NEW REVELATIONS OF AN OLD COUNTRY.
THE GRAND LAMA.
WE are growing wiser in our generation. Two propositions we have fully demonstrated, viz., that some things can be done as well as others, and that some people know as much as others. The latter proposition is confirmed by the developments of each succeeding day. For a considerable period, we were contentedly wrapt up in the belief which the old Grecians took unto themselves. We were assured that all the enlightenment which had been vouchsafed to this sublunary sphere dwelt with us, and that all beyond our narrow circle was shrouded in the gloom of ignorance and barbarism. We were the chosen people. Travellers have worked remarkable changes in that flattering faith.
Much has been written concerning Tartary, Thibet, and China. But, upon reflection, we shall ascertain that our real knowledge of those countries, which form so large a portion of the globe, is exceedingly limited. We confidently receive and spread abroad the grossest errors in regard to the nature of these regions, the character of the inhabitants, and the peculiarities of their institutions. These errors may now receive due correction, for which we have to thank two adventurous French missionaries, of the Catholic Church, MM. Gabet and Huc. About the year 1844, the Pope established an Apostolical Vicariat of Mongolia; and, it being deemed expedient to ascertain the nature and extent of the diocese thus created, MM. Gabet and Huc, two Lazarists who were then attached to the petty mission of Si-Wang, were deputed to obtain the necessary intelligence. Through incredible difficulties they made their way to Lha-Ssa, the capital of Thibet and chief seat of Lamanism. Soon afterwards, Ke-Shen, the famous Chinese minister, had them arrested for political reasons, and deported to China, whence they were allowed to proceed to France. These missionaries enjoyed the best opportunities for observing the character of the inhabitants and the nature of the institutions in the countries they visited, and their statements may be relied upon as truth.
Tartary and Thibet are dependencies of the Chinese empire. The former is a vast region, divided into Mongolia, Mantchouria, and Elé. Mongolia comprises the territory lying between 35° and 50° north latitude, and 82° and 123° east longitude. Its length from east to west is about 1,700 miles, and its breadth about 1,000 miles. The surface of the country may be described as an elevated plateau, inclosed to the north-west by the Altai chain, and on the south by the Thibetian ranges. In the centre is the great sandy desert of Gobi, or Shamo, which is for the most part destitute of water and vegetation. Rivers are numerous north of the desert, and south of it are to be found several beautiful lakes. The climate is excessively cold, owing to the great elevation, dry atmosphere, and want of shelter from the winds, and the soil is almost entirely barren. As might be expected from the nature of the country, the Mongols are nomadic, wandering within certain limits with their herds and flocks. They pass the greater part of their waking hours on horseback, or on their camels, where they sometimes sleep. They are hardy and active, and have always been famed for their warlike disposition. Under the great Timour, they subdued the largest portion of Asia. But their power is now confined to their own barren territory. Their religion is called Lamanism, and the Lamas are at once their rulers, priests, and teachers. The tribes of that portion of Mongolia called Koukou-Noor have princely chiefs, who are tributary to the Emperor of China.
Mantchouria comprises the most eastern portion of the elevated plateau of Central Asia, and lies between 42° and 58° north latitude, and 120° and 140° east longitude. It has the Yablonnoi mountains on the north, the Chinese seas on the east and south, and the Sialkoi mountains on the west. The greater part of the country is covered with forests, in which bears, tigers, wolves, deer, and numerous fur-bearing animals abound. This region is well watered. Besides several lakes of considerable size, it has the great River Amour, or Saghalien, which is about 2,200 miles in length. Mantchouria is inhabited by a number of roving tribes; but the principal are those called Mantchoos. They differ but slightly from the other inhabitants of Tartary, and may be spoken of in connection with them.
Elé is an extensive region east of the Celestial Mountains, stretching from 36° to 49° north latitude, and from 71° to 96° east longitude. Soorgaria occupies about one-third of the province. This territory is the penal colony of the Chinese empire. Large bodies of convicts are sent here to work, and guarded by Chinese troops. The country is wild, and but a small portion of it is under cultivation.
