Life and Death in Tibet: The Dream of Chenye Chen

Chapter 1 Prologue

Tibet belonged to the Xiqiang Kingdom in the Han Dynasty of China, and belonged to the Tupan Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, and was named Uzang in Ming Dynasty.He has always believed in Buddhism, and at first the Red Sect was popular. He believed in various penances, spells, and the art of swallowing swords and spitting fire.During this period, the famous living Buddha Tsongkhapa went to the Daxue Mountain alone to practice and chant Buddha. After enlightenment, he corrected and promulgated various teachings and precepts, eliminated illusions, and founded the famous Yellow Sect in Tibetan history. Its teachings spread throughout 120 million square kilometers of Tibet. , and penetrated into the hearts of poor herdsmen and believers everywhere, so far, the Red Sect, which has a longer history, began to decline.The situation of this change is somewhat similar to the influence of the famous German religious reformer Martin Luther on Christianity.Master Tsongkhapa—the Martin Luther on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—had two disciples beside him. One was the Dalai Lama, the king of Tibet at that time. He usually lived in Lhasa and held political and religious power in Tibet. , whose status is similar to that of the eminent Pope of Rome, and the other Panchen Lama, who is stationed in Houzang, only bears the name of the Pope.In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, in order to better govern the borders of various places, the Chinese Manchu emperor in Beijing set up a minister in Tibet, who was located in the city of Lhasa for many years. Between Lhasa and Beijing, the supervision and management between Tibet and the interior was strengthened. Soon thereafter, India, the Buddhist country adjacent to Tibet, became a British colony; the troops stationed by the British War Department went directly to the foothills of the Himalayas.At the same time, the covetous Russian armed forces have repeatedly invaded the Central Asian border on China's territory, attempting to cross the Pamir Plateau, the gateway to the roof of the world, and occupy China's territory; self-interest.The British wanted to use Tibet as a natural and vast pasture, and then coveted Sichuan Province in the inland of China, so as to complete the sphere of influence of the Yangtze River that they had planned for many years.The Russians just want to take advantage of the natural dangers of Tibet and the Indian territory in their Far East military strategy, cross the Congling (Pamir Plateau), seize the fertile pasture and vast Xinjiang Province in one fell swoop, and then further encroach on Outer Mongolia. During the process, the British Empire lost its most fertile overseas colony due to the American "War of Independence". The British army left in pain and regarded Eastern India, which it occupied, as a beloved "abundance" country. , the relationship between Britain and Tibet became even more tense. On the one hand, the British were afraid that Russia would take the lead on the Tibet issue, so they launched pre-emptive measures in all military and foreign policies to lure the Dalai Lama at that time to regard Tibet as independent sovereignty. The country directly signed the Anglo-Tibetan New Treaty with the Tangut government that humiliated the country and humiliated the country. At that time, the special envoy of the Han people sent by Beijing to Lhasa signed the treaty in a daze under the repeated temptation of the British.Afterwards, the Qing government, which was in decline, could no longer intervene in Tibet's government affairs.Now that the Dalai Lama is in the hands of the British, the remaining ministers stationed in Tibet are becoming more and more obtuse and old-fashioned.After the Opium War, the Qing government in Beijing itself had reached the point where the "mud Buddha crossed the river" and had no intention of thinking about it. It turned out that the powerful neighbors were approaching, and they wanted to strengthen their own fences again and again, and they could not for a moment. relaxed!A few years later, the Dalai Lama also gradually learned about the conspiracy in the hearts of the British. However, one of his subordinates, a Tibetan king named Bianjue Duoji, had a good impression of Tsarist Russia and had illusions, so he acted recklessly. The local army demanded to unite with Russia to resist the British, and under the pretext of participating in the coronation ceremony of the Russian emperor, went to Moscow to implement its strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians. It was a bit like the military drills before the Great War in modern warfare. The British, who had been eyeing it for a long time, immediately had thousands of elite soldiers from the British army crossing the snowy mountains on the border of India and Tibet and marching towards the distant Lhasa.The Dalai Lama, whose face changed after hearing the news, was helpless.I had no choice but to ask some eminent monks to ask for divination according to the ancient old method, and use the hexagrams for good and bad.A Dharma protector monk replied to him: "The Buddha can protect me, but the enemy can take away his equipment. Please fight decisively." It means that this battle can be fought, and the Tibetan soldiers can be defeated with the blessing of the Buddha.The skeptical Dalai Lama believed his words and immediately ordered the mobilization of thousands of Tibetan soldiers in an attempt to resist the British army outside the Qingxi Pass. , and with the help of the most advanced land warfare weapons at that time, the danger went deep; the first encounter between the two sides, the British rushed to fight, and more than 100 people died in an instant, the British had to retreat, the Tibetan soldiers were overjoyed, thinking that the divine words had been fulfilled .Not long after they were happy, the British reorganized their ranks and advanced in an orderly manner. This time, the Tibetan soldiers, who had never been experienced in actual combat, were defeated.Now, the Dalai Lama, who had been guarding the city of Lhasa, weighed it over and over again. Knowing that the change in the situation was not good for the whole of Tibet, he made up his mind to ask his subordinates to arrest the monk who offered divination before the war. Then, he imprisoned his mother in Bogou, the head of Gongbu, carried countless gold, silver and jewels, loaded them with hundreds of horses, and personally led more than a thousand political and religious officials in Tibet at that time to Harau. Su, that is, the direction of Qinghai in China, was going to Beijing at that time to ask for help from the Qing court.Because the traveling queue was too large and the speed was slow, and the Dalai Lama was afraid that the British army would get rumors and chase from behind, so he secretly hid some of the precious treasures he carried with him in a lamasery and left officers and soldiers to guard him. On Kunlun Mountain, the Empress Dowager Cixi recited the imperial scriptures and prayed for blessings. Cixi had always believed in Buddhism. When she heard about this, she was immediately furious and ordered the then governor of Sichuan Province to send troops to help via the Sichuan-Tibet line.In that year, I happened to be the battalion commander of the No.1000 Fifth Standard Team of the Sichuan Army, so I set out with the big troops to march into Tibet, and thus...began my following thrilling life experience.

