tibi;tan houses, showing the feat roofs 



rules that govern this Lama "Holy of 

 Holies" are strikingly like those estab- 

 lished by God for the Israelites. A 

 screen made of iron rings (see page 970) 

 veils the sacred image from the common 

 people. 



Around the temple are markets and 

 stores. The noise of all kinds of traffic 

 continues through the day. Multitudes 

 of people throng the temple from morn- 

 ing till night. Lamas go in and out to 

 perform their daily duties, pilgrim:; 

 make prostrations on the floor in w^or- 

 ship, and hosts of beggars infest the 

 holy place craving food and money. 

 Such is the superstition of the ignorant, 

 mingled with the sufi^ering of the poor, 

 in striking contrast with the riches o£ 

 the institutions of the Lama religion. 



A great sacred conference is held an- 

 nually in this temple from the second of 

 the second month until the 22d. when 

 80,000 Lamas from all over the Lama 

 Kingdom assemble daily for prayer, 

 reading of their classics, and other re- 

 ligious observances. 



On the outside are many tablets erec- 

 ted for the purpose of commemorating 

 the military achievements of the Chinese 

 generals who subdued the Tibetans. 

 Among them two tablets are of great his- 

 toric significance to the Chinese. The 

 one on the right was erected in memory 

 of the alliance between the second em- 

 peror of the T'ang dynasty and his 

 nephew, the son of Princess Wen-cheng. 

 The other one, in front, relates the history 

 of founding hospitals and efiforts made 

 to stamp out an epidemic of smallpox, 

 which had been harassing the whole 

 country. 



the three great monasteries oe 



EHASA 



Seven miles to the west of Lhasa is 

 the largest monastery in Tibet, called the 

 Dupon Monastery. It is situated in a 

 rocky ravine between high mountains 

 (see page 960). Its size is so enormous 

 that, looking from a distance, one may 

 easily mistake it for a large city. Amid 

 the numerous building-s is a beautiful 



967 