Thibet is the most southern of the three great table-lands of Central Asia. It is surrounded by lofty mountains, most of which are extremely difficult of ascent. It has Gobi and Khoten on the north, Kokonor on the north-east, Szechuen and Yunan, provinces of China proper, on the east, and provinces of India upon the south and west. The average length of this great plateau is about fourteen hundred miles, and the average breadth about three hundred miles. The highest plains are at least ten thousand feet above the sea. Thibet is divided by mountain ranges into three distinct parts. The western one consists of the valley of the Indus. The central one comprises an extensive desert land. The eastern consists of a number of ridges and peaks. The number of peaks above the line of perpetual snow is greater than in any other part of the world. The Indus, Yang-tse-kiang, and the Brahmaputra, three of the largest rivers in the world, have their primary sources in Thibet. The lakes are large, and some of the isolated ones are perfectly salt. The climate is pure and excessively dry. The soil is better adapted for grazing than for cultivation; but the plain in which Lha-Ssa, the capital, is situated, is remarkably fertile. The Thibetians belong to the Mongolian race, and their general character resembles that of the Tartars of Central and Northern Asia.
We have said that the grossest errors are entertained in regard to the customs and institutions of the Tartars and Thibetians. These we are now enabled to correct by the revelations of MM. Gabet and Huc, and we begin with their religion, for by that their customs and institutions are shaped, in a great degree.
It is generally believed that Lamanism, or reformed Buddhism, which is the religion of about one hundred and seventy millions of people inhabiting Tartary, Thibet, and China proper, is a species of degrading idolatry, on a level with the dark heathenism of the Hindoo—brutal, sensual, and deserving of the contempt of enlightened Christian minds. An account of the origin and nature of this religion will show how far we have been from the truth.
According to the Lamanesque chronicles, a shepherd named Lombo-Moke, of the country called Amdo, in Tartary, married a woman named Ching-tsa-Tsio, who shared with him the cares of a pastoral life. In the year of the Fire Hen (1357) Ching-tsa-Tsio had a child, whose birth was attended with many miraculous features, according to the traditions of the people among whom his mission was to be performed. The child was a marvellous being. At his birth he had a white beard, and his countenance expressed an extraordinary majesty. As soon as he saw the light, he was capable of expressing himself with clearness and precision in the language of Amdo. At the age of three, Tsong-Kaba resolved to embrace a religious life. Ching-tsa-Tsio herself shaved his head, and threw his fine hair outside of the tent. From this hair sprung a tree, the wood of which dispensed an exquisite perfume around, and each leaf of which bore upon its surface a character in the sacred language of Thibet. Tsong-Kaba withdrew into most absolute retirement, and passed his days in fasting and prayer upon the summits of the highest mountains. He respected the life of even the humblest insect, and rigorously interdicted himself the consumption of any flesh whatever. While he was thus engaged in purifying his heart, a Lama, from one of the most remote regions of the west, visited Amdo, and amazed the people by his learning and the sanctity of his life. His appearance was remarked as singular. He had a great nose, and his eye gleamed with something like seraphic fire. Tsong-Kaba sought him for an instructor, and he, struck with the wonderful qualities of the young man, took him for a disciple. After having initiated his pupil in all the doctrines recognized by the most renowned saints of the west, the stranger fell asleep one day on the summit of a mountain, and never opened his eyes on earth again.
Deprived of his tutor, Tsong-Kaba determined to proceed westward, and drink the precepts of sacred science where that tutor had quaffed them. He reached the sacred town of Central Thibet; and there a Lla, or spirit, all radiant with light, checked his progress, and thus addressed him: "Oh, Tsong-Kaba, all these vast regions belong to the great empire which has been granted to thee. It is here thou art ordained to promulgate the rites of religion and its prayers. It is here will be accomplished the last evolution of thy immortal life." Tsong-Kaba then entered Lha-Ssa, the Land of Spirits, and began his career as a teacher and reformer.
The ancient worship of Buddha was strongly rooted in the minds of the people. But Tsong-Kaba made partisans rapidly. They were called Yellow Cap Lamas, to distinguish them from the Red Cap Lamas who supported the old system. In a short time, the reformers became predominant, and the homage of the multitude was turned from the living Buddha, or Chakdja, the head of the old hierarchy, to Tsong-Kaba. At an interview between the two chiefs, a discussion was held, which resulted in the complete triumph of the reformer. Thenceforward the reforms proposed met with no obstacle; they were adopted throughout Thibet and Tartary. In 1419, the soul of Tsong-Kaba, who had become Buddha, quitted the earth, returned to the Celestial Realm, and was admitted to the heaven of rapture. His body is reported to preserve all its freshness to the present day; and, by a perennial miracle, it lies a little above the earth, without being supported by anything visible. Besides reforming the liturgy, Tsong-Kaba issued a new edition of the "Body of Doctrine," and left, among his other works, an important one entitled the "Lam-Rim-Tsien-Bo, or the Progressive Path to Perfection."
