晚清西藏入貢僧俗考－以國立故宮博物院藏半寶石數珠進貢者為例=Tibetan Eminent Monks and Aristocrats in the Late Nineteenth Century: Tributaries of Semi-precious Stone Rosaries in the Collection at the National Palace Museum
The Qing dynasty court had pursued a policy of ＂promoting the Gelug sect 黃教 to appease the Mongols＂ and won over eminent figure within this school of Tibetan Buddhism as a way to manage the various Mongol tribe. By adopting a tributary system of inviting those from afar, the Qing dynasty was able to amass a large collection of precious items in the form of tribute from neighboring peoples. The National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, has in its collection more than forty semi-precious stone rosaries which Qing court documents indicate were presented as tribute by Tibetan monks and laity. Many of these same records also provide the years received. However, the personal details and affiliated monasteries of these eminent monk and aristocratic clans, who submitted the rosaries for different occasions, are for the most part unknown. The primary objective of this study is to resolve issues related to these questions. By combing through historical documents, memorials, and records from the Qing dynasty court, the present study demonstrates that these rosaries were presented during the reigns of the Tongzhi (r. 1861-1875) and Guangxu (r. 1875-1908) emperors. In addition to regular tribute missions, some were offered for special occasions, such as offering thanks, the ascension of the emperor, and giving congratulatory or birthday blessings. Those who presented the offerings were eleven prominent monks of the six major monasteries in the Tibetan region during the late Qing dynasty, including incarnations of both the Dalai Lama 達賴喇嘛 and Panchen Lama 班禪喇嘛 over the years, as well as such religious figures as the regent, Hutuktu 呼圖克圖 in residence at the capital, and Jasak Lama 札薩克喇嘛. As for the laity, they were predominantly related to ten aristocratic families and included more than ten Tibetan officials, ranking figures, and officers. This discovery corroborates previous arguments proposed by scholars that Tibetan political power during the Qing dynasty was in the hand of just a few clans. In particular, this study identifies the five Tibetan aristocratic clans of the late Qing dynasty as the bSam-grub-pho-brang □, g. Yu-thog □, Phun-khang □, Lha-Klu □, and dGav bzhi □.
