THE FORBIDDEN CITY OF TIBET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12419, 14 November 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE FORBIDDEN CITY OF TIBET.

It may bs said, at the beginning of the twentieth century, thas, except- for the two poles, there is not a comer of the earth where white men nave not penetrated. Yet, in truth, there exists on the Asiatic continent, hardly two hundred miles from the frontier of British India, a city, the capital of Tibet, to which the "white men" of Europe and America, are absolutely forbidden access. Within a distance of from 150 to 200 miles from this city, all the roads leading to it, at the place where they cross the frontier to the province of Wu, of which Lhassa is the chief town, are jealously guarded by pickets of Tibetan soldiers. Immediately upon perceiving a suspicious-looking caravan the sentinels notify the local authorities. The advancing traveller then sees rise tip before him a whole detachment of armed men, commanded by high functionaries of the country, who, without discussing the matter, politely insist that the bold pioneer retrace his steps. They even offer him the «noney and food, necessary for the return voyage, at the same time warning him that if he continue on his way to Lhassa he will pay for it with his life. Such a state of affairs has not always existed, writes J. Deniker in the Century Magazine. During the middle ages, and until the middle of the eighteenth century, a number of Europeans, mostly Catholic monks, were able to remain for long periods in the "Holy City" of the Tibetans, who profess, as we know, the Buddhist-Lamais ] religion. But since the expulsion, in 1760, I of the Capuchin monks, who tried, to meddle with the internal affairs of the country, all Europeans have been regarded with suspicion, and none has been allowed to penetrate into Lhassa. However, we have not i remained in absolute ignorance of the capital ol Tibet. Almost every year the Government o"f British India sends to Tibet a Hindoo pundit to make surveys and draw maps of the country. Three or four of these native surveyors, disguised as Buddhist pilgrims, succeeded in passing some time in Lhassa. By the northern frontier genuine Buddhists come every year, on a pious pilgrimage to Lhassa. They arrive in great numbers. Russian subjects—Buriat Mongolians from Transbiakalia (Siberia), and Kalmuks from the south-eastern steppes of Russiawinding their way across the deserts of Mongolia, and through northern Tibet and its dreary waste of plateau, which is higher than the summit of Mont Blanc. One of the pilgrims, the Kalmuk Mongolian Ushe Narzunof, who was less ignorant than the rest, took a large number of photographs in the "Forbidden City' and its environs. Although Lhassa is in the same latitude as New Orleans, its climate is colder, because of its great altitude (it is about 11,900 ft above the level of the sea). The dwellings d'f the Tibetans are little houses of stone or dried bricks, and have no stoves. The only ; method of heating is by braziers, and the first nights of Narzunof spent in Lhassa seemed very cold to him. Very soon, though, he '■ grew accustomed to the lack of heat and also |to the darkness of the houses. Windows with glass panes were found only in a few palaces of the high priests ; in all of the other houses the panes were of paper, either oiled or plain. At night the houses were lighted by torches, or by primitive lamps in the antique Roman style, fed with a vegetable oil. Lhassa is composed of a number of temples and convents, surrounded by gardens and joined together by streets filled with little shops and private dwellings. The town extends about two miles from west to east, and one mile from north to south- It has a population of from fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants, three thousand of them being monks. In the centre of the city rises the principal temple, called the great Izon (Zo in Tibetan). This temple is three storeys high, and has four golden roofs; it contains a large number of statues of Buddhist gods, among them one of Sakya-Muni, founder of ; their religion. The gilded roofs of the temi ple are a little to the left of a conical hill ; which is called Chag-po-ri, or " Mount of I Iron." On the top of this hill stand the | buildings of the largest convent of Lhassa, ! the Man-bo-datsang, where the monks de- ■ vote themselves to the study of medicine. ; To the right, on a hill which rises three huni dred feet higher, one sees a collection of buildings, which is the residence of the Dalaii Lama, and is called Potola. In aspect it is I something between the Acropolis at Athens ! and Mont St. Michael in Normandy. It is an agglomeration of temples, palaces, and structures which suggest barracks. The whole is surrounded by walls. The zig-zag roads lined by stone walls are the means of communication between the different buildings. The centre of this monastic fortress is occupied by a temple-palace, Po-brang-Margo, and the red of its walls stands out against the white of the other buildings. There are nine storeys on the southern facade, while there are only six or seven storeys on the opposite side. Here, however, are the four temples, with gilded roofs in the Chinese style. To the right of Po-brang-Marpo is the palace which contains the private apartments of the Dalai-Lama; to the left the buildings where the high dignitaries live. Farther on is a large building for the functionaries and staff of the court of the DalaiLama. Lower down is a large edifice, a sort of barracks containing cells for several hundred monks, and next to it, just below the Po-brang-Marpo, is another monastery with a large six-storeyed temple, where religious services are held daily. Lower down still, at the foot of the hill, are the dwellings of the mino,v functionaries and servants. The whole collection of buildings contains nearly three thousand rooms, and is larger than the Vatican. It was in the palace of Potala that Narzunof had the honour of an audience with the Dalai-Lama, to whom he brought the letter and gifts. In exchange for these he received the benediction of the Great Pontiff and a sum of about two hundred lans (£3O). The Dalai-Lama is a young man not more than twenty-nine years old. He is of the finest Tibetan type; that is to say, almost European. Hsi usual dress is very like that of the Buddhist high priest, except that it is entirely yellow. ~ One morning, as Narzunof was walking about, waiting an opportunity to take a photograph, he saw for the first time a spectacle which, it seems, is common enough about Lhassa. He quickly took a photograph, of what he saw— men, pilgrims, who were making the tour of Lhassa for the third time, not on foot, but flat on their stomachs, measuring the perimeter of the Holy City with their bodies. They threw themselves down the length of their whole bodies, resting on their hands; then drawing their legs to them, thcp stood up to prostrate themselves again immediately, this time placing their feet where their head had last been. Beginners put little boards on the palms of their hands to break the force of the blows, and they try to fall without straining their arms; but as soon as they have accustomed themselves a little, they fall on their hands. Think of the length of time, and, above all, of the patience it requires to make thus the tour of the Holy City, a distance of about thirteen miles! But there are some fervent pilgrims who do more than this, for they go seven times round the city. Others, instead of measuring the way by the length of their persons, measure it by the width of their faces! They touch tneir foreheads to the ground; then, changing place laterally, they press their faces again at the spot next to the one they have just touched. It takes the pilgrim one month to make the tour of Lhassa in this fashion. It is a much longer method, but is not nearly so painful as the other. During his stay Narzunof visited the monasteries which are in the near neighbourhood of the capital. The most important of these, and, in fact, of all the monasteries in Tibet, is Brasbung or Depung, which is situated about four miles to the north-west of Lhassa. It numbers about ten thousand monks, A group of four cloisters surrounds the golden-roofed temple | called Tskohin-Dalsang, which is large, enough to contain the whole ten thousand monks.