MONGOLS--PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS.
The following physical characteristics of the Mongolian race, by a
gentleman who resided many years among the Bouriats in Trans-baikal,
are equally applicable to the tribes in Mongolia proper, and to some
extent also to the Chinese.
"The high cheek-bones; the oblique, elongated eye, dark and
piercing; the flat nose, with compressed nostrils; the strong black
straight hair; the large protuberant ears; the small sharp chin; the
want of beard in the men, till late in life; the general gravity of
expression, and cautious, inquisitive mode of address, are so many
marks of this tribe of men, never to be mistaken, and never to be
found so strongly developed in any other."[20]
[20] Scottish Congreg. Mag., Dec. 1841.
There is nothing noble or generous in the Mongol character, and
those tribes who have afforded the widest field for observation,
are said to be naturally servile to superiors and tyrannical to
inferiors.
Their _meanness_ is remarkable. They are not too proud to beg the
smallest trifle, and a man well blessed with this world's goods
thinks it no disgrace to receive alms.
The habits they have inherited qualify them admirably for the lazy
nomad life which they lead. But they have no heart for work in the
sense of regular, steady occupation. Fatigue and privation they
make no account of, but it goes quite against the grain with them
to do a day's work. They sadly lack energy and enterprise, and are
easily discouraged. The Mongols proper are seldom tempted to leave
the beaten track of their pastoral life, and even the Bouriats, who
live amongst Russians, and have incentives to exertion, show little
disposition to depart in anything from their traditional mode of
life. The Russian government has tried to make them farmers, but
with very little success. Every Bouriat family is compelled by law
to cultivate a few acres of ground. Government supplies them with
seed, generally rye, on condition that an equal quantity be returned
to the government granary the following year, or its equivalent in
money paid. They are subject to bad seasons in those regions. A
backward, dry spring, with no rain before June, is of not unfrequent
occurrence; in such seasons the crops don't ripen before the autumn
frosts come, and the year's labour is lost. The seed corn must,
nevertheless, be delivered back to the granary, and the Bouriat
agriculturist loses heart.
The cardinal virtue of the Mongol tribes is hospitality, which is as
freely exhibited to perfect strangers, as to neighbours, from whom a
return may be expected. Indeed, the nomad life would be intolerable
without this mutual good-feeling and readiness to assist, to
feed, and to shelter travellers. The absence of trades, and of
the amenities of settled communities, renders the Mongol people
mutually dependent, and hospitality becomes simply a necessity among
them. At the pitching and striking of tents, at sheep-shearing and
felt-making, the assistance of neighbours is required by all in
turn. When cattle stray, the neighbours help to catch them. When
a Mongol is on a journey in the desert, he is dependent on the
hospitality of the families whose tents he may pass on his way,
and he will always be welcome. The Mongols are also attracted to
each other's quarters to hear news, or for the mere satisfaction of
talking. In such a sparsely peopled country, this feeling makes a
stranger all the more welcome.
Although rather addicted to petty pilfering, the Mongols are, in
a general way, honest. At any rate, they will not betray a trust
committed to them. The fidelity of servants is universal, and
theft, robbery, and assault, are of rare occurrence among them.
Their most prevalent vice is drunkenness; and, although drinking,
and even smoking, are prohibited by the sacerdotal law, the living
example of the priests is more powerful than the dead letter of the
law. Those Mongols who wander to the frontier of China or Russia,
supply themselves with tobacco, and distribute it to their friends
in the desert. Every one carries a pipe with a small brass bowl,
like the Chinese. A steel and flint are invariably attached to the
tobacco-pouch. The Mongols also take snuff, using a stone bottle,
with an ivory spoon attached to the stopper, after the Chinese
fashion. Chinese liquor they use very sparingly, and only on great
occasions of bargaining or merry-making. They use a spirit of their
own very extensively, and as it is made out of milk, an article
which is very abundant among pastoral people, their supply of the
spirit is almost unlimited. They call it _ir'chi_, or in the Bouriat
dialect _araki_, a name applied by the Mongols to all liquors
indiscriminately. It is better known to Europeans by the name of
_kumiss_. The following account of the mode in which the spirit is
distilled from milk is interesting: "The milk, previously soured and
fermented, is put into a large iron kettle, over which is inverted
a wooden dish, fitted to the edge of the former, and luted with
cow-dung. One end of a bent wooden tube is inserted into a hole in
the inverted dish, and at the other end is placed a cast-iron pot
to receive the liquid as it comes over. When the fire has made the
contents of the kettle boil, the vapour is condensed within the
tube, and passes into the receiving vessel in the form of ardent
spirit."[21] The spirit is fit to drink whenever it is made, and as
it is more than usually plentiful when the pastures are richest,
that is the season of the greatest excesses. Any sort of milk may be
used, but mare's milk is said to make the most approved liquor. The
Mongols are inclined to be uproarious in their cups; and squabbles
often occur, but they seldom come to anything very serious.
