed with the

food

is,

tea,

of roasted barley meal,

which

of Tibetans, without being

the universal satisfied

E 3

with

TIBET,

82 which, there

no passing by

The above

Tibet.

missionaries, with

TARTARY this

were

supplies

route into

for the

two

two servants, four camels, two

horses and a mule, a condition of baggage and

commissariat for such an expedition, that would satisfy

even Sir Charles Napier.

of garlic, a specific

good supply

recommended by the people

of the country to prevent

consequences from

ill

bad atmosphere and nauseous vapours, was the For the conveyance

only further article provided.

of these extra supplies a horse and camel were

added

the original establishment with which

Koon-boom, and a young Lama was hired as helpmate to Sambda Chamba, in tending the cattle. With this preparation, the missionaries made a the missionaries had reached

march of four days

meet the Tibetan mission

on the banks of the Koko-noor lake or rather

They passed on

inland sea.

their

way

to the lake

the Lamaserai of Tansan, having about 200 Lamas,

and found magnificent pastures on the plains These travellers are the first Europeans from whom we have any trustworthy notice near the lake.

of this lake from personal examination. scribe

ference, also to

They

de-

about one hundred leagues in circum-

and

as salt as the ocean.

be subject

some kind of

They tide,

state it

but

this

AND MONGOLIA.

Towards the south a rocky island, where a

think must be a mistake.

end of the lake there

few Lamas have established a temple with some

There is no communication in winter over the ice, for on them except with huts for residences.

the whole lake there

not a single boat.

Lamas, however, are

There are twenty-nine

season by the shepherds.

banners of subject princes plains of

who

divide the pasture-

Koko-noor amongst them, paying tribute

China.

The

liberally supplied in that

The plundering tribes are Eastern who live in the Bayen

Tibetans, of the Sifan race,

Kharat mountains, near the sources of the Yellow River. They are called Kolo, and are Boodhists, but have added to their mythology a special

God

of plunder.

The

missionaries remained near a

banks of the Koko-noor, waiting envoy's caravan from Pekin. the end of October.

used

month on the

for the Tibetan

It arrived to

towards

be the custom

for

the Tibetan mission to travel yearly to Pekin, but

was attacked by the Kolo robbers, whom they beat off, but found next day that the Chanak-Kampo, or Lama ambassador, had in 1840 the caravan

disappeared in the night attack, whether slain or not,

was never thoroughly ascertained.

1841, a second

officer

Again, in

of the same rank received

TIBET, TARTAR

wound, of which, he died shortly after. In consequence of these casualties, the Emperor made

a severe

the mission triennial, instead of annual, and

was the return of that of 1844 that formed the present caravan.

It consisted,

by our

traveller's

estimate, of 15,000 yaks, 12,000 horses,

many

camels, and about 2,000

whom

human

and

beings of

mounted were well armed. The Chanak-Kampo rode in a litter carried by two

mules

all

;

the

and the caravan had an escort of 300

Chinese soldiers, from the province of Kansou,

and 200 mounted Tartars, who were the

frontier of Tibet, but

conduct

further.

The

caravan generally started three hours before sunrise, so as to

come

and so afford the

to the

cattle

new ground by noon,

grazing time

gave the signal of preparation the

two guns

march was a general move without much

order.

After a journey of six days, the Pouhain-

Gol, a river that

be crossed

;

falls into

the Koko-noor, had to

ran in twelve channels, not very

deep, but the frozen edges cult

;

and departure, and

made

the passage

diffi-

and disagreeable.

Our

travellers

made

journey, with three Lamas,

acquaintance,

who had

this

travelled over

the whole of Mongolia, to collect subscriptions for the erection of a grand temple near Lassa.

They

AND MONGOLIA. successful,

and were bringing

sufficient for their

grand design, but

had been eminently back means at

Koon-boom were overtaken by an order from

Pekin, and the principal emissary was sent on to

Lassa for

and

on the charge of fraud and forgery,

trial,

was placed

his treasure

Delai

Lama

at the disposal of the

to abide the result.

Five days' march

beyond the Pouhain-Gol, the caravan came to a small river, on the other side of which was a deserted Lamaserai, which had been besieged and

Here No-

ravaged by the terrible Kolo plunderers. the Chinese escort left them.

the 15th

vember, they entered the Tsaidam cupied by Mongols, and

name.

The

collected in pits,

tallizes freely.

oc-

dry and rocky, and produces

soil is

borax, which

district,

crossed the river of that

where

crys-

the further side of this valley

was the dreaded Boorhan-boota Mountain.

the eastern and northern side of this range the air is

impregnated with carbonic-acid gas, that

unless there

wind

sweep

it off,

scarcely pass without suffocation.

valley of the Upas, in Java, similar cause.

Our

which

animals can

It is like the is fatal

from a

travellers passing at a time of

calm, experienced severely the effects of the cor-

rupted atmosphere. in comparison with

But the

this difficulty

passage

was

of the

trivial

Chuga

TARTARY

TIBET,

The

mountains some days

after.

north-east was

summit was no wind met them in the face,

easy,

sooner reached than a

ascent from the

but the

in the midst of deep snow, that

dangerous in the highest degree.

made the descent They could not

venture to face this wind, and sat with their faces

Monsieur Gabet reached the

to the horses tails.

bottom with his nose and ears frozen, and suffered so severely in other respects, that his recovery at

one time despaired

of.

was

the halting-place

they had to scrape away the snow in search of argol fuel, to

which was

make

a miserable

the heat of

fire,

insufficient to boil their tea.

The miseries of a Tibetan journey had now fairly commenced all the travellers marched in mourn;

ful silence

many

amid snows that proved every day

with the bones of

men

remind them of the

perils

as well as of animals, to

by which they were

Monsieur Gabet

rounded. that

made him

fell

sick, to a

there were

still

sur-

degree

quite helpless, in consequence of

his sufferings in the passage of the

to Lassa,

fatal

of the cattle, and the road was strewed

Chuga

;

yet

two months of journey before them possibility of halt, no comforts,

and no

no medicines.

In the beginning of December,

they reached the famous Bayen Kharat chain of mountains, which stretches, from south-east to

AND MONGOLIA.

Hoang-Ho and Kin-ChaThey were now close to the sources

north-west, between the

Kiang

rivers.

of the former, which lay two day's journey to

Here they held

the East, but could not be visited.

council how best to effect the passage of the dividing

range. It lay before them, covered with deep fresh

snow. The day was calm, but

when they reached

much of it had passed

by the morrow, which would be condition of the snow.

opinion

;

the foot of the ridge.

other hand, there was a probability of a

the

wind arising

fatal in the

then

The caravan was divided

but our travellers were of the party for

proceeding, and they scrambled over the fresh snow

without accident. fine, and

Luckily, the next day also was

those who had stopped

without any one being

lost in

came over

likewise,

an avalanche or a

snow-wreath, which was looked upon as extreme

good fortune. They rested on the

side of a frozen

lake, depending for fuel,

on the argols of previous caravans and moved, next day, to the bank of the

Mouroui-Oossoo, the name here given called below the

Kin-Cha-Kiang, and

to the river

in the plains

of China, the mighty Yang-Tse-Kiang, or Blue

River.

They passed

over ice, and witnessed a

strange spectacle in the passage.

A string

than fifty wild yaks had been frozen

moment

swimming

across,

at the

very

and remained there

TARTARY

TIBET,

fixed in death, their eyes having been pecked out

by crows and are

common

Wild yaks and wild

eagles.

asses

in the most elevated regions of Tibet,

and are seen wandering in herds, seeking fresh pastures.

The caravan here

separated, the

camels pre-

ceding, because capable of making longer marches,

and of moving more rapidly than the loaded yaks. lers

now

a gradual fvirther ascent, our travel-

reached, at

last,

the dividing land be-

tween the waters of China and Tibet, the highest It elevated region, perhaps, in the whole world.

was mid- winter, and

for fifteen

over the plain with murderous

days the wind blew

severity.

During the

this time the cold was so intense, that though they wore flannel shirts, and over that a coat of fox-skin, and over that a lamb-skin jacket

whole of

or spencer, and a large cloak of sheep-skin over

and carried

their

Tsamba paste

for refreshment

all,

the day's journey next to their skin, yet they never

took

out to eat, during the march in this elevated

region, without finding that the

cutively for days together.

be enveloped in less

frozen.

It is

human frame should endure felt

The

cattle

required to

wrapcrs, but were neverthe-

decimated in the terrible march.

we must be

wonderful this conse-

And

here

permitted to complain of our travellers

AND MONGOLIA. for starting

on such a journey without even a com-

pass, a barometer, or

microscope

compass

to give the bearings of to

solar

remarkable peaks,

show the degree of

the boiling point of water,

cold,

would have given

results of the highest possible

value.

a thermometer.

seems they had with them, but a

and a thermometer

tific

Lieutenant Strachey, the

and

interest

officer

and

scien-

of the

who wintered at Ladaq, and spring and summer of 1848, to

Indian government, penetrated in the

Pangong determine the boundary of

the sources of the Shayek, and to the Salt Lake, in order to

the Chinese territory towards the Indus, crossed several passes of 18,000

ascertained height

brother of this

;

and 19,000

feet of well

and we expect shortly from the

officer

some curious

ticulars, the result of a careful

scientific

par-

survey and exami-

nation of a considerable area of territory at the sources of the Sutlej.

These French missionaries

give us no means of comparing observations at the sources

made

of the great rivers of China, with

those of these western explorers, and

we may wait

long for another journey into the regions crossed

by the perilous route we are here

More than

forty

men

tracing.

of the caravan were left on

the road frozen during the fifteen days of painful

march over

this table-land,

and no one could stop

TIBET, TARTARY

to relieve, or frost.

even

to bury, those overtaken

by the

Gabet's illness and sufferings increased

to such a degree at this period of the journey, that

he could neither ride nor walk

;

he was conse-

quently sewed up in his cloaks and blankets, and so carried, like a bale of goods,

on a camel.

But

he recovered when the extreme cold was somewhat mitigated, and the cutting

wind had

ceased.

fell in

with

the midst of this march, the travellers

Kolo brigands, who, however, showed Lamas of the west, and declared that they had no wish to plunder what the caravan was carrying back to the Delai Lama; but a party of

great respect for the

would never

at the feet of a

Chinese

after this rencontre, the

caravan

to Pekin, in order to

Soon

emperor.

wealth of Tibet to be carried

suffer the

be laid

approached the Tant-La* pass, the summit of which they reached, after six days of continual further

ascent.

the top was another table-land, along

which they travelled for twelve days but the wind had ceased to blow, and the sun was now radiant ;

and reviving, and M. Gabet recovered wonderfully under

its

influence.

After thus crossing this high

dividing ridge of Tartary, the descent was from * Throughout Tibet, called La.

This

as far

the

that bears this name.

west as Ladaq, a mountainous pass

first is

on the road from Pekin to Lassa,

in evidence of the

commencement of

the use of the Tibetan language as the vernacular.

AND MONGOLIA, mountain

mountain, in steps each day of reduced

elevation.

In the valleys, hot springs were very

frequent.

After some days of rough travel, the

missionaries reached a plain of good pasture,

they gave their worn-out

cattle a halt of

where

two days,

during which shepherds brought them fresh meat, a luxury they purchased with

Pekin manufacture as

such

articles of

they could spare

they were on the point of sitting

;

but just

down

to a lux-

urious meal of roasted mutton, so procured, the cry of

fire

and they found that some

arose,

members of the caravan had

injudicious

ignited

the grass to windward, and the flames were coming

down

upon

fast

encampment.

their

were saved with extreme

difficulty,

The

tents

but the long-

way

haired camels would not

the

the flames, and one of

dreadfully

move out of them was so

burnt as to be rendered quite unserviceable. Fol-

lowing down a valley, the travellers came the

first

now

Tibetan village, called Na-Pchu, or

Kara-oossoo, both meaning, one in Tibetan, and the other in Mongolian, Black Waters.

lage

inhabited

by Tartar shepherds.

The vilThe mis-

sionaries sold here their three serviceable camels for fifteen ounces of silver,

one into the bargain. chased

six

yaks,

and gave the poor burnt

With

this

money they pur-

convey their baggage

TIBET, TARTARY

92 Lassa, and

who had The thieves

assistant camel-driver,

tlie

proved a great rogue, was discharged. of

Na-Pchu

are described as expert and most au-

dacious.

There were yet village to Lassa.

days of march from this

fifteen

Our

missionaries travelled the

remainder of their journey in company with some

Mongols of Khar chin, who along with a regenerated Boodh were on pilgrimage to the holy city.

The Chaberon, so these

sainted hierarchs are called,

young man of eighteen, and was proceeding to graduate and study in one of the Lamaserais of A prince and several nobles of Kharchin Lassa. accompanied him, and he was watched, rather

was

who

than attended, by two aides-de-camp,

per-

mitted him no recreation, but compelled him always to sit in state,

Boodh

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and

however, allowed

Lamas

act

and talk the regenerated

a miserable state of existence

described as an

gent well-disposed youth,

was,

and converse with our

to visit

of the West, and

intelli-

who enjoyed much

the

privilege of holding rational converse.

The

route between

Na-Pchu and

Lassa,

de-

scribed as rocky, fatiguing and difficult, and some-

times even highly dangerous, but the caravan was

approaching

now

to smile.

civilization,

and everything seemed

The passage

of the Koiran range of

AND MONGOLIA. mountains presented most

difficulty.

teenth day from Na-Pchu, they reached called

the

fif-

Pampoo,

on maps Panctou, a valley interspersed with

farm-houses, on the banks of a considerable river-

Here they had again cattle,

The

and provide

change then* carriage

asses in place of their yaks.

cold had sadly disfigured their bearded coun-

tenances ; but they did their best, with their limited

wardrobe and means,

make

a respectable ap-

pearance on their arrival at Lassa.

been pro\ided,

after

some delay, in

Asses having sufficient

abun-

dance for the whole party, the missionaries, with their

Mongol

associates, scaled the

range, which stiQ lay between called the last

Boodha-La, and

high mountain

them and Lassa,

reached the city

on the 29th January, 1846, eighteen months

from the Valley of Black Waters

after their start

in Mongolia.

The houses

of Lassa are described as large,

and are fresh whitewashed and painted every year, so as to present a

gay appearance, but within they

are filthy in the extreme, cleanliness being no characteristic of a

Tibetan or Tartar.

