Imperial Authority Over the Trülku Institution
Imperial Authority Over the Trülku Institution
This chapter discusses the Qianlong Emperor's efforts to control the trülku institution. Among these was finding a method for identifying reincarnations that was less prone to corruption. To this end, he manufactured two golden urns for drawing lots. One he sent to the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa in September 1792 and one he displayed in the Yonghegong in Beijing. The urn in Beijing was intended for reincarnations among the Mongols. The idea was that eminent Gelukpa trülkus would draw lots from it under the supervision of officials from the Lifan Yuan. In this way, the Gelukpa elite in Central Tibet were prevented from exerting their influence over the Mongolian procedure for selecting and identifying young trülkus. The procedure for drawing lots was laid down in the first of a total of twenty-nine articles of a decree to improve Tibetan administration.
Keywords: Qianlong emperor, trülkus, Tibet, reincarnations, golden urns
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