But At The Same Time That They
Showed This Moderation The Chinese Took A Very Astute Measure To Render
Their Position Stronger Than Ever.
They asserted their right to have the
supreme voice in nominating the Gyalpo, and they soon reduced that high
official, the Prime Minister of Tibet, to the position of a creature of
their own.
The policy was both astute and successful. The Tibetans had
welcomed the Chinese originally because they saved them from the Eleuth
army, and provided a guarantee against a fresh invasion. But the long
peace and the destruction of the Eleuth power had led the Tibetans to
think less of the advantage of Chinese protection, and to pine for
complete independence. The lamas also bitterly resented the assumption by
the ambans of all practical authority. How long these feelings could have
continued without an open outbreak must remain a matter of opinion; but an
unexpected event brought into evidence the unwarlike character of the
Tibetans, and showed that their country was exposed to many dangers from
which only China's protection could preserve them. In Kanghi's time the
danger had come from Ili; in the reign of Keen Lung it came from the side
of Nepaul.
As a general rule the mighty chain of the Himalaya has effectually
separated the peoples living north and south of it, and the instances in
history are rare of any collision between them. Of all such collisions the
most important was that which has now to be described as the main cause of
the tightening of the hold of China upon Tibet.
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