Lamas, Empresses and Tea: Early Twentieth-Century Sino-British Encounters in Eastern Tibet

ABSTRACT

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Tibetan plateau was a zone of intense imperial contact—and competition—between British India and Qing China. Even before the 1904 Younghusband Expedition to Lhasa, Indian rupees had become the primary currency of commercial exchange across the plateau, and British explorers had gathered detailed knowledge of both the presumed natural resource bounty of eastern Tibet and the lucrative border tea trade traversing it. This article explores models manifested by these interactions between British and Qing officials, merchants and explorers in the Kham region of ethnographic Tibet and the role empires played in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century global spread of Euro-American norms. Although Sichuan officials directly engaged with administering Kham shared a common perception of Khampa society with their British counterparts, they also recognised the encroachment of Indian rupees and British explorers as challenges to Qing authority, if not a prologue to territorial expansion paralleling the contemporaneous scramble for concessions in coastal China. Beginning with the establishment of the Zongli Yamen in 1861, close Sino-British interaction along two tracks, British ‘lessons’ in statecraft and diplomacy in the imperial capital Beijing and commercial and political actions in the imperial borderland of Kham, provided models for Qing assertion of exclusive authority on the plateau. Two globalising norms inflected in these British models—territoriality and sovereignty—fostered transformative policies in the borderland during the first decade of the twentieth century. Implemented by Sichuan officials, these policies sought to undermine Lhasa's local challenge to Chinese authority via monasteries, thereby legitimising appeal to international law to repel regional challenges from both British India and Russia. This article analyses in depth two examples of these policies in action: a silver coin modelled on the Empress Victoria Indian rupee and a monopoly tea company partly modelled on British Indian tea firms and the Indian Tea Association. Both contributed to weakening the political, social and economic power projected into Kham by British India and Lhasa. The adaptation of these models in Qing policies fostered by the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Sino-British encounter in Kham reveals the conduits through which Euro-American norms of authority were shared, and demonstrates their power to transform relations in the interstices of global power, where empires met empires and states met states.

KEYWORDS:

• Qing China
• British India
• Kham
• imperialism
• sovereignty
• borderland
• currency

Acknowledgements

For their insightful suggestions, I would like to thank Paddy Booz, Simon Hill, and Niccolò Pianciola, as well as two anonymous reviewers for the journal. I am also grateful for the comments of participants in the Among Empires conference convened at Lingnan University in Hong Kong in 2015, at which this paper was first presented, and during a presentation to the Center for Chinese Studies at the National Central Library in Taipei in 2017.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Scott Relyea http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-6155

Notes

1 Romanisation of Tibetan names and terms follows the Tibetan and Himalayan Library's (THL) Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan (http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/) and romanisation of Chinese names and terms follows the Hanyu pinyin system.

2 The stele also proclaimed the smaller corner of Kham to its south to be under the jurisdiction of Yunnan Province. See Chen, ed. Xizang zhi, 125; Kolmaš, Tibet and Imperial China, 41.

3 Not every polity in Kham hosted a Gelukpa monastery or one with any stature, so the Dalai Lama's spiritual influence in some polities might have been only slight. On the bifurcated structure, see Relyea, ‘Yokes of Gold’.

4 See Choudhury, ‘British Quest.’

5 Lu, Zhandui shugao, 41.

6 Ibid., 5.

7 On territoriality, see Maier, ‘Transformations of Territoriality’.

8 Krasner, Sovereignty, 20.

9 See ‘Item No. 61’, MSS EUR F80/177, The National Archives, Kew (hereafter TNA). For a brief discussion of the Simla Conference, convened between representatives of the British, Tibetan and Republican Chinese governments, see Goldstein, History of Modern Tibet, 68–75; McGranahan, ‘Empire and Status of Tibet’, 269–274.

10 See Svarverud, ‘Re-constructing East Asia’. Martin's book was a translation of Henry Wheaton's Elements of International Law; its publication and distribution were funded by the Zongli Yamen.