They found

lodging at Lassa, in a house of entertainment,

where there were upper room,

mount by

fifty

other lodgers, and hired an

which they were compelled

a ladder of twenty-six steps.

had

TIBET, TAE.TARY

for

chimney a hole in the roof

窶馬ot

able substitute in the depth of winter this

was preferable

argol fuel in the

to retaining the

room they

below were compelled

Lassa has no wall, but suburbs.

The

a comfort-

but even

;

smoke of the which those

inhabited,

The city of surrounded by garden

submit

to.

streets are broad, well laid out,

and clean enough, but the suburbs are There

the extreme.

filthy in

one quarter, however, the

houses of which are described as most picturesque, the walls being built of the horns of cattle and sheep, intermixed with infinity of designs, and

cemented together with mortar between. this

description of Lassa, because

we know, been

never, that

European

traveller.

by any Mr. Manning, who went there yet described

from Calcutta, in 1811, intending into

penetrate

China by that route, was seized and sent back,

and saw very

little

of the place

companion, being handed over of

cite

city has

the

justice,

was

never

Mr. Manning went then by

;

and

afterwards

heard

sea to Canton,

there, without giving to the world his travels

Chinese

his

Chinese courts of.

and died

any result of

and researches.

The French

missionaries were assured

Ti-

betans that Mr. Moorcroft had also been at Lassa,

and a Kashmerian merchant introduced

them

AND MONGOLIA.

Moosulman named Nishan, Avho declared himhave been Mr. Moorcroft's servant, and to have accompanied him in tours of exploration made in different directions, in quality of a Ma-

self to

hommedan cattle merchant, speaking Persian. We know that Moorcroft died of fever caught in Koondooz

this

;

person must, therefore, have been

one of his companions,

who assumed

his

name.

The traveller, whoever he was, is said to have been murdered by robbers in the Gnari province, near

the sources of the Indus.

intelligence cor-

responding with these particulars has ever reached

any British has been

officer

much

and on the other hand, there

;

exploration lately in the direction

of Gnari, and the Chinese frontier in that quarter

has been laid

down by Lieutenant

alluded to

so that such

;

an event,

were

scarcely have escaped them.

really true, could "VVe

Strachey, before

must admit, however, that the motives

for

concealment were of the strongest on the part of the Chinese frontier officers.

The

palace of the Delai

the Lassa Morou, hill, at

Lama

built

at Lassa, called

on an isolated rocky

a short distance to the north of the city.

It is

of stone, and of large dimensions, with a

high

gilt

much

dome, exhibiting, say our

architectural

beauty.

travellers,

presume

the

TIBET, TARTARY

96 style

and character of the

edifice not to

from those described, and of which we

diiFerent

have drawings, in Turner's Embassy

Round fices

be very

Tibet.

the palace are a multitude of Lamas' edi-

all

of Tibet

;

sizes.

but

The Delai Lama he

supposed

Pope

be always in

the state of abstract meditation for

of mankind,

the

his temporal authority

the benefit is

exercised

through a deputy, called the Nome-Khan, who

Lama, enjoying the relative position towards the hierarch of a Romish cardinal. About two hundred years ago, the women of Tibet, being much given to dress and libertinage,

also a sanctified

corrupted the Lamas to a degree to bring their

holy order into bad repute.

The then Nome-Khan

accordingly issued an edict, that the

women should

never appear in public without first smearing their Strange to

faces with a black disfiguring paste.

say, this order still

was obeyed, and

observed, but without

Father Grueber notices face to

have

much

the practice

benefit to morals.

this habit of

smearing the

prevailed in his time, wliich

hundred and eighty years before the travellers.

The women

industrious,

and managing persons,

France, and not at

was one

visit

of our

are described as active,

all likely to

the place assigned to

women

like those of

be content with

in the social system

AND MONGOLIA. of India and of

Western Asia, nor do they submit

to seraglio discipline.

The

position of the Chinese at Lassa

peculiar.

In the beginning of the eighteenth century Tibet

was conquered by the Sifan Tartars, who though Boodhists, and therefore in spiritual matters subject to the great

Lamas, ruled nevertheless with

great cruelty and were

an intrusive

hateful as

race.

The Tibetans looked

for the means of Emperor Kanghi which being favoured by to

China

expelling them, and in 1720 the sent a force into Tibet,

the native population, overpowered and drove out the Sifans.

Kanghi then

established four Tibetan

chiefs as temporal sovereigns, but, as

fore mentioned, they quarrelled,

named Pholonai,

we have

be-

and one of them,

prevailing over the

rest,

was

by the court of Pekin as a On his Tai-tse and afterwards as a Kiun-wang. death his son Ghiur-medh Namghial succeeded recognised

to the

same

first

title

and authority

;

but in 1750 he re-

volted, and, asserting independence, was beheaded

by the emperor's order, whereupon the temporal sovereignty was extinguished, and the Delai

was vested with both

authorities.

Lama

The Emperor

Kanghi professed always great veneration for the great Lamas of Tibet, and used their in-

two

TIBET, TARTARY

98 fluence

on many occasions to

established at Lassa and Djachi two

whom

envoys called kinchais, through

were expressed, and who were

when

his wishes

mere chanLamas but

at first

of communication with these

nels

differences

who gave him much

with the Mongol priesthood, trouble.

settle

;

the temporal sovereignty was conferred on

the Delai Lama, these kinchais as his advisers

and the supporters of influence,

and

this

his

power acquired much

was greatly increased,

after

the Nipalese had invaded Tibet, and a Chinese

army had been

called in to repel

and punish the

Military posts were then established as

invaders.

well on the frontierof Tibet towards India, as on the direct line of communication with China,

and the

kinchais have from that time forward exercised the

same degree of authority in Tibet, that a British resident possesses at the court of a protected chief

In the

in India.

thirty-fifth

year of Kien-long,

anno domini 1770, before Tibet was thus occupied

by Chinese

troops, the

two kinchais took upon

themselves to seize and behead a ing a

visit

of ceremony.

Nome-Khan

dur-

emeute was the con-

sequence, which ended in the massacre of every

Chinese in Tibet. of Tibet

was

A long

a Chinese

army

war, and the invasion followed.

The

result

to re-establish the Chinese kinchais at Lassa,

AXD MONGOLIA.

99 they

vrith equal, if not superior, influence to that

before enjoyed, and this was confu*med and

much

augmented by the events of the war with Nipal, which led

to the establishment of military posts

most important points

at the

for the defence of the

country. Nevertheless, there are very few Chinese troops in Tibet to support the influence and authority the kinchais exercise. a line of guard-houses

and Se-chuen,

for the

all

the

There

is,

indeed,

way between Lassa

purpose of keeping up the

communication, and another line of guard-houses, small garrisons,

"snth

Bootan and British

the head-quarters of

all

a few hundred soldiers.

along the

established

frontiers.

At Lassa, however,

these posts, there are only

These receive

their

pay

from China, and are relieved every third year.

The

principal Chinese envoy at the time of the

arrival of our missionaries was, as

before said,

the well-knoA\Ti Ki-Shen, the great councillor of state,

who had been

sent to negociate with the

British admiral, and with Captain Elliot, at the

commencement of the war with China in 1840. The result of his negotiations was, it will be recollected, a treaty or convention, containing a stipulation for

British

was

the cession in full sovereignty to the

Queen

a sine

of the island of

Hong Kong.

This

qua non of Lord Palmerston's instrucF 2

TIBET, TARTARY

loo tions,

and was agreed

most unwillingly by Ki-

"Wlaen the treaty was sent to Pekin for

Shen.

ratification, this article

was looked upon there

and the negotiator was recalled and sentenced to confiscation, and at exile to Hi ; his great credit at court and known talents alone disgraceful,

saved his head.

The

war which

issue of the

fol-

lowed having proved his superior wisdom, and the of Tibet requiring a

affairs

ability,

Ki-Shen was

and appointed

man

of vigour and

partially restored to rank,

The

the mission there.

case

forms a curious passage in that country's history.

The Nome-Khan

of Lassa

himself a " Cha-

beron," or regenerated Boodh, selected for the

by the Delai Lama. The Nome-Khan whom Ki-Shen found there had

office

of civil administrator

been nominated long before, and three successive Delai after reaching

his

time

Lamas had died very soon

the age of majority.

sioned great scandal, and

This occa-

was openly

said, that

work of the NomeKhan. The first Delai Lama had died of strangulation, the second was killed by the fall of the

all

three events were the

roof of his bed-chamber, and the third was poi-

soned

at a

meal, along with several of his fami-

liars.

Add

to this, the chief

Lama

of the Kaldan

AND MONGOLIA.

101

monastery, close to Lassa, had died suddenly in the same way.

The Nome-Khan was

Yang-

a Sifan noble of

Tou-See, consequently a subject of China.

was

rich,

and by

his

liberality

Lamas

large following, the

had obtained a

stery especially being much devoted There are under the Nome-Khan four cers,

secret

representation to the court

was in consequence of

of Pekin

Nome-Khan

;

and

to investigate

and

and was vested with extra-

ordinary powers for arrival in Tibet,

state offi-

their representation, that

Ki-Shen was ordered from Hi redress these evils,

him_

These combining, made a

called Kalons.

the crimes and cruelties of the it

mona-

of the Sera

Upon

purpose.

the

he paid court

to the

his

Bundshan-

Rembouchi,* the great Lama of Djachi Loomboo,

and

to the four

Khan

Kalons or ministers of the Nome-

at Lassa.

With

their

help he

obtained

evidence to prove the charges of murder against the

Nome-Khan, who was accordingly brought

and on being confronted with the witnesses, confessed his crimes, and signed the record which

trial,

* Turner calls this officer the

Punjin-Eembochay.

says he claims equality with the Delai

Lama.

M. Hue

The place

Teeshoo Lomboo, after Captain Turner, M. Hue Loomboo, and translates, "Mountain of oracles."

calls

called

Djachi

TIBET, TARTARY

102

contained the evidence of his guilt, together with his

accomplices'

signed by

all

confessions.

the Djachi

Lama, and the

Pekin

adjudication.

for

was counter-

the high officers of Tibet, including

was

case

so sent

months

Thi-ee

after-

wards, the imperial mandate arrived, sentencing

Nome- Khan to Sagalien in Manchoo

the

exile

Tartary.

immediately placarded

Khan was

on the banks of the

The sentence was and the Nome-

at Lassa,

placed in confinement.

the Sera monastery, however, to

ascendancy

and wished triumph.

Lassa, released the

Nome-Khan,

to carry

But he

him back

to his palace in

The Lamas

his duty.

certed

must make

refused, saying he

order to explain the

and enlighten the emperor,

case,

gaining the

insurrection,

the journey to Pekin, in

was

and

rose

15,000,

The Lamas the number

this refusal,

for submission

of Sera were discon-

and returned

at night to

In the meantime, Ki-Shen,

their convent.

had escaped the

first

who

violence of the insurgents,

concerted measures with the Kalons, and brought

next morning

an armed

force

into

the plain

between the monastery and Lassa, and so reduced the rebellious

Lamas

to submission.

The Nome-

Khan

was dispatched a few days after in a palan-

quin,

by the route of Se-Chouen,

to the place of

AND MONGOLIA. his

103

The accomplices, however, were left Kalon magistrates of Lassa, and were not

exile.

to the

severely dealt with.

The

selection of a

new Nome-Khan

fell

on the

Chaberon, or regenerated Boodh-Lama, of E,ana youth of only eighteen years

chan,

The and

Kalon was accordingly named regent,

first it

of age.

was with him and Ki-Shen, that the mis-

sionaries

had

What

1846.

to deal in

passed

January and February

and deserves

curious,

full

mention.

The

missionaries reported

themselves to the

Lamas of the west come preach the truth. They were immediately visited by an inquisitive Chinese, who came to enquire what they had to sell. authorities at Lassa, as

enquire

after,

and

" Nothing," they said, " but their old saddles." " Exactly what I want," said he and in bargain;

ing, asked multitudinous questions calculated to elicit all particulars

to the

holy

Four

regarding the strange visitors

city.

similar visits of inquiry for

merchandize

did the missionaries receive on the same day.

was evident that these were dinner hour they were

all

summoned

spies.

to the

At the presence

of the Kalon, regent, along with their servant

Sambda-Chamba.

arriving at the palace, this

104

TIBET, TARTAR

functionary surveyed them curiously for some time

without saying a word, whereupon they said to

one another in French position,

seems of good

Though

shall fare well,"

dis-

said in a

whisper, they were immediately called upon to repeat what they had said

in French.

which they did aloud

;

made

appeal was then

to all pre-

know if any one understood the language. The answer being in the negative, they were called upon themselves to translate, which they did faithfully into Tibetan. The regent was pleased with the compliment, and made a long speech to sent, to

explain

how

was

his

duty

be well disposed.

then asked whence they came

;

they said,

" From the West." " From Calcutta?" he asked ; they replied, " No ; from France." " You are assuredly Pelings

No we ;

" (English) said the regent.

" Can you write

are French."

They

" Yes

" said

whereupon ink and paper were provided, and they were told to write

he.

said

;

something in their own language. "

Que

s'il

sert

Vhomme de

conquerir

vient a perdre son ame."

They wrote mondc eiitier,

They were made

write the translation of this in Tibetan,

Mongolian

and Chinese, which they did, exciting the admiration of the court at their learning

doctrine.

In the midst of

this,

and profound

Ki-Shen came

AND MONGOLIA. the palace, and the examination was

him

in a different spirit.

105

renewed before

They saluted him

French form, without falling on

in the

their knees, merely

taking oif their caps and bowing low. " 'Tis well,"

said, ''you follow the

they

tell

Pekin

;

me you let

customs of your country

us converse in that."

aries said, theii"

;

speak correctly the language of

The

mission-

language would be found faulty by

such a judge, but his intelligence would penetrate the meaning. " Pure Pekin!" he exclaimed, "you

French must have great facility in the acquisition " Yes, we are French." " I knew

of languages."

some Frenchmen in old days in Pekin," he said. " You might also have seen some at Canton," they replied

;

but the recollection was not agree-

and he frowned. " You " Yes." " I knew it are Christians," he said. able to their questioner,

and you are here ligious opinions."

propagate and spread your re-

"It

our only object." "^Vhat

you passed thi-ough ? " They named China, Mongolia and Tibet. " Who did you live with in China ? " They refused to answer this countries have

question, even though threatened; but told freely

where they had learned the languages they knew. " And who are you ? " he said, turning sharply " A native of Ki-tou-tse." to Sambda-Chamba. " AVhcre

that ! " " In the district of

San-Chouen, r 3

TIBET, TARTARY

106 in the

Kansou province." "Ah subject of the down on your knees, before your !

central nation

Emperor's representative.

your knees " he !

