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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Formerly in the seventh year Ch'ung-tê (A.D. 1643) of the Emperor T'ai-tsung-wen, the Panch'en Erdeni, the Talé lama, and Ku-shih han (Gushi khan), knowing of the appearance of a superior man in the eastern country, sent envoys for the express purpose (of seeing him). They were only able to reach their destination by passing through hostile countries, and after several years they arrived at Sheng-ching (Mukden). This was eighty years ago. (These princes) were all alike doers of good works and liberal patrons (of the clergy), and peace and happiness reigned (in their land). But after the death of the Talé lama, the Déba kept the news hidden from Us, and for sixteen years he madly ruled according to his caprice. La-tsang put him to death, and then Religion reappeared. For this reason We acceded to the united supplications, of La-tsang and all the princes of the Kokonor when Chih-wang a-la-p'u-tan in his foolishness fomented troubles. He excited to rebellion the Chun-ko-ehr (Sungans), who committed riotous acts of open rebellion, burning down the Talé lama's (monument), level-ling to the ground the pagoda of the fifth Talé lama, polluting the Pan-ch'en, destroying the convents, and killing the lamas. Glorying in being the champion of the Faith, he was in truth but its destroyer, seeking stealthily to take for himself the country of Tibet.
page 186 note 1 It ought to read Desi, or 
. This celebrated minister was called Sang-gyé-jya-ts'o 
. He is also famous as an author; he wrote the Vaidurya dkar-po, the Vaidurya sngon-po—the first an historical, astronomical, and astrological work, the second a medical one also the Gyah-sel, or “Effacer of stains,” refuting criticisms on his works, etc., etc. See Cso'ma, , Tibetan Grammar, p. 191. According to the Sheng wu chi, V. p. 5, he appears to have had friendly relations with Wu-san-kuei, after the commencement of his rebellion in 1674. This work contains a full account of Sang-jyé jya-tso's regency and intercourse with ChinaGoogle Scholar.
page 187 note 1 Hsi-Ts'ang must here, as also very frequently in this book, be understood as meaning Lh'asa.
page 187 note 2 Or it may be three dynasties (
), i.e. Yüan, Ming, and Ch'ing. The stone tablet bearing this inscription is in front of Potala, facing the city.
page 189 note 1 Wu-ssǔ-ts'ang (
) represents the Tibetan 
pronounced Wu, the province in which Lh'asa is situated. The name Tangutan was originally applied to tribes of Turkish origin living in the Altai. See Hsi Ts'ang fu, p. 1.
page 189 note 2 Published in the Hsi-yü kao ku-lu, XVI. p. 1. San wei shan, says the commentary to the Hou San shu, is S.E. of Tun-huang Hsien of Sha ch'uan. It has three peaks, hence the name San wei, or “three heights” (
). See also Shu ching, II. 1.
page 189 note 3 
, probably the Yi ho and Lo-yüan in Kan-su. This paragraph is taken from the Hou Han shu, Bk. 77, which contains further interesting details. The Shih ehi and the Ch'ien Han shu contain nothing important on the subject.
page 189 note 4 He dethroned Ch'in Fu-kien in A.D. 385. See Mayers', Chinese Reader's Manual, No. 902Google Scholar.
page 190 note 1 
. The Hsi-ning River of Kan-su is often called the Huang. The Min here referred to flows into the Yang-tzǔ at Chia-ting in Ssǔ-ch'uan.
page 190 note 2 
. The river which flows south of Lh'asa is still called chi ch'u 
The text reads Lo-po 
, but the latter character should be 
, now pronounced so, but formerly sa. In the T'ang shu Lh'asa is called Lo-hsieh 
. The old palace of the kings of Tibet was some 100 miles S.E. of Lh'asa, on or near the right bank of the Tsang-po.
page 190 note 3 
comprised parts of Ssǔ-ch'uan, Hu-an Kuei-chou, and Kuang-hsi. Playfair, Towns and Cities of China, No. 7393. The T'u-hun, or T'u-ko-hun, came originally from Liao-tung. Their capital was a few miles W. of the Koko nor. Probably Lun tsan-po is Nam-ri srong-tsan 
the father of Srong-tsan gambo, the Lung-tsan of the text. Tsan-po 
is a Tibetan title corresponding to the Sanskrit Acharya. The Ch'i-pu ch'uan is identical with the Hsi-chih river mentioned previously. The old sound of fa in T'u-fa was bat or pat; consequently T'u-fa represents Teu-peu (
) our “ Tibet.” Conf. Introduction, p. 1.
page 191 note 1 She is always spoken of by Tibetans as Kong-cho, and is supposed to have been an incarnation of the goddess Drolma.
page 191 note 2 The Marpori podrang, which was to become in after ages the palace of the Talé lama. For a complete translation of the text of the T'ang shu, from which this part of our work is taken, see Bushell, S. W., J.R.A.S., New Series, Vol. XII. p. 439et sqq.Google Scholar
page 191 note 3 Possibly refers to the custom, now general among the women of the country, of smearing their faces with teu-ja.
