My Tibetan Friends in Trouble.
I learned that a month had hardly passed after my escape from Lhasa,
when many of my acquaintances were arrested and imprisoned. According
to this information, the ex-Minister of the Treasury with whom I lived,
the old nun living in his house, and one of his favorite servants, were
arrested and taken to prison; the new Treasury-minister was set free,
as he had not had much relation with me; the Sera Seminary was closed,
Tsa Rong-ba and his wife and Takbo Tunbai Choen Joe were taken to jail
and examined with terrible tortures; every house which I had frequented
was closely observed by the detectives, and the people in them were
expecting every moment to be arrested; therefore everybody who had
had any connexion whatever with me was endeavoring to conceal it, and
consequently bribery was prevalent in Lhasa. Such were the stories I
heard from the caravan, but the Tibetans are great story-tellers in
general, and are very fond of surprising people by lies. So I thought
they might be productions of their imagination, derived from the rumor
that I escaped from Lhasa, and I did not give them much credit, and
told them they were absurd stories; but still I had some doubts.
Some story of this kind reached the ear of the Magistrate of
Darjeeling. One day he called me to his private house and asked me
several questions as to the number of the priests, and the educational
system, and the regulations of the Sera Monastery, and whether there
was any law by which a school could be closed for such occurrences as
had happened and whether I believed the stories. To this last question
I answered negatively, because not only the Tibetans, but even the
Chinese in Tibet, are very often fond of exaggerating truths and
circulating rumors at Darjeeling; for instance, they say Russians have
been seen striding along the streets of Lhasa in broad daylight, while
in fact there are none, but only a Mongolian employed by the Government
of Russia.
The local English officers of these districts are very desirous of
knowing anything about Tibet, and they would write down any tidings
brought thence, not distinguishing whether they are true or not. At
Ghoom there is an officer whose special business it is to enquire into
anything occurring in Tibet. If there is anyone newly arrived from that
country, he would see him, ask various questions, and if he found any
important news he would take the man to the Governor’s to enquire more
minutely about the matter in his presence. The present Governor of
Darjeeling can speak the Tibetan language to some extent, but not with
much ease; so interpreters are hired in most cases. But the British
Indian Government greatly encourages these Governors of the districts
adjoining Tibet to study the Tibetan language, and they can take an
examination if they are able to speak colloquial Tibetan and explain
easy composition; and if they pass the examination they can obtain
a prize of a thousand rupees. Therefore most of them study Tibetan.
From these facts the reader may infer with what caution the British
Government is trying to get insight into the Forbidden Land.
As I knew well that the Tibetans were liars, I did not much mind their
talk, but when another caravan which came two weeks later brought
similar rumors my uneasiness was greatly increased. Some days after a
merchant of my acquaintance came to Darjeeling, so I went to see him
and asked him whether these rumored stories were true.
“Not exactly,” said he, “things are not so bad as that. It is true
that the ex-Minister of the Treasury was once arrested, but he was
set free without being taken to prison. However they say he will be
again arrested in the near future. When I started from Lhasa he dwelt
in his residence, not in prison; but I cannot tell what may have
happened since. Among those who are sure victims are your tutor and
your security at the Sera Seminary, Tsa Rong-ba and his wife, Takbo
Tunbai Choen Joe. Their torture is terrible indeed; they are to be
flogged every day, receiving three hundred blows daily with a willow
stick. We wished to pay them a visit, and do something for them, but
could not do so; for if we did, it would only arouse the suspicion of
the detectives, who were hunting after anything they could get hold of.”
When I heard him I wondered what necessity there was for such cruelty
if it got out that I was a simple Japanese priest, and asked the
merchant whether he knew the cause of the persecution. Then he said
that they took me for an English spy and not for a Japanese.
“But then,” said I, “did any one tell them that I was an Englishman?”
“Yes, some one did,” said he. “In an official report Chyi Kyab, the
chief Guard of Nyatong, has stated to the Pope that the Lama who was
rumored to be a Japanese was in truth an Englishman and brother to
a high official of the British Indian Government, by whose request
he entered Tibet in the disguise of a Japanese or Chinese. He also
stated that the disguised English spy had, while in Tibet, several
communications from Darjeeling through Tsa Rong-ba and Takbo.