"As

repeated, and was instantly obeyed. of China, I

am your judge

;

say,

a subject

where you met

Sambda-Chamba replied frankly,

these foreigners."

not denying that he was himself a convert to the Chi'istian faith

;

which he could not believe

proscribed, because

good, and to shun missioner,

" True," said the Com-

evil.

"but what induced you

service of these foreigners?"

knew them

enjoined him only to do

to enter

the

denied that he

be foreigners, or otherwise than as " What wages do they give ? " He

good men. " None, but

said,

his

board and lodging

;

he was

with them for the sake of his soul, regarding them

"Are you married?" was a Lama, before joining them." The

as his spiritual teachers."

"No

next question drew a blush from Sambda-Chamba;

he did not answer tested

against

it.

such

And

the missionaries pro-

imputations,

thought or mention of such things

declaring to

against their religion and their morals.

Ki-Shen

felt

see

this

reproved, and broke up the ex-

amination, saying

quire to

the

be equally

was

late,

and he should

them again next day.

examination they were carried again

From

rethis

to the regent.

AND MONGOLIA. who promised

his support,

107

gave them supper, and

questioned them several times over on the subject of maps, and notes of their route.

They

candidly, that they had a printed

map

told

him

of China

with them, by which they had been guided on their journey.

The regent heard

anxiety, fearing

with some

this

would give them trouble

;

the

great dread of the Chinese being, exploration

Europeans

re-

ascertain the

sources of their country.

geography and

Rooms were prepared

for the missionaries this night in the palace,

they were now, in

fact,

carefully waited upon,

vided

;

prisoners.

where

They were

and found good beds pro-

they passed the night, however, in great

anxiety as to their futxure fate, and found a resource and comfort in prayer.

Early the next

mornmg they were visited by the chief Kashmerian merchant, who came to condole with them, and to

tell

them

to prepare

next day for a close ex-

amination of their baggage.

This was the Avork

of the Chinese Kinchai, he said, against the wishes

of the regent, but they must submit.

All these

precautions, he further told them, were the con-

sequences of Moorcroft's explorations

whose

eifects, after

the Chinese

;

amongst

he was murdered in Gnari,

had found many maps

arid notes, illus-

108

TARTARY

TIBET,

trative

of the geography and resources

of the

entire country.

Early next morning, the Tibetan regent made the

first

examination of their baggage with

all

crucifix

was the

attention,

and he

laughed heartily, when the missionaries

said, it

forms, prior to sealing first

thing

that

up.

engaged

his

was with that that they had come conquest of Tibet.

careful

list

make the was made of to

everything, to the most minute article, and the

whole baggage was then carried away under to

seal

Ki-Shen was waiting.

the court-house, where

Have you only

these two trunks of baggage," he " Nothing else," said they " you may open asked. ;

them and

see

mine," said he, " that expose myself

"Are they

what they contain." to

should open them, and

your reproaches,

anything

should be found wanting ? oj)en them yourselves."

Everything was then laid out, and examined with the utmost curiosity,

the

articles

all

present.

Amongst

were some books and lithographic

drawings, which excited

much

admiration.

Ki-

Shen took upon himself to explain the great progress the French had made in the arts, and he asked

the missionaries

scopes, or

had no watches,

magic lanterns.

They pointed

solar niicro!:Cope, the only instrument of that

tele-

kind

AXD MONGOLIA,

109

which they had with them, and put

together,

nobody but Ki-Shen himself having the slightest idea of its use. He asked them to exhibit it but ;

up again immediately, saying, " We are here under examination and trial, not to make exhibitions." He then asked for the maps, which

they put

were produced, being one of the world, on Mercator's

and another of China, both

projection,

printed in France.

The regent gave them say,

You

death warrants to

ruined,

are

a look which seemed to

and have signed your

but the missionaries appealed

Ki-Shen's intelligence and knowledge of things,

to distinguish printed

from manuscript maps, and

to satisfy himself that these were not of their

drawing.

once recognised them

own

printed

maps, and pointed out the distinguishing marks the regent,

who seemed much

relieved,

though he

could not understand the difference.

At the request of both these sionaries pointed out site

all

officers,

the mis-

on the map of the world, the

the different countries.

Calcutta was a

and when

it was indicated, was to Lassa. " Never mind," the regent added, " the Himalaya lies be-

first

object of enquiry,

they remarked

how near

tween us and the English."

Ki-Shen was quite

familiar wdth every article used in the ritual of the

110

TIBET,

TARTARY

Catholic church, having been governor Picheli province,

when

cuted and expelled.

him no

of the

the Christians were perse-

These, therefore, created in

and the examination ended in a

suspicion,

were plain men,

decision, that the missionaries

without deceit, and should be

left at liberty.

The

regent was delighted at this issue of the examination,

and the head of the Kashmeer merchants

provided a banquet to greet them on their return

home; and

on the regent's

further purchased,

account, their two white horses for two ingots of silver,

each of ten ounces, a liberal price, exceed-

ing their value in the then condition of the animals.

One

of the ingots they gave to

Sambda

Chamba, as a compliment on his discharge, which was to him a fortune, not unmerited by his services.

The next day, gent's

guests,

the missionaries became the re-

and improved

their acquaintance

with him to terms of familiarity.

At the house he

assigned to them, they prepared an oratory with a crucifix,

menced

and other

then* religious functions in a

excite curiosity,

making

attributes of religion,

and

converts.

and com-

manner

give them the hope of

They began

thus

to flatter

themselves with the promise of great success in their mission,

and amongst others, reckoned even

Ill

AXD MONGOLIA.

upon the probability of making some impression He was a man of great

on the regent himself.

experience of the world, as well as of high

lite-

rary reputation in Tibet, and he delighted in discussing doctrinal questions with the missionaries,

acknowledging fully the paramount necessity of enquiry, for the purpose of ascertaining where truth lay, for the good of the soul in perpetuity.

acknowledged the truths and moral precepts

Boodhism percorrespondence on these points, and alleging

of Christianity, claiming for pure fect

the errors pointed out

by the

missionaries to have

been the result of erroneous teachings of ignorant

The two

or half-informed Lamas.

points of dis-

agreement were, the creation of the world, the

Mosaic account of which the regent could not accept,

was

and the doctrine of transmigration, which equally irrational.

the missionaries

discussing these differences, the regent was

than a match for the missionaries, while they conversed in Tibetan, and they were compelled to call in the

the

Cashmerian chief merchant

arguments they wished

regent seeing

this,

and promising

to interpret

enforce. to

The

renew the

when they were more familiar with the language, gave them his nephew for preceptor, to discussion

perfect

them

in Tibetan

;

and in the meantime,

TIBET, TARTARY

112

confined himself ordinarily to conversing about

Europe,

its arts

showed great

and

which he

habits, concerning

having

curiosity, especially after

witnessed with great wonder an exhibition of the

^olar microscope.

Roman by the

mastered completely the

alphabet, from a copy of missionaries,

made

for

and was particularly

him inte-

rested in descriptions of steamboats, railroads, balloons,

and daguerreotypes.

With Ki-Shen

had very

also the missionaries

friendly relations.

He questioned them frequently

about England, and Queen Victoria. Prince Albert was singular

;

His idea of

he conceived

that,

because the British constitution gave him not the

kingly power, he must be to the queen, what

queens of China are

after

was not surprised recalled, at the

disgraced. said

emperors and other royal

and no more. Lord Palmerston, and Captain

personages of the

Ki-Shen so

and

had been

to hear that the latter

good man but

" was he put

" Neither one nor the other

managed

asked

Elliot,

same time that he was himself

He was a ;

east,

;

these things are not

summarily in Europe."

said he, " your mandarins

irresolute,"

to death or exiled ?"

fare better than

Our emperor cannot know everything

;

know,"

yet

do.

he only who judges, and none dare speak in his

AND MONGOLIA. presence. If he says, so, it is

white

and

thing,

and say,

says,

Yes,

This

soon

we say, Truly

white,'

But

black.'

he points

after,

It is black,'

it is

113

to the

same

on our faces

fall

one,

more bold,

ventures to suggest that the same thing cannot well be both black and white, the emperor will say,

That

true

but the offerer of such a sug-

gestion will jirobably

head.

his

lose

have no assembly of chiefs

you have,

to control

the actions of our emperor."

Ki-Shen

told

Emperor cil,

them

how

freely,

had been treated

the English

called his eight

and stated the

case.

the affair with

The Choung-Tangs to counHe said, " These westin 1839-40.

ern mariners are very rebellious and refractory

they must be chastised, as an example to others."

Having thus

stated his

0"v^ti

all

opinion, he

asked the advice of his council.

The

four

Man-

on their

faces,

and

said,

choo councillors

" Yes, yes,

'tis

fell

the sovereign's wish and order."

The Chinese Choung-Tangs then selves,

and

said,

" Yes, yes

prostrated them-

'Tis

the heavenly

Emperor ;" and so the thing was setKi-Shen himself acknowledged his convicthat the Chinese would never be able to

will of the tled.

tion,

contend with Europeans,

weapons and

discipline

;

till

they adopted their

but added, that no one

114

TARTARY

TIBET,

dared to advise the Emperor to

would

The

this effect, or

lose his head.

missionaries

had the means, through their

intimacy with the Tibetan regent, of informing themselves fully of the doctrines and customs, as well as of the constitutional forms of the Tibetan

The Boodhist

theocracy.

no eternity

religion has

of punishment.

Everything proceeds from God,

and will return

him

transmigration,

according to

desert.

its

but the soul passes, in

;

There are

quadrupeds, birds and

tion

;

human

tached, to take a

The

errors

Boodhs are de-

shape, in order to recal

Lama

to perfection.

of Lassa; the Band-shan

;

the Geesoo

in the time of

Tamba

;

Chang-kia-fo, or great almoner of the all

these the Delai

the pope, or spiritual guide of

Lama

all

Warren

Grand Kouren,

Oorga, on the borders of Siberia

Rem-

Loomboo, the same who was

by Captain Turner,

Hastings

Pekin.

in each

be absorbed into the

living

and teach the road

boochi, of Djachi

sovil

highest of existing regenerate Boodhs are,

the Delai

visited

all is to

whence again

men from

reptiles.

means of attaining greater perfec-

the highest of

Divinity,

six grades of

Angels, demons, men,

animals vested with souls.

state has its

superior animals,

inferior or

and the court of

of Lassa

Boodhists.

AND MONGOLIA.

115

was only nine years old when our missionaries were there, and had been then recognised pope for six years,

having been taken from an obscure

family of Sifans, in the province of Ming-chen-

When

tou-tse.

body the

falls

new

and prayer

who

All

Boodh

fancy they have a re-

in their families give notice,

and

of Kotooktoos,

sits,

a council of holy ones, that

and to

to discover

Prayer barrels* turn with re-

birth.

doubled vigour. generate

Boodhist pope dies, every-

this

to meditation

who

selects three infants,

For

be examined.

is,

are sent for to Lassa

six days they are shut up,

and the examiners devote themselves, to earnest meditation

this while,

On the

and prayer.

seventh

day, they write the names of the three infants on

golden plates, and place them in an senior Kotooktoo

whose name

di'aws the lot

drawn,

;

lu'n.

The

and the child

immediately proclaimed

Delai Lama, and carried in

state

through the

town; while the two rejected children are re* Every

Lama

Prayer and meditation

has his prayer-barrel.

being regarded as the only effectual means of attaining sanctifieation, the continued repetition of the mystical " om mani padme

horn"

number

considered as the

of repetitions

first

of them, the devise of turning a barrel, written, has been imagined, efficacy.

Hence the and for multiplication on which the words are

essential of faith.

the test of merit

;

and obtains universal credence in

its

TIBET, TARTARY

116

turned to their families, with liberal pensions. Our missionaries wished to be presented to the Delai

Lama, and the regent had arranged

for theu' pre-

alarm was raised that the fo-

sentation, but an

reigners "might communicate the small-pox, for it

so hap2)ened, that this disease

broke out soon

after the arrival of the

caravan with which they

had

thus they lost the oppor-

travelled to Lassa

;

tunity of witnessing the forms and ceremonies of this

extraordinary court.

While they were thus living at Lassa, the guests of the regent, and honoured and respected by the entire population, a storm was brewing in a quarter They meditated opening a they little suspected. communication, through Calcutta, with the China mission, of

which they had heard nothing

they undertook this journey

posed

to attempt the route

purpose, when sent for

much

;

since

and M. Gabet pro-

through Bootan

for the

the Chinese commissioner, Ki-Shen,

them one day, without warning, and

after

prelude of compliment, told them he was

quite sure the climate of Tibet was too cold, and

Frenchmen accustomed that they had better, The missiontheir return.

the country unsuited for to the life they

had led

therefore, prepare for

was his advice or his order ? He " Both." They objected, saying, as a

aries asked, if this said, coldly,

;

AND MONGOLIA.

117

matter of advice, they were not disposed to adopt the suggestion, being quite prejiared for difficulties

Tibet

the

all

and inconveniences of a residence

on the other hand, being under the protec-

;

tion of the established governor of the*country,

they did not recognise his right to order them out of

" You, strangers, and foreigners

it.

boldly, that they conceived they right as

was conceded

do you

They

chiim the right to remain?" said he.

replied,

had the same

to the natives of India, of

Kashmeer, and of Mongolia

while his

;

title

Kin-chai, or resident-ambassador, showed himself also

be a stranger.

Ki-Shen, starting

up, "

a stranger !"

who hold

said

the Imperial

commission, by right of which I have tried and sentenced the Nome-khan of this country." " But

he was a native of China, and a guilty man," said they ; " we are men of God, preaching only the salvation of souls."

good men, and zealous religion has

know," in

your

said he, " calling,

you

but your

been condemned by the Emperor."

They declared

that they

needed not the Imperial

sanction to perform their religious duties.

with

are

this the conversation for that

day

And

closed.