page 191 note 4 This title was given to the husband of an Imperial princess.
page 191 note 5 Khri-lde gtsug-bstan mes Ag-ts'oms, pronounced Tri-dé tsug-tan mé Ak-ts'om in Tibetan; but he was not the immediate successor of Song-tsan gam-po. Mang-song mang-tsan was Song-tsan's grandson, and successor in 650. The T'ang shu states the facts correctly.
page 192 note 1 
I follow Bushell in translating this expression by “dowry.” I hare read somewhere, I cannot recall where, that some Emperor of China used to make over to the Empress a certain territory for her skirts, another for her hair-pins, another for her fans, and so on. Literally, t'ang mu ti would mean “the hot bath place, or territory.” In Xenophon's Anabasis we read of certain villages being given to the queen “for her girdle.”
page 193 note 1 Near Wen-ch'uan in Ssǔ-ch'uan. An-jung, or P'ing-jung, is the modern Ch'in-an, near Ch'in-Chou, in S.E. Kan-su, on the road to Hsi-an.
page 193 note 2 Or Court of State Ceremonial—one of the four minor courts. See Mayers', Chinese Government, p. 27Google Scholar.
page 193 note 3 I am unable to give this mountain's modern name. It is probably in Kan-su.
page 193 note 4 See Bushell, , op. cit. p. 486et sqq.Google Scholar
page 193 note 5 
in the P'ing-ch'ing Ching circuit in eastern Kan-su. 
also in Kan-su in the Ning-hsia department, but on the right side of the Yellow River.
page 194 note 1 The present Ch'eng-tu, capital of Ssǔ-ch'uan. Sui Chou was, according to Playfair, op. cit. No. 6718, near Li-kiang tu in N.W. Yün-nan.
page 194 note 2 Ya chou, on the road between Ch'eng-tu and Ta-ehien-lu, Ch'iung-chen was near Ya chou. Li Chou was near Ch'ing-ch'i Hsien. All towns of W. Ssǔ-ch'uan.
page 194 note 3 The Lo-so ch'uan is the Kyi ch'u, the Tsang the Yaru tsang po. The text only implies that the name given to Tibet is taken from that of the great river of the country. The treaty here referred to has been translated from the Chinese text by DrBushell, , op. cit. p. 535et sqq.Google Scholar He also gives a rubbing of the inscription; the Tibetan text does not reproduce the phraseology of the Chinese, but substantially agrees with it. The summer residence alluded to in our text must have been on the Yaru tsang po, near the mouth of the Kyi chu, probably at Gongka dzong. See Bushell, , op. cit. p. 520Google Scholar, where this phrase of the text is clearer.
page 195 note 1 
So-fang usually means the northern part of China. At some periods it has designated a portion of Shan-hsi.
page 195 note 3 Kuei-tê is an important frontier town (t' ing) of Kan-su on the Yellow River.
page 196 note 1 Some of these titles are military, some civil; it is impossible to translate them exactly. T'ai-pao is of course “Grand guardian,” a title of one of the members of the Grand Secretariat, The text does not state “whether all these honours were conferred on one chief, probably not.
page 197 note 1 
One of the seven lu of the Mongol period, including Tangut, or Kan-su. This was probably the kingdom of Egrigaia of Marco Polo. Smith, Porter, Vocabulary of Proper Names, p. 63Google Scholar.
page 197 note 2 The I-tung chih transcribes his name more closely by Pa-ko-ssǔ-pa. In Tibetan it is 
pronounced P'a-pa, and is used to render the Sanskrit Arya, “Venerable.”
3 
Shen-t'ung. For a full account of this celebrated lama, see Howorth, , op. cit. vol. i. p. 506et sqq.Google Scholar Also Pauthier, , Journal Asiatique, 5th series, xixGoogle Scholar. “Koeppen,” Mr. Howorth remarks (op. cit. p. 509), “compares with some force the position of the Bashpa Lama and his successors, in regard to the Mongol Emperor's with that of the Pope's, to the Emperors Pepin and Karl the Great.”
page 198 note 1 Ma-hu Fu in P'ing-shan Hsien in Ssǔ-ch'uan.
page 198 note 2 The Ming shih, Bk. 331, from which this is taken, is clearer than the text. It says: “Wu-ssǔ t'sang is S.W. of Yün-nan, over 1000 li from Li-chiang Fu in Yün-nan, 1500 odd li from Ma-hu Fu in Ssǔ-ch'uan, and 5000 odd li from Hsi-ning wei in Shan-hsi. This country has many priests who do not have fortified enceintes, but live all together on great earthen terraces. They do not eat meat, nor can they marry…. The priests who live outside of these earthen terraces eat meat and marry, etc.” Books 330, 331 of the Ming shih are devoted to Tibet.
