Tibet Impressions: The Qing Imperial Resident's Office
On Barkhor North Street in Lhasa's old town, there is a 'Qing Government Imperial Resident's Office' – a courtyard with more than three hundred years of history. It was originally the earliest office of the Imperial Resident in Tibet under the Qing Dynasty. Later, it was burned down in an incident, and the Resident's office was moved elsewhere. After restoration, the courtyard changed hands several times, eventually degenerating into a large mixed residential compound until 2012, when it was converted into an exhibition hall and opened to the public.
Speaking of the Imperial Resident's Office, let's briefly trace the relationship between Tibet and the central Chinese dynasties. The origins and development of humanity on the snowy plateau roughly paralleled the Chinese civilization of the Yellow River basin; however, due to geographical conditions, Tibet's population was sparse and its development slow, remaining for a long time divided among numerous petty kingdoms.
It was not until 633 AD – the seventh year of the Zhenguan era under Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty – that the 33rd Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, unified the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and established his capital at Lhasa. Society then entered a phase of rapid development. At its height, the kingdom's territory stretched from Kashmir in the west to the western parts of present-day Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan in the east, from north of the Tianshan Mountains in the north to the southern foothills of the Himalayas. In 846, the Tibetan king Langdarma launched an anti-Buddhist persecution that led to his assassination by a Buddhist. His sons Yundan and Wusong fought for the throne, triggering civil strife, which in turn sparked a popular uprising. In 877 (the fourth year of the Qianfu era of Tang Emperor Xizong), rebel forces captured Lhasa, and the Tibetan Empire collapsed. That same year, the Huang Chao Rebellion broke out in China proper, as the Tang Dynasty itself was teetering on the brink.
After the fall of the Tibetan Empire, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau again fragmented into many tribal states. Following over a century of warfare, around the early Northern Song Dynasty, the descendants of Yundan held Lhasa and the Yarlung region, establishing the Lhasa royal line. The grandson of Wusong, Zha Denima, retreated to Ngari; once stable, he divided his territory among three sons: the eldest took Kashmir and founded the Ladakh Kingdom; another took Zhangzhung and founded the Guge Kingdom; the third took parts of Gansu and Qinghai, founding the Tsongkha Kingdom (known to the Song as the Gusiluo state). The Tsongkha Kingdom lasted just over seventy years before perishing in struggles with the Western Xia and Northern Song; after the Northern Song fell to the Jurchens, its lands were absorbed by the Jin Empire.
Towards the end of the 12th century, the Mongols rose from the northern grasslands and swept across Eurasia. To quickly defeat the Southern Song and the Dali Kingdom, the Mongol leadership decided to advance southward via the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In 1239, Ögedei Khan – son of Genghis Khan – sent troops into Tibet, where they massacred five hundred monks and destroyed two monasteries as a show of terror. In 1240, they sent troops again into Lhünzhub, north of Lhasa, hoping to find a single ruler with whom to negotiate surrender, but they found Tibetan political and religious authority deeply divided; there was simply no central government to negotiate with. Before withdrawing, the Mongols told local elders to select representatives to travel north for talks, or face a massacre.
Under intense military pressure, Tibetan religious and secular leaders convened in Lhasa and unanimously chose the Sakya master Sakya Pandita as their envoy. He went to Liangzhou in Gansu to negotiate with Köden, son of Ögedei. During the talks, Sakya Pandita successfully persuaded Köden to convert to Buddhism, and pledged that Tibet would accept Mongol suzerainty. In return, the Mongols granted him temporal authority over Tibet. In 1260, Kublai Khan ascended the Mongol throne. By then both Köden and Sakya Pandita had died. Kublai summoned Sakya Pandita's successor, Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, conferred upon him the title 'Imperial Preceptor', and established the Xuanzheng Yuan, with Phagpa as its head to administer all military and civil affairs of Tibet. Under Phagpa's guidance, Kublai formally converted to Buddhism, honoured Phagpa as 'Dharmaraja of China', granted him a jade seal, and placed him in charge of all Buddhist affairs throughout the realm.
