p. 15 | Preparatory to Entering Tibet

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 25, 1908

Preparatory to Entering Tibet

TIBET has long held out against missionary advances. Even the introduction of the Bible itself has not been permitted, and it is only recently that an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, armed with a government passport, was able to make a successful trip to a town in the interior, distributing portions of the Scriptures. In his report to the Society, he stated that from what he saw and experienced during this visit, in his judgment the time was not ripe for entering Tibet with the Scriptures.

In view of the above, the following clipping from a late copy of a Shanghai paper, sent us by Dr. H. W. Miller, will be of interest. The Lord has ways for opening Tibet to the light of the gospel which in his own good time he will bring about, and it is quite possible that the movement tending to its annexation to China proper may be his chosen method for bringing about this desirable end. The article runs thus:—

“As the proposal to reorganize Tibet into a province on the same basis as those of China proper requires the personal sanction of the Dalai lama, or Buddhist pontiff, it has been decided by the Pekin government to invite him to the capital for a conference with the emperor. For this purpose the following procedure will be followed by advice of the ministries of rites and of dependencies: A special imperial decree is to be sent to the governor of Shansi, at the provincial capital of Taiyuan, commanding him to request the presence in Pekin of the Dalai lama, who is now at the great temple of Wutaishan, about eighty miles distant from Taiyuan. A special high official will also be sent to Wutaishan to arrange with the pontiff as to the date of his arrival in Pekin

for audience, which will then be telegraphed to his majesty. As soon as this is made known, the governor of Shansi is to send a high official to Wutaishan to escort the Dalai lama to Taiyuan; preparations are to be made all along the route for the comfort of the pontiff and his large retinue. As the Dalai lama approaches within thirty li of Taiyuan, the governor is to meet him and give welcome in the name of the emperor, and then escort the party into the city. The party will proceed to Pekin by way of Pao-ting, the capital of Chihli province, and when within a day’s march of that city will be welcomed by the viceroy of the province in the name of his imperial majesty. Arrived within the environs of Pekin, the pontiff is to be received by the members of the ministry of dependencies, the comptrollers-general of the imperial household, the general commanding the infantry division of the imperial guards, and the governor of Pekin, who will welcome him once more in the name of the emperor. A large body of troops and a military band will also be in attendance to escort the illustrious guest within the city walls of the imperial capital as far as the Huang Sze, or Yellow Temple, where the pontiff and his party will reside during their sojourn in Pekin. Special ceremonies also have been arranged for the pontiff’s audience with his liege lord, Kuang Hsu. According to these it is proposed that his majesty will rise from his throne upon the approach of the Dalai lama, and having received the latter’s obeisances, will ask him to take a seat on a bamboo couch specially placed at right angles to the throne. Refreshments will then be served, and the emperor will, among other subjects, converse with the pontiff on the conditions of Tibet. After the audience numerous gifts will be bestowed by the emperor and empress dowager upon their illustrious visitor, and a grand banquet will be given to him. When the Dalai lama leaves Pekin, a farewell banquet is to be given, at which the emperor will not be present, but will appoint certain ministers of the presence and members of the ministry of dependencies, and comptrollers-general of the imperial household department to act as hosts on the imperial behalf. Ministers of the presence and grand chamberlains will escort the Buddhist pontiff as far as Pao-ting, and on his return journey to Tibet he is to be welcomed and escorted a certain distance by the viceroys and governors, through whose provinces the party will pass on their way westward.”