page 198 note 3 Literally translated, “Many Buddhas, precious adviser of the realm.”
page 199 note 1 Meaning “Holy anointed (
) Adviser (or Preceptor) of the realm.” The inscription on his seal meant “Buddha, precious Adviser of the realm.”
page 199 note 2 Meaning, “Wide-spreading teaching Tathagata, great precious spiritual prince.”
page 199 note 3 “Spiritual prince of the Great Vehicle” (Māhayāna Dharmaraja).
page 199 note 4 “Expanded incarnation Prince.” Fu-chiao Wang means “Prince protecting the Doctrine.” Ch'an-chiao wang, “Prince of expanded doctrine,” and all the other titles in the same style.
page 199 note 5 It will be shown in the Supplementary Note, how it is possible for the tribute missions to make money, and what immunities they enjoy.
page 200 note 1 It is the Giama na ch'u, or Lu ch'iang. See Section on Rivers and Mountains. Sheng wu chi, Bk. V. 1, says that it is a mistake to say that the Nu chiang is the southern frontier of Tibet. The author of this work, written in 1842, did not therefore know of two rivers bearing the same name. The Hsi Ts'ang t'u k'ao, V. 44, says that “ the Mongols call it in its upper course Kala usu (in Tibetan, Nag ch'u). Entering the territory of the Nu savages 
, it takes the name of Nu chiang, and on entering the department of Lu chiang, that of Lu chiang (
).”
page 201 note 1 Garthok on our maps.
page 201 note 2 These steppes are frequently called the Chang t'ang 
, or “Northern plain.”
page 202 note 1 Or more correctly “desert mountain.”
page 203 note 1 The Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 12, says that prior to the fifty-eighth year of Ch'ienlung (1793) the Imperial Resident in Tibet took no part in the local affairs, being only there to participate in religious ceremonies.
page 203 note 2 That is to say viâ the Hsi-ning road, the Chang lam of the Tibetans.
page 204 note 1 
. These hats are said to be the same as those known in Peking as the 
Ying-hsiung mao-tzǔ.
page 204 note 2 The first character is possibly a mistake for 
, also pronounced tzu; in which case the two characters may be rendered “hedgehog.”
page 204 note 3 The K'ang-hsi tzǔ-tien explains this by 
page 205 note 1 Known in Tibetan as the tra-shi tag jyé (
) “the eight signs of luck.” They are to be seen on nearly all Buddhist monuments, and are in frequent use as decorations on Chinese porcelain and embroideries. In Chinese they are called 
pa chi hsiang.
page 206 note 1 See supplementary note, infrà. These chin-pi may be similar to those represented in Yule's, Marco Polo, vol. i. pp. 343 and 347Google Scholar.
page 206 note 2 corresponding with our early part of February.
page 207 note 1 The Tibetans make use of two cycles—that of sixty years and that of twelve. The former is of two kinds, the Chinese and the Indian; the latter is also of two descriptions, that in which each year bears the name of an animal, and that in which the Chinese terrestrial characters are used. The use of either of these systems is very limited, and as a general rule the Tibetans make no use of dates for fixing passing events. See Csoma's, Tibetan Grammar, p. 147, et sqqGoogle Scholar. Tibet is the only dependency of China on which the Imperial Chinese Almanac has not been imposed as a proof of its vassalage. The Chinese Almanac is sent from Peking on the 1st of the tenth month of each year to the various provinces and Tributary States. See e.g. Peking Gazette, Nov. 19, 1887. The Chinese and also Father Desgodins state that the Tibetans follow the Mohammedan (Turkestan?) system of calculating time. See Peking Gazette, loc. cit. and Desgodins, C. H., Le Thibet, p. 369Google Scholar. I have been unable to learn anything of this.
page 207 note 2 These two characters stand for dang-po “first”; the name in full is da-wa dang-po (
).
page 207 note 3 The Tibetans have four days in each month—the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 25th—called du-zang (dus bzang), which resemble our Sundays. The 1st and 15th are the most important feast days, during which the So-sor-t'ar-pä-do (Pratimoksha sūtra) is recited in the different lamaseries.
page 208 note 1 Lit. “Lh'asa Jo k'ang” (La-sa chao). It is possible that this may be intended to stand for Lh'asa dé-ba dzong, “the district of Lh'asa.”
page 208 note 2 Sing, Nain, Report, p. lxxxviGoogle Scholar, “The snow fall at Shigatze and on the country around never exceeds one foot, although the water of running streams freezes if the current is not very rapid. During my journey in Tibet, from October to June, it never rained, and on only a single occasion did I observe a fall of snow of about three inches, when on my way to Penajong. The inhabitants regard snow as an evil..... Should the fall ever exceed a foot, it is looked on as an evil sign, expressing the displeasure of their gods..... Earthquakes are unknown in the Lh'asa territory proper, though slight earthquakes are said to occur in Nari Karsum.” This last remark cannot apply to Eastern Tibet (K'ams); on the 27th April, 1866, the whole of Bat'ang was destroyed by an earthquake. See Annales de la Propag. de la Foi, January, 1867. I am told that there was a severe earthquake felt at Bat'ang and in Dérgé in 1872. Conf. Desgodins, C. H., Le Thibet, p. 470Google Scholar.
