Huge Tachienlu The Late Mr. Berkin Landmark Burns Of Kuling Tachientu, Jan, 24.
'A. disastrous fire took' place outside the south gate last night. About 8 pin. the Summer Palace of the King of Jala, Sehdoh, was a blazing mass; and in' three hours time some~ thing' Ike $600,000 had gone up in flames. How the fire started remains a mystery, but one story has it that some nomads sat round a fire drinking yak butter tea, and what happened after that no one knows tilt the flames and smoke were pouring out of the burning building.
'The flames spread very rapidly and in a short time the fire spread to surrounding buildings, including a Tamasery, recently built, In the Jamasery' was one of the most valuable editions of the Ganjur, the Tamas' bible, along the Tibetan frontier. The "Ganjur consists of 108. volumes and it takes 20 to 30 yak to move the bible from one place to another, In a lama procession 108. lamas carry a volume each, 108 being the number of the beads in the Jamas rosary.
This copy of the Ganjur was printed in gold tetters and was formerly housed in the King of Jala's palace in the city. When the palace burned in 1912 apparently the Ganjur was rescued from the fames and was moved up to the Summer Palace outside the south gate, Here it lay in safety for 28 years and a new lami serv Was built to house this enormous Tibetan bible," Various authorities ive different prices as the value this mass of Tibetan Iterature and tone authority valued it at 30,000 rupees, but probably it would be mich more now that the price of old has risen considerably. A. copy.
the Ganjur printed in gold would now be valued at 200,000 silver rupees, This copy, belonging as it did to the former King of Jala, was quite fan elaborate edition, and was more fan ornament and Work of art than.
book of religion. Each volume was artistically wrapped up in yellow sil and occupied a prominent place the lamaseries of the different sects "throughout Lamaland. What religious place It occupied formerly may not be known but today it is largely a closed book and venerated and worshipped by the ignorant and superstitious and dark robed lamas all over the root of the world.
'There is a well Known lama in 'Tochlentu named the Gotsar Inearna tion' who makes an' attempt every year to read chapters of the Ganjur. The date is made public and lamas and drabas from all over Kham come here to hear him read the sacred books. Gotsar makes no effort to explain the Tibetan bible nor does ho seek in any way to accommodate his reading to the ignorant oF sup stitlous, He reads it against time and simply races through the pages. Tis known that less than one every 100 lamas or drabas either can rend or understand this mass. of 'The Ganjur deals with every known object and during hundreds years it has suffered severely at the hands of interpolaters. Nyawang Jamtso, a dissolute Dalai Lama, maniulated the text to sult' his own Durpose; another Tibetan scholar now a fugitive from Lamaland for having Injecied his own thoughts into this religious work. The Ganjur is divided into three parts and covers such subjects as astronomy, astrology, physics, medicine, ethics, religion, mathemiaties and prophecy. It is written in elassieat Tibetan so is open only to classical scholars. So far-no attempt has been made to put this mass of Iterature into the common Tanguage of the people and probably such an attempt would be met with bitter opposition, In a tribute to the life and work of the late Mr. John Berkin, for many years a resident of Kuling, whose @eath from pneumonia on February' was reported in these - columns last' week, a personal friend and former colleague now resident in Kuling, writes:
Mr, Berkin's death came as a shock to his many friends here for though he has suffered off and on from asthma for many years, he was frequent visitor to all and every, they will see him no more, Is dificult to think of Kuling' without Mr, Berkin, He was here from its infancy, and prominent at Lis birth. In its development he had an Important share, for being a for, by profession, he measured tes the Estate for many years under the riling Council he guarded its interests, and with others, who saw in Kuling health for the children, refreshment for the weary, and the salvation many lives, he planned for its develop~ ments and guarded them until the valley became the most famous health resort in Central China. "Managerial ability had its part in this consum~ motion, but more than that, especially.
the early days, the kindly, unassuming, Imperturbable spirit of John Berkin' told on the growing com-
"He gave of his best to the spiritual side of the life of the community, rejoined when a church worthy of the name adorned the valley, and served Interests in ungrudging service. He never forgot his spiritual ancestry. He was_a British Methodist, coming, ut to China at first as a member of; the "Joyful "News Mission," and worked for some time at Tanghsien, In Sulchow, Hupeh. "Reminiscences of those old days were his delight, and, nis ota friends were never forgotten.
He leaves behind him four children Louise and John, both married; and Dick and Bob, finishing their educa tion in England, Mrs. Berkin remains Koling, where all their interests have been.
Min. Loh Tun-wel was appointed Secretary to the Executive Yuan by order of the Chinese National Government on Thursday, Chungking message to the "sin Wat Pao" Mr. Ling Mien-sheng has been, appointed, of the Hupeh Provincial Govern-_ mont to succeed Mr. Yen Lih-shan, who has been relieved of the posts.
Holder, all Americans, occupied rooms in the Summer Palace. Han~ hah, Mary, Yeshedrama, and Denden also had rooms and Aja Puntso, the fast son of the King of Jala, only charged the eleven occupants G.$1.50 foch month, The destruction of these Historic buildings is most unfortunate with Unem went much of the glory of the Land of the Lamas.
More then one week ago two other historic buildings in the city went
sums of money (rupees) paper up in ames; and with them enormous ars, musk, tea and wool. "A Tibetan and his wife quarrelled ana while they did, so the Gochuang went fire. It happened early in the fore-'200n and before noon burning embers were all that was left of the wealth fest houses in Dardzendo, It was a large double building and each had own separate name; Asha Tohma being the name of one and Asha Shama the name of the other, Go-chuang is, made up of two Chinese words which mean: Go (cauldron) and chuang (to place), the two words meaning: the place where the cauldron is placed, that fs, the fireplace or the kitchen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.