[21] Scot. Cong. Mag., Feb. 1842.
The morality of the Mongols is about a fair average of that of
the rest of mankind, perhaps purer than that of more civilised
countries. Their customs admit of polygamy, but it is too expensive
to be very common, as each wife has to be in a manner bought of her
father for a certain number of oxen, horses, or camels. They have a
strong objection to marrying within their own families, or tribes,
considering all the descendants of one father or head of a tribe as
brothers and sisters, however distant their actual relationship may
be. "So universal is this custom," says the writer already quoted,
"that I never knew or heard of an instance of its being violated."
The lamas are all celibats, but seeing this class numbers one fourth
or one fifth of the male population, it might safely be predicated
of them that their vows are not strictly kept. As a matter of
fact, the celibacy of the lamas is in very many instances a merely
nominal thing. The lama may not marry, but he can take to himself a
"disciple;" children will be born to him in the natural course of
events, and no great public scandal will be excited thereby. Hence a
standing joke among the laity is to ask tenderly for the health of
Mrs. Lama.
The Mongol women are childishly fond of small ornaments for their
hair. Any kind of tinsel, or small glass ware, is highly valued by
them. Before marriage, the women wear their hair disposed in plaits
which hang straight down. Ornaments of coral, or other articles,
are suspended from the plaits. After marriage the hair is collected
into two thick ties, one at each side, falling down over the front
of the shoulders, and adorned according to the fancy or means of
the wearer. They wear a kind of tiara round the head, which is
ornamented with coral, glass, strings of mock pearls, or any kind of
gaudy trinkets they can pick up. They also wear sometimes, instead
of the ordinary cap, a coronet of soft fur, fastened round the head,
and projecting over the brow, which gives them, at first sight, a
rakish appearance.
The Mongols, one and all, evince great regard for decency in their
dress and habits. Their inner garments consist of cotton trousers,
tightly fastened by a scarf round the waist, and a long flowing
robe of the same material. These are generally of blue. The long
sheepskin is kept in reserve for night-work, or cold days. They
never appear uncovered outside of their tents, even in hot weather.
In this respect they contrast remarkably with all other natives in
hot climates with whom I am acquainted.
In physical development, the Mongols do not rank very high. They
are in stature below the middle height, but moderately stout. Short
necks are common, but many thin, scraggy necks are also met with.
They do not get corpulent like the Chinese. They look healthy and
robust. Their muscular energy is rather low, which may be due
to their avoiding all regular work, and partly perhaps to their
exclusively animal diet.
Wrestling is one of their favourite amusements, and the trained
wrestlers are proud of their skill in the art. A square-built lama
challenged me to wrestle with him at Tsagan-tuguruk. There was a
great concourse of people present, and to have declined the contest
would have been as bad as a defeat. I therefore determined to risk
the trial. I soon found that being totally ignorant of the art, I
had to act solely on the defensive. After some ineffectual attempts
the lama threw me. I had a firm hold of him, however, and we both
came down together, the lama under. Having come out of the ordeal
better than I expected, I had no wish to try another round, and
the lama also had enough. It was my turn to challenge then, and
considering that the honour of my country required it, I offered
to box my antagonist, which honour he respectfully declined. This
incident exhibited to me the muscular weakness of one of the
best-made men I met among the Mongols.