page 209 note 1 On the New Year's festivities, see Hue, , Souvenirs, etc., vol. ii. p. 375Google Scholar. He calls it the feast of louk sor, for which read lo sar, “new year.”
page 209 note 2 
nao. “The entellus monkey“ (Williams).
page 210 note 1 For a recent description of this feast, see Peking Gazette, June 24, 1885. See also Introduction, p. 5.
page 210 note 2 They are called mar-jyän (
) For a good description of them, see Hue's, Souvenirs d'un voyage au Thibet, vol. ii. p. 97Google Scholar. Hsi-Ts'ang chien wen-lu, I. 21, puts the feast on the 1st day of the first month. The description of our text is evidently taken from this work, but it is everywhere observed on the 15th. It owes its origin probably to the Chinese feast of lanterns. See also Rockhill, W. W., The Land of the Lamas, p. 76et sqGoogle Scholar.
page 210 note 3 Hsi-Ts'ang ohien-wen-lu, loc. cit. says the review is on the 21st of the first month.
page 211 note 1 
. This feast, which is called Lu-gon jya-po dung dri 
, takes place, according to the Hsi-Ts'ang-fu, p. 22, and natives whom I have consulted, in the second month. The same work says that the man representing the Talé lama sits before the gate of the Jo k'ang, surrounded by other lamas, reciting prayers. Lu-gon jya-po, wearing a sheepskin gown with the fur outside, comes strutting up to him and throws dice, etc. Pursued by the people he flees across the Kyi ch'u and hides in the Nan-shan (or “a hill on the South side of the river”), etc. See also Nain Sing, op. cit. p. xxv.
page 212 note 1 This ceremony recalls to mind the mystery plays and the burlesques performed in churches on All Fools' Day during the Middle Ages, as also the Shakers' practice of chasing the Devil after one of their holy dances. Also the offering of a scapegoat by the Hebrews, , Leviticus xvi. 10Google Scholar.
page 212 note 2 “They hang up two pieces of silk over 10 ch'ang long, with pictures of Buddhas painted on them. During the same festivities the lamas drag a great car with the image of Maitreya (Cham-pa) on it around the Jo k'ang. See Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 21. Hsi-Ts'ang chien-wen-lu, I. 22.
page 213 note 1 This feast is called the Cham-pé k'or-wa, or Cham-pé ch'ü-k'or 
The procession takes place as described in all large lamaseries in China, Mongolia, and Tibet. I have seen it in Peking and at Jehol. For a good description of it, see Georgi, , Alph. Tib. p. 461Google Scholar. In the Paris L'llustration, 7th June, 1890, p. 508, is a good picture of the costumes worn on this occasion. In it the two men without marks are ch'ü-jong, lamas.
page 214 note 1 He is usually spoken of by Tibetans as Jé rin-po-ch'é. For some details on his life and works, see infrà. By “perfecting enlightenment” is here understood that he left this world, departed this life, or, as it is generally called in Chinese works, “perfected his repose.” This feast is called in Tibet gadän na-ch'o.
page 214 note 2 Chu-hi, , commenting on Lun yü, X. 10, 2Google Scholar, says that in the Chan-li the Fang-hsiang-shih were officers who performed ceremonies to drive away pestilential influences. See also Legge, , Chinese Classics, vol. i. p. 97Google Scholar.
page 214 note 3 This chapter is taken nearly verbatim from the Hsi-Ts'ang chien-wen-lu, I. 21, 22.
page 215 note 1 The following sections on the army, administration, etc., are derived from the Ta-ch'ing hui-tien. See also supplementary note.
page 215 note 2 At present Tibetan troops wear no uniform, and are only called out in case of need; they form a militia known as yul-ma 
.
page 215 note 3 Eighteen inches broad and forty-four or five long.
page 216 note 1 In Eastern Tibet the Chinese bow is universally used at the present day.
page 216 note 2 See Peking Gazette, Jan. 24, 1886.
page 216 note 3 As far as I am aware there are no written laws in Tibet in vigour at the present day, certainly none in Eastern Tibet.
page 216 note 4 This fine, which goes to the State, is known in Tibetan as tong jyal (
) It varies according to the social standing and wealth of the deceased.
page 216 note 5 This is known as gé tong (
).
page 217 note 1 On the Lh'opa, see suprà.
page 217 note 2 Ch'ü shul in Tibetan; it is on the Kyi-ch'u, near its mouth.