In 1908, after graduating from the Changsha Military Academy, I served as the first team officer of the Hunan New Army.The Hunan New Army was initiated by Duan Fang, the governor of Hunan at that time. The old patrol army was reorganized into the first and second standard battalions. Most of the soldiers were peasant children. From my hometown in Hunan, I was a young student of the same style, just at the age of youth, I endured hardships during the drills, and my fighting style was also very tenacious.At that time, the revolutionary trend of thought had sprouted all over the country, and there were more responders in Hunan.Although the several revolutionary actions at that time were all failed, they all gradually realized that if they did not try to contact the army for a joint revolution, it would not be enough to overthrow the stubborn Manchu Qing Dynasty at that time, so they established a branch of the Tongmenghui in Changsha.Because of my dissatisfaction with the internal and external disturbances of the Qing government day after day, I was obsessed with the new political revolution, and secretly thanked myself for the many thoughtful and handsome young men under my army.Usually, in addition to the boring training, I also invited famous teachers from the local area to explain some Chinese history and geography calculation courses to the officers and soldiers in the barracks. After a few years, everyone's thinking changed, and most of them joined the The Tongmenghui, sometimes, we also tried to make some secret gatherings in Tianxin Pavilion in Changsha at that time. The morale of the subordinate non-commissioned officers was high for a while, and they took a boat on the Xiangjiang River and went hiking in the wild. The excitement and excitement cannot be replicated.In this turbulent time, my heart is often depressed and full of contradictions.They want to stick to the ancient teachings and encourage radicalization, thinking that the Qing government can be overthrown immediately, but they are also afraid that the beginning will be easy and the end will be difficult. Often those who save the country will surely harm the country in the future. Such cases have been repeated in Chinese history. too much!After much deliberation, I can't make up my mind.For two days, I really wanted to go to my master, begging them to allow me to leave my post and go back to my hometown, so I could just go back to my hometown to farm for a living. In the second year, a good classmate came to the military camp and asked me to meet Zhao Erxun, the governor of Hubei at that time. Before that, I heard about Zhao Erxun's great name. Among the many generations of officials in the Qing Dynasty, he had the best reputation as an official and a man. Almost all the young officers and soldiers have been taught by him.His younger brother, Zhao Erfeng, is the governor of Sichuan. I know that the Sichuan army will have a trip to Sichuan and is in urgent need of young generals.We met and talked very happily. At the end, Zhao Erxun expressed his willingness to send me and my men to the hinterland of Sichuan to do some business with his younger brother.I readily agree.Soon, I set off, but when I arrived in Chengdu, I found that his younger brother Zhao Erfeng suspected that all people from Hunan might be revolutionaries, and he would not be reused.Not long after, the elder brother Erxun became the new governor of Sichuan, and the younger brother Erfeng was appointed by the court as the Minister of Chuanbian who was about to enter Tibet. I was appointed as the officer of the 65th Battalion. .During this period of time, I have a lot of free time, and I have also heard about the actions of the British army in Tibet. Some of my subordinates have returned to the camp from Tibet, so I immediately sent someone to call him to inquire about the customs of the mountains and rivers in Tibet, and One by one, referring to the only part of the map and historical materials at hand, I have a further in-depth understanding of the situation in Tibet.On this day, it happened that my guru Zhong Ying was ordered to help Tibet. She was secretly excited and immediately drafted a plan for the expedition into Tibet, detailing the marching plan of the troops. After reading it, Zhong Ying praised it greatly. Immediately summoned me to the headquarters in Chengdu, and appointed me as the supervisor of the first bid and the third battalion.On the grounds that my family and relatives are all staying in Chengdu and I have no one to rely on, I can’t give up, but Lin Xiumei, the supervisor, keeps persuading me to obey. I was inexplicably grateful for the doubling of my salary, so I finally agreed to the difficult mission of leading the troops to Tibet.

In southern China at that time, revolutionary thoughts were everywhere.Sichuan has been considered a remote place; but during that year, there were constant reports of the capture and killing of the revolutionary party's organs.Young people with lofty ideals went to the streets in groups and embarked on the revolutionary road.Although I have made up my mind to go to Tibet, a nephew in my family is sick, and my wife is young, and she is desolate in a different place. When the family members hear that I am going to such a remote place, they all hug each other and cry, as if given to me. Like a dead person going to a funeral, I myself felt inseparable from my relatives for a while. Thinking of the ancient saying that children love each other and heroes are short of breath, I can't help but sigh to the sky.I thought about it again and again, remembering that the official Zhong Ying treated me like a junior, and thought about the revolutionary trend, the country was in turmoil, no matter men, women, old or young, it would be difficult to escape this catastrophe, not to mention that I usually obeyed the law in the military camp and did nothing, but the Sichuan authorities I have already been regarded as a dangerous revolutionary. Living as a guest in a foreign land like this is definitely not a long-term solution.Tibet is a remote place with primitive customs, so why not take advantage of the army's assistance to Tibet this time, go there to relax, have fun, and take a trip to avoid the Qin Dynasty?So I settled down, comforted the young and old in every possible way, settled down the family affairs for the remaining years, and said goodbye to my wife with tears. That day was exactly one day in July 1909.

(End of this chapter)