CHAPTER XI._Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet

SOCIAL DIVISIONS—MARRIAGE—FUNERALS—MEDICINE—FESTIVALS.

In Tibet there are three distinct classes among the people, lay and

clerical, which are determined by birth and social position, and each

of these has three sub-divisions. [425] They are as follows:—

First, or highest class, Rab:—

1.—Rab-kyi rab. The king, members of the royal family, and incarnate

lamas who have appeared many times on earth.

2.—Rab-kyi ding. The Desi, or regent, ordinary incarnate lamas,

ministers and councillors of state, learned lamas, or abbots,

professors at important monasteries.

3.—Rab-kyi tama. Secretaries to the Government, Dahpon, Djongpon, and

inferior lamas, or abbots.

Middle classes, Ding:—

1.—Ding-kyi rab, or “upper middle class,” including families who have

for generations possessed great wealth, landlords who do not claim

descent from illustrious ministers or warriors; Dungkhor, old families

and men who have personally contributed in a marked degree to the

welfare of the country; and lastly, the Don-nyer.

2.—Ding-kyi ding. This class includes the Dung-yig, or clerks,

stewards, chamberlains, head grooms, head cooks, and other petty

officers.

3.—Ding-kyi tama. Soldiers and subjects. [426]

Lowest class, Tama:—

1.—Tamai rab. Grooms, menials engaged in domestic service, and other

hired servants.

2.—Tamai ding. Those who have no fixed homes, men who keep concubines,

but no wives, loose women, professional beggars, vagabonds, and

paupers.

3.—Tamai tama. The lowest of the low are butchers, scavengers,

disposers of dead bodies, blacksmiths, and goldsmiths.

In Tibet there are no caste restrictions with regard to marriage as in

India. The rich may bestow their daughters on the poor, the daughter of

a poor man may become the bride of the proudest noble of the country.

But the girls of the royal family and those of high rank are not

generally bestowed on the low classes; but in the event of their not

finding a suitable match, they are sent to convents. The daughters of

commoners do, however, occasionally become the wives of nobles.

The nuptial ceremonies are alike for all classes, the only difference

being in the amount of money expended in the festivities. In the first

place, the friends of the bridegroom employ a go-between to make the

first overtures to the parents or guardians of the girl. Should the

latter entertain the proposal, the parents of the would-be bridegroom

either take or send presents to them, consisting of khatag and wine

(called long chang, “proposal wine”), and formally make an offer of

marriage. The girl’s parents make excuses, saying that she is neither

handsome nor accomplished, and will be of no service to the suitor. The

go-betweens thereupon more and more earnestly press their suit. After

these conventional phrases have been exchanged, the girl’s parents say,

“If you are really in earnest, and believe that she will be of service

to you, we shall consult with our friends and relatives, and let you

know our decision.”

A few days later their consent to the union is formally conveyed to the

suitor’s parents, when the latter, taking with them twenty or thirty

gallons of wine, proceed to the home of the bride, where they entertain

not only all her relatives, but also the servants and neighbours, and

present each with a scarf. The purchase-money (rin) is then paid,

which, for the middle classes is usually five or six doche (625 to 750

rupees), and about fifty gallons of wine. Another scarf is then

presented to each of the elder members of the bride’s family, and also

to prominent persons among her friends and neighbours.

After an auspicious day has been fixed for the wedding, the parties

make the arrangements necessary for the occasion. On the appointed day

the bridegroom’s parents depute some seven or eight respectable men to

go as their representatives to bring home the bride. They remain at her

father’s house three days, during which they are engaged in making

negotiations and in assuring their hosts, by whom they are provided

during this period with all necessaries, that their daughter will be

happy in her new home. At the end of the three days the bride is told

by her parents to go to the bridegroom’s house. They give her a good

milch-cow or yak, a pony, four or five oxen, two suits of summer and

winter dress, a complete set of jewellery according to the custom of

the country, a piece of stuffed carpet and a small dining-table, cups,

plates, cooking vessels, and other articles for domestic use, fifty

ounces of silver, and a female attendant. All those who have received

scarves now come to present her in return with a scarf and a piece of

money. The nearest relatives and friends of the parents, the chief of

the country, and other people of position, present her with scarves,

clothes, blankets, etc., and silver coins.

