Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/145

 in Peking; there are upwards of a hundred of them in Mongolia. They are all terrestrial saints, of highly-developed holiness, who never die, but pass from one body to another. A newly-born gigen is discovered by the lamas of the temple to which his predecessor belonged, and is confirmed in office by the Dalai Lama. It devolves upon the latter dignitary to appoint a successor to himself, but the Chinese Government secretly exercises great influence in the election, which usually falls on some poor unknown family. The personal insignificance of the Dalai Lama, in the absence of family ties in the country, is the best guarantee the Chinese can have of the submission of Tibet, or, at all events, of their own security from an unruly neighbour. They have indeed good cause to be watchful, for if a talented, energetic person were to appear on the throne of the Dalai Lama, he might with one word, like the voice of a god, cause a rising of the nomads from the Himalayas to Siberia. Deeply imbued with religious fanaticism and the bitterest hatred for their oppressors, the wild hordes would invade China and cause it great injury.

The influence of the gigens is unlimited; a prayer offered up to one of them, the touch of his garments, his benediction, are regarded in the light of the greatest blessings humanity can enjoy; but they are not to be had gratis. Every believer must bring his offering, which, in some cases, is very large. The