But their weakest point is their legs, which are rarely exercised.
The Mongols begin from their earliest years to ride on horseback. If
they have but to go a few hundred yards, they will ride if possible,
in preference to walking. They walk with the gait of a duck; indeed,
were their legs good--which they are not--the heavy shapeless
leather boots they wear would prove an effectual bar to walking.
These boots come up near the knee, are made of nearly uniform size,
so that the largest feet will go easily into any of their boots.
Thick stockings are also used, and the foot has ample play with all
that. They are nearly all bow-legged, a circumstance that might be
explained by their constant habit of riding, or by the pressure that
is put on them when infants to make them sit cross-legged, were it
not frequently developed in children before the age when nurses
begin to cross their legs. The phenomenon may nevertheless be the
indirect result of both these causes. The habits of the tribes being
fixed and uniform for many ages, the bow-legged tendency which these
habits are calculated to produce, may have been gradually impressed
on the race as a permanent feature, by the mystery of hereditary
influence. Thus the peculiarity, although originally accidental,
would become permanent and constitutional. The Mongol is rarely seen
standing upright. He is either sitting on horseback, or crouching in
a tent.
The Mongols are rather dark-complexioned; the face and hands, which
are constantly exposed to sun and weather, are deeply bronzed;
the skin is very coarse; the covered parts of the body are much
lighter than the exposed parts, but among the men there is nothing
like a white skin. The whitest of them are yellowish. During our
ablutions the whiteness of our skins was a subject of constant
remark among the Mongols, although the skin of our faces became,
by constant exposure to the sun while in Mongolia, as dark as that
of the Mongols themselves. The Mongols, nevertheless, have often a
ruddy complexion, but it is uncommon among the men. The women are
much fairer than the men, and are much less exposed to the sun,
being mostly in the tents attending to household duties. Their
faces, although rough and weather-beaten more or less, have all
a "roseate hue." Old women frequently become pasty white in the
face. Their children are born fair skinned, and with brownish hair,
which gradually becomes darker as they grow up. Shades of brown are
however not unfrequent even in adults, and a tendency to curl is
sometimes observable. Their eyes are seldom quite black, but run on
various shades of brown. The white of the eye is usually "bloodshot"
in middle-aged men, probably from two causes, exposure to wind and
weather, and the argol smoke of their tent fires. They live, without
any inconvenience, in an atmosphere of sharp biting smoke, which our
eyes could not tolerate. The small eyes of the Mongols are shaded by
heavy wrinkled eyelids, which, in many instances, are permanently
contracted, giving the eye a peculiarly keen expression, as it peers
out from under the mass of soft muscle that surrounds it. This
feature is entirely absent in children, and is no doubt produced in
adults by exposure to glare and the habit of straining after distant
objects in a dry sandy country.
The almost entire absence of beard is a remarkable feature in
the Mongolians. As regards this and other marks of race, it may
be useful to compare the Mongols with their near neighbours
the Chinese. The two races have a sufficient number of broad
characteristics in common to warrant their classification under one
great type of mankind. But their differences are also well marked,
and are deserving of attention. The northern districts of China are
not very different from Mongolia in point of climate. Both have a
short but hot summer, and an extremely rigorous winter, differing
only in degree. Both climates are dry. The northern Chinese
assimilate more closely than any other of their countrymen to the
Mongol habit of life. They eat animal food rather extensively, and
drink strong liquor freely. Yet in physical development they are
further removed from the Mongols in some features than even the
southern Chinese who live on rice, fish, and vegetables. In the
matter of beards, which led to this comparison, the northern Chinese
are in a marked degree more hairy than their southern compatriots,
and these again than the natives of Mongolia. In none of them is the
beard developed till towards middle life; yet they all attain the
age of puberty earlier than Europeans. The beef-eaters of northern
China are tall, muscular, and robust, as much superior to the
Mongols as they are to their own countrymen who lead a different
life. But with their animal diet the northern Chinese eat copiously
of vegetable and farinaceous food, while the Mongols live almost
exclusively on mutton.