page 217 note 3 Hsi-Ts'ang chien-wen-lu, I. 27, says: “Robbers have their right hand cut off and their right eye plucked out for the first offence; the left hand is cut off and the left eye put out for the second offence. Hot oil is poured into the eye socket.” The same work gives a number of other methods used for forcing confession and punishing crime. Our text is mainly derived from this work.
page 218 note 1 That is to say, all slight transgressions of the law or misdemeanours. The “cangue” is called tsé-go in Tibetan (spelling uncertain).
page 218 note 2 
which I take as the transcription of the Tibetan 
pronounced ts'ö. There is a red dye called in Chinese tzǔ-ts'ao (
) or tzǔ-t'an (
) or t'i-hsüeh (
) Anchusa tinctoria (Smith, Porter, Materia Medica, p. 16Google Scholar). A yellow dye sold in the Tibetan market is prepared in Sikkim from symplocos. See Hooker, , Himalayan Journals, vol. ii. p. 63Google Scholar.
page 218 note 3 I believe the word shang-shang (written 
) is a hybrid compound, and should be rendered by “Upper or Chief Shag” or “Treasury.”
page 218 note 4 I suppose five fen are to be understood here as one-third of a tranka, this being the only coin in use. Ibn Batutah, vol. iii. p. 95 (Defremery and Sanguinetti's translation), uses the word ula in speaking of the postal service in India in his time: “Quant à la poste aux chevaux, on l'appelle oulâk.”
page 219 note 1 Official documents are now stamped in red, as in China. A seal in wax is usually affixed on all documents for transmission, whether of a private or public nature. It is interesting to note that the word dam-k'a used to designate in Tibetan an official seal, is of Turkish origin, being in that language tamkah. The small seal used for private papers is called t'e-tsé (
).
page 119 note 2 The Kalön transact their official business in the the Ka-shog (
). Hsi- Ts'ang-fu, p. 24.
page 220 note 1 In colloquial Tibetan the Kalön are called Dzapé. Perhaps this word should be written (“model of justice”).
Djatsak=Peu-gi jyabo (“King of Tibet”), the present head of the government of the kingdom. He is always a lama of one of the three great convents of Dräbung, Séra, or Gadän. The mode of electing him is given in my Land of the Lamas, p. 289.
page 220 note 2 Or “the native coolies for Government service, the ula.” The text admits of both interpretations.
page 220 note 3 Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 24, mentions Mipön (
), who have charge of the census. They have fifth-class buttons. Buttons have been conferred on Tibetan officials by China since 1793.
page 221 note 4 The Kuts'a (or Agia, as they are called in some parts of Eastern Tibet) are the body-guards of the chiefs. Their office is hereditary, at least in some parts of Tibet. Their name is written 
pronounced Kuts'ab, meaning literally “representative of the person (of a superior).” Jé-wo is only used in parts of Eastern Tibet.
page 221 note 1 Instead of Ding-pön, the text has Lai-peng (=Lä-pän, or “overseer”), evidently a mistake. So for Gopa it has Kuo-tu, but the Chien-wen-lu gives the correct reading, 
instead of 
.
page 222 note 1 A broad-brimmed summer hat of straw.
page 223 note 1 I do not know what word this is supposed to represent. It may be k'o-k'or “round.” Earring in Tibetan is na-long (
).
page 223 note 2 Gö (
) is the generic name for clothes; colloquially they are called gü-zé (
).
page 223 note 3 Generally made of tirma, a very fine variety of cloth.
page 224 note 1 This custom is in vogue in Shan-hsi at the present day.
page 224 note 2 This description of pulo is known in Tibet as kar-t'ig (
).
page 224 note 3 Probably this should be spelt 
, but I am not sure about it.
page 224 note 4 
is said to be the stuff called go-nam, a woollen fabric, but jung in Chinese always applies to nappy stuffs, such as velvet or plush. The shawls worn by women in Tibet are colloquially called ka-dri.
page 224 note 6 ch'ü-ch'ü (
). The exact meaning of these characters, according to Williams, is “a veined stone resembling adularia.”
page 225 note 1 
. See infà. In the Peking Gazette (May 4th, 1886) one hundred catties of 
figure among the articles of tribute from Ch'amdo. This tzǔ (or chih) mu yao must not be confounded with the tzǔ-mu (or chih-mu), a liliaceous plant (Anemarhena asphodeloides, Hanbury), the rhizome of which is used in medicine, and which is also a product of Tibet. See also note infrà.
page 225 note 2 
lit. “flowing of drops.” The Tibetan word for “buckle” is 
. Ti-liu probably represents an Eastern Tibetan word.