11 See Kayaoğlu, Legal Imperialism.

12 Hall, Treatise on International Law, 42–43.

13 See Hevia, English Lessons.

14 Cooley, T .F. Wade in China, 115; Martin, ‘La Chine’,, 504–09. Through 1904, Martin (among other foreigners) translated several works of international law into Chinese. For a list, see Svarverud, International Law, 270–84.

15 See Wang, The Margary Affair; Cooley, T.F. Wade in China, 116–31.

16 See Anghie, Imperialism.

17 Hevia, English Lessons, 150–52.

18 Ibid., 158–62. On new imperialism, see Chamberlain, The New Imperialism.

19 ‘Xizang yu Sichuan qiantu zhi guanxi [The Future of Relations between Tibet and Sichuan]’, Sichuan 2, 1908, 45.

20 On Hu's book, see Zhang, ‘Yuan xi ru zhong’.

21 See Relyea, ‘Indigenizing International Law’.

22 See Ma, Qingmo Chuanbian.

23 In most British and Chinese sources of the era, monks resident in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries were erroneously referred to as ‘lamas’, a term reserved for esteemed teachers or heads of monasteries.

24 ‘Shouhui Chunke Gaori jiaohui tusi yinxin jingnei liangji ling yibing gaitu guiliu zhe [Take back the seals of Chunke and Gaori chieftains, retake their territories, and bureaucratise all including Langji Ling]’, 1909 (XT1), in Wu Fengpei, ed. Zhao Erfeng Chuanbian zoudu, 304. (Note that the year of the corresponding imperial reign will appear in parentheses for documents and works published in Qing China; XT refers to the Emperor Xuantong and GX refers to the Emperor Guangxu.)

25 Landor, In the Forbidden Land, 228.

26 ‘Kaitong Xizang chuyi [A Humble Opinion on Opening Tibet]’, Guangyi congbao 109, 1906 (GX32), 2a.

27 No. 0006, 1904 (GX29), Qingmo Chuandian bianwu dangan shiliao (hereafter, QCBDS), 7–8; see also No. 0027, 1904 (GX30), QCBDS, 40–41.

28 Zhang, Sanshinian lai zhi Xikang jiaoyu, 74–76. Nyingmapa and Gelukpa are two of the most prominent schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the Dalai Lama heads the latter. A putan is a woollen cloth which monks wear over their shoulder.

29 This effort to undermine both the monasteries of Kham and the influence of Tibetan Buddhism on Khampa society was undoubtedly influenced by a modernist discourse against ‘superstition’, similarly tied to notions of nation and state, then informing the actions of officials and reformers across the empire. See Duara, ‘Knowledge and Power’.

30 Holdich, Tibet, the Mysterious, 331.

31 Lu, Zhandui shugao, 119–21.

32 See, for example, Davis and Wilburn, Jr., Railway Imperialism.

33 Hallett, ‘Exploration Survey’, 4.

34 Ular, ‘England, Russia and Tibet’, 858.

35 See Choudhury, ‘British Quest for Trade Routes’, 181–82.

36 ‘Zou she ChuanZang tielu [Memorialising to construct the Sichuan-Tibet Railway]’, Guangyi congbao 105, 1906 (GX32), 11a–11b.

37 ‘Zhao Erxun’, 543 Roll 70, Record 361, 1909 (XT1), First Historical Archives, Beijing, PRC.

38 Chen, ‘Qingmo Chuanbian zhu Zangyuan’, 75.

39 Baber, Travels and Researches, 198. Baber notes that Chinese referred to the coin as lamatou, ‘lama's head’. Some Khampas even believed the empress represented the Dalai Lama. See Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer, 456.

40 Both the mace (qian) and the candareen (fen) are measures of weight, the former equal to 1/10th of a tael, or approximately 3.7 grams, the latter 1/10th of a mace. The total weight of an Empress Victoria rupee was approximately 11.6 grams.