They had now indeed braved the lion in his den They went forthwith from the Kin-chai to the regent, in order to claim his protection.

was

118

TARTARY

TIBET,

well disposed to grant

it, if

But

left to himself.

the Kinchai, declared that he was specially com-

missioned to protect the interests of the Delai

Lama, and of the Boodhist and that Tie conld not permit the continued residence

who preached

religion, in Tibet, so great a

danger

the country of

men

Their

doctrines subservive of both.

aim, he said, was to subvert Boodhism,and establish their

own

If they succeeded,

what would

institutions of Tibet,

and of the

faith.

become of the

Delai Lama, and what would the Emperor say to

him for allowing it ? The Tibetans, he declared, knew not the extent of the danger, and seeing the

men

be virtuous, and of good

life,

and of great

comparative learning, believed them innocent on

good

that account, as well as

and

their learning only

;

but their virtues

made them more danger-

ous in his eyes, for the Tibetans would be unable to cope

with them on points of doctrine, and

simple people would be

won over from the

their ancestors, if the mischief

many

faith of

were not prevented

in time.

The matter was argued

for several days

between

the regent and the Kinchai, and protocols were

exchanged

due form.

mitted in the end

;

The Tibetan regent

sub-

the missionaries themselves so

advising, for peace-sake.

They went accordingly

AND MONGOLIA. to

Ki-Shen,

119

announce their readiness to obey

mandate, and proposed

to leave the

He said

route of India.

his

country by the

he had abeady prepared

everything for their departure

;

that they should

travel with an escort as far as the frontier of China,

but could not be permitted,

by Bootan

they desired, to go

They exclaimed them to make

to Calcutta.

the cruelty of compelling perilous journey,

such

against

again a

they had just gone

through, and hinted that their country's govern-

ment might well take umbrage at such treatment of its innocent subjects. Ki-Shen coolly replied, that what the French government might say or do was nothing

own

him, he knew his duty to his

government, and should deserve, and be punished with, death, if he suffered their stay in Tibet, and

did not send them back to China.

Next day, Ki-Shen again

sent for them, to read

the report he had prepared of their case.

he wished therefore

said,

to report fairly as well as correctly,

had sent

for

them

to hear

and

what he had

written, in order that anything erroneous might

be corrected.

M. Hue,

read, said he

had one thing

in secret, as

Ki-Shen than on what M.

after

to represent,

but must

was of more importance

to themselves.

Hue had

hearing the draft

to say

at first insisted

being publicly stated,

TIBET, TARTARY

120 but on his

still

when M. Hue

Ki-Shen cleared the room, him, he had entered China by

refusing, told

Macao, in the second month of the twentieth year of the reign of the

Emperor Tao-Kwang, when

Ki-Shen was himself viceroy at Canton, and it would be for him to say whether this circumstance " Does any one know should be reported or no. tore

"Nobody."

said the Kinchai.

this?"

then

the report, and wrote another, with his

own hand,

saying nothing of the time of the mis-

sionaries entering China,

and praising highly

their

learning and general character.

This matter being so settled,

was arranged

that the missionaries should start, after the festival

of the

new year

of Tibet, which

than that of China, and

and

one month

later

kept like our Christmas

New Year, with nightly wakes, and revels, and

festivities.

Lamas

the third day of the moon, the

are let loose

from

all

the adjoining

mo-

nasteries, and for six days after that, the city and

neighbourhood

greatest confusion

There

inundated with them, and the

and disorder

prevails.

are, near Lassa, three great

Lamaserais

those of Kaldan, Preboung, and Sera, each of these having 15,000

Lamas attached

are distant twelve, six,

from the town.

it.

They

and two miles respectively

The Lamas

all

three

deem

AND MONGOLIA. make Morou" convent at

121

point of duty to

the pilgrimage to the holy

Lassa, in order to receive

there the benediction of the Delai

new

year

;

Lama,

for the

and the feuds and jealousies of these

institutions produce,

consequently, innumerable

quarrels at this season.

The

missionaries were, during these satui'nalia,

preparing for their journey back to China.

They

took affectionate leave of the regent, and of the

Kashmerian head merchant, with both of

whom

they had established the most friendly relations.

Through the to

send a

latter,

letter to

now made

they

France by Calcutta, but we are

not informed whether

was

prepared

be forwarded

They Sambda-Chamba,

successful.

parted, likewise, with the faithful

and

the attempt

on Ki-Shen, in order

to wait

he might

direct.

The mandarin-commandant of their escort, was named " Lee," the " Pacificator of Kingdoms." He had commanded on the Goorkha frontier of Nipal, and wore a blue button. Though only forty-five years old,

he seemed upwards of seventy,

being completely worn out by service, as well as debilitated

a life of excess,

in spirituous liquors.

and was

He had

and by indulgence

the rank of Tou-tse,

entitled, therefore, to an escort of fifteen

men, now that he was

retiring

from the service G

122

TIBET,

and returning

to China.

intelligence, but, like

TARTARY

was a man of much

most Chinese, a perfect

free-

thinker in matters of religion.

this

man

the missionaries were

duced on the day of

went with him

their departure

first intro;

and they

Ki-Shen, who now announced,

were to retui'n by a different route from by which they had come, but, he trusted,

that they that

neither so long, nor so difficult

provide them with palanquins

that he could not

;

must

so that they

with the escort, and would find relays of

ride

horses, called oollas, at the different stages

and

guard-houses, for which he gave the order.

told

them they would be conveyed at the public where the Governor, Pao,

exjDense to Se-Chouen,

for them. He next made a speech " Pacificator of Kingdoms," advising him to the

would provide to give

up drinking ardent

spirits

;

and then he

paid him on the spot 500 ounces of retiring

bounty

for his services.

a speech to the escort, enjoining

duty

;

silver,

Lastly, he

them

made

do their

and when these ceremonies had been gone

through, he took the two missionaries apart, and told them, he himself should soon be recalled to

China, and he wished two large boxes of treasure to

be carried thither in advance.*

These he asked

* Ki-Shen was shortly after appointed Governor of Sechouen.

AND MONGOLIA. them

to take

safely as

amongst

123

their baggage,

directed, at Ching-tou

and deliver

Fou, the capital

Then publicly warning them against thieves, he bade them farevi^ell. The Kashmerian chief merchant rode ^vith them of Se-Chouen.

to the

Boo-Choo

escort of seven

river,

where they found a Tibetan

men and

Deba, appointed by the

The river was crossed by the missionaries and the Pacifithe cattle and baggage having crossed in

regent to accompany them. in a skin boat cator,

canoes.

The

now

missionaries were

travelling

relays

of the ordinary Chinese post, on the direct line to the central provinces of China.

the river on their

first

After crossing

march on the 15th March

1846, they went for some time along a highlycultivated valley, the fields

wall

enclosures, to

Detsin,

marked by a

leagues or eighteen miles from Lassa.

were received in

state

by the

stone-

large village

six

Here they

village authorities,

headed by the Deba Lama, who commanded the escort of Tibetans assigned

protection.

by the regent

proved a very

most usefvd intermediary

for

for their

intelligent,

His name was ShamThey supped here with the Pacificator them his itinerary, which they studied

the people of the country.

Chand.

who

lent

and

communications with

G 2

124

TIBET,

and copied.

TARTARY

This appears

be the work which

made known to Europe by

the translation

into Russian, with notes of Father

Hyacinth Bit-

was

first

chourin Archi-Mandrite, and which was afterwards

rendered more carefully into French, by roth,

and published in Paris, in 1831.

M. KlapThe route

of the

missionaries on return, can be

closely

on the map, framed from the itinerary by

followed

M. Klaproth. The Chinese author was a commissary who accompanied the Chinese army sent and the work contains against Nepal in 1792 ;

some curious notices of Tibet, in addition

to the

itinerary.

From Detsin fertile valley,

tain range.

eighty

lis)

the route

still

lay in the

same

gradually ascending towards a moun-

After twenty -five miles (eight leagues, of this march, they stopped at a convent

in ruins, situated at the extreme verge of cultivation

the

;

but they had post station

still

twelve miles to ride to

of " Michhou-Koung,"

they reached only after dark.

which

They were com-

pelled to halt the next day, for want of the relay

of horses called the " Oola."

There would be no

travelling in these hill countries, if the obligation to furnish

men and

cattle

were not imperative on

the population that inhabits them.

This duty

enforced more strictly than the payment of taxes.

AND MONGOLIA. and

125

indeed, almost the only state requisition

made on

the population.

Every village and every

family acknowledges the liability, and must either serve in person, or provide a substitute, or furnish cattle.

The Chinese

and use influence

officers

to get

abuse this regulation,

an order for a larger oola

than they require, that they

may

take an equi-

The doms had procured our missionaries

Pacificator of king-

valent for the excess.

down,

as requiring twelve

set

yaks for their luggage,

although they had but their beds and two port-

manteaus.

all

of his nation, he was exceed-

ingly avaricious.

The

oola being at last provided, the caravan

started next for five days

morning from Michhou-Koung, and

had

to pass

through ravines and rocky

mountains, along the line of the same river that

they had crossed on leaving Lassa.

The

tion given of this part of the route

descrip-

very un-

by compass even not being stated. It is, indeed, not quite clear whether the route lay down the course of the Sampou, or Bramapootra, or up one of its tributaries but geographical, the direction

;

we presume

the latter, because, after five days'

travel, they

ascended the Looma-Ri mountain, or

rather table-land.

was not steep, and the ascent

was made without dismounting

;

but the table-

TIBET, TARTARY

126

land extends for forty

and the descent

or about thirteen miles,

lis,

to the station of

Ghiamda on the

other side was difficult, from the quantity of ice

and snow. first

After leaving the table-land, they had

a dense forest to pass in a close ravine, and

then to scale a mountain-ridge on foot, from the

made by a slide over at Ghiamda two mandarins and eighteen soldiers, who received the

top of which the descent was

There were

congealed snow.

and the Tibetan

Pacificator with a salute,

compliment

authorities paid a similar

and

sionaries

stayed two

their

Deba.

civil

to the mis-

At Ghiamda they by rain and

days, partly detained

tempestuous weather, but mainly because the oola

At Ghiamda,

was incomplete.

Deba made

the

spectacles, to

missionaries

also, the

local

a present of

hair

guard their eyes against the glare

of snow, a necessary precaution, for

point they had, for else

many

but snow to cross.

from

A little

way

out of Ghi-

amda, a torrent was passed on a bridge of

and

for three

lages, nothing relays, with a

and

cattle

this

days together, nothing

days afterwards there were no

firs

;

vil-

but Chinese guard-houses for the

few shepherds huts;

still

the horses

of the oola were always ready.

the fourth day, after crossing on ice a large lake,

they came to the village of Adza, where the Chinese

AND MONGOLIA.

127

itinerary says unicorns are to be found, that

the

Cherou antelopes, described by Mr. Hodgson.

From Adza between

lies

to La-K-i is only fifteen miles,

perpetual snow, and for five days falling fresh,

had been

after

some consultation,

the weather continued fine, next day,

sending the yaks in advance to beat

The sun shone successfidly made of way.

making the passage very dangerous.

was determined,

proceed,

but

a range of mountains covered with

bright,

down

mountain of

this

the other side, near the top, was

which was passed by

all

a path-

and the ascent was spirits.

a glacier

the party on the slide,

the yaks leading, fortunately, without loss or in-

Passing

jury.

downwards, thence, along the

river, the caravan soon arrived at

reckoned

La-Ri, which

be one hundred-and-one leagues, or

about three hundred-and-three miles from Lassa,

and was thus reached on the is

fifteenth day.

There

a provision depot at La-Ri, under a Leang-Tai,

who made

or Chinese civil officer, ill-health for not \'isiting said,

the excuse of

them, but the Pacificator

was avarice that prevented the compliment

being paid, in order to save the presents that

would be required.

the

first

march from

La-Ri, they crossed a lake about three miles long

by two-and-a-half broad, quite frozen

over, and

128

TARTARY

TIBET,

lodged for the night

village

chou-ka, close to some hot springs.

Tsa-

called

Next day

they crossed the Chor-kou-La, equalling in elevation

and

passage the La-Ri.

difficulty of

After

the ascent, the journey lay for several days over a table-land of broken ridges, with terrible precipices sometimes on both sides, footing, as

and with

be quite unsafe,

mounted on the trained these often were lost

so little

other-^vise

cattle of the country,

by a

let into the

and

The wooden

slip or false step.

road, indeed, was occasionally formed of

pathways

than

mountain

side, without, of

course, any railing.

After two days' journey of this kind, the cara-

van reached Alan-To, where they were congraby the Deba on their good fortune, in hav-

tulated

ing lost no lives

among

the

precipices of the

approach.

From Alan-To,

march of ninety

27 miles, brought them

lis,

or about

Lang-ki-choung, a pic-

turesque village in a wooded valley, called by the Chinese, on account of its fertility, Kin-Keou, " Golden Dell." Here the Pacificator was disconcerted by the announcement that the oola was ready, but that the closed.

Our

Tanda pass

in advance

was

missionaries looked into the itine-

rary they had borrowed, and found

stated in

AND MONGOLIA. truth, that the

1^29

Tanda pass was the most

the route,

and reported

They were

in consequence detained for

difficult of

People were sent to examine

the entire journey.

quite impracticable.

some days

Lang-Ki-Choung, and found amusement

playing chess with

game being well known even

the

fellow-travellers,

their

in this wild region.

All this while the yaks of the place, added to those of the caravan, were employed in beating

down

passage through the snow of the pass.

fourth day the passage was declared to be

and they

ciently practicable,

suffi-

The ascent only method of

started.

was so steep and slippery, that the mastering

the

was, to hold on by the

tails

of their

and both would often have slidden over

horses,

into the valley they

of snow

left

had

on either

exhausted by

this

quitted, but for the walls

side.

ascent,

M. Gabet was

quite

and must have been

left behind, if the Tibetan escort had not taken him among them, and with great efforts pushed him up to the top of the pass, scarcely sensible. On the summit of the mountain was a body of

Lama

pilgrims, on their return from the Lassa-

Morou,

all

lying

down

to recover their breath,

which they had quite lost in the painful ascent. The descent on the other side of the pass was even

more precipitous than the

ascent,

and an

ass

G 3

was

ISO lost all

TARTARY

TIBET, over the precipice

;

but, with this exception,

reached Tanda in safety.

