Reading section 41

Numerous Tibetan documents discovered in the Tarim basin[922] date from this period. The absence in them of Buddhist personal names and the rarity of direct references to Buddhism indicate that though known in Tibet it was not yet predominant. Buddhist priests (ban-de) are occasionally mentioned but the title Lama has not been found. The usages of the Bonpo religion seem familiar to the writers and there are allusions to religious struggles.

When Padma-Sambhava vanished from Tibet, the legend says that he left behind him twenty-five disciples, all of them magicians, who propagated his teaching. At any rate it flourished in the reign of Ralpachan (the grandson of Khri-sroṇ-lde-btsan). Monasteries multiplied and received land and the right to collect tithes. To each monk was assigned a small revenue derived from five tenants and the hierarchy was reorganized[923]. Many translators were at work in this period and a considerable part of the present canon was then rendered into Tibetan. The king's devotion to Buddhism was however unpopular and he was murdered[924] apparently at the instigation of his brother and successor Lang-dar-ma[925], who endeavoured to extirpate Lamaism. Monasteries were destroyed, books burnt, Indian monks were driven out of the country and many Lamas were compelled to become hunters or butchers. But the persecution only lasted three years[926], for the wicked king was assassinated by a Lama who has since been canonized by the Church and the incident of his murder or punishment is still acted in the mystery plays performed at Himis and other monasteries.

After the death of Lang-dar-ma Tibet ceased to exist as a united kingdom and was divided among clans and chieftains. This was doubtless connected with the collapse of Tibetan power in the Tarim basin, but whether as effect or cause it is hard to say. The persecution may have had a political motive: Lang-dar-ma may have thought that the rise of monastic corporations, and their right to own land and levy taxes were a menace to unity and military efficiency. But the political confusion which followed on his death was not due to the triumphant restoration of Lamaism. Its recovery was slow. The interval during which Buddhism almost disappeared is estimated by native authorities as from 73 to 108 years, and its subsequent revival is treated as a separate period called phyi-dar or later diffusion in contrast to the sṇa-dar or earlier diffusion. The silence of ecclesiastical history during the tenth century confirms the gravity of the catastrophe[927]. On the other hand the numerous translations made in the ninth century were not lost and this indicates that there were monasteries to preserve them, for instance Samye.

At the beginning of the eleventh century we hear of foreign monks arriving from various countries. The chronicles[928] say that the chief workers in the new diffusion were La-chen, Lo-chen, the royal Lama Yeśes Ḥod and Atîśa. The first appears to have been a Tibetan but the pupil of a teacher who had studied in Nepal. Lo-chen was a Kashmiri and several other Kashmiri Lamas are mentioned as working in Tibet. Yeśes Ḥod was a king or chieftain of mṄ̇̇̇̇̇̇̇̇̇a-ris in western Tibet who is said to have been disgusted with the debased Tantrism which passed as Buddhism. He therefore sent young Lamas to study in India and also invited thence learned monks. The eminent Dharmapâla, a monk of Magadha who was on a pilgrimage in Nepal, became his tutor. Yeśes Ḥod came to an unfortunate end. He was taken captive by the Raja of Garlog, an enemy of Buddhism, and died in prison. It is possible that this Raja was the ruler of Garhwal and a Mohammedan. The political history of the period is far from clear, but evidently there were numerous Buddhist schools in Bengal, Kashmir and Nepal and numerous learned monks ready to take up their residence in Tibet. This readiness has been explained as due to fear of the rising tide of Islam, but was more probably the result of the revival of Buddhism in Bengal during the eleventh century. The most illustrious of these pandits was Atîśa[929] (980-1053), a native of Bengal, who was ordained at Odontapuri and studied in Burma[930]. Subsequently he was appointed head of the monastery of Vikramaśîla and was induced to visit Tibet in 1038[931]. He remained there until his death fifteen years later; introduced a new calendar and inaugurated the second period of Tibetan Buddhism which is marked by the rise of successive sects described as reforms. It may seem a jest to call the teaching of Atîśa a reform, for he professed the Kâlacakra, the latest and most corrupt form of Indian Buddhism, but it was doubtless superior in discipline and coherency to the native superstitions mixed with debased tantrism, which it replaced.