Presently about twenty of the bridegroom’s friends arrive to conduct

the bride to her new home. For the first half of the journey the

arrangements are made and expenses defrayed by the bride’s parents; for

the second half by those of the bridegroom, and it is made on

horseback, the bride riding in the middle of the party. Arriving at

their destination, the bride is seated on a cushion placed on a raised

stand by the side of her husband in the middle of the bridal party. At

an auspicious hour a short religious service is performed by the

village lama, and the parents or sponsors of the parties offer prayers

for the happiness of the union. [427] The bridegroom’s parents then

beseech the gods to witness the ceremony of their son’s marriage, and

declare that henceforth the bride will be owned by the bridegroom and

his brothers alone. For three days the festivities continue, during

which time as much as fifty chupan of wine, three oxen, and three pigs

are sometimes consumed. The notables among the bridegroom’s friends

arrive with presents of scarves, and are entertained by his father.

On the third day the bride exchanges the clothes and jewellery she wore

on her arrival, for others supplied by the bridegroom. After a short

prayer to the gods the pair are left together, for the first time, and

on the following morning the bride begins to apply herself to her

household duties. Her brothers and relatives who have accompanied her,

return home at the expiration of seven days.

Some three months after the wedding her parents, accompanied by the

chief men among their friends and by servants, arrive with presents of

food, and request that their daughter may pay them a visit. After being

entertained for ten or twelve days, they return home, and are followed

some weeks later by the young couple, who are accompanied by a number

of female servants bearing presents of scarves, provisions, wine, etc.

They remain a month, and on their departure the bride receives from her

father a new costume and jewellery, and the husband a complete suit of

clothes and the inevitable scarf.

Among the very poor the proceedings are much simplified, the

negotiations being conducted by the parents in person.

There is no fixed limit of marriageable age in Tibet. The average age,

however, for both sexes, is from fifteen to twenty-five, and frequently

the bride is older than the bridegroom.

When parties are desirous of dissolving the marriage bond, the reason

for so doing must first be investigated. If the husband be found

entirely blameless and willing to live with his wife, but she be

resolved to divorce him, she is required to pay double the rin, or

price paid for her, as a fine for the dissolution of the marriage

contract, called borche and den yo, that is, “divorce fine” and

“innocence fine.” [428] In the absence of a marriage contract, the

divorce fine fixed by law for the wife to pay amounts to eighteen gold

sho, equal to 135 rupees; and for the husband three gold srang, equal

to 180 rupees. If the husband’s innocence be doubtful, but the wife’s

charges remain unproved, the wife is required to pay as divorce fine a

complete suit of clothes, a pair of shoes, a bed-carpet, bed-rug, and a

wrapper, and the husband must present to his wife a second scarf and a

third article of any kind.

On the other hand, if a wife be found perfectly innocent, and willing

to live with her husband, but the husband be resolved to divorce her

for no fault of hers, he is required to pay to her twelve gold sho,

equal to ninety rupees, as divorce fine, and also yog la, “service

wage,” amounting to six pounds of barley for every day and six for

every night which she has spent with him from the day of marriage to

the date of separation. The husband is also required to return the

price of all the clothes and other gifts made to the wife by her

friends since the time of their marriage. The divorced woman also takes

away with her all jewellery given her by her relatives, but not that

given to her by her husband. The wife cannot demand the “innocence

fine.” If there be children at the time of separation, the father takes

the boys, and the mother the girls. If the husband be a man of

property, the court may order him to give the divorced wife a certain

share of his possessions for the maintenance of the girls. On the other

hand, if the wife be possessed of property, she may be required to give

something for the maintenance of her sons.

Again, when a marriage is contracted between a man of noble blood and a

woman of humble rank, or vice versâ, with the definite understanding

that they shall share each other’s good and adverse fortune, their

property in case of divorce is to be divided between them according to

their faithfulness or guilt, and their amount of mutual presents at the

time of union. In cases of divorce between parties who were united at

their own wish for the enjoyment of pleasure or merriment, the court

should, without regard to the nature of their guilt, divide their

property equally between them. [429] In cases of marriage between

slaves or serfs, the owner decides their separation or continued union.

A man of this class is, for instance, married to a woman who, the owner

thinks, might be of some service to him. When the woman is found

useless, she is dismissed, being given one-sixth of her husband’s

belongings, and her place is supplied by a new wife chosen by the

owner.

In Tibet members of the same family are forbidden by law to contract

matrimonial alliances with their kindred within seven degrees. This

rule is, however, nowadays disregarded by the people, who are known to

make alliances with their kinsmen who are distant only three or four

degrees of consanguinity. Among the Pobos and Khamba marriage is

promiscuously contracted, the brother marrying his sister, the nephew

his aunt. [430] Among the common Tibetans, so long as the parties do

not claim a common father, there is no objection to the marriage; the

uterine brother and sister may be united, and a man may marry his

stepmother or aunts.

