TO LHASA IN DISGUISE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18577, 8 December 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)

TO LHASA IN DISGUISE.

V TALK WITH DALAI LAMA. LAST DAYS IN THE CITY. DEMONSTRATION BY MOB. END OF GREAT ADVENTURE. No. IX. (BY DR. WILLIAM MONTGOMERY McGOVERN, Ph., I> Professor of Orien|£l Studies, London University.} " Below is the ninth instalment of a Btorv of the adventures of a British acien ain the foibidder, country of Tibet » true romance of almost incredible fict j on | more excitinfr than any k ' _ s Tho author is lecturer on Oriental lang' in the University of London. Lvery preSSriSSi' W «d*4fffibU b to class ■SWffiTSi of the Himalayas in the detld e. reached succeeded i:.i tv, r Living the presence of the Dnlai L&'na., Buddii of that mysterious land. I found the Dalai Lama to be a smallish man, lighter in build, and with » face longer and more oval than most Tibetans A childhood attack of smallpox had left slight traces upon his countenance, but these were almost invisible in the gloom, His head was shaven, as becomes a priest, but he had long, pointed moustaches, which he learned in Inch* to wax. He was a man who obviously was accus tomed to be regarded as a god, and who, moreover, had a firm belief in his own divinity, and vet ther-3 was a great quietness, and even modesty about his manner. He has not the delicate, half-mystical *p ; p^a,ranee which characterises the IxwAi Lama, of Shigatise. He is much more a man of the world, a careful observer of human nature, and a shrewd conjecture* of ulterior motives. . . _ His personal life is above suspicion n» is rigid in his celibacy, and m his abstinence. from wine and tobacco- His 001 is simple, and his dress on ordinal occasions scarcely to be distinguished irom that of an ordinary monk. He prefers vo reside as much as possible in his villa of orb Linga, another mile beyond the citv, instead of living in state, attendee with pomp-and ceremony, m the. lot one of the most magnificent palaces m the ' world. Yet he is obviously concerned wuh this world's affairs. He is ambitious in -a cool, calculating wjiy, ever seeking to unifv his power and to weaken opposition. In his vouth his violent temper fie quently led him to commit some _ rash or foolish act, but the trials and tribulations of exile and deposition have tai; him greater caution, one might almost any craftiness. He is afraid; to commit hirnseif to a policv without seeing v. hat its effect will be. fie would be the last person , 1 " claim occult powers for himself, and his intelligence is not gigantic. Fine points of metaphysics and theology he leaves to others, but he is possessed of a great, deal of acumen and acuteness. Above all, he is blessed with .the faculty of being able to choose wisely his human instruments. ' His most notable success along this line is Tsarong Shape, and the wisest thing he ever did was to place in Tsarong' hands mu£,h of the reorganisation of the State. Electing the Dalai L&ma. As is generally known, the office of the I Dalai Lama is not hereditary, nor is this supreme ruler of Tibet elected by the will i of the people. Bather is he chosen by » system which is unique in the governments of tU world. In theory the Dalai Lama is an incarnation of the divinity Chenerfi, and is also an immediate reincamatioil of himself. . Within a short time, varying from a few months to two years, after the death of this pontiff, the supreme council of monks announce to the people the discovery of the new Dalai Lama. This new Dalai Lama, may be an infant of a lew weeks, or a qhild, as old as two years, but in any case .he must have bewn born « subsequent to*"the death of the last Dalai = Lama, whose soul is supposed to have transmigrated into the body of the infant. Sometimes before the death,of the old pontiff the latter intimates to his councillors that he will probably be born in this or that part of the country, or in this _ or , that type of family. Such an intimation, j of course, simplifies matters for the councillors when the time comes to make the choice. But where no such intimation is given, or where there is ft division cf opinion among the councillors, recourse is made to divination in the way of the casting of lots. Not onlv is the Dalai Lama thus chosen to succeed himself as a..new incarnate Buddha, but the same method is used in the choice of ether high ecclesiastics, particularly the abbots of many important monasteries throughout Mongolia and j * Tibet. In the case of these less important lamas, however, the succession generally follows regularly, and each incarnation attains to a ripe old age. But the Dalai Lamas have been much less fortunate. # "* Boy Dalai Lamas. The first four stypreme pontiffs were purely religious leaders and had no political significance, consequently, " they, too, had tha average duration of life. It was the fifth incarnation who managed, by the aid of the Tartars, to make himself the temporal ruler of the country. Thereafter, a great deal of political intrigue began to be bound up with the fortunes of each succeeding incarnation. After a century of irregular successions the Dalai Lama " succeeded himself " in an extraordinarily rapid number of re-births, and down to the time of the present pontiff, ■who is the thirteenth in the line of succession, no Dalai Lama has lived to be more than 18, the age of majority. In other words, the boy Dalai Lamas have tor a long time all bean puppets in the hands of the priestly oligarchy which rules the country. These all-powerful priests, fearing that an adult Dalai Lama might not always be sufficiently plaatiic in their hands, saw to it that the supreme pontiff was called to a " new incarnation " when he reached the age of majority. The present. Dalai Lama is the first one in over a century to escape this fate. He is a man of great strength of character, as has previously been indicated. In no way has he manifested these characteristics more thin in his supreme achievement, na»ely, escape from death up to his present age. The son of a peasant, hit) succession to the pontificate was obviously dictated, ,by political motives. At the time of his succession. Tibet was much under the influence of China, and China did not the supreme rulership of Tibet to fall into the hands of one of the wealthy and powerful families of that country. Hence the choice of the peasant boy for this office. This one-time peasant boy is now a man of 49, one who has succeeded in wresting to himself, as Dalai Lama, the power that for so long has been uSurpad by the oligarchy of monks. Suspecting —and doubtless learning from hearsay of: the fate of his predecessorsthe present Dalai Lama, -when he approached the age of majority, studiously avoided eating food that was not first tasted, by his attendants, and in other ways shrewdly escaped running into danger. Sell-Willed Man. On reaching the age of 18 he insisted updh claiming the power that was nominally his,- and grudgingly this was granted to him. Emboldened by success and by the '* will to power," as well as the " will to live," the present Dalai Lama embarked on his own responsibility upon a fearless, if somewhat indiscreet, foreign policy. His apparent over-friendliness for Russia and his overtures to that country succeeded in arousing the hostility of both Great Britain and China: that of the former in particular, of which the more or less.direct consequence was the British expedition under Colonel Younghusband into Tibet in 1904. b T?vs.°^J ,^e^ n .^ rance British troops into inte mI 16 l Lama fled incontinently later from which countrv he & time in pIv VCIV t° China > and live " d for Tibet, but J??', ?. I®®® he returned to only about ed , to rem&ll there wheel before -on torn to act tftl. , , oeca l ta « China's end the tura Mr? invader of Tibet British India _iIl eafc Britaini.e., W& ' offering re!u~ to » part of host, Site ' 1010 to mi how!^^ 6 '- Fro MliP^ aoiuaew .yenuinea in remainwi in