As in Japan during the eleventh and twelfth centuries many monasteries were founded and grew in importance, and what might have happened in Japan but for the somewhat unscrupulous prescience of Japanese statesmen actually did happen in Tibet. Among the numerous contending chiefs none was pre-eminent: the people were pugnacious but superstitious. They were ready to build and respect when built the substantial structures required to house monastic communities during the rigorous winter. Hence the monasteries became the largest and safest buildings in the land, possessing the double strength of walls and inviolability. The most important was the Sakya monastery. Its abbots were of royal blood and not celibate, and this dynasty of ecclesiastical statesmen practically ruled Tibet at a critical period in the history of eastern Asia and indeed of the world, namely, the conquests of Chinggiz[932] and the rise of the Mongol Empire.

There is no evidence that Chinggiz was specially favourable to Buddhism. His principle was one King and one God[933] and like other princes of his race he thought of religions not as incompatible systems but as different methods of worship of no more importance than the different languages used in prayer. The destruction wrought by the Mongol conquerors has often been noticed, but they had also an ample, unifying temper which deserves recognition. China, Russia and Persia all achieved a unity after the Mongol conquest which they did not possess before, and though this unification may be described as a protest and reaction, yet but for the Mongols and their treatment of large areas as units it would not have been possible. The Mings could not have united China before the Yüan dynasty as they did after it.

In spite of some statements to the contrary there is no proof that the early Mongols invaded or conquered central Tibet, but Khubilai subdued the eastern provinces and through the Lamaist hierarchy established a special connection between Tibet and his dynasty. This connection began even in the time of his predecessor, for the head Lama of the Sakya monastery commonly known as Sakya Pandita (or Sa-skya-pan-cen) was summoned to the Mongol Court in 1246-8, and cured the Emperor of an illness[934]. This Lama was a man of great learning and influence. He had received a double education both secular and religious, and was acquainted with foreign languages. The favourable impression which he created no doubt facilitated the brilliant achievements of his nephew and successor, who is commonly known as Bashpa or Pagspa[935].

Khubilai Khan was not content with the vague theism of Central Asia and wished to give his rude Mongols a definite religion with some accessories of literature and manners. Confucianism was clearly too scholastic for a fighting race and we may surmise that he rejected Christianity as distant and unimportant, Mohammedanism as inconveniently mixed with politics. But why did he prefer Lamaism to Chinese Buddhism? The latter can hardly have been too austerely pure to suit his ends, and Tibetan was as strange as Chinese to the Mongols. But the Mongol Court had already been favourably impressed by Tibetan Lamas and the Emperor probably had a just feeling that the intellectual calibre of the Mongols and Tibetans was similar and also that it was politic to conciliate the uncanny spiritual potentates who ruled in a land which it was difficult to invade. At any rate he summoned the abbot of Sakya to China in 1261 and was initiated by him into the mysteries of Lamaism[936].

It is said that before Pagspa's birth the God Ganeśa showed his father all the land of Tibet and told him that it would be the kingdom of his son. In later life when he had difficulties at the Chinese Court Mahâkâla appeared and helped him, and the mystery which he imparted to Khubilai is called the Hevajravaśîtâ[937]. These legends indicate that there was a large proportion of Sivaism in the religion first taught to the Mongols, larger perhaps than in the present Lamaism of Lhasa.

The Mongol historian Sanang Setsen relates[938] that Pagspa took a higher seat than the Emperor when instructing him and on other occasions sat on the same level. This sounds improbable, but it is clear that he enjoyed great power and dignity. In China he received the title of Kuo-Shih or instructor of the nation and was made the head of all Buddhists, Lamaists and other. In Tibet he was recognized as head of the Church and tributary sovereign, though it would appear that the Emperor named a lay council to assist him in the government and also had a commissioner in each of the three provinces. This was a good political bargain and laid the foundations of Chinese influence in a country which he could hardly have subdued by force.

