Page:The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism.djvu/272

244 THE HIERARCHY AND RE-INCARNATE LĀMAS. of K'ang Hi, probably about 1690-1700 A.D., and entrusted with the emperor's confidence as his religious vicegerent for inner Mongolia.

Head Lāma of Pekin.

In Ladāk only four monasteries have resident re-incarnate Lāmas or Ku-s'o. Although. they are of the red sect, these head Lāmas are said to be educated at Lhāsa. The present (1893) re-incarnate Lāma of Spitak, the seventeenth of the series, is thus described by Captain Ramsay. "A youth, 26 years of age, who lately returned from Lhāsa, where he had been for 14 years. He was handsomely dressed in a robe made of a particular kind of dark golden-coloured and yellow embroidered China silk, which none but great personages are allowed to wear, and he had on Chinese long boots, which he did not remove when he entered the house. His head and face were closely shaved, and one arm was bare. On entering the room he bowed, and then presented the customary 'scarf of salutation,' which I accepted. He impressed me very favourably; his manner and general appearance was superior to anything I had seen among other Lāmas or people of Ladāk."

In Sikhim, where few Lāmas are celibate and where the La-brang Lāma is the nominal head of the fraternity with the title of "Lord protector" (sKyab mGon), the fiction of re-incarnation was only practised in regard to the Pemiongchi and La-brang

1 Z. E. 21,, No. 53.

2 Op. cit., p. 69.

3 After Grünwedel.