History of Tibet - Manchurian Qing Dynasty - The Golden Urn

The Golden Urn

The defeat of the 1791 Nepalese invasion increased the Qing's control over Tibet. From that moment, all important matters were to be submitted to the ambans.

In 1792, the emperor issued a 29-point decree which appeared to tighten Qing control over Tibet. It strengthened the powers of the ambans. The ambans were elevated above the Kashag and the Dalai Lama in responsibility for Tibetan political affairs. The Dalai and Panchen Lamas were no longer allowed to petition the Chinese Emperor directly but could only do so through the ambans. The ambans took control of Tibetan frontier defense and foreign affairs. Tibetan authorities' foreign correspondence, even with the Mongols of Kokonor (present-day Qinghai), had to be approved by the ambans. The ambans were put in command of the Qing garrison and the Tibetan army (whose strength was set at 3000 men). Trade was also restricted and travel could be undertaken only with documents issued by the ambans. The ambans were to review all judicial decisions. The Tibetan currency, which had been the source of trouble with Nepal, was also taken under Beijing's supervision. However, according to Warren Smith, these directives were either never fully implemented, or quickly discarded, as the Qing were more interested in a symbolic gesture of authority than actual sovereignty; the relationship between Qing and Tibet remained one of two states. The Cambridge History of China states that Tibet and Xinjiang were territories of the Qing dynasty in 1760.

It also outlined a new method to select both the Dalai and Panchen Lama by means of a lottery administered by the ambans in Lhasa. The purpose was to have the Mongol grand-lama Qubilγan found in Tibet rather than from the descendents of the Činggisid aristocracy. In this lottery the names of the competing candidates were written on folded slips of paper which were placed in a golden urn (Mongol altan bumba; Tibetan gser bum:Chinese jīnpíng:金瓶). The emperor also wanted to play this part in choosing reincarnations because the Gelugpa School of the Dalai Lamas was the official religion of his court. Despite this attempt to meddle in Tibetan affairs, generally the emperor's urn was politely ignored, except when, in the mid-nineteenth century, Qing support was needed against foreign and Nepalese encroachment. The selection was made by the appropriate Tibetan officials using the previous incarnation's entourage, or labrang, with the selection being approved after the fact by the emperor. In such cases the emperor would also issue an order waiving the use of the urn. The tenth Dalai Lama was actually selected by traditional Tibetan methods, but in response to the amban's insistence, the regent publicly announced that the urn had been used. The eleventh was selected by the golden urn method. The twelfth Dalai Lama was selected by the Tibetan method but was confirmed by means of the lottery.

Nepal was a tributary state to China from 1788 to 1908. In the treaty signed in 1856 that concluded the Nepalese-Tibetan War, Tibet and Nepal agreed to "regard the Chinese Emperor as heretofore with respect." Michael van Walt van Praag, legal advisor to the 14th Dalai Lama, claims that 1856 treaty provided for a Nepalese mission, namely Vakil, in Lhasa which later allowed Nepal to claim a diplomatic relationship with Tibet in its application for United Nations membership in 1949. However, the status of Nepalese mission as diplomatic is disputed and the Nepalese Vakils stayed in Tibet until the 1960s when Tibet had been part of PRC for a decade. In 1841 the Sikh Empire attempted to establish their authority on Ü-Tsang but where defeated in the Sino-Sikh war (1841–1842).