With the support of the Mongol Empire, Phagpa established the Sakya regime, centred on Sakya Monastery in Tsang, as a unified religious and secular local Tibetan authority. It lasted just over eighty years. Due to internal splits within the Sakya sect and conflict with the Kagyü sect, the Sakya regime weakened along with the declining Yuan Dynasty. In 1354, the Phagmodrupa strongman Changchub Gyaltsen, a follower of the Kagyü, rose to power, attacked Sakya Monastery and overthrew the Sakya regime. He established a regional power based in the Phagmodru area of Ü, controlling Ü-Tsang, and was later confirmed by the Yuan and the subsequent Ming courts.
For over a century after the collapse of the Tibetan Empire in 877, the plateau was divided among many powers, but Buddhism began to revive – entering its 'Later Spread' – as numerous new schools emerged: Kadam, Kagyü, Karma Kagyü, Gelug and others, each backed by strong supporters, fostering a flourishing cultural diversity. This period resembled China's Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Northern and Southern dynasties, and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms eras – times of political division that were also rare periods of intellectual and cultural blossoming.
In 1565, the Phagmodrupa regime split. A minister rose in rebellion and set up the Tsangpa regime, centred on Shigatse in Tsang, which came to control most of Tibet. During this time, the rising Gelug sect clashed repeatedly with the Kagyü-backed Tsangpa kings. In 1634, the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama of the Gelug jointly invited the Mongol Khoshut Khanate from Qinghai to intervene. With their military help, they overthrew the Tsangpa regime and established the 'Ganden Phodrang' government, headed by the Dalai Lama, with Lhasa as its centre and controlling Ü-Tsang.
Tibet's eventual incorporation into Chinese territory owed much to the alliance between Manchus, Mongols and Tibetans. During the Ming Dynasty, the central court essentially left Tibetan affairs alone; whoever expressed willingness to submit received a new seal of authority, but no government officials or troops were ever sent to assert sovereignty.
Yet Tibet's internal conflicts never ceased. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Ladakh Kingdom of Kashmir destroyed the Guge Kingdom in Ngari, and was then defeated in a war with the Gelug Ganden Phodrang regime, becoming a vassal of Tibet. After the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the regent of the Ganden Phodrang, Sangye Gyatso, fell out with the Khoshut Mongol king Lhazang Khan, who was garrisoned in Tibet. Sangye Gyatso secretly sought help from the Dzungar Khanate in Xinjiang. This triggered another round of chaos: Sangye Gyatso was discovered and executed by Lhazang Khan; then the Dzungars launched a rebellion against the Qing in Xinjiang and sent troops into Tibet, wiping out the Qing-allied Khoshut Khanate and killing Lhazang Khan.
After two large-scale military campaigns, first under Emperor Kangxi and then under Emperor Yongzheng, the Qing finally suppressed the Dzungar rebellion. To secure control over both Xinjiang and Tibet, the Qing began stationing troops and appointing government officials in the two regions, formally incorporating them into the empire. The Yongzheng government then abolished the title of the Khoshut Mongol king and dismantled the Khoshut-controlled territories: Amdo and Kham were split off and attached to the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan. The remaining Ü-Tsang and Ngari were renamed 'Xizang' (Tibet). An Imperial Resident's Office was established in Lhasa, with two senior and junior Residents appointed to administer the territory. The post of Desi, which had concentrated power in the Kashag government, was abolished and replaced by a council of five ministers (Kalöns), who moved their office from the Potala Palace to the Jokhang Temple and were subject to dual leadership from the Dalai Lama and the Imperial Residents.
In 1791, Gurkha troops from Nepal occupied Tsang over a tax dispute. The Kashag government requested Qing military assistance. Emperor Qianlong sent an army that drove out the Gurkhas, and then issued the 'Imperial Ordinance for the Better Governance of Tibet', stipulating that the Kashag government must seek the consent of the Imperial Residents in all matters, further strengthening their authority.
