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VLADIMIR USPENSKY
Tüshiyetü Khan by the emperor but two years later he was degraded to a gosiyun-u
Jasay for poor military performance.
In 1720 Dondubdorji participated in the military campaign against the Jungars who
had occupied Tibet. After the Jungar withdrawal he was appointed a member of a six¬
men provisional government of Tibet.’
The Kangxi Emperor invited the Öndör Gegeen for his seventieth jubilee which was
to be celebrated in 1723. However, he did not live to see this event and passed away in
December 1722. The Öndör Gegeen came to Beijing despite the fact that he himself
had almost ninety years of age. He paid homage to the late emperor and soon passed
away in the Western Yellow Temple (PH 5x +).
A report was submitted to the Yongzheng emperor by the Department of the Tribu¬
tary Territories (Lifanyuan fy) after the Khutugtu’s demise. Among the other
things it requested granting to Öndör Gegeen a posthumous title and seal “in the same
way as it has been done for the Dalai Lama and the Banchen Erdeni.” Needless to
say that the Jebtsundamba Khutugtus were thus put in line with the most important
incarnated lamas of the Qing empire. On the basis of this report the Yongzhen #£ ıF.
emperor issued a following order: “The Khutugtu was greatly favoured and appreciated
by my father emperor and was respected and honoured by him. My father emperor
passed away on the jia wu H/F day. The Khutugtu also passed away on the jia wu
H7- day. Undoubtedly this demonstrates the result of the link which existed between
the Khutugtu and the emperor. The Khutugtu cannot be regarded as an ordinary monk.
I will go myself to his coffin and will hang a khadag, make a tea offering and express
my veneration.”
According to the existent custom an incarnated lama should have prophesied him¬
self the details concerning his future rebirth. According to a number of his traditional
biographies, when asked about his future reincarnation, the Ond6r Gegeen said: “Take
care of a girl born in the monkey and hen years.” This was heard by the “princess”
(1.e., the wife of Dondubdorji). She reported this to the emperor who sent her husband
Dondubdorji to Khalkha Mongolia by postal stations, i.e. at the state’s expense. He
found there a girl who was born in the monkey year and made her his concubine. Her
name was Tsagan-Dara-Bayartu, she belonged to the family of the tabunang Dashi.
In 1724 the second incarnation of the Jebtsundamba Khutugtu was born." Interest¬
3 Petech, Luciano: China and Tibet in the Early XVIII Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese
Protectorate in Tibet. 2"', revised ed. E. J. Brill, Leiden 1972, p. 74.
Tlonos, II. C. (tr.): Men-ey-10-my-y3u. 3anucku 0 monzojecKkux Kouveeoax. Cauxt-Iletep6ypr 1895,
pp. 329-330. I used a Russian translation of a well-known Chinese work 3 Hr ÜrNAL (“The Records
of the Mongolian Pastures”). Its Mongolian translation is also available. The corresponding passage
in Mongolian is found here: Jang Mu: Mongyol-un gosiyu nutuy-un temdeglel. Vol. 2. Undüsüten-ü
keblel-iin goriy-a, Begejing 1990, pp. 13-15.
> Bawden, Charles: The Jebtsundamba Khutukhtus of Urga: Text, Translation and Notes. Otto Harras¬
sowitz, Wiesbaden 1961, pp. 67-69; Ilosnueeg, A. M.: Moneonua u moneonvı. T.1. Inesnuk u mapıupym
1892 2oda. Cauxt-Hetepoypr 1896, pp. 509-511.
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