From

this station to

Lha-dze, a distance of one hundred and ten

lis,

or thirty-six miles, the route proceeds along the

plain or valley of Pianpa, for half the distance,

and then down the bed of a tributary

seek in vain

;

torrent, to

guess

what

river

must be

one of the streams that flow into Assam, and not into the Irawadi, or

any river of Siam, or

into the

great river that flows through Cambodia, the main

stream of which was yet far to the

would carry

which we know now river,

Klaproth

east.

into that stream the rivers of Lassa, to

form the Brahmapootra

debouching with the Ganges into the Bay

The

of Bengal.

rivers of

Burma and

of Siam

reach not to so high a latitude.

From Lha-dze

to Barilang is

one hundred

lis

somewhat more than thirty miles, crossing the famous mountain Chak-la, one of the passes which or

the Chinese call " Life-claimers." fatiguing, but

was passed without

was found

accident.

From

Barilang, after a march of equal length in a valley

studded with hcrdsmens' huts, and herds of wild yaks, they reached

town, with red.

its

Here was

Chobando,

considerable

houses and Lamaserais painted

a military station of twenty soldiers,

under a Tsien-Chong, who

an old conu-adc of

AND MONGOLIA. the

on the side of a mountain, and

The

gave the party a dinner.

Pacificator,

town

131

to reach

they passed a fierce torrent over a fragile shak-

Of this

ing wooden bridge.

river, also,

learn

no more, and are uncertain, therefore, whether the dividing land of the waters of India had yet

They were overtaken here by two couriers, who had left Lassa only six

been reached. imperial

days before, and had in that short time accomplished six hundred miles, on the same road that the missionaries

had traversed with

culty in a month.

Our

travellers

much

diffi-

were told that

the dispatches would reach Pekin on the thirtieth

day, carried

men.

The

all

the

couriers

way frequently by the same who make these wonderful

journeys, prepare themselves by a day of fast before starting, and during the whole journey eat

only two eggs at each relay, never resting any-

where, and travelling both night and day.

There are two monasteries in one

works

the

great printing

for the entire

had now entered. station forest,

;

Kham

Chobando, and

press

for

sacred

province, which they

Kia-yu-Kiao was the next

down a valley of heavy and the river Look-chou, which flows

through

the road led

was broad, deep and rapid the wooden

bridge over

;

had recently

fallen, the

wood hav-

TIBET, TARTARY

132

ing* decayed from age

The

and neglect.

was accordingly passed on a

Nine

hastily for the purjjose.

river

constructed

raft

or ten miles below

Kia-yu-Kiao they crossed the river again over

wooden bridge, and then passed over a to Wa-ho-chai, a military station, where began to snow heavily, much to the discom-

a fragile

mountain it

and alarm of the caravan,

fiture

for the

next day's

march lay over

a frozen lake, where a general with army had been buried in snow in the reign of Kang-hi, owing to his firing a gun at the time all his

of encamping, according to the regulated order of

the Chinese military service.

The march

day was long, being one hundred and from

forty-five to fifty miles.

daylight,

Wa-ho

They

of next

fifty lis,

started before

and crossed the table-land and lake of

in full sunshine, their eyes suffering ex-

tremely from the glare of the snow, notwithstanding their use of hair spectacles. before they came to

aij

was dark

end of the table-land, and

they reached Nzenda-chai, by a painfid descent, at midnight,

completely worn out with fatigue

and nearly blinded.

They were compelled

halt next day, in order to relieve their eyes

medical treatment. severe

mountain

After three more stages of

travel,

they reached

(Tsiamdo) on the banks of the great

Chamdo

river,

Kiang-

AND MONGOLIA.

133

Thus, in thirty-six days from Lassa,

tang-Chou.

they had got over two thousand

five

hundred

lis,

of the Chinese itinerary, -which they reckoned

equal to two hundred and

fifty

leagues, or seven

hundred and

fifty miles.

hundred

third of a mile, for two

not quite one-

lis

equal a degree

of latitude, or sixty-nine statute miles, and one

hundred and

sixty-six decimal parts of an inch.

Chamdo

a considerable military station

has a garrison of three hundred men, with four a Yeon-Ki,

officers,

Pa-Choongs.

Chamdo

Kham, and was

walls

also

under charge of a

sions,

Liang-tai.

Tsien-Choong, and two

There

had

a depot of provi-

civil officer, called

the capital of the province

heretofore fortified, but the

fallen to decay.

It lies in the fork of

Dza-Chou and Om-Chou, which uniting form the Kiang-tou-chou, which flows

the two rivers,

into

Cambodia, and

Kiang

there called the Ya-long-

both are bridged, and the road from

;

Lassa to

Yunan

Se-Chouen passes over one,

Chamdo

over the other bridge.

that is

siderable city, but rather in decay.

There

large Lamaserai under a Kotooktoo,

who

sovereign of the

Kham province.

but also of saintly dignity,

is -a

the

Inferior to him,

Chak-Chouba hundred lis, or

the

of Jaya, a Lamaserai, lying five

a con-

134

TIBET,

one hundred and

TARTARY

fifty

miles, eastward

towards

At the period of our missionaries passing through Chamdo, there was a feud raging between China.

Kotooktoo and

its

an aspiring young

this

priest,

Chak-chouba ; the

latter,

claimed to have received

the diploma of a Kotooktoo, in a previous generation,

was

from the Delai Lama, a

difficult to

fact of

which

The Chamdo

prove the negative.

Kotooktoo, however, refused to recognise this assumption of vince,

new

dignities,

and the entire pro-

and especially the priesthood of Kham,

were in commotion on account of

this quarrel.

After the usual course of written and verbal disputation, in support of the claim to

it,

and in resistance

the partisans of each side came to blows.

Half the province had been ravaged by these hostilities, and the bitterness with which the war was carried on convulsed the entire population.

truce

when

had recently been agreed

to, at the time

our missionaries passed, in order that the

quarrel might be referred for adjudication to the

Delai Lama, and commissioners had been sent

from Lassa, and from Pekin, ference.

Many

adjust the dif-

conferences had, in consequence,

been held, and the young aspirant of Jaya himself attended at

Chamdo with

a lai'ge retinue of his

adherents, to influence and overawe the decision.

AND MONGOLIA. The popular

feeling

was

all

135

his side, the elder

Kotooktoo of Chamdo being deemed a creature of the

imperial court of Pekin,

and the Tibetan

national spirit eschewing, especially,

all

foreign

The

intervention in their spiritual quarrels.

mis-

sionaries

were treated wdth deference and respect

by both

parties during the

three days of their

The infirmities of Lee, the Chamdo. Pacificator of Kingdoms, and especially the swelling of his legs, had so increased during this painful journey, that he was advised here to purchase a halt at

palanquin, but could not be induced to incur the

The party was overtaken

expense.

at this stage

a Chinese Liang-tou, or civil commissary,

was returning

China with

eighteen years of age quins, having sionaries

;

his son, a

who

youth of

both travelled in palan-

Lassa a few days after the mis-

left

but they had suffered so

the journey, that

would have strength

much from

was doubtful whether they to

reach their native country.

On our travellers leaving Chamdo, their party was joined by a Chinese soldier, who, having received his discharge,

was carrying back

his family

Tibetan wife, an unusual thing, for which he was

laughed

by the men of the Chinese

escort.

The

wife rode an ass, and led a pack-horse, with a child in

each of two

cai?es

balanced across his back.

TIBET, TARTARY

136

The

soldier

brought up the rear, with a boy of

twelve years old riding behind him. the caravan lay

up the Dza-Chou

The

route of

river to

Meng-

Phoo, distant only about twenty-five miles, and next day a march of twenty miles brought them to Poa-tun,

where the Tibetan population began

show a hostile spirit towards the Chinese of the escort. A march of thirty miles then carried them to Bagong ; in the course of it they saw

many

calcareous hills, full of natural caves, some

of large dimensions, but they could not stop to

examine them.

Before

this, all

the mountains the

had crossed from Lassa were of granite, but now most of them were of chalk or lime-stone, and the road near Bagong was skirted missionaries

with frequent slabs of marble, on which the mysterious

prayer

mani padme hom " was

carved, with more or less neatness, in evidence of the devotion of the population.

the road between

Chamdo and Bagong

Chinese Liang-Tou died in his palanquin

the

down and opening the curfound him dead. He had left Chamdo two

bearers on setting tains

;

and the son here

in the palanquin,

days only before the caravan

purchased a

coffin,

and fixed

in order that the corpse

the land of

its

fathers.

might be so conveyed

For

this the

young man

AND MONGOLIA. paid dearly, but

filial

137

duty required the

sacri-

fice.

The Tibetan told

Lee the

authorities at

Pacificator, that

furnished, except on

The

hire.

Bagong.

no oola would be

payment of

accordingly

the Proul-Tamba, a

influence,

a fixed rate of

made

Tibetan

who lived at a The Lama came

short

much

pearance.

intelligence,

was

a complaint

Lama

of great

from

distance

himself the next day,

and was received with great ceremony.

man

distinctly

Pacificator remonstrated, but

of no use. to

Bagong

He was a

and of very striking ap-

recognised the Pacificator as an old

comrade, but was himself a hot partisan of the Jaya-Kotooktoo, and had been engaged in

many

warlike operations in his favour, in which he had

always been victorious.

complained loudly of

the Chinese, for having interfered in the domestic quarrels of

Kham, and

alluded also to the

trial

and punishment of the Nome-Khan of Lassa by Ki-Shen, dence.

as a gross violation of

Tibetan indepen-

even spoke slightingly of the great

emperor, as being a layman of no equal authority

with a regenerate Boodh.

After

much

invective

of the same kind against Chinese domination, he

gave

at last the oola,

out of consideration for his

old coim-ade, and for the two

Lamas of the

"West,

TIBET, TARTARY

138

who, he said, had been specially recommended to him by the regent of Lassa Their route lying by the residence of the Proul-Tamba, they paid him a visit

of ceremony on their way, in return for this

civility,

and towards evening arrived

Tsa, where the

Wang-

Chinese guard-house had been

demolished and everything showed signs of

Here

war.

civil

men who came with the oola charge to the women of the place,

the

resigned their

because Gaya, the next stage, being of the opposite faction, the it.

men dared

their arrival at

their charge,

not show themselves near

Gaya, the

women

delivered

and returned immediately with the

oola quite unmolested, leaving the travellers at the

mercy of the population. with held of the chief

men

council was forth-

of the place, and

was

resolved to furnish an oola to the Tibetans of the party, and to the missionaries, gratis, in deference to the regent of Lassa,

for

The

all

but

demand payment

animals taken by Chinese of the party.

Pacificator remonstrated,

vain against this resolution

;

and inveighed

he was obliged

submit.

At Angti, the next stage, they were detained five by a fall of snow, but mainly while The Deba Chief discussing the afiEair of the oola. of Angti, was a dwarf, almost without legs, named days, partly

AND MONGOLIA. Bomba,

man

nevertheless of great energy of

Mounted on

character.

139

the shoulders of a strong

mountaineer, his voice was always heard loudest

he influenced every determination of the local council,

and arranged everything.

particularly civil

also

was

the missionaries, and gave

them a dinner, but was inexorable

in his hostility

to the Chinese.

leaving Angti there

tain pass,

which proved

snowy moun-

troublesome as any of

The passage occupied

the preceding.

day, and

a high

Avas

the whole

midnight before they reached

Jaya, the head quarters of the aspiring Kotooktoo.

The town had

suffered in the civil war, and

was

nearly destroyed; but there was here a guard-

house and a garrison of twenty Chinese, who strove almost in vain to maintain a strict neutrality in

the ci^ol war.

The next

stage

was Adzoo-

Thang, where they overtook, again, the palanquin of the Liang-Tou,

whose son here of the journey.

who had

died at Bagong, and

also fell a victim to the hardships

How

second corpse, puzzled

carry to China this

much

the ingenuity of the

escort, yet it was a duty not to be neglected. The body of the son was accordingly secretly cut in pieces, and placed in the same coffin with the father.

TIBET, TARTARY

140

From Adzoo-Thang the next stage was ChePan-Keou, a valley of slates, gold-dust, and musk Here, and

deer.

at the tliree following stations*

the Chinese were similarly called

upon

tans

were furnished with

pay the

and Tibe-

hire of the oola, while the missionaries cattle gratis.

The party next arrived at Keang-Tsa, town and military post of considerable ing two military mandarins.

suaded Lee, the Pacificator,

These

to give

a Chinese size,

hav-

latter per-

travelling

on horseback, and to use the palanquin of the son of the civilian, which was at his service gratis, in consequence of the youth's decease.

Four days

after leaving

Keang-Tsa, the caravan

reached the banks of the mighty Yang-tse-Keang.

They

crossed

soon

after,

and descended

its

valley to Bathang, a large city and military station,

situated in

climate

differing

altogether

from that in which they had spent the preceding

At Bathang

two years.

hundred Chinese

soldiers,

a garrison of three

under

Chion-Pie,

two Tsien-Chongs, and a Pa-Choong, whose pay, amounting in the whole to nine thousand ounces of silver,

here a

remitted regularly from China.

The

mixed Chinese and Tibetan. There large Tibetan Lamaserai, under a Kampo

population

delegate of the Delai

Lama, but

his authority

141

AND MONGOLIA.

confined to spiritual matters, the temporal power

being in the hands of a Taou-Tse, or tributary

The

prince of China.

increasing illness of the

Pacificator caused a halt of three days at Bathang.

From Chamdo

Bathang the route had been

southerly for the entire twenty days of march, but

now

after

turned northward, and on the second day

leaving

that

city,

they

snowy range, and encamped at

station called

another

crossed

in a miserable hut,

Ta-so, situated in a valley,

whence again they ascended, next day, to a tableland covered with snow. Beneath it was a magnificent forest of pines, and cedars, and hollies of large size.

The march was long from Ta-so to Samba, and Lee, the Pacificator, quite worn out with the fatigue,

was found dead

This caused a

halt,

in his

bed

in the

morning^

untQ arrangements could be

The Chinese

made

escort

were now without a commandant, and were

carry the body forward.

not willing to obey the Tibetan Lama,

who had

the separate charge of the escort of that nation,

provided by the regent of Lassa. The missionaries

were compelled in consequence

to take

on them-

selves the general direction of the party,

and were

cheerfully obeyed

by the men of both

nations.

Three more days of mountain march carried them

TIBET, TARTARY

142

Li-thang, a depot with one hundred soldiers,

having for

officers a Liang-tai, a

two Pa-Choongs. these, to take the

Cheon-pie, and

was the duty of one of

command

vacated by the death

of the Pacificator, and to carry on the escort, but all

wished

to shirk

the service, and to leave the

missionaries to direct the march, as they

refusal, a

Pa-Choong was

had done

their

at last appointed,

who

since the death of the brigadier-general.

begged for a delay of two days to

make

pre-

paration.