The regularity of habits which prevail in settled populations may
also have its influence in the general physical development of the
people. The nomads have certain qualities cultivated to excess, and
others almost entirely unused. The animal instincts are naturally
found highly developed amongst the Mongols. The sense of sight is
very acute in them; they are sensitive to indications of changes
of weather, and so with various other instincts which to these
wandering tribes supply the wants of a more artificial life, and
enable them to exist in a state of nature. Individuality is in a
great measure lost among such people. The habits and education
of each individual among them are identical. Their pursuits are
all the same. The very same faculties, both physical and mental,
are kept in exercise among the whole tribe, and that through many
generations, so that they have become hereditary, and indelibly
imprinted on the race. A Mongol who was not a good horseman would be
as anomalous as one that was inhospitable. The uniformity of life
among the members of these nomad tribes, while it keeps back many
faculties, the exercise of which is necessary to the existence of
civilised people, also renders the type of whole tribes constant,
so that no one individual differs greatly in external features from
another. In civilised communities, where the division of labour
has become so indispensable as to be in itself one great criterion
of civilisation, a variety of types are evolved even in a single
lifetime. A tailor can never be mistaken for a blacksmith, nor a
soldier for a sailor; but tribes whose habits compel each family
to be independent, as it were, of all the rest of the world, whose
wants are limited by the means of supplying them, and among whom
different occupations are almost unknown, do necessarily present a
remarkable uniformity. It would be unsound to generalise too freely,
and there are of course the individual distinctions of physiognomy
as well marked as among other races, but these differences are more
limited in their scope. Some trades are known to the Mongols, such
as felt-making, tanning and dressing skins, iron, copper, and silver
work, saddle-making, &c. In more settled parts they also make
harness, carts, and sledges; and printing from blocks, after the
manner of the Chinese and Japanese, is also known among them. These
arts are most cultivated among the Bouriats in Siberia, who, by
their contact with the Russians, and from the nature of the country
they inhabit, are thrown more in the way of artificial life than the
desert tribes.
To the casual observer, at least, the Mongols do not present the
same individual differences as their neighbours, the Chinese. In
complexion they are nearly all alike, although the skin seems to
get darker as the face becomes wrinkled with age, which might seem
to favour the idea that the brownish skin of the Mongols is due
as much to their habits as to their descent, or the effects of
climate. But the causes which influence colour are very obscure.
In Siberia, where Sclavonic races have been settled for nearly two
centuries, living side by side with Mongol tribes, and exposed to
the same climatic influences, these show no signs of variation from
the complexion of their ancestors, as it is exhibited by their
European representatives. Again, the Portuguese settlers in Macao,
who degenerate very rapidly, become in two or three generations much
darker in the skin than the native Chinese. It is not the smoky
atmosphere of their tents that darkens the skin of the Mongols, for
in that case, the women, who are more exposed to it, would be darker
than the men, the reverse of which is the case. A comparison with
the Japanese again would seem to show that exposure exercises at the
most an insignificant effect in darkening the skin. The Japanese
live much within doors, and are careful to protect themselves from
the sun when they stir abroad by means of broad-brimmed hats and
umbrellas. Great differences of complexion exist among them, whether
regarded as individuals or classes; but it is safe to say they are
on the whole quite as dark as the Mongols. The contrast between
men and women is singularly marked, the women having fair clear
complexions, often rosy. Yet the Japanese women are a good deal out
of doors, and are fairer skinned than the Chinese women, who are
only blanched by confinement to the house and exclusion from light
and air.
The Mongols, although deficient in muscular energy, and
incapacitated for sustained activity, are nevertheless gifted with
great powers of endurance. I have already noticed their capacity
for enduring prolonged fasts, and their ability to go several days
and nights without sleep, with equal impunity. The sudden and
important changes to which their climate is subject, are also borne
without any great suffering. From a hot summer, they are plunged,
with but slight gradations, into an extremely rigorous winter, when
the temperature falls very low, and is accompanied by keen cutting
winds, that sweep over the steppes with merciless fury, and from
which they have no better protection than their tents.