page 226 note 1 
erh ch'a. The Tibetans call the substance which the women put on their faces 
, pronounced Teu-ja, which can only be a transcription of the Chinese erh-ch'a. Dé-mo rin-po ch'é of Ten-rjyä-ling convent, to whom so many reforms are attributed by his countrymen, and who visited Peking in Ch'ien-lung's reign, is said to have ordered Tibetan women to daub their faces on the street so as not to distract the passing lamas from their meditation. Others say that the women adopted this habit to preserve their faces from the effects of the wind. This agrees with what Hooker, , Himalayan Journals, vol. ii. p. 175Google Scholar, note, says. “The pigment,” he further remarks, “is mutton fat blackened with catechu and other ingredients.” See also Bellew's, Kashmir and Kashghar, p. 130Google Scholar, and Hue, , Souvenirs, etc., vol. ii. p. 258Google Scholar.
page 226 note 2 T'u-pa is a generic name for all kinds of soups. A very popular dish is composed of rice, melted butter (mar-keu), raisins, and sugar. It is called drä-sil (hbras sil), sometimes pronounced drä-tsi. Choma is often used instead of raisins.
page 227 note 1 The correct name is nä ch'ang (
), ch'ang being a generic term. I am told by Tibetans that grape wine gun ch'ang (
) is made, though in small quantities, and fetches a high price; it is much esteemed as an offering to the gods. Hsi-Ts'ang chien-wen-lu, II. 4, also mentions the Tibetan grape wine, which it calls Jan wei, and which it says is very sweet and harmless. The brandy alluded to is called arrak throughout Tibet; it tastes very much like Chinese samshu and is distilled from nä-ch'ang.
page 227 note 2 In Eastern Tibet at least the master of the house always takes the place of honour; his guests sit on his right, lower down the room.
page 227 note 3 These are dried dates brought from India. They are called kazurpani, and are carried by Tibetan traders to China. I have bought them at Hsi-ning in Kan-su.
page 227 note 4 Called in Tibetan chya-wang (
). Bogle (p. 109) speaks of the chawa, by which the above is meant.
page 228 note 1 K'atag (
) play such an important rôle in the every-day life of Tibetans and of many Mongol tribes, that a few words about them cannot be out of place. They are made of silk, or coarse cotton stuff sized with lime, and are pale blue or white; in length they vary from eighteen inches to thirty feet, and in width from four inches to over a foot, and look like scarfs. The silk ones have generally figures woven in the texture, and they are distinguished by this pattern. The price varies from a few cash a piece to several taels. The names of the principal varieties are here arranged according to their value: Nang-dzin (
), Ch'ü-dzin (
), Ch'ü-dän (
), Wangdan (
), A-shé, A-yü-shé, Sa-kar (
), Jya-pa, So-der, Sempar.
page 228 note 2 The Chinese mode of salutation.
page 229 note 1 
i.e. “gold cap.” See suprà.
page 229 note 2 This custom obtained in India in olden times. See my History of the Buddha, p. 4.
page 230 note 1 I am told that there is a religious ceremony or rather benediction at marriages; it is called Tra-shi ts'é-wa (
), and is conducted by lamas.
page 230 note 2 I have frequently been told by Tibetans that polyandry did not exist—to any great extent—among the better classes of society. They looked upon the custom as a sign of lax morality. This view is confirmed by Georgi, , Alph. Tib. p. 458Google Scholar, where he says: “Ab hoc turpitudinis genere (i.e. polyandry) alieni sunt viri nobiles, et cives honesti.” What the Chinese author quoted in the next note says of the custom would also seem to agree with the above statements.
page 231 note 1 The Hsi-Ts'ang chien-wen-lu, II. 7, from which our text is taken, is much clearer; it has, “As the people are poor, three or four brothers marry one wife, and the people then consider her an able person, because she is a good house-keeper. When a child has grown up, he is taken by one of the brothers, the other brothers being considered its uncles. But if a woman works in the fields, spins and knits so as to be able to support herself single, then every one laughs at her as a good-for-nothing.”
page 231 note 2 Among Buddhists to be born a man is a proof of better karma in a previous existence than if one were born a woman. The author of the Hsi-chao t'u lüeh estimated that there were three lamas for every family in Tibet. Nunneries are few and small in Eastern Tibet, and are far from numerous in any part of Tibet, I have been told.
page 232 note 1 In Eastern Tibet bodies are kept in this state until the crops have been harvested, before which time it is not allowed to hold funeral celebrations.
page 232 note 2 For a vivid description of this mode of disposing of the dead, see Annales de la propagation de la Foi, July, 1865, p. 289. Conf. also Georgi, , Alph. Tib. p. 441Google Scholaret seq.
page 232 note 3 These modes of disposing of the dead were prohibited by an Imperial decree in the 59th year of Ch'ien-lung (1794), which is inscribed on a stone tablet in front of the Jo-k'ang. Since that date they are not so much in use. At Lh'asa dead bodies are thrown in a grove called the “Cold forest.” See Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 28. This name recalls the Çitavana of Buddhist books. At Lh'asa these “corpse-cutters” belong to the Ra-jya-ia (beggar-class).