The custom of several brothers making one woman their common wife, to

keep the ancestral property entire and undivided, is said to have had

its origin in Khams, where it is at this day extensively practised. The

Tibetans of U and Tsang have borrowed it from their cousins of Khams,

but it is not universal with them. [431] The wife is claimed by the

younger brothers as their wife only so long as they continue to live

with the eldest one. When they separate from their eldest brother, they

cannot ask him to pay compensation for their share in the wife, and she

remains the lawful wife of the eldest brother. It is not unusual for a

father or uncle to live with his son’s or nephew’s wife, and even in

high life a father makes himself a partner in the marital rights over

his son’s wife. [432]

The cessation of the pulse and the suspension of breathing are not

considered tests of the extinction of vitality. The Tibetans consider

that the spirit (nam she) usually lingers in the mortal frame for not

less than three days, though the spirits of those who have attained to

some stage of holiness quit the body immediately after the last breath

has been drawn, for communion with the dwellers in Paradise, called

Gadan or Tushita; but instances of such saintly personages are of very

rare occurrence. It is consequently considered a very sinful action to

move or dispose of the corpse immediately after death. Nowadays in

Tibet and Mongolia the dead bodies of all classes of men are carefully

kept within doors for three days, during which time their friends and

relations attend on them and make prayers for their future well-being.

On the morning of the fourth day the horoscope of the deceased, and

that of the man who is selected to be the first to touch the corpse for

removal, are consulted. A lama is employed to perform certain funeral

ceremonies, with a view to cause the spirit of the deceased to pass out

through a certain slit in the skull. [433] If this ceremony is omitted

the soul will make its exit by some other passage and go to a state of

damnation. The lama remains alone with the corpse, all the doors and

windows being closed, and no one is allowed to enter until he declares

by what passage the soul has fled. In return for this important service

he receives a cow, yak, sheep, or goat, or a sum of money, according to

the means of the deceased.

Before the dead body is removed from the house, an astrologer notes the

dates of birth of the friends and relations present. If any among them

were born under the same constellation and planet as the dead person,

they are said to incur the risk of being ridden by his ghost, and are

consequently not allowed to attend the funeral. The astrologer also

receives his reward in money or kind. Then the corpse, tightly wrapped

in clothes, is placed on a stretcher facing the direction which has

been declared auspicious by the astrologer, and is placed in a corner

of the house. Five butter lamps are lighted near the head, and a screen

is drawn round it, within which his usual food and drink, together with

a lamp, are placed. Early on the morning of the day appointed for the

disposal of the body, it is carried to the nearest cemetery. At the

time of its removal the relations make profound salutations to it. Two

men carrying wine or tea, together with a dishful of tsamba, follow the

bier. The family priest, or lama, of the deceased throws a khatag on

the litter and walks behind at a slow pace, holding a corner of another

scarf tied to it. As he proceeds he mutters funeral mantra, turning a

hand-drum (damaru) with his right hand, and with his left ringing a

bell. It is inauspicious to place the litter on the ground before its

arrival at the cemetery. If by accident this should happen, the body

must be disposed of at that spot, instead of in the cemetery. In the

neighbourhood of Lhasa there are two sacred cemeteries, Phabongka and

Serashar. Those who dispose of dead bodies at the former pay two or

three tanka for tea to the monks of Phabongka monastery; and at the

latter they pay one tanka to the cemetery keeper, who also gets the

bedding and clothes of corpses.

In every cemetery there is a large slab of stone, on which the corpse,

stripped of its coverings, is placed face downwards. The officiating

lama then crosses it with lines, and while repeating mantras, cuts it

in pieces. The first pieces are flung towards the biggest and oldest

vulture of the flock, called tankar, and the remainder to the rest.

They are so tame that they come one by one at the call of the priest.

Last of all the head of the corpse is crushed, and the bones pounded

together are mixed with the brain and distributed among the vultures.

[434] Then a new and unused earthen bowl, filled with fire of argol

(dried cowdung), with some butter and barley flour burnt in it as

incense, is presented to the departed by being placed in the quarter

towards which he is supposed to have gone. The funeral attendants now

wash their hands, and retiring to a short distance from the cemetery,

breakfast, and at about midday return home. During forty-nine days

after the drawing of the last breath, food and drink are offered to the

departed in his favourite dish; and incense, consisting of barley,

butter, and juniper spines, is burnt.