The Mongol tribes stand low in the scale of mental capacity.
Scattered over vast deserts, remote from civilised man, they are
ignorant by necessity. Their intellectual faculties have no stimulus
to exertion. Their aims in life, and their whole worldly ambition,
are limited to flocks and herds. While there is grass enough to feed
the sheep, and sheep enough to feed the men, they have little else
to disturb their quiet equanimity. Thus they lead an idle careless
life, free from thought and everything that might disturb the
negative happiness they enjoy. This kind of existence is truly a low
form, having more affinity with the animal than the mental side of
human nature, while at the same time it is to be observed that they
are almost entire strangers to the varied emotions that fill up the
existence of a civilised being; so that both their intellectual and
moral qualities are dwarfed and partially destroyed. The prostrate
mental condition of the people predisposes them to the domination
of superior minds, and when their highly superstitious tendencies
are considered, it is not surprising that they are among the most
priest-ridden races in the world. It is not easy to say why these
people should be more easily imposed upon than others, excepting
that ignorance is always found to go hand-in-hand with this mental
weakness. The wild solitary life of the desert is also, no doubt,
eminently favourable to belief in the supernatural and mysterious.
A man who frequently passes days and nights with no society, except
the howling waste below, and the deep blue sky above, has his
imagination set free from the trammels of the world of fact. He
has no resources but in the spirit-world, and it is not unnatural
that his fancy should people the air with superior intelligences,
whose voices are heard in the desert winds or the rustling leaves
of the forest. Under these conditions of life, the poor nomads are
in a proper frame of mind to become the thralls of any one who will
undertake to interpret for them the spiritual mysteries on which
their imagination runs riot. The lamas fill this office, and are
treated with unbounded respect by the masses. The religion of the
Mongols is Bhuddism, a superstition which numbers more votaries than
any other existing religion, true or false. But the fact is, they
are Bhuddists only in name; that is to say, the laity are almost
wholly ignorant of the doctrines of Bhuddism. Even the lamas have
but vague and confused ideas about it. Their prayers are conned
by rote, and these priests are generally ignorant of the Thibetan
language in which they are written.
The Mongol religion may indeed be called Lamaism, its leading
doctrine being faith, implicit and absolute, in the authoritative
teaching of the lamas, and that not in any well-digested system
of belief settled and fixed by the united wisdom of the sect, but
in such interpretation of spiritual matters as any individual
lama may choose to give. The gods are deified lamas. The Dalai
Lama of Thibet is a god incarnate, as is also the Lama king of
the Mongols; and even the ordinary lamas, whose name is legion,
are considered as off-shoots from deity in a sense that entitles
them to the worship of common mortals. The abstruse doctrines
of the metempsychosis and the future state, are studied by the
recluses who live in the retirement of the great monasteries, and
spend their time in prayer and meditation. But the every-day lama,
although he carries a pocketful of musty papers, in which the
eighteen hells and twenty-six heavens are elucidated, cares little
for these things. He has more practical matters to attend to than
meditating on the Bhuddist notion of bliss consummated by absorption
into Bhudda--complete repose--in other words, annihilation. His
written liturgies are a powerful spell by which he maintains his
moral influence over the people, and it is none the less powerful
that neither party fully comprehends their meaning. More regard
is paid to the quantity than to the quality of their prayers, and
to facilitate their devotions an ingenious machine is in common
use, consisting of a roller containing a string of prayers. This
is sometimes turned by hand, and sometimes it is attached to a
windmill! So long as it is turned round by some means, the efficacy
of the prayers is considered the same. No doubt it is. The petitions
are long-winded and multifarious.
The following, from one of the lama liturgies, is a specimen:
"From the fear of the king, from the fear of robbers, from the fear
of fire, from the fear of water, from the fear of loss, from the
fear of enemies, from the fear of famine; of thunder, of untimely
death, earthquakes, thunderbolts, of the king's judgment, of the
tengri, of the loo, of wild beasts, &c., keep me and all men in
safety." [22]
[22] First-fruits of a Mission to Siberia. Cape Town. 1847.
