The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-03
A Buddhist Pope In Picking
Visit Of the Dalai Lama to the Chinese
Capital.

Homer tnan the rope OF Rome, Tor
he claims 10 be the reinearnation of a
God, and more absolute than the Gar
of Russia, for he is spiritual as well
as temporal autocrat, the Dalai Lama
of Thibet holds unique position. 1t
is well known that the secret of ro-
nance is re.noteness, and this his ad-
visers have so thoroughly understood
that they have always taken care to
shroud their priest king in mystery. In
Lhasa he was seldom allowed to go
outside the gilded palace-the wonder
full Potala; the faithful who journeyed
from all the Buddhist Himalayan
States, from the remotest corners of
Mongolia. and even from China itself,
worshiped him with lowered eyes. He
was in fact kept impersonal, remote,
undivinable, for the sake of his spirit
ual prestige.
When the British expedition entered
holy Lhasa in 1904 his unwilling seem
ed inevitable Nothing but the most
extreme measures could save him from
being dragged into the disillusioning
glare of publicity. Either he had to
suffer the indignity of being gazed on
by unsympathetic crowds, of being
dragged into durbar as a signatory, or
he had to flee. To escape the ordeal
he fed-and in the most picturesque
and effective way possible at dead of
night, silently, up the narrow valley
which leads to Mongolia.
Since that unlucky year, he has been
travelling continually over mountain
ranges and across deserts, and his visit
to Picking is by express invitation of
the Emperor of China, who wished to
consult with him about the tangled
web of Thibetan politics. The Chinese
capital was certainly not originally in
Guided in the program of his wan
derihar, and he came with reluctance
First he fingered for FIVE months at
the holy city of WI Tai Shan, where
| the Chinese spent enormous sums in fit
ting out the temple for his reception.
| The roofs were retiled with glistening
yellow porcelain titles; the rooms We're
hung with yellow silk from the i'm
| perial looms, and the floors were cover
| ed with the finest camel s hair carpets,
A continuous stream of pilgrims came
| daily to ask his blessing.
Among other visitors, he received
Mr.. Rockhill, United States minister te
China, who in former years Travelled
extensively in Thibet and who still
speaks Thibetan fuently. The Dala
Lama, when the first greetings were
over, when he had partaken of tea ant
food with his guest (this was an ex
ceptional unbending), naively inquired
"Well, what have you brought me?'
Like all Orientals, he has mania TO
new toys, which please and distrae
him and temporarily break the monot
ony of his long dull days, The onl,
gift to which be took exception was
monograph sent him on one occasion
by the Maharajah of Nepal. For !;
few moments the Dalai Lama listened
to it attentively Then he suddenl,
rose and ordered it removed. ''I cal
not live with a voice that has III
soill,'' said he.
Though greedy for gifts, he is quit
willing to repay them in kind, and h
presented the American minister witt
Buddhas and prayer wheels. These, O
course. were in addition to the cere
monial scarfs which at every audienc'
the Dalai Lama places on the shoulder
of his visitors The higher the ranl
of the caller, the finer the scarf, bu
so far as coloring goes, the very bes
of them are disappointing. All ar
simple blue and white, specially woven
in the Chinese province of Shantung
and Of coarse silk.
It was far from easy to persuade tn
Dalai Lama to leave WI Tai Shan 70
Peking. Possibly he was nervous 70
his safety in a capital. He finally Sc
out, however. travelling for the frs
time in his life by train. Two othe
specials" transported his attendant
and baggage and the entry into tn
city was magnificent. Fifty stated,
camels gay with red and yellow trap
pings CARED his personal possessions
Fifty horses-temporarily detache'
from the Chinese cavalry-carried hi
more important followers, and in add
ton there were numberless carts t
transport odds and ends such as tent
and camp-followers. As they passe
through the medieval gateways of oil
Peking, the effect was more than beat
tiful Fellows, reds, green's, stood on
| in vivid contrast to the gray of tn
J walls, and in addition to these sunse
I colors of the Thibetans, there wer
1 the brilliant sunrise colors of the Mar
chu women come out to see the sight
| the pinks and mauves and magenta
] marvelously and daringly combined
I gowns and shoes and head dresses.
1 If these good ladies had lurkin
feminine desire for a little admiratio
, from the strangers, they were eli
appointed. The Dalai Lama himse
\ stepped straight from the train I'M
his yellow covered chair and neithF
! saw nor was seen by anyone. AS f,