1 - The Impact of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s Sojourn in Mongolia Arousing the National Consciousness of Tibetan Buddhists from 1904 to 1908

Summary

Abstract

In 1904, when British-Indian forces invaded Tibet, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama travelled to Mongolia and subsequently to Beijing. As Ishihama Yumiko's paper demonstrates, his sojourn in Mongolia connected the politically divided Tibetan, Mongol, and Buryat Tibetan Buddhist communities, activated their intercommunication, and contributed to the evoking of a national consciousness among them. While this consciousness failed to amalgamate Tibetan Buddhist communities into one entity, it did establish a nationalist movement that sought to resist Russian and Chinese control. Ishihama gives particular attention to the Dalai Lama's relationship with three Mongol hierarchs from the Khalka, Kokonor, and Buryat Buddhist communities. His impact on identity formation among these groups resulted in them devoting themselves to forging unity among their people.

Keywords: Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Exile, Mongolia, Identity, Nationalism

Preamble

In 1904, as British troops were closing in on Lhasa, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama left Lhasa with a few aides and headed for Mongolia, where he hoped to win the support of Russia. When this support was not forthcoming, he spent the following eight years travelling between Mongolia, Kökenuur (Qinghai 青海), Mount Wutai (Wutaishan 五台山), Beijing, and Darjeeling, until permanently returning to Lhasa after the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912. While the history of this period has primarily been studied in terms of the relations between Tibet and Great Britain, Qing China, and Russia, in recent years there has also begun to appear research focusing on the Thirteenth Dalai Lama himself and his relations with Mongolian Buddhism.

As the Thirteenth Dalai Lama stated: “Peace and happiness in this world can only be maintained by preserving the faith of Buddhism,” and in the “independence decree” issued in 1913, soon after his return to Lhasa, Tibet's politico-religious government considered the advancement of Buddhism to be intimately linked with the advancement of political objectives. In fact, a major reason the Dalai Lama was able to remain in Mongolia for such a long time—repeatedly ignoring the Qing court's orders to leave—was the political power conferred on him by throngs of Mongol pilgrims and the presence of the Buryat bodyguards accompanying him in Mongolia.