The general drift of their religious observances is towards securing
immunity from the "ills that flesh is heir to," rather than towards
providing for a future state. Both objects are aimed at, but the
materialistic greatly preponderates. Medical knowledge is of course
at a low ebb among these wandering people. The lamas are their
physicians. When a child or a horse is taken ill, the ignorant
people are taught to believe that an evil spirit is present, which
can only be exorcised by the incantations of a lama. In every doubt
and difficulty a lama is consulted. He is at once a detective
officer, justice of the peace, priest and physician. His blessing is
at all times efficacious. His power over disease is unquestioned.
There is virtue for good or evil in all his acts. His authority
to declare what is right and what is wrong is never doubted. The
punishments he may inflict for violation of his precepts are borne
patiently. In a word, the lamas are the beginning and the end,
at once the ministers and the objects of religion to the simple
Mongols. Their persons are held sacred, and they wear a sacred dress
consisting of a red cotton garment with a collar of black velvet,
and a cap of peculiar shape. Their heads are shaven all over, which
is a sufficient distinction from the laymen, who shave the head only
in front of the crown, wearing a tail like the Chinese. Wherever a
lama goes he is received with open arms, and assumes the place of
honour in any tent which he may deign to enter. The priestly tyranny
of these functionaries opens a wide door to the most heartless
knavery, and dishonest lamas who oppress and eat up the people are
very common. Were the lama order restricted to one class of people,
it is possible their victims might rise in rebellion against their
assumption of authority. But the lamas are drawn from every tribe
and household. The second son of every family is generally set apart
from his birth as a priest. In childhood and youth he is regarded
as a superior being in his parental tent. The place of honour is
assigned to him from the time he is able to sit cross-legged. When
an opportunity offers, the little devotee repairs to a monastery,
where he may learn the Thibetan characters and the rudiments of the
lama prayers. Great numbers of lamas reside permanently in these
monasteries, which are supported by contributions from the people,
or endowed by the Emperor of China. The lama unattached receives
no pay, and has therefore to support himself, as the rest of his
countrymen do, by feeding sheep and cattle. His special services are
paid for according to his cupidity or the wealth of his employers.
Many of them grow rich on the spoils of their deluded votaries. Some
others, of ultra-nomadic proclivities, keep no cattle and own no
tents. They simply roam about where fancy directs, and live on the
people whose tents they pass. These are not much respected, but are,
nevertheless, hospitably entertained wherever they go.
The spread of Bhuddism eastward over Mongolia, China, and Japan,
the deep hold it has taken on the people of those countries, to the
extinction almost of pre-existing superstitions, are most remarkable
phenomena. Looking at the degenerate form of the religion that has
sprung up in Mongolia, and the ignorance of the people, tending
strongly to adherence to the dogmas of their fathers, it seems
wonderful that Bhuddism should have had vitality enough to supersede
the ancient Shamanism.
The Bhuddistic doctrines, involved and obscure as they are,
certainly filled up a blank that must have been felt even among the
most unthinking races, for Shamanism had no reference to a future
life. In this respect Bhuddism is more elevating than Shamanism, and
when first introduced into a new country, it was probably in a purer
form, and untarnished by the many abuses that have grown out of it
in its subsequent history.
Among the Bouriats, Shamanism was almost universal as late as
one hundred and fifty years ago. Up to that time it was the only
superstition known to the northern nomads. The Shaman worship was
directed to the material heavens and heavenly bodies--fire, earth
and water, wild beasts and birds, and the malignant spirits of the
air, called tengri. Its ritual consisted very little in prayers,
but mainly of animal sacrifices. Some curious facts connected with
the Shaman superstition are given by Mr. Swan in the "Scottish
Congregational Magazine."