Since 1912, when, through the actiyeity of Tsarong, the Chinese were ousted • and the Dalai Lama returned to power in Lhasa, it has been the part of His Holiness to set his house in order." It is a part for whifcli, considering the many obstacles which have beset his path, he has shown unusual capacity. As the result of his activity, the present political situation in Tibet- is one of unusual interest. The country is sharply divided into two actively partisan groups. One is the Court party, headed by the Dalai Lama and his Cabinet, and is supported by a considerable portion of the lay nobility mid of the peasantry.' Thi other, represented by the so-called National Assembly, is largely composed of the nominees of the priests of the three large monasteries in the vicinity of Lhasa, i Both these parties are largely autocratic, 1 but the priestly party is by far the most reactionary. The Court party consists largely of persons who have dwelt long j enough abroad to absorb -new ideas, and is comparatively progressive. Incidentally, the Court party is pro-British, while the priestly party is strongly anti-British arid pro-Chinese. At'present there is no group which has any especial regard for Russia. To-day the power of the Court party is gradually on the increase, but it is interesting to speculate upon what will take place upon, the death of the present Dalai Lama. Will Tsarong seize the reins of government ind declare himself king", as it is sometimes whispered may be die case, or will he, perhaps more astutely, be instrumental in the choice of an infant Dalai Lama of a type that can be moulded to his own point of view and way of thinking? Or will a very old prophecy be in reality fulfilled, namelv, that the thirteenth Dalai Lama will be the last,

