Buddhism in Siberia
Helen HundleyAssistant Professor: Russia, Soviet Union, Modern Britain Ph.D., University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1984
Professor Hundley teaches courses on Russian and Soviet History, Eastern Europe, modern English History and imperialism. Her article, "George Kennan and the Russian Empire: How America's Conscience became an Enemy of Tsarism," appeared in Kennan Institute Occasional Paper (Kennan Institute, 2000) and "The London Missionary Society's Mongolian Missions: British Insights into the 'Great Game' in Asia," was included in Splendidly Victorian, Essays in Honor of Walter l. Arnstein.
I. INTRODUCTION
DIFFERENT PATH--BUDDHISM--MISSIONARIES POST ANNEXATION TO RUSSIAN EMPIRE
SPECIFIC GROUP TARGETED: MONGOLS ---BURIAT-MONGOLS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
SHAMANISM AND BURIATS
II. THE BEGINNINGS
A. MONGOLS AND BUDDHISM
13TH C. FROM GHENGHIS KHAN--BEGINNING OF MONGOLIAN CONVERSION TO TIBETAN BUDDHISM
15TH C, GELUGPA ORDER---YELLOW HAT, MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
1617-1682---NGAWANG LOBSANG GYATSO--MONGOLS GAVE TITLE, DALAI LAMA, POST-DATED 5TH DALAI LAMA
B. MISSIONARIES TO THE BURIAT-MONGOLS--UP FROM MONGOLIA--YELLOW HAT
1741---OFFICIAL FOUNDING OF BUDDHISM IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
IN FACT, MISSIONARIES IN TRANSBAIKAL FROM 1660S--IN THE TRANSBAIKAL
FIRST NAMED MISSIONARY---LAMA SANJAYA-- KHALKHA MONGOLIA--1701 SELENGINSK
STUDENT--DAMBA DORZHA ZAYAYEV (1711- 1777) KNOWN AS LAMA JAYA
STUDIED IN URGA (ULAN BATAAR) AND LHASA, TIBET
1740--1777--IN SELENGINSK, TRANSBAIKAL
III. THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM
1740--1777-----11 DATSANS BUILT BY LAMA JAYA
view example of Siberian Datsan click here
IV. RUSSIAN RESPONSE
FOR BETTER/CLOSER RUSSIAN CONTROL:
1. CONTROL OF BUDDHISM IN SIBERIA
BANDIDO KHAMBO LAMA
2. LIMIT GROWTH OF BUDDHIS
LIMIT NUMBER OF BUILDING
LIMIT NUMBER OF LAMAS, ETC.
3. MORE CHRISTIANS--
a. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY
b. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR LUTHERANS AND CATHOLICS IN SIBERIA--ESP. EASTERN SIBERIA
c. RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MISSIONARIES
4. SPECIFIC LAWS:
18TH C.
1741--UKAZ, TSARINA ELIZABETH
1764--CATHERINE II CREATED POSITION OF BANDIDO KHAMBO LAMA
1. SEAT--AT SHIRETUI TSONGOL’SKII DATSAN-- LAMA JAYA FIRST BANDIDO KHAMBO LAMA
2. ALL CANDIDATES FOR BANDIDO KHAMBO LAMA WOULD BE RUSSIAN SUBJECTS ELECTED BY LOCAL LAMAS AND TAISHAS
19TH CENTURY:
1808--SEAT OF BANDIDO KHAMBO LAMA MOVED TO GUSINOE OZERO--CLOSER TO SECURELY HELD RUSSIAN TERRITORY
1853--“LAW ON THE LAMA CLERGY”--LIMITED NUMBER OF DATSANS--CLERGY
V. GROWTH OF BUDDHISM DESPITE RUSSIAN POLICIES:
1831------------85,000 OR 1/2 OF TRANSBAIKAL
1848-----------125,000 BOTH SIDES OF BAIKAL
1880S-------CISBAIKAL-----------13,000 TRANSBAIKAL-----147,000
1897--ALL RUSSIAN CENSUS
TOTAL BURIATS---61% OFFICIALLY BUDDHIST
CISBAIKAL------------10.58% (11,489)
TRANSBAIKAL-------91.8% (163,295)
VI. CONCLUSIONS--LATE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
A. ROLE OF BUDDHISM IN BAIKAL REGION--IRKUTSK GUBERNIIA AND TRANSBAIKAL
B. THEOSOPHISM--MADAME BLAGATSKAYA, MYSTICISM AND BUDDHISM
C. ROMANOV FAMILY
D. AGVAN DORJIEV AND 14TH DALAI LAMA