41 Rockhill, Land of the Lamas, 279–80. On tea bricks as currency, see Bertsch, ‘Use of Tea Bricks’.

42 Baber, Travels and Researches, 198.

43 Rockhill, Land of the Lamas, 271.

44 Zhong, ‘Zangyang (Sichuan lubi)’, 19; Chen, ‘Qingmo Chuanbian zhu Zangyuan’, 75–77.

45 See Gill, River of Golden Sand, 170; Baber, Travels and Researches, 197–98.

46 See Tao, ‘Zangyou suiji’, 371; Zhou, ‘Qingmo ZhongYing’, 155–56; Zhang. ‘Zhi waibu … ’, 1361.

47 The Zangyuan was also the first Chinese coin to bear a human portrait. See Peng, Zhongguo huobi shi, 799. All previous imperial coins were cast with a square hole in the centre. Beginning in the seventh century, these coins typically included four characters inscribed around the hole on the obverse, the two aligned vertically designating the reign period during which they were cast. See Hartill, Cast Chinese Coins; von Glahn, ‘Foreign Silver Coins’, 52, n. 4.

As early as the first century bce, Chinese rulers were aware of coins ‘in the far west’ that were cast with the portraits of kings. Aside from the constraints of the square-hole design, however, it is not entirely clear why no coin before—or after—the Zangyuan bore the portrait of a Chinese emperor. This may be due to the predominantly private use of portraiture, often in the practice of ancestor rites, in imperial Chinese society, their display reserved for members of the family or lineage, or among small groups of friends. Ebrey suggests that the earliest Chinese rulers not only saw ‘no advantage in spreading knowledge of their faces or their forbears’ [sic] faces’, but noted that such portraits ‘could be used by rebels who wished to claim a new mandate of heaven or who claimed to be the rightful heir of a former dynasty’. Circulation of imperial portraits was outlawed. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), ‘it was made illegal to make or possess an image of a ruler or former rulers’. Ebrey, ‘Portrait Sculptures’, 46, n. 13. On imperial portraiture, see also Stuart and Rawski, Worshiping the Ancestors, 38–46.

48 See Zhang, ed., Sichuan Zangyang, 14–21; Chen, ‘Qingmo Chuanbian zhu Zangyuan’, 79; Zhou, ‘Qingmo ZhongYing’, 156–57; Bailey, China—Tibet—Assam, 68.

49 No. 0058, 1906 (GX31), QCBDS, 71; see also Zhang, ed., Sichuan Zangyang, 2–3.

50 See von Glahn, ‘Foreign Silver Coins’. Similar to the divergent values of the Victorian and Georgian rupees in Kham, the Carlos IV peso, known colloquially as the ‘Buddha-head’ (fotou 佛頭), was exchanged at a higher rate than coins issued during the reign of his predecessor, Carlos III. Throughout the nineteenth into the early twentieth centuries, though increasingly scarce, the ‘Buddha-head’ peso also held a higher value than its successor, the Mexican Republican dollar. See also Peng, Zhongguo huobi shi, 782–83.

51 Von Glahn, ‘Foreign Silver Coins,’ 54; see also Peng, Zhongguo huobi shi, 793–94.

52 See Chen, ‘Qingmo Chuanbian zhu Zangyuan’, 80. The total value of coins minted amounted to some 7,283,934 yuan. The Zangyuan circulated in one yuan, half yuan and quarter yuan denominations.

53 No. 0264, 1909 (XT1), QCBDS, 284; No. 14 in Wu, ed., Lianyu zhu Zang zougao, 8; Zhang, ed., Sichuan Zangyang, 6.

54 See Qing 7-74 and 7-73, Sichuan Provincial Archives, Chengdu, China (hereafter SA). The Regulations comprised Zhao's blueprint for the transformation of authority in Kham.

55 No. 0264, QCBDS, 284.

56 No. 0390, 1909 (XT1), QCBDS, 436–37. See also Wang, ‘Sichuan Zangyang’, 17.

57 Bailey, China—Tibet—Assam, 68.

58 Ganzi xianzhi, 195.

59 Zhang, ed., Sichuan Zangyang, 23–25; Wang, ‘Sichuan Zangyang’, 17–18.

60 See Xie and Guo, ‘Xikang biancha jianjie’, 550–52; Shitao, ‘Wanqing Chuan-Zang nanlu biancha tanxi’, 64–65; Ren, Kang-Zang shidi da gang, 76.

