Forging the Golden Urn

The Qing Empire and the Politics of Reincarnation in Tibet

Nonfiction, History, Asian, China, Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Religions, Buddhism
Cover of the book Forging the Golden Urn by Max Oidtmann, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Max Oidtmann ISBN: 9780231545303
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: July 31, 2018
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Max Oidtmann
ISBN: 9780231545303
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: July 31, 2018
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

In 1995, the People’s Republic of China resurrected a Qing-era law mandating that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to limit the ability of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to independently identify reincarnations. In so doing, they elevated a long-forgotten ceremony into a controversial symbol of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet.

In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann ventures into the polyglot world of the Qing empire in search of the origins of the golden urn tradition. He seeks to understand the relationship between the Qing state and its most powerful partner in Inner Asia—the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Why did the Qianlong emperor invent the golden urn lottery in 1792? What ability did the Qing state have to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions? What did this law mean to Qing rulers, their advisors, and Tibetan Buddhists? Working with both the Manchu-language archives of the empire’s colonial bureaucracy and the chronicles of Tibetan elites, Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology—a lottery for assigning administrative posts—was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for identifying and authenticating reincarnations. Forging the Golden Urn sheds new light on how the empire’s frontier officers grappled with matters of sovereignty, faith, and law and reveals the role that Tibetan elites played in the production of new religious traditions in the context of Qing rule.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1995, the People’s Republic of China resurrected a Qing-era law mandating that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to limit the ability of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to independently identify reincarnations. In so doing, they elevated a long-forgotten ceremony into a controversial symbol of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet.

In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann ventures into the polyglot world of the Qing empire in search of the origins of the golden urn tradition. He seeks to understand the relationship between the Qing state and its most powerful partner in Inner Asia—the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Why did the Qianlong emperor invent the golden urn lottery in 1792? What ability did the Qing state have to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions? What did this law mean to Qing rulers, their advisors, and Tibetan Buddhists? Working with both the Manchu-language archives of the empire’s colonial bureaucracy and the chronicles of Tibetan elites, Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology—a lottery for assigning administrative posts—was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for identifying and authenticating reincarnations. Forging the Golden Urn sheds new light on how the empire’s frontier officers grappled with matters of sovereignty, faith, and law and reveals the role that Tibetan elites played in the production of new religious traditions in the context of Qing rule.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book In the Catskills by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Faces of Power by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Beyond Gnosticism by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Technology in Postwar America by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book The Shahnameh by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book The Right to Know by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book The Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945 by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book On Friendship by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Robert K. Merton by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Capital and the Common Good by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Uncreative Writing by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book The Way the Wind Blows by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book No Place for Russia by Max Oidtmann
Cover of the book Sociology and Social Policy by Max Oidtmann
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy