The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-05-09
Tibetan Social Life.

a noticeable feature of the national
life of Tibet is the immense number of
monasteries and nunneries which are to
| be found scattered over the country In
the neighborhood of Lhasa alone there
are eleven monasteries, in which are clois-
tered upward of twenty thousand monks,
and the nunneries are found in like pro-
portion. This apparent devotion to spir-
itual concerns is a. first sight calculated
to arouse our admiration and sympathy,
but little consideration suggests the
idea that the religious fervor of these
Tibetan monks and nuns is a good deal
heightened by a keen sense of soIdid
self-interest. If the blood of martyrs is
the seed of churches, poverty, especially
in the East, has wonderful effect in
multiplying the crop. To the men who
have no taste for the hard labor de-
manded by the soil from its tillers, and
the women who have no means OF gain
ing livelihood for themselves, the
secluded idleuess and secured meals of
monastery or nunnery present attractions
which it is next to impossible to resist.
The women also have an excuse for enter
ing religious orders which is denied to
men, for there exists in Tibet one of those
extraordinary marriage customs which
are occasionally met with in out-ofthe-
way parts of the world, and which are to
be explained only by reference to the
surrounding circumstances of the people.
A numerous progeny, in poor and err
lie country, is doubtless a distinct evil,
and it is one which naturally suggests
the imposition of a check even to those
who have never heard of Nautilus or his
doctrines. This we may suppose to have
been the position of the Tibetans when
they cast about for some plan by which they
might limit the increase of the population.
The plan they adopted for this purpose is
almost unique, and is called polyandry,
which may be explained as being the
exact reverse of polygamy; for AS in
most Eastern countries it is lawful for a
man to have plurality of wives, in Tibet
it is the custom for Il woman to have
plurality of husbands. The usual prac-
tice is for two, three, or four brothers in
IA household to marry one wife. They
all reside in one house, and the children
are considered to be the joint offspring
of all. 1t is inconceivable to us that such
a system should exist for an hour; but in
Tibet, far from giving rise to the evils
which might be expected to flow from it,
it works easily and WE'LL and the pic
lures which travellers give US of Tibetan
households display degree of domestic
happiness and affection which certainly
equals that enjoyed in much more favored
lands. This is description NJ. Boyle gives
of family at whose house he spent the
night: The house belongs to two broth
ers, who are married TO very handsome
wife, and have three of the prettiest chill
dren ever saw. They all came TO drink
tea and eat sugar-candy. After night
came on, the whole family assembled in
a room TO dance 10 their own singing,
and spent two hours in this manner with
abundance of mirth and glee.'
But if such system renders marriage
an impossibIity to many women, it makes
some amends by elevating the position of
those who succeed in entering the bonds
of wedlock. The natural rivalry which
exists between the husbands tends to en-
courage them in a chivalrous regard for
the comfort and well-being of their com
mon wife. The ornaments which adorn the
garments and head dresses of the women
bear testimony to very general desire
TO please on the part Of their husbands,
while the effect Of the attention thus be-
slowed on the weaker vessel" renders
them more delicate and joyous than any
Of their polygamy- bound neighbors. To
a certain extent, also, it has on the men a
refining effect which must always result
from the habit of considering the wishes
of others but in other respects it leaves
them, as it found them, hard and uncul-
tivated