61 Xie and Guo, ‘Xikang biancha jianjie’, 551.

62 See Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation, 19, 31–34; You, Sichuan jindai maoyi shiliao, 52–58, 145.

63 Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation, 38–39.

64 See Baber, Travels and Researches, 196. The tea road to Lhasa which traversed Kham departed Dartsedo via the city's southern gate, thus this trade was known as ‘southern route’ trade.

65 See, for example, Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation; Hutchison, Indian Brick Tea for Tibet; Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer; Baber, Travels and Researches.

66 Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation, 39–40.

67 Chen, Jiao ye chen meng, 9; see also Huang, Xizang tukao, 198; Zhang, Ding Zhanting zhilue, 14a.

68 Baber, Travels and Researches, 198.

69 Yun, Xizang zhi - fengsu.

70 ‘Brick Tea’, Chambers's Journal Series 5, 8408, 1891, 678.

71 He, Zangyu, 130, 142–43. However, the veracity of these reports is uncertain.

72 Qing 7-469, SA.

73 ‘Dajianlu ting Wang quangao chashang yanshuo [Text of Dartsedo Magistrate Wang's speech admonishing the tea merchants]’, Sichuan guanbao 14, 1909 (XT1), 2a–2b. Wang's description of British Indian tea production and transport might have been based on inaccurate or exaggerated reports.

74 See also ‘Chaye gailiong [Improving the tea industry]’, Sichuan guanbao 5, 1909 (XT1), 2a.

75 ‘Brick Tea’, Chambers's Journal Series 5, 8408 (1891), 678; see also Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation, 37; Cooper, Travels of a Pioneer, 410.

76 Rosthorn, On the Tea Cultivation, 27.

77 Hutchison, Indian Brick Tea, 60–61.

78 See Chen, ‘Qingmo de biancha’, 80; Qing 7–469, SA. Zhao then opened investment to Sichuan merchants in other industries, but continued to prohibit the sale of shares to government officials and especially foreigners.

79 ‘Biancha gongsi chengli [Establishment of the Frontier Tea Company]’, Chengdu Shangbao 5, 1910 (XT2), 4b.

80 See You, Sichuan jindai, 143; Gu and Chen, Sichuan chaye shi, 253; ‘Chuancha gongsi jinqing [Recent situation of the Sichuan Frontier Tea Company]’, Sichuan guanbao 23, 1910 (XT2), 4; Qing 7-469, SA; ‘Quanyedao xiang zhunshi banguan chagonghang putong guice [Bureau of Industry rules for opening a government tea company]’, Sichuan guanbao 5, 1911 (XT3), 9a–10b; 6, 1911 (XT3), 11b–14a; 7, 1911 (XT3), 13a–13b; 8, 1911 (XT3), 11b–13a.

81 No. 0416, 1909 (XT1), QCBDS, 462–65.

82 See Gu and Chen, Sichuan chaye shi, 222–23; Baruwā, Tea Industry of Assam, 38–39; Siddique, ‘Emergence of the Tea Industry’. Experimentation had a long history in the Assam tea industry, beginning with the discovery of indigenous tea in 1835 and initially carried out by Chinese tea experts and labourers.

83 See Qing 7-469, SA; ‘Sichuan chawu jiangxisuo zhanzheng [Sichuan Tea Industry Institute Regulations]’, Sichuan guanbao, 17, 1910 (XT2), 1a–2b; Gu and Chen, Sichuan chaye shi, 262–65.

84 Sun, Lubian diaocha ji, 21a. Of course, Sun was speaking of control through more than tea as this policy was more successful in Qing memorials and rhetoric than in reality.

85 Whitley, ‘The Attack on Tibet’, 226; Hosie, Mr. Hosie's Journey to Tibet, 123; see also ‘Military Report on Tibet’, 1910, L-MIL-17-14-92,, 26–27, TNA.

86 No. 0006, 1904 (GX29), QCBDS, 8.

87 Booz. ‘Fear of Indian Tea’.

88 Bell, The People of Tibet, 122.

89 ‘Xikang chaye zhi weiji’ [The Crisis in Xikang Tea].’ Bianshi yanjiu 4, no. 5, 1936, 110–12.