During this period of bardo, as the interval between death and

regeneration is called, the departed spirit is believed to wander, and

in order to prevent its being subject to misery, on the forty-ninth day

some of the clothes, shoes, head-dress, coins, etc., which belonged to

the deceased, after being washed and sprinkled with saffron-water, are

presented to some incarnate lama for his blessing. The last service is

conducted by a Tantrik lama, with a view to expelling all the evil

spirits and hungry ghosts which haunt the house of the departed.

On the seventh day after death, prayers are moreover offered for the

deceased’s well-being, and alms in coin, food, tea, gold, and silver

are distributed among religious men. This is repeated on every

consecutive seventh day until the forty-ninth day, when a grand feast

is given to the congregation of lamas. Nowadays, however, the rich

people of Lhasa generally distribute alms, at the rate of one tanka

each to the monks of Sera, Dabung, and Gadan, dispensing with the other

costly ceremonies. They also present the clothes belonging to the

deceased to the professors and heads of those monasteries. Some

bequeath the whole of their property to these monastic institutions or

to Lamas of great repute.

The practice of making wills has been followed by the Tibetans from

very remote times. Every man of property leaves a will bequeathing his

movable property to his children or friends, and leaving instructions

for the performance of his funeral obsequies and other pious works.

The cutting up and distributing of a corpse is a practical illustration

of the Tibetan belief that charity is the highest of all the moral

virtues. That man is said to be most virtuous whose funeral is attended

by the largest number of vultures, while if his corpse attracts but a

small company, the very dogs not deigning to touch his defiled remains,

he is judged to have led a sinful life.

The dead bodies of pregnant and barren women, and also of lepers, are

packed in leather bags and thrown into the waters of the great

Tsang-po. A Tibetan proverb says, “She whose son dies after birth is

white barren (rab-cha karpo); she whose daughter dies after birth is

partly barren (rab-cha tavo); she who has borne no children is black

barren (rab-cha nagpo).” The corpses of such and of lepers are

considered particularly unclean, and should not be kept within the

limits of the country, but must either be thrown beyond nine hills and

dales, or packed in horse’s or ox’s skins and thrown into the river.

The dead bodies of incarnate lamas are occasionally burnt, and their

ashes and bones deposited in chorten. The remains of saintly

personages, such as pretend to have emanated from Bodhisattvas and

Buddhas, are preserved like the Egyptian mummies, being embalmed or

salted and placed within gold, silver, or copper chorten, where they

are seated in a meditative posture, like the conventional image of

Buddha. These incarnate lamas, at the time of death, mention the time

when and the place and the family where their souls will subsequently

find re-embodiment, and also the name and race of the family, and

instruct their friends to perform rites and ceremonies for their

well-being after death.

On the demise of the Dalai and Tashi lamas, the work in all the public

and private offices, all business, and market gatherings are suspended

for seven days. For thirty days women are forbidden to put on their

jewellery, and men or women may not wear new apparel. Lamas and monks

must, on such occasions, mourn for ten days, during which they must not

shave their heads, or wear their church head-dresses during services,

All classes of people refrain from amusements and festivities, and from

going into groves for pleasure, sports, or love-making. It is only in

honour of the death of these two great hierarchs of Tibet that the

whole country goes into mourning. The mourning for abbots of other

monasteries and heads of families is confined to the friends and monks

who are near to them. Rich and respectable men do not, within a year

after the death of their parents, take part in marriage ceremonies and

festivities; and do not undertake journeys to a distance.

Among the Sikkim Buddhists, dead bodies are burnt. On the fourth day

after cremation, a lama performs the tusol, or washing ceremony, which

consists in removing the relics, ashes, etc., and washing the place of

burning with water. The relics are placed in an urn and deposited in a

chorten. The ashes are thrown into a mountain stream, such as the Tista

or Rungit. [435] The relics of lamas and important men, after being

pulverized, are mixed with clay and cast in moulds into miniature

chorten. These relic chorten are deposited in sacred places, such as

monasteries, temples, caverns, etc. On the seventh day the funeral

ceremony, called Ten-zung, is performed. All relations and neighbours

are invited to this funeral feast. At dusk all the evil spirits which

are believed to have been invited to the departure of the deceased, are

expelled by a Tantrik priest, assisted by the deafening yells of the

guests. [436]

The physicians of High Asia have, I am told, discovered such remarkable

properties of vegetable drugs, and of the flesh and bile of certain

animals, and of some sorts of excrements in healing different kinds of

sores, that if the statements of my informant be true, the surgeons of

civilized countries would be struck with wonder at their marvellous

performances. For this remarkable success, the Tibetans do not appear

to be indebted to their Chinese or Indian neighbours. [437] Their

medicines are mostly indigenous, and their discoveries in surgery have

resulted from their own experience. They supply the greater number of

physicians and surgeons to the Mongols and other neighbouring peoples.