Furthermore, the report says you are by no means an ordinary man
and can work miracles. It says you did not come through the barrier
on the highway, and that even the bye-ways were watched with equal
care, so that you could not have passed through. It is said that you
must have flown to this side of the mountains when you came to the
neighborhood of the barriers. Since the report was read by the Pope,
the persecution of the prisoners is said to have been severe.”
“By the way” he continued, “how did you come over from Nyatong? Did you
not fly?”
“As I am no bird, how could I do such a thing?”
“But they say you can do such a thing,” said he, “and I am one of those
who believe it, because for one who can revive the dead, it must be an
easy miracle to fly in the air. In Tibet they all believe what Chyi
Kyab has reported to the Pope.”
“Then,” said I, “I will show you one thing that tells more than my
speech; it is the passport given by the order of Chyi Kyab himself.”
The merchant seemed not to believe me yet, for by this time even in
Darjeeling the story that I could work miracles became current and he
had heard of it. I think that this was caused by the fraudulent report
of Chyi Kyab, who was afraid of the punishment which was likely to
befall him if he made a true one. Sometime later when the merchant came
to my place, I showed him the passport and he seemed to believe it. But
a new suspicion arose that I must have enchanted Chyi Kyab by magic
and stolen the passport. Ignorant people very often take a truth for a
miracle; and many Tibetans are no exception.
I could not be calm now that I had heard such terrors were raging in
Tibet. In the first place, the ex-Treasury-minister’s fate caused me
much uneasiness. His acute and strong character made him many enemies
among his mean fellow-countrymen, who might now find an opportunity of
revenging themselves upon him. Tsa Rong-ba and his wife, my tutor at
the Sera Seminary and my security there, all of whom had shown me much
favor and kindness, were now suffering in chains; how could I sleep
in peace? How I wished I had been able to fly as they said I could,
and go to Lhasa to their rescue! Many considerations came to my mind
as to the way of delivering them; but only two of them seemed to be
practicable. The one was to go to Peking and to secure an order from
the Chinese Government to the Tibetan to suspend the hideous cruelty,
and the other was to go to Nepāl and ask the help of the Nepālese
Government. It took me a long while to decide which method I should
choose, but at last I determined to try the latter.
First, it was doubtful whether the Chinese Government would admit
any application, either from myself or through the influence of the
Japanese Government. In the second place, China herself has ceased
to have credit in Tibet. In Tibet it is believed, even among the
Government officers, that the present Chinese Emperor has been married
to an English lady, and that since then, as she is on good terms with
England, the country is always disturbed. Besides they know that
China has become so helpless that they can disobey her without being
chastised. Lastly, the Tibetan Government does not like any diplomatic
interference from China, because China is a country that proclaims
herself as friendly with all foreign countries. On the other hand,
Nepāl is much feared by the Tibetans, for the people of Nepāl are very
strong, and their soldiers, disciplined in the English style, prove
themselves very brave in time of war. So the Tibetans are trying not to
offend her, and her advice is heard with more attention than that of
China. What made me think of the greater probability of success through
applying to the Nepālese Government was the fact that that country puts
so much trust in Japan that she sends many students to Japan for study.
Thus I was determined to go to Nepāl.
To do this, however, some money was needed, of which I had none at
that time; indeed, I had even some small debts. Thanks to heaven, help
came in my need; my acquaintances at my native town were so kind as
to collect and send me three hundred yen, and with this money I was
ready to start. But there was one thing that held me back; it was the
compilation of a Tibetan grammar, which I had sometime ago begun at the
request of my teacher Saraṭ Chanḍra Ḍās, who needed a complete grammar
of the Tibetan language to append to his Tibetan-English dictionary.
I began at once, and wrote some twenty pages, but the complete study
of the grammar of a foreign language is not to be compared to writing
compositions for papers or magazines; books must be referred to and the
opinions of others must be consulted. And thus three months were spent,
but the completion of the grammar proceeded at a very sluggish pace and
I felt that it would take a year or more to finish it. But the present
prison affair in Lhasa required my immediate exertion, otherwise all
hope might be gone. So I told my teacher that I had to suspend the
work, and towards the end of November I left Darjeeling and came to
Calcutta.