page 232 note 4 The ceremonies performed at the cremation of lamas and the prayers recited are contained in a work called 
. In the case of certain lamas of great saintliness, when the flesh has dried on the bones, the body is wrapped in silk and deposited in a ch'ürten or mausoleum. Captain Turner, op. cit. p. 313, describes such a building, which he calls Kugopea.
page 233 note 1 At the death of a person of wealth the lamas are paid to read the scriptures for 100 days. For persons of smaller means for forty-nine, twenty-one, seven, three, or a single day.
page 232 note 2 The great cauldron mentioned is one of four in the Jok'ang; it is spoken of as the Ja-kü sa-tso It is used, I have been told, when they hold the Mönlam ch'en-po, or “general confession of sins,” and it can supply all the lamas who congregate at the Jok'ang with tea, which is served to them by thousands of cha-tré-ba or tea-bearers. All lamaseries of note have such cauldrons, but not as large as the big one in the Jok'ang of Lh'asa.
page 234 note 1 
k'ang ”house, dwelling,” 
djong “a castle, fortress.”
page 234 note 2 This work is mentioned in the catalogue of Ch'ien-lung's library as an encyclopædic work in three books and fifty-one sections, written by a Salt intendent of the Liang-Huai. It contains sections on divination, botany, medicine, etc.
page 235 note 1 “In olden times small-pox was unknown in Tibet; at the present day it makes terrible ravages. Those stricken with it used to be abandoned in a desert spot, there to die of exposure and want. In 1794 the Tale lama, under orders from the Emperor, erected special hospitals for small-pox patients, in which they were supplied with food and every necessary, and which were under the care of a special officer. Since then the number of deaths by this disease has greatly diminished. The same plan has been adopted by the authorities at Trashil'unpo and Ch'amdo.”— Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 28.
page 235 note 2 Compare what has been said, suprà, about young children. Ghee, or melted butter, used to play an important rôle in the treatment of disease in India.
page 235 note 3 The Tibetans have quite a large number of works on medicine, the Jyu-dzi (on which see de Körös, Csoma, J. B. A. S. vol. ixGoogle Scholar), the Vaidurya Nyon-po, etc. According to Wassiliew they have a translation of Galien's works.
page 235 note 4 These recitations are taken from the book of prayers to the god of medicine (Män lh'a).
page 235 note 5 I have a Tibetan book on Divination containing most of the Chinese methods, and which is probably a translation of some Chinese work. It is called 
Jé-t'o yang-tü zamatok.
page 235 note 6 This has long been one of the modes of divination used by the nations of Northern Asia. See Quatremère, Etienne, Histoire des Mongols de la Perse, p. 267Google Scholar. Divining by means of prayer-beads is, as far as my experience goes, the most commonly used system among Tibetans. Also Will, of Rubruk, , Itinerarium, p. 318Google Scholar, edit, of the Soc. de Géog. de Paris. The K'amba of East Tibet enjoy great celebrity as diviners.
page 236 note 1 This method consists in drawing lots by slips of wood on which certain characters are written, which correspond to certain passages in a book. These passages are looked up by the diviner and read to the inquirer. See Fortune, , Residence among the Chinese, p. 31Google Scholar.
page 237 note 1 Prior to 1793 the silver coinage of Tibet was struck in Nepal, but after the Nepal campaign Ch'ien-lung ordered the Lh'asa authorities to make their own coins under the supervision of an official from Ssŭ-ch'uan. These coins bore on them the words Ch'ien-lung pao Ts'ang.—Hsi-Ts'ang fu, p. 29. See also Lacouperie, The Silver Coinage of Tibet. The ornaments are the “eight signs of luck” referred to previously. The tranka in general use at present is called gadän tranka; it bears on the observe the legend 
. “From the Perfectly Victorious (i.e. the Talé lama's) Palace of Gadän.” Prof, de Lacouperie translates this legend differently.
page 237 note 2 Iron, copper, lead and tin are imported into Tibet, partly from Yün-nan and partly from India. Salt comes from a salt lake N. W. of Lh'asa and from the Ts'aidam. Gold mines are worked in Ngari, and there are old ones, now no longer worked, in the hill on which is Séra gompa. Rice is imported from S. Bhutan and from Nepal.”— Hsi-Ts'ang-fu, pp. 29, 30. The “white-robed people” 
, Klaproth renders by “Boukhars,” but they are probably Hindus, while the turbaned Mahommedans may be Turkestanis.
page 238 note 1 Called Ts'onpön 
or Kärpön in Tibetan. Tibetans have such men at Hsi-ning, Peking, Ta-chien-lu, etc. They are like the Consuls of medieval times.
page 238 note 2 The best silversmiths in Tibet are the Nepalese (Peurbu), Hue's Péboun.