The treatment of small-pox is very little understood by Tibetan

doctors. Inoculation is, however, resorted to, and a new method of

performing this operation has been discovered by the Northern Chinese

physicians. It consists in selecting the best lymph from the light

white pox pustules of a healthy child, which, mixed with camphor

powder, is blown with a pipe into the nostril of the person to be

inoculated. [438] Great care and experience are required in selecting

the lymph, on which alone depends the safety of the patients.

Chicken-pox occurs only in a mild form, and is generally left to take

its course.

Hydrophobia is very prevalent in Tibet, Mongolia, and China, and its

effects are considered to manifest themselves, according to the colour

of the dog, at periods varying from seven days to eighteen months, and

also according to the time of day at which the bite was received. The

remedies are, however, sufficiently practical. As soon as possible tie

a ligature four fingers above the wound; draw out the poison by means

of the sucking apparatus, called rnyabs-ras, similar to the

cupping-glasses of the Indians, and then bleed the wounded part. If the

patient presents himself to the physician a day after having been

bitten, the latter should only cauterize the wound, and then apply an

ointment made of butter, turmeric, a poisonous bulb called bon-nya, and

musk.

In Lower Kongbo, Pobo, Pemakyod, and other mountainous districts of

Southern Tibet, and in Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan on this side of the

Himalayas, goitre is the most prevalent disease. It owes its origin to

the calcareous nature of the water drunk by the natives. Six varieties

of goitre are recognized by Tibetan physicians, which are variously

treated by cauterization, bleeding the jugular vein behind the ear, and

also the swollen muscle of the goitre, and the administration of

nostrums composed of the dried gullet of the yak or sheep, dried fish,

different kinds of salts, Piper longum and pepper, and powdered

conch-shell, burnt in a hermetically closed vessel.

Snake-bite is of rare occurrence in Higher Tibet, but in the lower

valley of the great Tsang-po, great numbers of snakes are found, and

also on the western frontier of China bordering Tibet. [439]

Snake-bites are treated like hydrophobia, by tying a ligature above the

part bitten and cupping. The wound is then washed with curd or milk,

camel’s milk being the most efficacious. [440] It is believed in High

Asia that if a snake bite a camel, the snake dies immediately without

injuring the camel. If there be no burning heat as a consequence of the

bite, the wound should be cauterized. Internal remedies are also taken,

consisting of cardamom, musk, pepper, and other native drugs. The

Glak-los (wild people) of Pemakyod [441] immediately cut off the bitten

portion, or the bitten limb, if possible, after which they apply musk

and bear’s bile (gall?) to the wound and bind it up. The Lalos eat

snakes, of which, however, they reject the head and tail as injurious.

During the months of January and February, when the great mon-lam (or

prayer-meeting) fair takes place at Lhasa, the city is occasionally

visited by a highly infectious disease which causes great havoc among

the people when the crowd is great. When the disease is not properly

treated the patient generally dies before the tenth day, but those

cases which have passed the thirteenth day are considered hopeful.

Tibetan physicians, by watching this disease in its different phases,

have achieved remarkable success in treating it with their indigenous

drugs.

In Lhasa, Shigatse, and other towns and monasteries of Tibet, the

principal disease from which people suffer and die is paralysis. [442]

Five different kinds of this disease are recognized by Tibetan

physicians, who also profess to have observed that the first symptoms

generally show themselves on the 4th, 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd,

25th, or 29th day of the lunar month. Persons who have passed their

sixtieth year seldom survive a paralytic stroke of any kind. All other

cases in their milder forms are curable by proper and regular medical

treatment.

Leprosy is prevalent in most of the countries of High Asia. It is

variously called glud-nad, “the nag’s (serpent’s) disease,” and

mje-nad, [443] the “corroding malady,” and is believed to originate

from various causes, fanciful and real. By digging in pestilential soil

where snakes live, turning up stones under which these reptiles lurk,

felling poisonous trees, throwing tea, water, or cooked food and other

refuse on the blazing hearth, men are said to excite the wrath of the

Nagas and mischievous spirits of the upper and nether worlds, who

delight in working the ruin of the human race. They spread this hateful

malady by the exhalation of their breath, by their poisonous touch or

malignant glance, or even by the power of their malignant wish. The

“charmed banner” [444] is a great preventive of these evils. The people

of High Asia generally fix banners with printed charms thereon near to

or on their houses, as they are believed to prevent the Nagas entering

them. Leprosy is likewise assumed to be the consequence of the sins of

former lives. [445] It also originates from disorders produced by

irregularity and intemperance in food and habits, whereby the black and

yellow fluids of the body are increased, and give rise to this

distressing malady. Eighteen different kinds of leprosy are recognized.

