When Tuden Chosji-Nyima, the late Panchen Lama, died in Jegu two or three years ago, his followers, a wild band of lawless Tibetans, immediately took possession of his body. The body is now being dragged from one point to another in the brigand Golok country north of Sikang. What will ultimo ately happen no one seems to know but this seems quite definite: the Panchen's following are not prepared to let the body leave their hands without at least some of them becoming free and wealthy men.
As the Panchen's followers retired from Kanze to the northwest they not only carried the body with them but everything of value belonging to the late spiritual head of Lamaland. During Tuden's years of residence in China and during his years of travelling throughout the Republic he acquired enormous wealth which required an ever-increasing retinue to guard. Wherever this great lama went, Hangchow, Shanghai, Nanking, Peiping and Mukden, the religious devotees placed their precious gifts at his feet. High Chinese officials vied with each other in the amount and value of their offerings and in a very short time the Panchen's bodyguard had assumed fairly large dimensions. And not only the rich but the poor also bestowed their poor gifts to get the lama's blessing both for this life and next. m Perforce someone had to carry the treasure as it had assumed the proportion of an American freight train and demanded something like 1,000 retainers to move the bag and baggage from one place to another. Wealthy religious devotees showered their jewels, others their precious relics, and many offered to the Panchen the things they held most dear in this world. And this went on for a number of years till the Panchen had boxes filled with ornaments of all descriptions, including many valuable gifts from foreign lamaistic devotees.
And wherever Tuden Chosji Nyima went his enormous following were fed like lords, dukes and nobles; the fattest of the land being requisitioned to keep this spiritual movement from starving to death; and like Jeshurun, the Panchen's retinue both waxed fat and kicked. From Mukden to Hangchow these humble followers of Shaja Tuba became proud, haughty, arrogant and spendthrifts, spending enormous sums of money on their pleasures and follies.: One frequently noticed in some of the big stores on Nanking Road lamas and drabas and retainers of the spiritual head of Lamaland dressed in gorgeous silks, satins and beautiful robes and wearing everything but the mien of one who was supposed to have freely renounced the world, the flesh and the devil. oe And nothing grows or sticks like evil habits. The Panchen's retainers became men of the world with worldly ambitions and desires that even a great city like Shanghai, had some difficulty in meeting. The followers of Tuden bought revolvers, ammunition, suit-cases, expensive silks, foreign shoes, European clothes and trilby hats. Of course somebody had to pay for all this but there seemed to be no end nor limit to the generosity bestowed upon a band of men whose one and only bent appeared to be pleasure.
The camp following now numbered 1,500 and was being added to almost every day. Like David in the cave of Adullam there gathered to the Panchen's standard everyone who was in distress, in debt and everyone who was discontented till the great lama's following included 1,000 of the worst riffraff of the Land of the Lamas. Many of these camp followers had no more religion than Dr. Shelton's famous tomcat; like Judas of old they had very little love for anybody but themselves; and the great lama who sat enthroned was entirely ignorant of the evil nature of the men who had freely flocked to his banner.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.