At Li-thang

a printing press for Boodhist

sacred books, but the language of the place

neither Tibetan nor Chinese, and seemed to the missionaries to resemble the Sifan dialect of the

Koko-noor more than any

other.

The Tibetans

the escort were understood with difficulty.

Li-thang to

Tsien-lou, the frontier

From

town of

Se-Chouen, was a further distance of six hundred lis,

two hundred miles, of mountain road,

divided into eight stages.

In the course of

this

march, one day beyond Makian-Joong, the party crossed a large tributary of the Yang-tse-Kiang,

which rises at the foot of Bayan Kharat Mountains, and joins the Blue River in the Se-Chouen province. At Ta-TsienCalled Ya-loong-Kiang,

the

lou the Tibetan escort took leave.

was the

AND MONGOLIA. end of June when

143

town was reached

this

the

;

journey from Lassa having occupied three months,

and being rated thousand and

in Chinese

fifty lis,

From

three miles.

sixteen

itineraries

thence to

before

Chinese

the

trial

tribunals,

separate report, which,

five

Se-Chouen the

missionaries travelled in palanquins.

adventures there, and the

hundred and eighty-

their

they underwent

they promise

the story be but half as

well told, as this of theu- journeys in Tartary and Tibet, will be looked for and read with double interest; for

M. Hue's

narrative cannot

fail to

lively

and unpretending

leave in every reader most

kindly feelings of respect for the character of these missionaries, joined to a high reverence for the truly apostolic zeal,

them through â&#x20AC;˘will

and untiring energy, which carried

Every one therefore them through all their further

their hardships.

desire to follow

dangers, and to learn every circumstance of their intercourse with the singular sections of the

human

race with which they were brought thus strangely in collision,

and of whose

institutions, habits,

feelings their narrative promises to aflEbrd a

and

perfect knowledge.

But of

all

the important matters laid open to

us in these volumes, there

nothing so interest-

ing, or so deserving of attention, as the insight

TIBET, TARTARY

144

they afford into the Boodhist doctrines, and into the discipline, ritual, and practices of those still

believe and profess that religion.

not close our notice of this

who must

work without reverting

to this subject.

Everybody knows

the Boodhist faith so

that

widely spread over Eastern Asia, had the teachings of

Sakhya Muni,

more than one thousand

Guignes and Klaproth rities at

fix

carry the

years,

and

from these autho-

1027 years before Christ.

William

Sir

But

Jones adopted the same date. observed, that the

whose era

a saint,

The Chinese

dates long before Christ.

era back to

origin in

its

Chinese, acknowledging the

author of this religion to have been a native of India, state their nation to have adopted the faith of

Boodh one thousand

preached therefar as it dates its

years after

had been

Their chronology, therefore, so

from

this era,

commenced only from

thousandth year, and wants earlier

verification.

Indian authorities, on the other hand, confirming the Cingalese, Burmese, and Siamese dates for the

commencement of the Boodhist

era, fix the

death

of Sakhya-^Iuni (called his nirvan, or absor]3tion into the divine spirit) in the year u.c. 543. difference, of four

has led

many

hundred and

to believe the

This

thirty-six years

Chinese era

to refer

AND MONGOLIA. an anterior Boodh, but

ascribable to the

sumed of

more probably

round number of

a thousand, as-

for the antiquity of the religion at the time

The

spread in that country.

its

145

date

so far

important, as[the extraordinary similitude in

many

and of the books, and

ritual,

parts of the doctrine,

and forms, and

institutions of this religion, -svith

those of

Romish

Clu-istianity,

by the

Jesuits

who

teenth centmy, and even the thirteenth, might

which was remarked

visited Tibet in the seven-

by Father Rubruquis

had been borrowed entirely from the

chain of

lead to the belief that they

evidence

this latter, if

established

that

their

greater antiquity were less complete.

The

points of resemblance referred to

commence

even with the form of the Scriptures, or principal books of the life

faith.

The most important

Sakhya-Muni, whose

the

doctrines are repre-

sented as having been delivered in discourses held to his ten disciples, or as arising out of occasions,

not unsimilar in some respects to those recorded in our Evangelists.

being

moved

to take

The on

idea of a divine spirit

itself

the instruction of mankind, tion of the it

had

istical.

human

and

human form for

for

the redemp-

race from the sins into

which

by a course of degeneracy, is BoodhThe doctrine of the fall of man, that is,

fallen

TIBET, TARTARY

146

the Mosaic account of the creation of the world,

and of the original race,

human we may

sin of the father of the

no part of Boodhism

;

and

this

remark would likewise most probably have been found there,

had been

if it

from the Christian of

Sakhya-Muni

borrowed

a religion

as its antecedent.

The

spirit

alleged to have been pre-

existent, in a condition of sanctified holiness, pre-

eminent amongst the gods of Tushita, and there,

human

being moved to become incarnate in the

form, in order to redeem mankind from the sin

and degeneracy

had

fallen into

from long

tast-

ing of earthly pleasures, and from their corrupting influences,

duna

for the

elected the royal race of

Devi, the mother, mystical,

The conception

birth. is

Shudho-

Maya-

described as miraculous and

and the birth

as attended

with mii'acles,

but not of the same description with those which attended the birth of our Saviour. ever, a holy

man

There

is,

how-

Simeon, who, admonished

by an illumination of the world, bears witness

the child's divine mission, and laments that age will prevent his hearing his doctrine. also at school displays learning

the doctors and professors.

Sakhya

which confounds takes on himself

the domestic state, and marries twice, but at the

age of twenty-nine, he

led to

commence

a course

AND MONGOLIA.

147

of meditation, his attention being directed to four subjects in particular

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; old

age, sickness, death,

up the world

pursue his meditations on these subjects, and

and a future

state.

seek the truth.

gives

practises mortifications, until

findmg his body weakened, he bathes in the

Nyranjana wards

recover his strength.

of baptism. the

God

and takes refreshment

river,

tempted

This

after his

who makes offers of worldly we find in the Temptation in

power, hke those

But he

rejects

them, and over-

comes and drives away the tempter. his meditations are

adopted

and then

The there is

first

"svins

by ten

disciples

of implicit faith,

over the multitude.

sorrow in

inseparable

may be trine,

becoming a supreme

preach his doctrine, which

precepts he inculcates are

life.

its

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; First,

Second, That

from mortality.

remedied.

and

After this

rewarded by an inspiration of

divine Spiiit, and so

Boodh, he begins is

a species

baptism by

of Pleasure,

the Wilderness.

the

after-

this

That

sorrow

Third, Tliat

Fourth, That faith in his doc-

reception and observance will give

the remedy, which

is,

salvation in an

improved

future state, preparatory to absorption ultimately in the divine spirit.

goes from place to place

in India, teaching this doctrine,

and

followed

H 2

TIBET, TARIARY

148

and revered,

until he dies at last in

advanced age of eighty, with

many

each of which erects a Stupa,

cities,

mausoleum over This

arises, as to

and the remains are divided be-

disposal,

their

the

relics of pre-

A contention then

eminent sanctity.

at the

The body is burnt, and

prodigies.

remains are collected and revered as

tween eight

Assam

his death being attended

its

portion.

said to have occurred in the reign of

Ajata-Satra,

who was

the predecessor of Chandra-

gupta (Sandracottus) by one hundred and ninetysix years.

Muni,

The

future state promised

by Sakhya-

regeneration in an inferior or superior

animal condition, according to the degree of spiritual perfection

and

faith,

obtained in

life

the highest reward of

by meditation all

being that

which Sakhya-Muni himself obtained, sorption into the divine Spirit, from vitality is

and

beHeved

which

all

viz.,

ab-

which

all

have emanated originally,

will finally return.

The next

highest state to that of immediate absorption,

Boodh. There Boodhism no perpetuity of punishment in a

that of perpetual regeneration as a is

place of torments, but the regeneration in inferior animals,

not very dissimilar to the purgatory of

Catholics, as

was remarked by Father Grueber

and the Devas, or gods, of the

;

different heavens.

AND MONGOLIA. are of the

same

every state there

with angels and

class is

149 In

saints.

means of reaching a superior

condition, if properly followed out;

and

life

sacred and not to be taken without sin, because of its

being of the divine essence, passing, in

world, through the

this

prescribed towards

course

final absorption.

Such are the principal

With

Boodhist doctrine. tions

characteristics of the

respect to the institu-

the doctrine that a spiritual, and even a

divine condition

be obtained by withdrawing

from the world, and by meditation, prayer, and abstraction, dition.

gave early origin

have

ence of institutions of viharas, or cells

monastic con-

this

kind, established in

and caves, or in buildings, erected

for the convenience spiritualise

to the

distinct evidence of the exist-

of those

who sought

so to

themselves by separation from the

Such

world, at dates long antecedent to our era.

buildings exist in India, at present, only as re-

mains of antiquity, quite deserted; but

them

in Tibet

tion that

find

and Tartary, exactly in the condi-

we may

imagine, from the traces

the domiciles occupied or

left

by the Indian Sramanas,

Lamas, that they presented heretofore in various

parts of Hindoostan

;

and

twenty centuries anterior

this at periods, at least

to the present.

That

150

TIBET,

condition varies very

TARTARY

of the earlier Christians

cording to

from what

little

reported

and we have

;

M. Hue, both

Tibet, the type of the

still,

ac-

Koon-boom and in devotees who practised at

penances, and sat on pillars, like Simeon Stelites.

The

and even the

discipline, the habits,

ritual of

these monasteries of Tibet and Tartary, have also a remarkable resemblance to those of the churches

Rome and

With

Constantinople in the middle ages.

respect to the ritual,

we have

the strong impression which

many

points

before noticed

resemblance in

made on Father Grueber,

in the se-

Caj)tain Turner, the ambas-

venteenth century. sador of

its

Warren Hastings

to Tibet, in 1783, re-

marked the great similarity which the chaunts of alternate verses by the officiating priest, and by the congregations of Tibet, bore to the ceremonies

Romish Church.

of high-mass in the quite

ignorant

the

judged merely of the form, and manner, and of

was

Tibetan language, and

M. Hue

what he saw and heard.

report, as the result of his longer

effect

confirms this

and more

ac-

curate observation, based on some acquaintance

with the language of Tibet

;

intense and extensive

Koon-boom monastic

college,

tutions of Lassa.

and he

tells

how

the study of ritual in the

and

Now Csoma

in similar insti-

Korosi has oiven

AND MONGOLIA. US translations, and

what

of some part

much

and tone,

struck

we have

thus chaunted or recited, and

ourselves been spirit

abstracts,

151

by the resemblance

to parts of the Litany,

and of the

Psalms, which are similarly read or chaunted in

Take

Catholic churches.

hymn,

the following

for

instance, in celebration of the victory gained over

the great tempter, prior to the reception of the

by Sakhya-Muui.

divine inspiration it

copy

from Csoma Korosi's translation, breaking only

the verses, for alternation of the chaunt or recitation,

ing

which

the

method of reading and

deliver-

it.

Priest.

the world

to cast

Maker

the world's Protector

who

light;

" There has arisen the Illuminator gives eyes to

the fight

excellence satisfy

blind,

sin."

" Thou hast been victorious in

thy aim :

the

the world that

away the burden of

Congregation.

accomplished by thy moral

thy virtues are perfect

men with good

Thou

shalt

things."

P. " Gotama (Sakhya)

without sin

pit. He stands on dry ground." He is out of the mire; and he will save

out of the miry C.

"Yes,

other animated beings, that are carried off by the

mighty stream."

TIBET, TARTARY

152

P. " The living world has long suffered the

The Prince

ease of corruption.

come C. all

dis-

of physicians

men from diseases." " Protector of the world by thy appearance,

to cure

all

the mansions of distress shall be

men

Henceforth, angels and

made empty.

shall enjoy happi-

ness," &c., &c.

Again, see another hymn. Priest.

"To

Thee, whose virtue

whose understanding

pure and

immaculate,

brilliant,

who

hast the thirty-two characteristic signs complete,

and who hast memory of

all

things, with discern-

ment and fore-knowledge." Congregation. " Reverence be to Thee we adore Thee ; bending our heads to our feet." P. " To Thee, who art clean and pure from all :

taint of sin,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;who

art immaculate,

in the three worlds,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and celebrated

who, being possessed of the

three kinds of science, givest to animated beings

the eye to discern the three degrees of emancipation from sin."

" Reverence be to Thee." P. " To Thee, who with tranquil mind the troubles of evil times

ness, teachest all living things to

designed for them."

clearest

who, with loving kindwalk

in the path

AND MONGOLIA. C. " Reverence be to

P. " Muni

Thee

whose heart

beings

Thy

intention

and perplexities of

for the

pure

and who

at rest,

delightest to explain the doubts

men: who hast suffered much

153

good of living-

Thy

practices are

perfect."

" Reverence be to Thee."

P. " Teacher of the four truths; rejoice in vation

who, being thyself free from

to free the C.

world from

" Reverence be

sal-

sin, desirest

sin."

Thee."

could multiply illustrations of this kind

without limit

;

but these examples will

suffice to

show the resemblance we have noticed

in the forms

and method of the Boodhist

is,

much more

ritual.

hoAvever,

elaborate than that of any church of

Christendom, the books containing

being very

voluminous, and the services being exceedingly complicated, and differing, almost, for every day of the year, besides being special for every festival.

In the absence of authentic easy to settle the precise period

histories,

when

and forms of Boodhist worship were

not

the doctrine

first

established

in the east; but no one has ever doubted their great antiquity.

The

early missionaries of the

church believed them

Romish

be a form of Christianity

154

TIBET,

TARTARY

preached there in the time of the

first

Apostles

and hearing of the theocratic government established in Tibet, and occasionally amongst Tartars

and Mongols of the

desert, carried

back

to Eiu'ope

tales of a Prester, or Presbyter John, to excite the

wonder, and stimulate the zeal of the pious in Christendom.