Pagspa was charged by the Emperor to provide the Mongols with an alphabet as well as a religion. For this purpose he used a square form of the Tibetan letters[939], written not in horizontal but in vertical lines. But the experiment was not successful. The characters were neither easy to write nor graceful, and after Pagspa's death his invention fell into disuse and was replaced by an enlarged and modified form of the Uigur alphabet. This had already been employed for writing Mongol by Sakya Pandita and its definitive form for that purpose was elaborated by the Lama Chos-kyi-ḥod-zer in the reign of Khubilai's successor. This alphabet is of Aramaic origin, and had already been utilized by Buddhists for writing religious works, so its application to Mongol was merely an extension of its general currency in Asia[940].

Pagspa also superintended the preparation of a new edition of the Tripitaka, not in Mongol but in Chinese. Among the learned editors were persons acquainted with Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan and Uigur. An interesting but natural feature of this edition is that it notes whether the various Chinese texts are found in the Tibetan Canon or not.

Khubilai further instituted a bureau of fine arts, the head of which was a Lama called Aniko, skilled in both sculpture and painting. He and his Chinese pupil Liu Yüan introduced into Peking various branches of Tibetan art such as Buddhist images of a special type, ornamental ironwork and gold tapestry. The Chinese at this period appear to have regarded Tibetan art as a direct importation from India[941]. And no doubt Tibetan art was founded on that of Nepal which in its turn came from Bengal. Miniature painting is a characteristic of both. But in later times the individuality of Tibet, shown alike in its monstrous deities and its life-like portraits of Lamas, imposed itself on Nepal. Indian and Tibetan temples are not alike. In the former there is little painting but the walls and pillars are covered with a superabundance of figures carved in relief: in Tibet pictures and painted banners are the first thing to strike the eye, but carvings in relief are rare.

It is hard to say to what extent the Mongols beyond such parts of northern China as felt the direct influence of the imperial court were converted to Lamaism. At any rate their conversion was only temporary for, as will be related below, a reconversion was necessary in the sixteenth century. It looks as if the first growth of Mongolian Buddhism was part of a political system and collapsed together with it. But so long as the Yüan dynasty reigned, Lamaist influence was strong and the downfall of the Yüan was partly caused by their subservience to the clergy and extravagant expenditure on religious buildings and ceremonies. After the departure of Pagspa, other Lamas held a high position at the Court of Peking such as Chos-kyi-hod-zer and gYuṇ-ston rDo-rje-dpal. The latter was a distinguished exponent of the Kâlacakra system and the teacher of the historian Bu-ston who is said to have arranged the Tibetan Canon.

Although the Yüan dynasty heaped favours upon priests and monasteries, it does not appear that religion flourished in Tibet during the fourteenth century for at the end of that period the grave abuses prevalent provoked the reforming zeal of Tsong-kha-pa. Prom 1270 to 1340 the abbots of Sakya were rulers of both Church and State, and we hear that in 1320 they burned the rival monastery of Dikung. The language of Sanang Setsen implies that each abbot was appointed or invested by the Emperor[942] and their power declined with the Yüan dynasty. Other monasteries increased in importance and a chief known as Phagmodu[943] succeeded, after many years of fighting, in founding a lay dynasty which ruled parts of Tibet until the seventeenth century.

In 1368 the Ming superseded the Yüan. They were not professed Buddhists to the same extent and they had no preference for Lamaism but they were anxious to maintain good relations with Tibet and to treat it as a friendly but vassal state. They accorded imperial recognition (with an implication of suzerainty) to the dynasty of Phagmodu and also to the abbots of eight monasteries. Though they were doubtless glad to see Tibet a divided and contentious house, it does not appear that they interfered actively in its affairs or did more than recognize the _status quo_. In the time of Khubilai the primacy of Sakya was a reality: seventy years later Sakya was only one among several great monasteries.

