Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-07-25
TILE TlIlBETANS.
y TRIBUTARY CHINESE PROV
NICE RULED BY LAMAS.
Manners and Customs in II Land
Where Every Tenth Man Is
Pricst-srlcctinE tho Su-
prone POntif.

that business altogether and perform it
very satisfactorily. Nor is there any
reason why they should not, inasn,uch rs
they number ore in ten of the entire
population Of the country. There are,
in fact, no less than 200, 900 of them
among people which does no. number
more than 1000, 900 souls in ALL 1t is
their duty to do all the PRAYING and
particularly to perform the most
important of all religious offices which
consists in keeping oil the evil one. II
it were not for the 200. 900 lumas in Til.
bet the country would simply bc swarm
ing with diabolical agents and it would
not be long before everything would be
turned topsyturvy. AS it is the priests
keep the evil spirits we'll in hand. and
all they require in return for this service
is that all the power as well ms all the
property Of the nation, pretty nearly,
shall he given into their hands.
The 200, 900 Buddhist priests o. lamas
in Thibct may hc roughly divided into
two classcs-thosc who dwell in amns-
cries, or monastarlcs, as they might BIZ
called, aud those who lead hermit life
in caves and holes in the rocks of the
mountains. The latter are ascctics who
are professionally absorbed in the con
temptation OF things divine. withdrawing
themselves from the society of other men
anti covering themselves only with rags
But the majority of the lnnas reside in
what might be termed ecclesiastical settle
mcnts, usually surrounded by high
wall, gathered about one or more
temples. These temples always have
red walls, and their roofs arc frequently
covered with thick plates Of pure gold
Inside the lainasery temple presents the
aspect of great hall dimly lighted, its
roof supported by many pillars which are
covered with gold and silver or with rich
carpets wrapped about them. There is
also long altar, behind which are
placed statues of the gods. When en-
gagged in Invocation the priest holds in
one hind silver bell and in the other
quccr-shapcd piece Of metal represent
ing thundcrbolt, and the words ne pro-
nounccs, rc-cnforccd by these weapons
and II volume of sacred writings from
which he reads, are calculated to ter
rorlzc any number Of demons who may
be lurking around with evil intentions.
The tale lama is the head Of the Bu-
dhist religion. He resides ut Lnssa, on the
top OF the mountain Ptnla. Ii is always
the proper thing, you know, for divin-
ity TO dwell upon height, from which
it may look down upon the people under
its protcction-nnd this supreme pontilT
is Il divinity of the first water, inasmurh
as.his body is merely ilcshy tenement in
which dwclls the god Avalokitcshwnra,
l,,, 10 In, tnf .,r
and especially of Thibct In other
words, the tale lama is the incarnation of
this dicty. When he dies some one must
succeed him in his office, and the first
thing necessary is to look about with view
to finding the person into whose body
the spirit of the God Inns passed Expc.
ricncc has shown that in such cases the
divine spirit always enters the corpus Of
child, and the women Of Thibct who
imagine that their boys exhibit symptoms
OF divine possession bring them to Llssa
for inspection by tho higher authorities.
First, the children are tested in various
ways, as by finding out il they manifest
recognition Of certain articles of per
sonal property formerly belonging to the
late lamcntcd tale lama. If IL boy rccog-
nizcd the deceased tale lama's night gown
il is the best Of evidence that he is really
the tale lama himself come to
life again at all events that he
has inherited the conscious entity
divine which animated the former
tale lama. Half Il dozen boys may ey-
hibit such symptoms, and i! only remains
to write their names on rs many slips of
paper and drop them into gold vase,
whence they arc drawn after the fashion
of lots, the lucky boy being nominated
for tale lama. Before he IS finally given
the place, however, his name must be
sent to the Chinese Emperor for approval.
Ii the Emperor docEn't indorsc the selcc
ton the process must be performed all
over again. But if the Emperor mp
proves, he sends back seal of Office for
the boy, who thcreupon takes an oath of
fenlty and becomes pope Of the Buddhist
faith
The rhibctans are rather jolly people
thnn otherwise. They like to sing and
dance, and, when they get drunk Oh
the stronger sort of barley wine, they are
apt to draw their formidable swords and
hack at each other. Horsc-racing is n
- hbiuoCIltuL Will LlcH, ana NJ
certain seasons they have fairs. They
are great travellers, on horseback chiefly;
but they make foot pilgrimagcs numcr-
ously, begging their way ms they 90.
They live in tents on the undulating
stcppes and elsewhere in two-story stone
houses, the lower story being used for n
stable and cattle-shcd, the fnmily occupy
ing the upper part. 1t is worth mention
ing that by no means all Of J,hibct is I'm.
der control from Lassa. The whole
country is divided up iuto tribes, politi
cally speaking, and many of the chiefs of
these tribes recognize no allegiance, not
even to China.
The Thibctans get their tea from west
ern China in the shape of bricks. 1t ism
coarse sort of tea and contains as many
twigs as leaves. The people OF Thlbet
pound portion OF it in mortar and
boil it in copper pot over fire made
from dry manure. Then they strain the
solution thus obtained through little
basket of coarse straw into little churD.
pprhop ma fuo ,,,,I . b,If f,ot l<:-G