MM. Gabet and Huc were impressed with the striking similarity between the Lamanesque worship and Catholicism. The cross, the mitre, the dalmatica, the cape, which the Grand Lamas wear on their journeys, or when they are performing some ceremony out of the temple; the service with double choirs, the psalmody, the exorcisms, the censer, suspended from five chains; the benedictions given by the Lamas by extending the right hand over the head of the faithful; the chaplet, ecclesiastical celibacy, spiritual retirement, the worship of the saints, the fasts, the processions, the litanies, the holy water, all these are analogous in the two modes of worship. Monasteries were founded by Tsong-Kaba, and they now contain a very large number of Lamas. The principal one is situated about three leagues from Lha-Ssa. It contains eight thousand Lamas, who devote the greater portion of their lives to study. The monastery of Hounboum is situated at the Lamanesque Mecca—the foot of the mountain where Tsong-Kaba was born. Near it is shown the tree of the Ten Thousand Images, which is said to have sprung from the hair of Tsong-Kaba. MM. Gabet and Huc both saw this wonderful tree, and they testify that Thibetian characters are distinctly traceable upon its leaves. It is covered by a dome of silver, erected by the Emperor Khang-Hi.
The French missionaries naturally conjectured that the Lama from the remote west, who taught Tsong-Kaba, was a Christian priest. Upon a further intercourse with the Thibetians, they learned that the only two essential points in which the Lamas of Thibet differed from the Catholic priests of Rome, were concerning the origin of the world and the transmigration of souls. Two alternatives presented themselves to the minds of the missionaries: To believe that the Thibetians had enjoyed the blessing of a divine revelation, or that they had been visited ages before by Christian missionaries. They concluded the latter was the most rational and probable. The celebrated Swedenborg declared that an Ancient Word, a revelation prior to the Mosaic, and including the lost Book of Jasher, was still preserved in Tartary; and the members of his church now assert that the discoveries of MM. Gabet and Huc go very far towards establishing the truth of this declaration.
The Lamanesque Church has a regular organization like that of the Church of Rome. Each Tartar kingdom has a Grand Lama, who is selected from the members of the royal family. There is also a Grand Lama for all Thibet. This personage resides in the Lamasery, like a living idol, receiving every day the adorations of the devout, upon whom, in return, he bestows his blessing. Everything which relates to prayers and liturgical ceremonies is placed under his immediate superintendence. The Mongol Grand Lama is charged with the administration, good order, and executive of the Lamasery; he governs while his colleague is content to reign. Each Lamasery of the first class has a Living Buddha for its head. He is believed to be immortal. When his death is reported, there is no mourning in the Lamasery; for it is believed that he will soon reappear as a child. The augur, or Tchurtchur, indicates the place where the child will declare himself, and this always occurs. A certain precocious child announces that he is the Living Buddha, and the people immediately display the most enthusiastic joy. The child is rigidly examined as to the residence, habits, and property of the deceased Buddha. If his answers are satisfactory, and they generally are, he is conducted in triumph to his Lamasery, the people prostrating themselves along his path.
The Grand Lamas who govern have a number of subalterns, who direct the details of administration. After this staff, the inhabitants of the Lamasery are divided into Lama-masters and Lama-disciples, or Chabis. Each Lama has under his direction one or more Chabis, who live in his small house and execute all the details of the household. These Chabis are also considered as pupils, and when they fail to commit their studies to memory they are severely punished.
All instruction, both in Thibet and Tartary, is ecclesiastical. It is said that the majority of the people constantly act with a view to a future life. They are, in fact, much more consistently religious, according to their notions, than the so-called Christian nations of Europe. As to the character of those notions, we may learn from the Thibetian work entitled "The Forty-Two Points of Instruction delivered by Buddha," that they are purely moral. According to this book, "there are in living creatures ten species of acts which are called good, and also ten species of acts which are called evil. There are three which appertain to the body, murder, theft, and impurity; four, which appertain to speech, are words sowing discord, insulting maledictions, impudent lies, and hypocritical expressions; three appertaining to the will, are envy, anger, and malignant thoughts." The wicked man who persecutes a good man is compared to a madman who spits against heaven, the spittle falling back in his face. The man who seeks riches is compared to a child who cuts itself while trying to eat honey with a knife. Voluptuousness is denounced as a sin, and the dominion of the mind over the passions of the heart is rigidly enforced. The belief in a spiritual God, who rewards good actions and punishes evil ones, is common to all Tartars and Thibetians. They believe that he is the beginning and end of all things, and that he has assumed the human shape and appeared among men to stimulate them to do good. They divide living beings into six classes, angels, demons, men, quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, corresponding to the six syllables of the prayer they constantly repeat: "Om mani pad me houm." (Oh, the gem in the lotus, Amen.) The meaning of this singular prayer is said to be an aspiration after divine perfection. The reward of the just and perfect is believed to be an absorption into the blissful soul of the Deity.