The advent of the Ming dynasty coincided with the birth of Tsong-kha-pa[944], the last reformer of Lamaism and organizer of the Church as it at present exists. The name means the man of the onion-bank, a valley near the monastery of Kumbum in the district of Amdo, which lies on the western frontiers of the Chinese province of Kansu. He became a monk at the age of seven and from the hair cut off when he received the tonsure is said to have sprung the celebrated tree of Kumbum which bears on its leaves wondrous markings[945]. According to the legend, his birth and infancy were attended by miracles. He absorbed instruction from many teachers and it has been conjectured that among them were Roman Catholic missionaries[946]. In early manhood he proceeded to Tibet and studied at Sakya, Dikung and finally at Lhasa. His reading convinced him that Lamaism as he found it was not in harmony with the scriptures, so with the patronage of the secular rulers and the support of the more earnest clergy he successfully executed a thorough and permanent work of reform. This took visible shape in the Gelugpa, the sect presided over by the Grand Lama, which acquired such paramount importance in both ecclesiastical and secular matters that it is justly termed the Established Church of Tibet. It may also be conveniently termed the Yellow Church, yellow being its special colour particularly for hats and girdles, in opposition to the red or unreformed sects which use red for the same purpose. Tsong-kha-pa's reforms took two principal lines. Firstly he made monastic discipline stricter, insisting on celibacy and frequent services of prayer: secondly he greatly reduced, although he did not annihilate, the tantric and magical element in Lamaism. These principles were perpetuated by an effective organization. He himself founded the great monastery of Gandan near Lhasa and became its first abbot. During his lifetime or shortly afterwards were founded three others, Sera and Depung both near Lhasa and Tashilhunpo[947]. He himself seems to have ruled simply in virtue of his personal authority as founder, but his nephew and successor Geden-dub[948] claimed the same right as an incarnation of the divine head of the Church, and this claim was supported by a hierarchy which became overwhelmingly powerful.

Tsong-kha-pa died in 1417 and is said to have been transfigured and carried up into heaven while predicting to a great crowd the future glories of his church. His mortal remains, however, preserved in a magnificent mausoleum within the Gandan monastery, still receive great veneration.

Among his more eminent disciples were Byams-chen-chos-rje and mKhas-grub-rje who in Tibetan art are often represented as accompanying him. The first played a considerable part in China. The Emperor Yung-Lo sent an embassy to invite Tsong-kha-pa to his capital. Tsong-kha-pa felt unable to go himself but sent his pupil to represent him. Byams-chen-chos-rje was received with great honour[949]. The main object of the Ming Emperors was to obtain political influence in Tibet through the Lamas but in return the Lamas gained considerable prestige. The Kanjur was printed in China (1410) and Byams-chen-chos-rje and his disciples were recognized as prelates of the whole Buddhist Church within the Empire. He returned to Tibet laden with presents and titles and founded the monastery of Serra in 1417. Afterwards he went back to China and died there at the age of eighty-four.

mKhas-grub-rje founded the monastery of Tashilhunpo and became its abbot, being accepted as an incarnation of the Buddha Amitâbha. He was eighth in the series of incarnations, which henceforth were localized at Tashilhunpo, but the first is said to have been Subhûti, a disciple of Gotama, and the second Mañjuśrîkirti, king of the country of Śambhala[950].

The abbot of Tashilhunpo became the second personage in the ecclesiastical and political hierarchy. The head of it was the prelate commonly known as the Grand Lama and resident at Lhasa. Geden-dub[951], the nephew of Tsong-kha-pa, is reckoned by common consent as the first Grand Lama (though he seems not to have borne the title) and the first incarnation of Avalokita as head of the Tibetan Church[952]. The Emperor Ch'êng Hua (1365-1488) who had occasion to fight on the borders of Tibet confirmed the position of these two sees as superior to the eight previously recognized and gave the occupants a patent and seal. From this time they bore the title of rGyal-po or king.

It was about this time that the theory of successive incarnations[953] which is characteristic of Lamaism was developed and defined. At least two ideas are combined in it. The first is that divine persons appear in human form. This is common in Asia from India to Japan, especially among the peoples who have accepted some form of Hindu religion. The second is that in a school, sect or church there is real continuity of life. In the unreformed sects of Tibet this was accomplished by the simple principle of heredity so that celibacy, though undeniably correct, seemed to snap the thread. But it was reunited by the theory that a great teacher is reborn in the successive occupants of his chair. Thus the historian Târanâtha is supposed to be reborn in the hierarchs of Urga. But frequently the hereditary soul is identified with a Buddha or Bodhisattva, as in the great incarnations of Lhasa and Tashilhunpo. This dogma has obvious advantages. It imparts to a Lamaist see a dignity which the papacy cannot rival but it is to the advantage of the Curia rather than of the Pope for the incarnate deity of necessity succeeds to his high office as an infant, is in the hands of regents and not unfrequently dies when about twenty years of age. These incarnations are not confined to the great sees of Tibet. The heads of most large monasteries in Mongolia claim to be living Buddhas and even in Peking there are said to be six.