After the Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing Dynasty was too weakened to control Tibetan affairs. In 1888, British Indian forces invaded Tibet under the pretext of protecting Sikkim. The Qing government sued for peace and signed the 'Sino-British Convention on Tibet and India', ceding the Tibetan protectorate Sikkim to Britain, redrawing the border, and opening Yadong (Chumbi Valley) as a treaty port. When the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, assumed full authority, he refused to recognize the treaty, tore down the boundary markers, and continued to levy heavy tariffs on goods entering from India. This provoked a second British invasion. In 1904, after capturing Gyantse Fortress, British forces advanced on Lhasa. The Imperial Resident, Youtai, refused to assist the Tibetan local government in resisting the British. With no other option, Thubten Gyatso fled to Urga (Ulaanbaatar) in Mongolia to seek Russian help. After the British occupied Lhasa, Youtai, at their demand, forced Kashag officials to sign the 'Treaty of Lhasa'. He also memorialized the Qing court, accusing the Dalai Lama of 'fleeing after defeat' and recommending he be stripped of his title, with the 9th Panchen Lama, Chökyi Nyima, brought from Shigatse to take charge of religious affairs in Lhasa. The Qing court approved this. A rift developed between Thubten Gyatso and Chökyi Nyima, which ultimately led to their split. When the terms of the 'Lhasa Treaty' reached Beijing, they caused an uproar at court.
In 1905, the Qing government sent a delegation led by Tang Shaoyi to India to renegotiate. Debates raged over whether the Qing enjoyed 'suzerainty' or 'sovereignty' over Tibet. The resulting 'Sino-British Convention on Tibet' was signed, and afterwards Imperial Resident Youtai was impeached and removed from office. In 1910, Thubten Gyatso, having travelled via Beijing and Qinghai, returned to Tibet. But he faced opposition from the new Imperial Resident, Lian Yu, who, together with Sichuan Governor-General Zhao Erfeng, sent the New Army into Tibet and forced Thubten Gyatso to flee again, this time to India. They then forcibly established counties in Chamdo and Nyingchi, under Kashag jurisdiction, to implement direct rule ('gaitu guiliu'). Soon after, however, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and Zhao Erfeng was killed by rebels in Chengdu. In 1912, Imperial Resident Lian Yu and other Qing officials, along with the New Army troops, were disarmed by the Kashag government and deported via India, ending the Imperial Resident system. The newly formed Republic of China government restored the Dalai Lama's title, and Thubten Gyatso returned from India to Lhasa.
Behind the Jokhang Temple on Barkhor Street stands a small compound – the 'Langzi Xia', the Lhasa municipal government office of the Kashag regime, separated only by a wall from the Kashag government inside the Jokhang.
Judging by its layout, Langzi Xia was smaller than any present-day Lhasa neighbourhood office, yet it functioned as Lhasa's city hall, combining administration, judiciary, police, prison and tax collection in one place.
During his exile in India, Thubten Gyatso had observed British governmental and judicial systems, and visited modern industries in Calcutta. Upon his return to Tibet, he was determined to push forward modernizing reforms.
At the fall of the Qing, the Tibetan army was a loose, poorly equipped militia. Its weapons, apart from spears and broadswords, included only a few primitive muskets. It stood no chance against the rifles and machine guns of the Indian and Beiyang armies, and was incapable of defending Tibet's borders.
The government had no separation between administration and judiciary. There was no fair trial system, legal provisions were vague, and the death penalty, corporal punishment, torture and imprisonment were widely abused.
Tibet lacked an effective fiscal and tax system. Land was concentrated in the hands of monasteries, the aristocracy and large estate holders. Serfs were destitute. The government could not function properly, and the economy was essentially stagnant.
Thubten Gyatso's social reform movement was beset with difficulties and provoked fierce backlash, leading to the flight of the 9th Panchen Lama, Chökyi Nyima, from Tibet; the two were never to see each other again. Tibetan society struggled and oscillated for four decades without finding a breakthrough. By the time the next generation of Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas took on the mantle, the era had already turned, and Tibet today presents an entirely different picture.