page 238 note 3 These extracts are taken from the edition of 1818, the latest one.
page 238 note 4 The salary of the chief Amban is put down in the Regulations of the Board of Revenue (Hu-pu tse-li) at taels 2060 per ann., and taels 500 additional if there is an intercalary month. His perquisites greatly increase this sum.
page 239 note 1 At present there are four laymen and a lama president called “King of Tibet.” According to the Regulations of the Colonial Office (Li-fan-yüan tse-li), B. 13, the following Tibetan dignitaries receive salaries as follows from the Chinese Government. The money part of these salaries being paid since 1841 by the Governor-General of Ssu-ch'uan, the part payable in satin has not been forthcoming for the last thirty-five years on account of the difficulty of forwarding it in the troubled state in which the country has been. It will hereafter be regularly paid at Peking (see Peking Gazette, Sept. 20, 1887).
Salaries per annum of Tibetan Dignitaries.
The Duke is the father of the Talé lama, the Djatsak (
) Tai-chi is the Peu-gi jyaboz.
page 240 note 1 According to the Regulations of the Colonial Office (Li-fan-yüan tse-li), B. 62, p. 18, the pay of Tibetan officers and troops is as follows: The pay of the Däpön is derived from the revenues of certain villages and fields assigned them.
As to the soldiers, they receive two piculs five bushels of barley a year. If on active service, one catty of tsamba a day. The amount of money the soldiers receive is not mentioned in the Regulations, probably they get none.
page 241 note 1 These regulations are all in vigour at the present day. In 1885 Sê-leng-o, Imperial Resident in Tibet, memorializing the Throne on his tour of inspection, says: “He then held a review of the troops, and has now to report that the three garrisons of Gyantsé, Shigatsé and Ting-ri, composed of Chinese and Tibetan troops, went through their various evolutions in good form, and their shooting, though not invariably excellent, was in fairly good style. Liberal rewards were bestowed upon those who displayed special proficiency, and their names were recorded for selection on the occurrence of vacancies. Those who were less deserving were given presents of silk, satin, pouches, knives, tea, etc., and the inefficients were publicly beaten upon the parade ground.…” See Peking Gazette, January 24, 1886. Half the expense of these inspections by the Amban is borne by the Tibetan treasury. See Peking Gazette, Jan. 6, 1885.
page 242 note 1 See Peking Gazette, April 2nd. 1876, also February 2nd, 1876, and Feb. 16, 1877, in which last Tra-shi Nar-jyé is appointed Kalön at Lh'asa. Relatives of the Talé lama or the Pan-ch'en rinpoch'é cannot hold office in Tibet. See Li-fan-yüan tse-li, B. 61, p. 18, and Introduction, suprà.
page 243 note 1 This ought probably to read “one piece of money is paid for every two oxen or ten sheep.” The Hsi-Ts'ang wen-chien lu, I. p. 18, has, “Each head of cattle is received at an evaluation of taels 2.0., each horse at taels 8.0., each bushel of barley at taels 0.1.0.” This is much more satisfactory, although I am at a loss to give the exact evaluation of barley; the character used to indicate the measure is 
in the text, which supplies no exact sense, though it may stand for the Tibetan 
k'äl ‘bushel,’ which is equal to twenty bré. A bushel measure is called bo.
page 244 note 1 “Wei Yüan in the Sheng-wu-chi, B. 14, p. 53, says that in ancient times the Tibetans used cowrie shells and knife-shaped coins (tao-pu) as coins. Since the Sung, Kin and Ming dynasties they have used silver. The taxes, he adds, have been paid in silver since the time of the Kin dynasty, and silver coins have existed since the cheng-tung period of the Ming (a.d. 1434).
page 245 note 1 The Jaya (or Draya) authorities do not appear to have ever been allowed to send tribute to Peking, for in 1885, they petitioned the Throne that in view of the services their people had on different occasions rendered the State they might be allowed to bring tribute to Peking whenever the Ch'amdo mission came. This was granted them, and the first mission which arrived at Peking in 1886 brought the following articles of tribute: One K'atag, one silver manta, one image of the god of everlasting life (Tsé-pa-mé) in agate, one copy of the Sūtra of long life, one golden ch'ürten, one silver set of the Tra-shi-tar-jyä (“eight signs of happiness”), 200 hundles of Tibetan incense, ten rugs, twenty-five pieces of pulo, 800 ounces of Tsan-To-sh'an and Tsan-huang-lien (medicine), fifty ounces of snake grass 
probably cordyceps sinensis, referred to further on), 100 catties (!) of maṇi rib-bu (chih-mu-yao) and of “Long life fruit,” and seven pelts of various descriptions. See Peking Gazette, June 12, 1885, and May 4, 1886. “Long life fruit” is the “fruit of benevolence and longevity “(jen shou kuo) of other writers. In Tibetan this root is called choma, it is known to botanists as Potentilla anserina.