The second Grand Lama[954] enjoyed a long reign, and set the hierarchy in good order, for he distinguished strictly clerical posts, filled by incarnations, from administrative posts. He was summoned to Peking by the Emperor, but declined to go and the somewhat imperative embassy sent to invite him was roughly handled. His successor, the third Grand Lama bSod-nams[955], although less noticed by historians than the fifth, perhaps did more solid work for the holy see of Lhasa than any other of his line for he obtained, or at least received, the allegiance of the Mongols who since the time of Khubilai had woefully backslidden from the true faith.

As mentioned above, the conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism took place when their capital was at Peking and chiefly affected those resident in China. But when the Yüan dynasty had been dethroned and the Mongols, driven back into their wilds, were frequently at war with China, they soon relapsed into their original superstitions. About 1570 Altan[956] Khagan, the powerful chief of the Tümed, became more nearly acquainted with Tibet, since some Lamas captured in a border fray had been taken to his Court. After causing China much loss and trouble he made an advantageous peace and probably formed the idea (which the Manchus subsequently proved to be reasonable) that if the Mongols were stronger they might repeat the conquests of Khubilai. The Ming dynasty was clearly decadent and these mysterious priests of Tibet appeared to be on the upward grade[957]. They might help him both to become the undisputed chief of all the Mongol tribes and also to reconquer Peking. So he sent an embassy to invite the Grand Lama's presence, and when it was not successful he followed it with a second.

The Grand Lama then accepted and set out on his travels with great pomp. According to the story he appeared to the astonished Mongols in the guise of Avalokita with four arms (of which two remained folded on his breast) and the imprint of his horse's hoofs showed the six mystic syllables _om mani padme hum_. These wonders are so easily explicable that they may be historical.

A great congregation was held near Lake Kokonor and Sanang Setsen records an interesting speech made there by one of his ancestors respecting the relations of Church and State, which he compared with the sun and moon. The Lama bestowed on the Khagan high sounding titles and received himself the epithet Dalai or Talai, the Mongol word for sea, signifying metaphorically vast extent and profundity[958]. This is the origin of the name Dalai Lama by which the Tibetan pontiff is commonly known to Europeans. The hierarchy was divided into four classes parallel to the four ranks of Mongol nobles: the use of meat was restricted and the custom of killing men and horses at funerals forbidden. The observance of Buddhist festivals was made compulsory and native idols were destroyed, but the deities which they represented were probably identified with others in the new pantheon. The Grand Lama specially recommended to the Mongols the worship of the Blue Mahâkâla, a six armed representation of Śiva standing on a figure of Ganeśa, and he left with them a priest who was esteemed an incarnation of Mañjuśrî, and for whom a temple and monastery were built in Kuku-khoto.

His Holiness then returned to Tibet, but when Altan Khagan died in 1583 he made a second tour in Mongolia in order to make sure of the allegiance of the new chiefs. He also received an embassy from the Chinese Emperor Wan-Li, who conferred on him the same titles that Khubilai had given to Pagspa. The alliance between the Tibetans and Mongols was naturally disquieting to the Ming dynasty and they sought to minimize it by showing extreme civility to the Lamas.

This Grand Lama died at the age of forty-seven, and it is significant that the next incarnation appeared in the Mongol royal house, being a great-grandson of Altan Khagan. Until he was fourteen he lived in Mongolia and when he moved to Lhasa a Lama was appointed to be his vicar and Primate of all Mongolia with residence at Kuren or Urga[959]. The prelates of this line are considered as incarnations of the historian Târanâtha[960]. In common language they bear the name of rJe-btsun-dam-pa but are also called Maidari Khutuktu, that is incarnation of Maitreya. About this time the Emperor of China issued a decree, which has since been respected, that these hierarchs must be reborn in Tibet, or in other words that they must not reappear in a Mongol family for fear of uniting religion and patriotism too closely.