The chanting of charms and mantras of Vajrapani Buddha by the patient

or the physician is resorted to, that wrathful deity being a mighty

subduer of all malevolent demons and Nagas, and various native drugs

are also administered in the form of pills.

Dropsy, though rare in High Asia, prevails in the southern and eastern

districts in Tibet, and is caused by drinking much water after

exercise, lying down in damp places, taking cold, or by light

unsubstantial food, by which the digestive powers are deranged. Twelve

varieties of this disease are recognized, which are divided into two

main groups, characterized as “the hot” and “the cold fluid”

respectively. Bone-ash is believed to be the best remedy; but other

medicines, consisting of grapes, cinnamon, oxide of iron, pomegranate

(rind?), lime, and other ingredients, are also prescribed. [446]

Dyspepsia (pad-kau) is one of the commonest diseases in Tibet, and

forty-three different varieties of this malady have been observed by

native physicians.

Toothache is also a very general complaint of the people of Tibet, due

to the extreme rigour of the climate and the coldness of the water. The

inhabitants of the remote province of Chang-tang usually lose their

teeth before reaching the age of thirty.

Among the games played by the Tibetans, there are some such as

mig-mang, or “many eyes,” resembling chess; srid-pai khorlo, or “the

circle of life,” [447] and dice, which even the clergy are permitted to

amuse themselves with. Others, as, for instance, wrestling, archery,

polo, foot and pony races, are confined to the people; nor are the

lamas allowed to amuse themselves with singing and dancing except at

stated times, as, for example, during the New Year holidays.

At midsummer the people and nobility dress tents, and for several days

amuse themselves under them, picnicking, dancing, and singing.

In the 8th moon the jon-gyu festival takes place, lasting for seven or

fourteen or even twenty-one days. On this occasion the lamas and people

amuse themselves with sports, games, dancing, and feasting. This

festival is observed in all northern Buddhist countries. [448]

Again, in the latter part of the 12th moon, there is a lama dance in

every monastery, after which the evil spirits are exorcised. [449]

Sometimes the 4th of the 6th and the 22nd of the 9th moons are observed

as feast days; the latter as the anniversary of the Buddha’s descent

from the Tushita heaven. [450]

In the summer, commencing with the full moon in July and lasting for a

period of forty-five days, all lamas make a retreat in their

monasteries, during which time they are not allowed to go without the

lamasery walls, or take part in any amusement. This is known as the

yar-nas. [451]

The birthdays of the Dalai and Tashi lamas are also kept as holidays,

and on their reaching the age of three, twenty-five, forty-nine,

sixty-one, seventy-three, or eighty-five, there are also great

festivities.

When eclipses of the sun or moon occur, the Tibetans hold religious

ceremonies similar to those of the Hindus.

Of all feasts, that of the New Year is probably the most popular. At

Lhasa the State makes arrangements for the celebrations, beginning them

about a month beforehand.

The kitchen of the Grand Lama is in a large yellow building called the

Phodang serpo, or Jag-ming khang (ljags-ming khang), situated to the

east of the palace. The cooking-stoves are ornamented with gold,

silver, and precious stones, estimated to be worth Rs. 20,000, and all

the cooking utensils are of solid gold. All the butter and milk used

here is obtained from the herd of five hundred jomos (half-breed yaks)

belonging to the Dalai lama, which herd the people salute as it passes,

taking off their hats or kotowing to the animals. Twenty Tse-dung (lama

officials) herd these cattle, milk them, and churn the butter.

Here, when New Year is approaching, five lamas prepare cakes and

dainties for the Grand Lama, their mouths covered with eight

thicknesses of silk, so that the food may not be polluted by their

breath. In the village at the foot of Potala, called the Shedo khang,

two or three hundred men make cakes and biscuits for the officials,

lamas, and people; and every one, whether rich or poor, has some

prepared for the festival.

On the 15th of the 12th moon two hundred workmen begin white-washing

the walls of Potala, which work occupies them for three days; and then,

but only then, people are at liberty to have the walls of their houses

whitened, and there is no one so poor that he does not at this season

renovate the exterior of his dwelling.