But the more accurate and

search-

ing enquiries of the present age have brought out this religion in a

doubt of tianity,

its

new character, and leave little by several centuries to Chris-

priority

with forms of worship and with doctrines,

corresponding closely with those which so forcibly struck Captain Turner in Tibet, and which excited

the wonder of the missionaries of successive centuries,

both there and in Mongolia.

the sacred books of

Boodhism we have now

three complete versions, in the Sanscrit, Tibetan,

and Pali languages

;

and

all

have been carefully

examined and reported upon by thorough

profi-

cients in each of these languages respectively.

have a Sanscrit version, that was obtained in Nipal

by Mr. Hodgson, the British resident at Katmandoo,and after being studied and partially abstracted

himself,

was by him transmitted

to the

Royal

Library of Paris about fifteen years ago, and has there been closely examined

by Messrs. Remusat

and Bourn ouf, whose works on the subject are

AND MONGOLIA.

before the world.

have

also a

155 Tibetan version

obtained through the same channel, and subjected

by the government of India

M. Csoma

The

Korosi.

to the

examination of

result of his labours has

appeared in several translations and abstracts ,which

were published in the Asiatic Researches of Bengal,

and

in the

monthly journal of the Asiatic Society,

between the years 1835 and 1840, The Pali version

was traced out by Mr. George Tumour, a high This gentleman

functionary of Ceylon. lished in a separate translation of the

volume the

text,

first

civil

pub-

with a close

Maha-wansa, an ancient poem on

the origin and spread of the Boodhist religion, compiled in the

fifth

century of our era from the Cinga-

lese version of the Attha-katha, a

higher antiquity.

work of much

next published in the pages

of the journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, a series of valuable essays,

Budliistical

Annals

with the heading of "Pali

and

in these

find a

com-

plete analysis of the sacred books themselves, a critical examination of the

them

and

grounds for assuming

be genuine, and for assigning them

to a

date and period, very nearly corresponding with that claimed for

them by the professors of the

religion. "VVe

date

have no means of determining the

when

j^recise

the Sanscrit version of these Boodhist

TIBET, TARTARY

156

Scriptures was prepared.

made from an that

is,

It professes to

have been

original in the language of

Moghada,

of Bahar, in which province both Patali-

now Patna) and Muni was born, and which

putra, (the ancient Palibothra,

Rajgriha, where Sakhya

was the more ancient

capital of that province,

The Tibetan

situated.

the Sanscrit, and took the shape of the in which

were

version was translated from

Kahgyur,

now exists, in one hundred leaf volumes,

between the seventh and ninth centuries of our

era.

Tibet does not pretend to conversion to Boodh-

ism

till

Muni

;

many centuries after the death of Sakhya we cannot, therefore, look in this quarter

for evidence of the date of the first

world

the version of

Scripture

its

;

and the Sanscrit version

was derived, correspond

appearance of

but when we find that

this religion in the

now

also,

current there,

through which

in all essentials with the

Pali version of the same Scriptures found in Ceylon,

Siam, and .

Burma

(for

these are identical),

all

an undeniable collateral evidence of the genuine

character of the whole collusion regions.

between the Still, in

;

for there

could be no

priests of all these distant

order to establish the antiquity

of the original Scriptures,

we must

seek other

proofs than this conformity.

The

Pali books

examined and abstracted by

AND MONGOLIA.

157

Mr. Tumour, consist of the Pitakattayan, the Attha-katha, and the Mahawansa. The first is, quasi, the gospel of Boodhists, containing the

life, dis-

and precepts of Sakhya Muni himself,

courses,

derived from his o^vn mouth, and put together by his disciples

Attha-katha

The

immediately after his decease. is,

quasi, the acts of the- apostles,

and

contains the account of the settlement of the Pita-

kattayan, and of the succession of Theros, or chief disciples

Muni first

and preachers of the religion

also of the schisms

;

few centuries

after

Sakhya

which took place in the

after the nircan, or decease, of

the great saint and founder; and especially of the

convocations held, as well to settle the Gospel itself in the

first

instance, as to determine the points of

difference,

and

This

work

latter

historian,

and

to suppress schisms as they arose. is

if its

far the

most valuable

to the

genuineness and antiquity can

be considered established, there are many doubtful points of chronology, and many matters touching the

succession of kingly races, and other events, also re-

garding the state of society of the period between the death of Sakhya, B.C. 543, and the date of gation, B.C. 306, that It

stated in the

its

promul-

will assist in clearing

Mahawansa,

vxp.

that the Pita-

kattayan was brought to Ceylon by Mahindo, the

son of Asoka, in the eighteenth year of his father's

TIBET, TARTARY

158 reign, that

is,

the Attha-katha was

to the island at the

same time, but was

brought

in B.C. 306, in the exact Pali form

now exists. That

which

circulated

and

first

made known

in the Cingalese

Both books are stated to have been preserved, orally only, for more than two cenvernacular dialect.

they well might be in the monasteries

turies, as

but to have been committed

who

of a king

104 and

to writing in the reign

flourished in Ceylon between B.C.

The Attha-katha

B.C. 76.

condition in Cingalese, until into Pali

by a

priest

existed in this

was rendered back

who came from Moghada, of name was

great learning and celebrity, whose

Budha Ghosa.

This

stated to

have occurred

between the years a.d. 410, and a.d. 432 full

account of

all

these circumstances

;

and a

given in

the Mahawansa, which was written between a.d.

459, and 477, and professes to have been compiled

from the same Cingalese version of the Attha-katha.

The

facts

spond in

mentioned in both these works corre-

all essentials

with the record of similar

events found in the Sanscrit and Tibetan sacred

books, and the differences consist only of some insertions in the

former, specially referring to

Ceylon, and likely to have been interpolated by priests of that nation.

We may, therefore, fairly

look on these works as standing nearly on the

AND MONGOLIA. same footing

159

as the Pitakattayan

of events found in

for the record

them was equally brought

Ceylon in the reign of Asoka, in the condition in

which in

existed,

Moghada

and was received and believed This be

in that reign.

observed,

was more than three hundred years before the

The Attha-katha

birth of our Saviour.

nothing of subsequent date to

B.C.

contains

306, and

appears to have come to us nearly perfect through this

channel, although not free from interpolations,

and not in the original

Now,

let

text.

us examine whether these books con-

tain internal evidence

that they

were current

confirm the inference

Pitakattayan, which contains the of

Sakhya Muni,

refers

and discourses

life

cotemporary kings of

known then

India, of dynasties

minion in India, and

have held do-

to disciples of

Sakhya,

became afterwards leaders of the Boodhist There

The

at this early period.

nothing found in

who

faith.

inconsistent with the

declared antiquity.

The Attha-katha

fact

tells

us that this Pitakattayan was settled in the

state

its

which we

find

it,

for the Pali

corresponds with that of Moghada,

at a

language convoca-

tion held in the first year after Sakhya's decease tlu*ee of his disciples,

;

Kasyapa, Upali, and Anando,

having each presided

at the recital

and settlement

of the three several portions of the work.

TIBET, TARTARY

160

This account of precisely

by what

its is

authorship

confirmed

found in the Sanscrit and

Tibetan versions of the same sacred books. Pali Attha-katha

tells

The

us further of schisms which

then arose amongst the professors of the Boodhist

and that

religion,

for the settlement of these, a

second convocation was held one hundred years the

after

dispute,

first,

which determined the points

and expelled the

heretics.

vocation, however, and of the schisms to

it,

we have no mention

this con-

which led

in the Tibetan scriptures

of Boodhism, which, as they were avowedly of

much

later origin,

would seem

show

that the

importance of the convocation, and perhaps even the

memory The

away.

of the schism,

had then quite passed

points in dispute in this

first

century

of Boodhism, referred to indulgences in matters of priestly discipline, such as in respect to the

keeping of

salt

for

more than seven days, which

some pretended might be allowed horn

;

also in the eating of food after

and things of the kind. were ten in number.

them

in vessels of

all,

mid-day,

The indulgences claimed The convocation denounced

requiring a rigid adherence to the letter,

as well as to the spirit of the rules

and precepts

of the Pitakattayan, as settled at the

first

tion,

which shows the severe

discij^line

convocaenforced

at that early period in all viharas, as the religious

AND MOXGOLIA.

101

establishments of the priesthood were then called in India.

In the reign of Asoka, the grandson of Chan-

who was

dragupta,

the Sandracottus of Megas-

thenes, a third convocation

was held, according

the Attha-katha and INIahawansa, and the Tibetan

King Asoka is stated convert to Boodhism in the

sacred books confirm to

have become a

this.

fourth year of his reign, and was an active propagandist of the faith.

The Attha-katha

says, that

consequently upon this royal patronage, heretics

and unbelievers

assumed the

many

priestly

garb, " shaving their heads and clothing themselves in yellow robes," racteristic of

which

exactly the cha-

Lamas of the present day

;

and that

they sauntered about viharas, spreading dissensions

and interrupting the ceremonies of the true

religion, being especially addicted to fire-worship

and

to sacrifices.

Consequently upon these

dis-

Boodhism suspended " the performance of the Uposatho" periodical worship and ceremonies, and also of the Pawasensions, the rigid priests of

rano, declaring that these could not properly be

performed in the public halls or churches of the viharas in

company with

heretics.

The suspen-

sion of these rites continued, according

statement, for

seven years, Avhen

the

King Asoka,

TIBET, TARTARY

16ÂŁ

taking umbrage, ordered the Uposatho to be re-

newed

vihara at Pataliputra, and

at his principal

sent his chief minister to enforce this order.

heads of the establishment

upon the minister caused beheaded on the

self

The

which they

king's brother, Tisso,

which the minister next came

and held out

decapitation

;

his

head

for

martyrdom by

but the minister hesitated, and

ferred again to the king for orders.

the

them

attached to this vihara, then placed him-

on the seat

in turn,

several of

spot, in the order in

sat in the assembly.

who was

The

refused, where-

still

issue to

Shocked

reat

which the matter had thus been

brought, King Asoka humbled himself before the ministers of religion, and asked for absolution.

convocation was then held to

in dispute,

settle the points

and the Boodhist church being purged

by the expulsion of 60,000 heretics, whose yellow dresses were taken away, and white furnished to them instead, the Uposatho was performed again with great solemnity. that the sacred books finally settled,

was

at this convocation

were again

and the Attha-katha

the record of this particular event.

revised and closes with It

occurred

in the seventeenth year after Asoka's inauguration, that

is,

in the year B.C.

Mahindo's mission

Ceylon.

307, just before

AND MONGOLIA. Such, but with extraordinary

163 detail,

the in-

ternal evidence dcducible from these sacred books

of Ceylon. is

supported

remains to show

There

stances.

how

this

by external events is, first,

evidence

and circum-

the fact of the era of the

death of Sakhya, Muni, (called his " Nirvan " or absorption into the divinity), which era, being

introduced into Ceylon, at the time of Mahindo's carrying thither the religion and

scriptures of

Boodhism, has been retained in the annals of that The same era is island to the present day. current in

Burma and

in Siam.

There

is,

second,

the reference to the reign of Chandragupta and his descendants,

whose identity with the Sandraand whose is admitted,

cottus of Megasthenes

reign

thus fixed chronologically.

These are

circumstances,

but are far

corroboartive

strong

from being the whole of the evidence. Within the last fifteen years, inscriptions in a very ancient Indian character have been deciphered, which purport to be edicts of a king Devanam-pia-Piadasi. lated

These

who

calls

edicts,

himself trans-

by Mr. James Prinsep, with the aid of punCalcutta, purport to be injunctions of a

dits in

Boodhist

direct

character,

faith thus stated to

Asoka

;

consistent

with the

have been adopted by King

and Mr. Turnour has established the

TIBET, TARTARY

164

name

of Piadasi as identical with that of

King

Asoka.

In two copies of these

found

Girnar in Guzrat, and at Kapoordigiri,

edicts, viz., those

not far from Peshawur, the names of Antiochus

and Ptolemy, and of Antigonus, Alexander, and Magas, are specifically cited as of cotemporary kings, through

whom

the doctrines and principles

of the edicts are to be further extended.

are

aware that Professor Wilson, in a recent memoir

on these inscriptions, has cast doubts on the

inter-

pretation of the edicts, and denies that there

ground even

for

them

assigning

for

King Asoka,

supposing them to be Boodhistical

his criticism

whether the discusses,

mere statement of doubts

;

edicts of the specific inscription

which

is five

but

and he

times repeated, and pur-

ports to contain the edicts of the twenty-seventh

year of Piadasi's reign, be fairly susceptible of Boodhistical interpretation or no, signifies for there

little,

a further edict in the same precise

language and character, and of the same King Pyadasi, which

was discovered

Bhabra, on

the road between Jypore and Dehli, and which settles the

point

specifically referring to

the

precepts and doctrines of " Bhagavat Boodha,"

Lord Boodha, as the only faith to be followed, and condemns the precepts of the Vedas, which

the

AND MONGOLIA. enjom

sacrifices

;

165

and the same edict especially

" upholds the merit and virtues of the " Uposadh ceremonies, and further, to the faithful

specifically addressed

congregated in Moghada.

would

thus seem to have been published in the seventeenth year of this king, on the conclusion of the convocation, referred to in the Attha-katha, for

purging the Boodhist church of Vedan heresies, the condition

upon which only the Boodhist

priesthood -would perform the periodically-recurring rite of Uposadh.

This* inscription will be

found in No. 102 of the Jo\u"nal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, and

there given in text,

with a translation by Kamla Kant and Sarodha Prashad, the same pundits

who assisted Mr. James

* The following extracts are from the translation of this most

important

Prashad:

edict, as

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

made by Kamla Kanta Pundit and Sarodha

" Piadasa Raja, to the multitude assembled in Maghada, ing them, says thus

" That the

sacrifice

of animals

forbidden

well

For men of Boodhist faith, such is not mete. formance of the Uposadh is most essential."

you.

known to The per-

" The vedas of the Munis are observed by their disciples future state

salut-

their

to be dreaded.

" The text of the vedas enjoining sacrifices are mean and false. Follow That the Lord Boodha hath commanded. Do this for This I desire," &c. the glory of Dhurma (religion.)

