LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET. 743 



granted only the third Panchen, Pande-yeshe, in 1870 at an audience 

 at Peking. At present the sixth incarnate lives; he was born in 1882, 

 and is therefore 20 years old. 



The Panchen is next to the Dalai Lama in official capacity, but in 

 the supervision of the laniaists he is considerabl}^ above him. because 

 of his holiness. Especially is he regarded as the future king of the 

 holy world "Shambala," in which he will be the principal leader. 



It is customary to call the Dalai Lama also ''Chyab-gong tham- 

 chiid-mkhen-pa" (the omniscient — the object of faith), but the Tibetan 

 applies this name to every eminent Lama incarnate he respects, since 

 the charm of the Dalai Lama, as a holy individual, is less effective 

 upon the religious feeling simply because of his distance than that 

 of a Lama more easily approached, to whom he can appeal more often 

 with inquiries relative to his religious requirements. The Dalai Lama, 

 therefore, is known at places distant from Lhasa only as the principal 

 ruler of Tibet, wdiile the religious sentiment of the laymen is directed 

 toward their patron, regardless of the sect to which he belongs. 



The teachings of Tsongkapa now reign supremo in Central Tibet, but 

 after the struggle during the first period of their introduction they 

 arc now entirely reconciled and to a certain extent are indifferent 

 toward other sects. The contemporary lamaist in general and the 

 Tibetan in particular regard the objects of faith of the various sects 

 with exactly the same reverence. Even the central government of 

 Tibet, with the Dalai Lama at its head, frequently bows before the 

 representatives of the old red-hat sect (the j^ellow-hat sect predomi- 

 nates now). The laity does this, of course, out of ignorance and super- 

 stition, but such explanation docs not appl}^ to the higher representa- 

 tives of the yellow-hats, who are guided by Tsongkapa's way of look- 

 ing at the world and possess a knowledge of the difference in the 

 views of other sects. We believe that the conduct of these men 

 toward other sects is inspired by political motives, the desire to satisfy 

 the superstitious requirements of the populace, and to be vindicated 

 in case of popular suffering and unfortunate political events. 



The central government of the land is in the hands of a council pre- 

 sided over by the Dalai Lama, called '' deva-dzung." The principals in 

 this council are four " kalons," or dignitaries, appointed by the Chinese 

 Emperor, and their meetings arc held in a special office — ''kashag," or 

 (executive house. They arc appointed from prominent aristocratic 

 families, three of them civilians, the fourth a clergyman. For the 

 local administration governors arc sent from the " deva-dzung,'' usually 

 two in number with equal powers — one a clergyman, the otiier a civil- 

 ian. Districts are frequently leased, the lessee ruling according to 

 established custom, l)eing obliged to })ay into the treasury a certain 

 sum of money or to pay in kind. Usually these lessees arc members 



SM 1903 48 