On the 18th all public offices are closed for fifty days. Booths are

erected to supply the crowds which assemble for the mon-lam chenpo, or

“grand prayer-meeting,” which, beginning on New Year’s day, lasts for a

month, and many of the officials visit Tse-dung linga, a beautiful park

to the south of the city, where there is a Chinese restaurant and

singing and dancing girls, called Tung-shema, or “drinking ladies.”

On the 22nd in all lamaseries and in many houses of the people torma

offerings are made, to be offered the following day to the household

gods. Then the people bathe and get themselves ready to make visits of

congratulations, which they begin doing on the 27th. On the 29th each

householder has a general house cleaning, and the dust and dirt is

thrown in a cross-road, and thus all impending misfortunes are got rid

of with the rubbish.

Early on the morning of the 29th large and gorgeously decorated tents

are erected in the great courtyard of Potala and other temples, in each

of which three or four hundred people can be seated. In the centre of

each tent are estrades of carved and gilt sandal-wood (?), on which the

abbots, head lamas, and guests of distinction take their seats, while

on lower seats are the other guests. A number of lamas, with little

tables of sandal-wood in front of them, on which different instruments

of music, and implements used in church ceremonies, such as dorje,

bells, damaru, etc., are placed, occupy another portion of each tent.

When the preliminary service is over the grand “black hat” dance, of

which I have previously made mention, begins. [452]

The dancers are eighty in number, and their gowns are made of white,

red, and green satin. Each one holds in his left hand a wooden skull,

and in his right a short club, from which hang five silk scarfs of

different colours. They prance about, wildly waving their arms, for

half an hour or so, when suddenly there is heard wild shrieking, and a

second set of dancers, or masks called Kambab, come in. They are

dressed to represent the various gods, most of them extraordinarily

hideous to look at. These continue the wild dance to the music of

cymbals, drums, and flutes for a couple of hours.

When the Kambab have stopped, four skeleton-like figures appear: they

are the Durdag, or “lords of cemeteries,” and they dance in their turn.

These are followed by sixteen figures representing Indian atsaras, who,

by their dress and contortions, excite wild mirth among the people. A

number of dancers wearing stag heads then appear, and finally the

“black hat” dancers come out once more, each with a cymbal or a drum in

his hand, and the dance comes to an end.

At the termination of the dance the lamas who performed the religious

service earlier in the day form in a procession and proceed to throw

away the torma offering.

Five hundred soldiers and twenty-four flag-bearers accompany the

procession. Three lamas carry on an iron tripod the tsamba torma, which

is of pyramidal shape, about ten feet high and painted red, with

projecting edges to represent flames, and frequently surmounted by a

skull moulded in tsamba. Three other lamas bear on a large iron tray

supported by a tripod a skeleton also made of tsamba. The procession

goes to about a mile from the temple to where a shed, or hom khang, of

straw or brush has been made, in which the torma and the skeleton are

placed and then set on fire.

When the flames break forth the flag-bearers lower their flags and run

back to the lamasery with all speed, to escape the devil’s assaults,

and the soldiers fire off their guns at the burning mass to prevent the

evil spirits escaping from the fire in which they are now supposed to

be roasting. [453]

On the thirtieth day of the moon, New Year’s eve, all house decorations

and furniture are renewed or cleaned, and offerings and oblations made

in every domestic chapel. The walls, pillars, posts, lintels, etc., are

washed with whey. A lotus, finger-marks or marks of animals’ claws are

painted on the wooden floors of the rooms, or a sheep’s head is

scorched, and its eyes, ears, and nose painted with the five colours

mixed with butter: this is said to be a certain means of insuring good

luck, and is believed to be a pre-Buddhist custom of the country.

In the evening the whole city is illuminated, and this is kept up for

three successive nights.

New Year’s day is called Gyalpo lo sar, or “the King’s new year,” and

the Grand Lama holds a levee on this occasion. The Donnyer chenpo, or

Grand Chamberlain, opens the ceremony by wishing the lama all happiness

(“tra-shi de leg phun-sum tsog”), and presenting him some wine and

tsamba. The Grand Lama replies, “Tan-du de-wa tobpar shog” and dipping

his finger in the wine, sprinkles a little about as an oblation, and

then tastes the tsamba. Then the great trumpets sound, and the Dalai

lama takes his seat on the throne in the great hall, and all the

ministers and church dignitaries take their places according to

precedence. Tea is then served, followed by toma, a kind of red potato

of Tibet, cooked in butter and sugared. [454] When they have finished

eating, every one presents His Holiness with khatag about eighteen feet

long, and he gives each one in return his blessing.