166

TIBET,

TARTARY

Prinsep in the translation and deciphering of the edicts before

The

discovered.

stone containing

the writing was afterwards transmitted to Calcutta,

and

changes

;

The Uposadh was

there deposited.

a recurring monthly

rite,

regulated by the moon's

was a church service performed

of the viharas, and whether

the public halls

could properly be performed in private houses was

one of the schismatic points settled convocation. felt as a

Its

second

suspension for seven years was

national grievance,

determined

at the

which the King Asoka

remedy, but he was compelled by

the obstinacy of the priesthood to submit to their condition of tics

and

first

cleansing the church of

schismatics.

its

here-

conceive, that

upon

this collateral testimony of rock-preserved edicts,

in a language no longer extant, but conforming

with that of the Pali sacred books of Ceylon, Siani,

and Burma,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of

edicts

which

refer

kings Ptolemy and Antiochus as cotemporaries, the inference will not be rejected, that the sacred

books and

ritual of the Boodhists, as

by professors of

that religion,

now observed

were then the

ceived scriptures and state religion of India.

have further evidence of cient Stupas ties

re-

this in the ruins of an-

and viharas existing

many

locali-

of India, which indicate a condition of things

AND MONGOLIA. and of monastic

167

institutions, exactly correspond-

ing with the Lamaserais described as in Tibet and at

Koon-boom,

still

existing

Koko Khotun,

and in other places of Tartary and Mongolia.

The Stupas

mounds of

are

solid

masonry erected

over the ashes or relics of saints and teachers of the Boodhist religion

domiciles for

and round them

;

disciples

Sramanas

cells

and

appear to

have been built by the pious, or provided by themselves, in the precise manner are

now found

have

Koonboom and

m which Lassa.

they

These

been in ruins, but they bear

for centuries

inscriptions of the same,

and even of more early

date than the deciphered edicts of Asokato which

we have

referred above.

The most remarkable of

these ruins are found at Sanchi, near Bhilsa, southw^est of

Bundelkund.

several stones

;

found on

key

for

deciphering the 'Asoka

and wdthin these few days, there has

been read a

inscriptions

and gateways of this ancient vihara,

furnished the edicts

The

at the

Royal Asiatic Society of London,

paper by Captain Cunningham, on the subject

of excavations tents

of several

steatite,

have

made

all

coycring

to ascertain the precise con-

of these

Stupas.

The

and chrystal vases containing the

metal, relics

been exhumed, and on several, or on the cerements, are legible inscriptions in

168

TIBET, TARTARY

characters of the age antecedent to that of Asoka,

recording that the relics are those of the very disciples and associates of Sakhya Muni, whose names are mentioned in the Pitakattayan and in

the Attha-katha, as well as in the Tibetan books.

This seems to be a strong confirmation of the

and of the

verity of those books,

record they contain was gospel of the age,

when

at least

the

received

these Stupas were built,

and that alphabet was used.

and no right

the

that

fact,

have no desire

to anticipate the publication of the

very interesting results which have attended the search of these Stupas.

Suffice

that they are

quite irreconcileable with any construction of the

accounts received of the Boodhist faith, that does

not carry back the founder to the sixth century before our era. real

These, indeed,

tombs of the

saints

Muni, whose names

and

may

not be the

disciples of

Sakhya

are found on the vases

and

cerements, but the more probable inference that they are so

;

still,

whether admitted

or no, the appearance of the buildings,

be so

and the

character of the inscriptions, indicates a date for their construction at least three or four

years before

Stupas

Christ;

that

date

hundred

and the erection of these over even

fictitious relics,

shows the sacred books recording the laws of

>^i ''% .

AND MONGOLIA.

169

these saints and disciples, to be then the received

and wealthy population, and

faith of a large is all

we seek

this

to establish.

If Boodhism, however, existed with these books at so early a date,

met by the

are

difficulty of

accounting for the silence of Greek authors of â&#x20AC;˘

The very name of Greek literature

antiquity in respect to them.

Boodh

met with nowhere

before the time of Clemens Alexandrinus, and he

mentions only incidentally one Terebinthus, who,

coming from India,

set

for a

and imposed on many.

Boodh

certainly have

culty in accounting for this silence, but inconsistent with

Greek

How

little

Greek books of the history or

of the Persians and Parthians, with

were

many

ages.

not

And

it is

do we

literature

whom

they

and commerci-

in close relation politically

ally for

diffi-

it is

habit, so to treat barba-

rian literature of all kinds. find in

(0ovlru),

be observed, the

Boodhist sacred books were the special property of the priesthood, and were mostly preserved and-

transmitted orally amongst them

probation,

long discipline, and by shaving the head, and priest,

was a con-

dition antecedent to the acquisition of

any know-

assuming the yellow garb of a ledge of them

;

and the same

with rigid Boodhists.

Have

even now the case

not even the learned I

170

TARTARY

TIBET,

of Europe, with the advantage of a press, and a

eager for knowledge, been for

reading public

many

centuries acquainted with the existence of

Boodhists with peculiar doctrines, without, until

very recently, obtaining any accurate knowledge of these sacred books

That the doctrines of

Sakhya Muni spread widely over the western world, as well as over the east,

known and

established.

sufficiently

Pythagoras brought the

doctrine of transmigration into Greece, at a period so close to that of the decease of as to

make

Sakhya Muni,

probable that he received

even

from himself; but we have no direct evidence that the philosopher went further east than Baby-

The

lon.

fact,

however, that he derived

doctrines from an Indian source

admitted

;

and

his

very generally

has other points of resemblance

with Boodhism, besides the belief in metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls.

The

discipline

he established, and the life of silence and meditahe enjoined, with the degrees of initiation

.tion

introduced, which was a kind of successive ordination, correspond exactly with the precepts of

the Pitakattayan, and the practices reported in the Attha-katha.

The Pythagorean as

institutions also are described

very monastic in their character, resembling

AND MONGOLIA.

171

thus closely, in that respect also, the viharas of the

Boodhists of India.

The

doctrines of Pythagoras

were widely spread over Greece, over

Italy,

and

Asia Minor for centuries after his decease, and

under the name of Mythi-aic, the

had

also a

wide extension.

The general expecta-

tion of the birth of a great prophet,

Saviour, which

Boodh

faith of

Redeemer, or

alluded to even by Tacitus, as

prevailing at the period

when

the fovmder of the

Christian religion appeared, was, there can be no

doubt, of Boodhistic origin,* and not at

all

confined

to Jews, or

based only on the prophecies of their

Scripture.

Although, therefore, the

ture of that age affords

classic litera-

no evidence of the precise

character of this Boodhism, nor of the basis of

Scripture or tradition on which

two

facts, viz., first,

rested,

still

the

the existence of these books

in India at the period; and secondly, the wide

spread in the west of the doctrines and belief which rested

upon them, may be considered

established,

Under

and

as not likely to

both well

be denied.

the supposition of the pre-existence of

Boodhism, such

as these

* The advent of another or Sakhya Muni,

Boodh

sacred books describe, a thousand years after

Gotama

distinctly prophesied in the Pitakattayan

and

Q-otama declares himself to be the twenty-fifth Boodh, and says, " Bagawa Metteyo is yet to come." The name Attha-katha.

Metteyo bears an extraordinary resemblance to Messiah. I

TIBET, TARTARY

112

and

professors

its

still

preach, the rapid spread of

and second centuries of

Christianity" in the first

our era,

not surprising.

mind already

impressed with Boodhistic belief and Boodhistic

and Redeemer Western world, recognised as a new Boodh by wise men of the east, that is, by Magi, Sramanas, or Lamas, who had obtained the Arhat doctrines, the bu'th of a Saviour for the

sanctification,

accepted,

readily

fore

nounced. the

that

was an event expected, and there-

when

declared and an-

was no abjuration of an old

teachers

faith

of Christianity asked of the

Boodhists, but a mere qualification of an existing

by the incorporation

belief

into

of the Mosaic

account of the creation, and of original the

fall

of man.

The Boodhists

accepting Christianity on at

once introduced the

which

From

for centuries

its first

rites

observances

had already existed

service,

its

forms of

councils

ritual,

its

in India. its

mona-

and of ohurch

convocations

schisms on points of faith,

and

announcement,

and

that country Christianity derived

stic institutions, its

sin,

of the west,

settle

worship of

relics,

and working of miracles through them, and much of the discipline, and of the dress of the clergy,

even It

to the

shaven heads of the monks and

would require an

entire

volume

friars.

compare

AND MONGOLIA.

173

detail the several points of similarity,

and

the divergence from the more ancient

and

and forms of

practice, in the creed

to trace

doctrine

ritual ulti-

mately adopted by the churches of the west. is

enough

for our present

purpose to establish the

superior antiquity of the one, found to exhibit so

many

points of close correspondence.

But independently of the

similarity of doctrine

of ritual, and of institutions,

hism has run in the

find that

Bood-

very analogous course

east a

with Romanism in the west.

Having

classes

its

of specially initiated and ordained teachers,

spread widely amongst the population, before

was adopted, and made a reigning sovereigns. heresies

doctrinal points,

power of the pelled

and schisms on

its

till

state

one

its

was torn trivial

sect,

having enlisted the

and ex-

opponents, to the weakening and its

authority.

subserviency of the temporal to the

was universally preached by ;

observances and

side, persecuted

mate ruin of the church and

class

by the pieces by

state religion

spii'itual

ulti-

The power

this separate initiated

and, in presumptous reliance on their in-

fluence over the populace, priests in the east, as in

the west, have

humbled and destroyed the kingly

power, and occasionally, when circumstances favoured the pretension, have established a priestly iS

TIBET, TARTARY

174

government, such

see in Tibet, in entire

supercession of the ordinary temporal authority,

and have sought all affairs for

dained.

to reserve the administration of

the special class of initiated or or-

But the consequence in the east has been The priestly govern-

the same as in the west.

ments have been unable

without foreign support

priestly domination has

maintain themselves

been found quite incompatible with energetic military action, which always has been, and always

must be, the source of real great

Lamas of Tibet

political

power.

The

are the protected minions of

China, just as the Pope of

Rome

dependent

day on France, and was recently on Austria, notwithstanding the reverence in which the Papal

name and

spiritual authority

still

held by vast

populations.

But the

religion of Tibet

and of China,

differ-

ing widely in that respect from that of papistical

Rome, the

principle tolerant.

human mind

tion, arrive at

Believing that

by meditation and abstracthe knowledge of divine truth, it can,

concedes freedom of thought and conscience to all.

Boodhists will contend with Boodhists for

the superiority of their Kotooktoo, and will per-

who deny his Of tliis M. Hue witnessed a striking

secute and excommunicate those pretensions.

AXD MONGOLIA.

175

instance in the contentions of the Kotooktoos of

Chaniclo and of Jaya, as he passed through

Kham,

But, towards

the easternmost province of Tibet.

and the preachers of new doctrines,

strangers,

Boodhists have always displayed not oidy tolerance, but every desu*e to hear, to learn, and to

Hence

understand.

ers of Christianity

their

the great success that preach-

have always experienced in

and com-

missions to Boodhist countries

munities.

Conformity of doctrine and of precepts

in several

main

essentials leads

Boodhist to

regard a missionary only as a reformer, nay, even as

aiming to reclaim

men

the pure or

ancient worship of the best days of his gion.

only by alarming the

and bringing the government association of large

officers

for purposeis,

institutions, are

and

jiut

They, whose hearts are

sions.

and

tui'iied to

the powers of the state,

and

into action to suppress

reli-

to fear the separate

numbers

political mischief, that its

civil authorities,

under disciplined leaders, which may be

and of

own

brought

an end to converset

on the mille

â&#x20AC;˘

nium of a general adoption of the Christian faith ^ would do well to study the causes which led to the violent persecutions instituted against Christian

converts

Japan,

and

missionaries,

and more recently

China,

Cambodia.

Let

TIBET, TARTAEY

176

them use

their advantage to

engraft the belief of

the divine mission of Christ on the prepared mind

of the Boodhist population, without seeking the separate organization of their converts into com-

munities under a priest's ambitious leading.

Let

them

confine themselves to points of faith, of doc-

trine,

and of morals, without auning to enforce observances and new modes of life. Thus

ritual

may

they hope to plant the seed, that, sooner or

later, will

belief, rality,

versal

produce a rich harvest of true religious

and of virtuous conduct, and sound moeven though they

fail to

conformity, which,

enforce the uni-

under

the

existing

diversity of mind, and of motive, and of intellectual power, can scarcely be looked upon as a

condition intended

by Providence

for

mankind.

The Boodhist practical creed is thus briefly stated by Csoma Korosi 1st. To take refuge only with Boodh. 2nd. To form in the mind the resolution to aim :

the highest degree of perfection, and so to be

united with the Supreme Intelligence. 3rd.

To humble

oneself before Boodh, and to

adore him. 4th.

majie oiFcring of things pleasmg to the

six senses. 5th.

glorify

Boodh by music, and by hymns.

AND MONGOLIA. and by praise of mankind, of

his person, doctrine,

and love of

his perfections, or attributes,

his acts for the benefit of

6th.

177

and of

animated beings.

confess one's sins with a contrite heart,

to ask forgiveness

of them, and to repent truly,

with a resolution not to commit such afterwards. 7th.

rejoice in the

moral merit and perfec-

tions of animated beings,

may obtain 8th.

and

wish that they

beatitude.

To pray and exhort

existing holy

men to may

turn the wheel of religion, that the world

long benefit by their teaching.

Persuade the Boodhist that Christ idea of a perfect Boodh, and let the

fulfils his

name

Our

Saviour be substituted for Boodh, in the above creed,

and the Boodhist creed

will

approximate

closely to that of a perfect Christian.

Tson-Kha-pa, the saint-reformer of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries of our era, accord-

ing to the same authority, thus defines the duty of Boodhists, classing

mankind

in three degrees

according to their intellectual capacity.

Men

of the lowest order of

that there life,

which they

punishment of life.

mind must

a God, and that there will receive the

their actions

believe

a future

reward or

and conduct in

this

Men

of the middle degree of intellectual capa-

must add

city all

AND MONGOLIA.

TIBET, TARTARS

178

to the above, the knoAvledge that

things in this world are perishable

perfection

Men of the third, or in further addition

always,

and consequently, a

continue

that im-

a pain and degradation, and that de-

liverance from existence pain,

;

deliverance from

final beatitude.

highest order, must believe

that nothing exists, or will

absolutely,

cease

except

through dependence on a casual connection or concatenation.

will they

knowledge of God. This comes very near only the trine, is

name of

arrive at the true

Christianity, wanting

Christ as the source of the doc-

and the Mosaic

faith for its antecedent.

these and the better moral precepts of our Gos-

pel,

and

its

doctrine of the separate immortal exist-

ence of soul with

its

hopes in futurity and pro-

mises of salvation, that the missionary must seek to

add

to the foundation already laid

by Boodhism.

—jama

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