The monasteries of these people differ in some respects from the Catholic establishments of Europe. It cannot be said that the Lamas live in community. You may find among them all the graduated shades of poverty and wealth that you see in mundane cities. Every third month, the authorities make a distribution of meal to all the Lamas of the Lamaseries without distinction. The voluntary offerings of the pilgrims to Hounboum come in aid of this donation. Some of these offerings are in money; but generally they consist of a tea-drinking entertainment, to which all the Lamas are invited. These entertainments are very expensive.
A large number of the Lamas gain a livelihood by the ordinary occupations of life; but a certain class devote themselves entirely to study and contemplation. Among the industrial Lamas, a number occupy themselves in printing and transcribing the Lamanesque books. The Thibetian writing proceeds horizontally from left to right. Stereotype printing on wood is alone practised, no use being made of movable type. The Thibetian books resemble a large pack of cards, the leaves being movable and printed on both sides. The manuscript editions of the Lamanesque books are enriched with illustrative designs, and the characters are elegantly traced. The Lamas use sized paper and a bamboo pen. Their inkstand is filled with cotton saturated with ink.
In each Lamasery there is a Faculty of Prayers, and the Grand Lama and the students of this department are often appealed to by the government to preserve their locality from calamity. On these occasions, the Lamas ascend to the summits of high mountains, and spend two whole days in praying, exorcising, and in erecting the Pyramid of Peace—a small pyramid of earth whitened with lime, a flag, inscribed with Thibetian characters, floating above.
THE PYRAMID OF PEACE.
Each Lamasery has also a Faculty of Medicine. The physicians assign to the human frame four hundred and forty-four maladies. In the medical books the symptoms are described and the remedies stated. Bleeding and cupping are sometimes resorted to. The books contain much quackery, but also a large number of valuable recipes, the benefits of which are confirmed by long experience and observation.
Four great festivals are observed by the Tartars and Thibetians during the year. The most famous of all is the Feast of Flowers, which takes place on the fifteenth day of the first moon. It is celebrated with the greatest magnificence at Hounboum, where, at the appointed time, a vast number of pilgrims congregate. Three months are occupied in preparation, a Council of Fine Arts being appointed to superintend. The most remarkable achievements are the butter-works—all the Asiatic nations being represented with their peculiar physiognomies and costumes in fresh butter. MM. Gabet and Huc state that this butter-work and the arrangement of the flowers excelled anything they ever beheld as the result of art. At night the exhibition was splendidly illuminated. In front of the principal temple there was a theatre with its performers and decorations, all of butter. The dramatis personæ were a foot high, and represented a community of Lamas on their way to solemnize prayer. The Lamas were movable puppets. The day after the Feast of Flowers not a trace remains of these splendid works. All are demolished, and the butter thrown to the cows.
The Thibetians have made extensive progress in those arts which are generally considered the flowers of civilization. Their architecture, though somewhat fantastical, often appears grand. Some of their temples are very imposing. Most of the houses at the capital at Lha-Ssa are several stories high, terminating in a terrace, slightly sloped to carry off the water. They are white-washed all over, except the bordering round the doors and windows, which is painted red or yellow. The people of Lha-Ssa are in the habit of painting their houses once a year, so that they always seem as if just built. In one of the suburbs, the houses are built of the horns of oxen and sheep, and they present a most fantastical appearance. Lha-Ssa is laid out with broad streets, and surrounded with a beautiful wall of gardens. Besides the taste and architectural skill displayed in the erection of the temples and dwelling-houses of the capital, we find a number of grand mausoleums in various parts of Thibet, which evince a high degree of development in art. The Thibetians are not in the habit of burying their dead. In general, the bodies are left upon the summits of the mountains, or thrown to the dogs, being esteemed but as worthless clods; but mausoleums have been erected in honor of famous Grand Lamas.
THEATRE AT THE FEAST OF FLOWERS.