In the mean time “the good luck dance” (tra-shi-gi gar) is going on

outside the hall, in which some twenty little boys, of eight years of

age, take part, the lower officials, such as the Dungkhor, forming the

audience.

In every house of any importance the master, his wife, and children are

offered the compliments of the season by all their relatives,

dependents, and friends, who, in their turn, are treated with wine by

them. When the New Year’s wine has been drunk, the misser (serfs) sing

some hymns or glees.

At the New Year the Tibetans watch out for omens for the forthcoming

year, the best of which, if one is to start soon on a journey, is to

see a young woman with a child in her arms. To see flags, banners,

milking of cows, persons carrying vessels filled with water or any

other liquid, or timber for house-building or firewood, is lucky, as is

also the sight of a corpse on a bier. To meet well-dressed persons, to

be greeted by friends, to hear a lucky name, are also held to be signs

of good luck; but to see beggars, ragged persons, empty vessels, a

person descending a hill, or carrying shoes in his hand, a saddled

horse without a rider, to hear impolite or rough language, are portends

of bad fortune. [455]

On New Year’s day dancing beggars (or Dre-kar) make their appearance in

the streets and houses. They wear masks, usually representing a black

devil, with a shaggy, white beard, with cowries for eyebrows and

encircling his face, and sometimes with a cowrie on either cheek. They

dance and crack jokes to the delight of the guests assembled in each

house for the New Year’s breakfast. [456]

In the afternoon there is further feasting in most of the houses, and

the guests, both male and female, frequently end the entertainment with

a dance (shabdo); first, the women dance alone, then the men, and

finally, both sexes together. [457]

The New Year’s festivities terminate on the third day at noon, when the

monks of the great lamaseries all meet in the Kyil khording (or Jo

khang) to hear the Grand Lama expound the faith. On each succeeding

day, till the 24th of the moon, they hold the great prayer-meeting, or

monlam chenpo. [458]

In the afternoon of the third, the Tsog-chen Shalnyo of Dabung assumes

the government of Lhasa for the next month and a half, previously

informing the police magistrates of the fact, and henceforth all

authority, even that of the Kalon, as far as the city is concerned, is

vested in him alone. [459]

NOTES

[1] Sarat Chandra has, in honour of Sir Alfred Croft, named the lake

Yamdo Croft. See Journ. Buddh. Text Soc., iv. pt. iii. p. iv.

[2] The publication of this volume has been unavoidably delayed.

[3] On the origin of Darjiling as a sanatorium, see Hooker, ‘Himalayan

Journals,’ (1854) i. 115.

[4] Hooker, op. cit., ii. 37, mentions seeing a troop of large monkeys

in the Lamteng valley (alt. 9000 feet) in Sikkim. Ibid., p. 108, he

says that in the most snowy part of Sikkim (near the Tunkra la) “large

monkeys are also found on the skirts of the pine forests, and a curious

long-tailed animal, Ailurus ochraceus, peculiar to the Himalaya,

something between a diminutive bear and a squirrel.” Large monkeys are

also found in Eastern Tibet at about 9000 feet alt.—(W. R.)

[5] Called Chung by the Lepchas. Though not divided into castes, they

belong to several tribes. All consider themselves as the earliest

inhabitants of the Tambur valley, though they have a tradition of

having originally emigrated from Tibet. See Hooker, op. cit., i. 137.

[6] It would, perhaps, be better to transcribe this mangdong (from

Tibetan mang, “many;” and dong, “stones”). Chorten is mchod,

“offering;” rten, “receptacle.” It is usually pronounced chürten. See

infra, 37, 40.—(W. R.)

[7] Made from half-fermented millet. Murwa is Eleusine coracana. See

Hooker, op. cit., i. 133, 175.—(W. R.)

[8] The country between the Arun and Tambur is called Limbudu by the

Nepali natives, and the aboriginal people who have dwelt there from

time immemorial are designated by the name of Limbu, though they call

themselves by the name of Yakthanga. In the same manner the tribes

inhabiting Kiranta, or the regions between Dudkosi and the Arun, are

called Kirat, which name is as old as that of the great Hindu deity

Mahadeva. The Kirat of the north and the Limbu of the south were known

to the ancients by the name of Kirata, on account of their living by

hunting and carrying on trade with the natives of the plains in musk,

yak-tails, shellac, cardamoms, etc., from the earliest Hindu periods.