"•* After half an hour this entertainment began to pall on me, and I returned to the inside of my abode by the . same way that I had left. I heard afterwards tne Tsarong had held the troops in readiness to be rushed to my defence in case the mob had got into the house, but this proved unnecessary. When darkness crept on and the time for the dinner arrived the crowd gradually melted away* During the next few days small < groups of people gathered in front of the house, and occasionally made hostile demonstrations, but this never developed into anything serious, largely because it became known that I was , under the protection 01 the Government. : ; Nevertheless, guards were posted at the door as a precaution against any . unforseen eventuality, and the Government implored me not to leave the house during the remainder of the period that the monks continued in the city, lest I should; be recognised and attacked on the streets--After the monks had left and the city had settled down to normal all,danger would be at an end. Consequently from February 27 until March 13, I was practically a prisoner of State in the Forbidden City. But this period was far from unpleasant Presents of food constantly arrived from Tsarong and the other officials, and the period of enforced rest did /me a great deal of good physically. My tedium was relieved in a number "of ways. During this time numerous public processions and ceremonies were held, and practically all of these either took place or passed by under my window. I thus had a unique opportunity of studying the sacred ' rites" of Tibetan Buddhism. Another source of entertainment was afforded by the large number of Lhasa notables who came to visit me. These

TALKING ABOUT THE LEAGUE OP NATIONS.

Here is one League of Nations that would make'the chronic, scrappy ones throughout the world sit up and behave. " The whole world is looking for Anglo-American ' .unity in the interest of Peace and Progress.' —Montreal Star.

that after his death Tibet will be opened up to the " white barbarians" of the West, and the title Dalai Lama be but a memory of the past? Easy to put th* question, but-who can answer? My mind I was dwelling on these things as I sat i* amiable conversation with His Ho.iness. We talked only on general matters, out he asked me to keep our interview a secret for the time being. At the end of an hour I took my leave, .and returned to Lhasa and my dwelling in the same stealthy way that. I had come. An Angry Mob. The next morning (February 27) th? storm broke. 1 know that after the news of my arrival had been communicated to so many persons it was impossible for it to remain long a secret. Rurfiours about me had been spreading for the last several days, and had eventually reached the ears of sapme of the more fanatical monks. Consequently in the morning I saw auite a crowd collected under my window. This continued to swell in size, and by the afternoon had become turbulent. Two or three of the bolder spirits raised a howl and called on me to show myself, while others shrieked "Death to the foreigner." Others then joined in, and a regular hymn of hate came up from ! below. Stones and sticks began to .bethrown. Fortunately my fla* was on the second floor, and very inaccessible ; but a ' few stones hit the window, and the glass panes were broken. But as the mob had no firearms'with them, I knew they could do little damage unless they oouul get inside the house. It was rather thrilling to have a crowd outside howling for one's blood, but though my servants were terribly fright- j ened, it seemed likely, from what I saw,

included officials, priests, officers in, the new army and merchants. From these I obtained a great deal of original informa tion regarding the present life of Tibet. On March 13 the ecclesiastical - mayors handed back their authority to the civil officials, and'the.same evening practically all the monks left . the city. It was curious to see how empty the city appeared. During ordinary time the popula tion of Lhasa is less than 20,000, but during the New' Year it swells to live times that number. On and after March 14, I was free to wander about the city, and this I frequently did, making notes concerning the topographical and architectural details, but I was already tired of Lhasa, and anxious to return to India. I had some little difficulty in getting permission to leave, but. ten days later, March 24, the Kashak granted me the permit to travel, . animals sufficient to transport my party, and passes which enabled me to stay at the Government resthouse's en route. At the same time they insisted on giving me an armed escort, as they afraid ' that an attempt might be made oh my life somewhere on the road. However, al! went well, I took \ the men from Lhasa to Gyangtse, from Gyangtse went over the - old road to YatungV and from Yatung journeyed through . Sikkim, and on April 17 once more found myself in Darieeling. The Tibetan adventure was at an end. "t ■■■■■"' i ' • . [the end.) "

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I to prove a safe amusement. _ It then occurred to me that 1 would like to _»ce the storming of my house from outside. The crowd had its attention so fixed upon the' spot where 1 ought to be_ that no uiie would ever dream of. looking .for me among thtwrioters. Accordingly, just for the frolic of the thing, I carefully renewed my disguise, slipped out by a small secret door at the back of the courtyard, and then went through the streets to me front of the house and joined in the throng. Not to be outdone by the others, I occasionally let out a yell myself, and once or twice, to make the thing very realistic, picked up a small stone and threw it at my own window. I always was a bad shot, however, and « only i I managed to hit a window in the floor i I below mine, the glass of which at once i smashed to pieces.