The manufactures of the Thibetians are various and valuable. Although the severest labor is performed by the women, the men employ themselves quite profitably, especially in spinning and weaving wool. The stuffs they manufacture, which are called poulon, are of a very close and solid fabric, and surprisingly various in quality, from the coarsest cloths to the finest possible merino. By a rule of reformed Buddhism, every Lama must be attired in red poulon. The consumption of the article in Thibet is very large, and considerable quantities are exported. The pastile-sticks, so celebrated in China, are manufactured at Lha-Ssa, of various aromatic trees, mixed with musk and gold dust. When these sticks are lighted they consume slowly, and diffuse around an exquisite perfume. The Thibetians have no porcelain, but they manufacture all kinds of pottery in great perfection. The only tea-service used throughout Thibet is a wooden cup, which is either carried in the bosom or suspended from the girdle. Some of the most costly cups have the property of neutralizing poisons.
The agricultural productions of the Thibetians are very poor. They cultivate a little wheat and still less rice. The chief production is tsing-kon, or black barley, of which is made the tsamba, that basis of the aliment of the entire Thibetian population. All the labor of cultivating the ground is performed by the women. The implements used are of the most primitive description, and the work is wretchedly done.
Thibet is exceedingly rich in metals. Gold and silver are collected there so readily, that the common shepherds have become acquainted with the art of purifying these precious metals. Specie is of a low value, and, consequently, goods maintain a high price. The monetary system of the Thibetians consists entirely of silver coins, which are somewhat larger than French francs. On one side they bear an inscription, and upon the other, they have a crown of light, small flowers. To facilitate commerce, these coins are cut into pieces, the number of flowers remaining on each piece determining its value—a very simple, yet adequate arrangement. In the larger commercial transactions, ingots of silver are employed. The Pebouns, or Indians settled at Lha-Ssa, are the only workers in metals at the capital. In their quarters, you may find ironsmiths, braziers, plumbers, tin-men, founders, goldsmiths, jewellers, machinists, and even chemists. There all sorts of vases are manufactured for the use of the Lamaseries, and some of them are exquisitely ornamented. While these Indians are the chief manufacturers of Thibet, the Katchi, or Musselmen, are the leading merchants. Their religion and their trade are respected by the government.
The greater portion of the wealth of Thibet is the property of the Lamaseries. The people experience all the misery consequent upon the existence of an overpaid church establishment. Yet they are so devoted to their religion that they are never weary of making rich offerings to the Lamas. There are swarms of beggars throughout the country; but it is only just to observe that the Thibetians are kind and compassionate, and that those who are blessed with a goodly store give freely.
The condition of woman is always a fair test of progress in civilization. Polygamy prevails, with the sanction of the Lamanesque religion, in Thibet and Tartary. But the first wife is always the mistress of the household, and the most respected in the family. MM. Gabet and Huc thought polygamy a real blessing to the people of those countries. Celibacy being imposed on the Lamas, and the class of those who shave the head and live in Lamaseries being so numerous, it is easy to conceive what disorders would arise from the multiplication of young women without support, and abandoned to themselves, if girls could not be placed in families in the quality of second wives. Divorce is frequent, and it takes place without any intervention of civil or ecclesiastical authorities. In Tartary, the women lead an independent life, coming and going at pleasure.
The Thibetian women submit, in their toilet, to a custom or law scarcely credible. Before going out of doors they always rub their faces over with a sort of black, glutinous varnish, the object being to render themselves as ugly and hideous as possible. This practice is said to be about two hundred years old, and tradition says that it originated with an austere Lama king, who desired to check licentiousness of manners. At present, the women who bedaub their faces the most hideously are esteemed the most pious. The women lead an active and laborious life. Besides fulfilling the various duties of the household, they concentrate in their own hands all the petty trade of the country, whether as hawkers, as stall-keepers in the streets or in the shops. Little or no restraint is imposed upon them. Their general character for morality is good—in fact, if compared with that of other Asiatic women, quite exemplary. They are strictly attentive to their devotions, and will even go beyond the men in deeds of penance and mortification of the body.
We hope we have given a sufficient idea of the recent revelations concerning Thibetian and Tartarian life to awaken an interest in further developments. The discoveries of the French missionaries have but opened the way for others of the highest importance to mankind. From what we have related, it will be inferred that the work of Christianizing Asia will not be so difficult as has hitherto been supposed; that reformed Buddhism is a good preparation of one hundred and seventy millions of people for the reception of those truths which Christians believe to be necessary to the salvation of man; and that we have not false idols to throw down, but to a belief essentially pure, spiritual, and godly, to add that definite knowledge of a new dispensation, the universal prevalence of which must banish strife from the face of the earth, and render it a realm of uninterrupted bliss.