As a preventive against cattle being killed by lightning, a horse
is devoted to the god of thunder--light grey or white being
preferred. He is brought to the door of his owner's tent, and while
the Shaman ceremonies are going on, a cup of milk is placed on his
back. When the ceremonies are concluded, the horse is cast loose,
the milk falls, and the animal is thenceforth sacred. No one may
use him again, and, when he dies, his tail and mane are cut off
and twisted into those of another horse, who, from that time, also
becomes sacred to the god of thunder. They also had a ceremony of a
scapegoat, which in its details coincided most singularly with that
of the Levitical institution. The Shaman offerings usually consisted
of three animals sacrificed at once--part of the flesh was eaten,
and the rest, stuck on a pole, was consumed by crows or magpies.
Another strange practice of the Shamans, and one which is common
also among the lamas, betrays the intellectual imbecility of the
people who could tolerate and be deceived by it. To exorcise the
evil spirit out of a sick person, an effigy of straw is made,
and clothed in the garments of the patient. The priests proceed
to kill the man of straw, then convey it away and burn it. The
unsophisticated devil is supposed to be watching these proceedings,
and to mistake the effigy for the sick person; so that when it
is destroyed, this most accommodating spirit considers his own
malignant purpose accomplished, and at once leaves the sick person,
who thereupon recovers. It is even said that human victims are used
for this purpose by the rich in Mongolia and Thibet.
The Shamans were simply sorcerers. Their ceremonies were wild
fanatical ravings, and their ranks were usually filled by persons
of diseased brains. The people generally were reluctant to become
Shamans, and a severe illness was often held to be an intimation
to the person affected of the desire of the Spirits that he or she
should become a "medium."
The Bouriats learned Bhuddism from the Mongols, their kinsmen. About
the beginning of the eighteenth century a mission was sent from
Siberia to Thibet. The members of it returned as lamas and brought
the paraphernalia of the new religion with them, built a temple,
and set up Bhuddism. The Shamans were then gradually superseded by
the lamas in the districts of Trans-baikal--sacrifices gave place
to prayers--and a purely materialist superstition to one which
recognised the necessity of providing against a future existence.
When, and under what circumstances, the Mongols proper embraced
Bhuddism, is not so easy to determine. The Chinese received it in
the first, and the Japanese in the sixth century of the Christian
era; but it does not appear to have been known to the Mongols before
the time of Genghis. It was probably during the wandering career
of the hordes under his leadership, that the lamas insinuated
themselves into influence over the untutored shepherds. The higher
culture which they had acquired, even by their partial education,
would mark them in the eyes of the rude Tartars as a superior order
of magicians; and their ascendancy over the Mongol intellects would
be natural and easy.
There are traditions of Lamaism in the district of the Ortous before
the time of Genghis, but as that part of the desert had frequently
been incorporated with China, the existence of Bhuddist monasteries
there is not inconsistent with the supposition that the Mongol
tribes became Bhuddists only after the wars of Genghis.
It would appear that Mohammedanism also was introduced into China
by means of the armies of Genghis, which traversed Asia in every
direction from the Great Wall of China to the Volga.
The Bhuddism, or Lamaism, of the Mongols, serves the important
purpose of binding the tribes together by one common bond of union.
The adoration they are taught to pay to their Dalai Lama is such as
to give that personage a power over them greater, probably, than is
exercised by any crowned head over his people. The Dalai Lama is the
Pope of the Mongols. He is a valuable ally to the Chinese Emperor,
and would be a dangerous enemy. When Russia comes to carry out any
aggressive design in Mongolia, the Great Lama of the Kalkas will
be the instrument used; and the Consular establishment at Urga, if
it succeeds in gaining over the Lama king to the Russian views,
will not have been kept up in vain. To conciliate this dignitary
the Chinese Emperors liberally endow monasteries, and support and
encourage Lamaism in every way possible;--but the Russian Emperors
will find no difficulty in securing the attachment of the Lama when
their plans are matured.
The Mongol people, though in a sense slaves or serfs to their
chiefs, really enjoy every liberty. They pay tithes to their lords
of the produce of their herds, but there is no exaction, and no
apparent discontent. The forty-eight chieftains enjoy the Chinese
title of _wang_, _i.e._, prince, or king, and though tributary
to the Emperor, they receive from him more than they pay. Their
allegiance is, in reality, purchased by the Chinese court, and they
are certainly faithful to their salt.