Between The Yamen (Palace)
Of The King (Wang) Of Djungar And The Tomb Of Chinghiz-Khan, There Are
Five Or Six Marches Made Difficult By The Sands Of The Gobi, But Horses
And Camels May Be Used For The Journey.
The road, southward through the
desert, passes near the great lama-monastery called Barong-tsao or
Si-tsao (Monastery of the West), and in Chinese San-t'ang sse (Three
Temples).
This celebrated monastery was built by the King of Djungar to
hold the tablets of his ancestors - on the ruins of an old temple, said to
have been erected by Chinghiz himself. More than a thousand lamas are
registered there, forty of them live at the expense of the Emperor of
China. Crossing afterwards the two upper branches of the Ulan Muren (Red
River) on the banks of which Chinghiz was murdered, according to local
tradition, close to the lake of Chahan Nor (White Lake), near which are
the tents of the Prince of Wan, one arrives at last at the spot called
Yeke-Etjen-Koro, in Mongol: the abode of the Great Lord, where the tomb
is to be found. It is erected to the south-east of the village, comprising
some twenty tents or tent-like huts built of earth. Two large white felt
tents, placed side by side, similar to the tents of the modern Mongols,
but much larger, cover the tomb; a red curtain, when drawn, discloses the
large and low silver coffin, which contains the ashes of the Emperor,
placed on the ground of the second tent; it is shaped like a big trunk,
with great rosaces engraved upon it. The Emperor, according to local
tradition, was cremated on the bank of the Ulan Muren, where he is
supposed to have been slain. On the twenty-first day of the third moon the
anniversary fete of Mongolia takes place; on this day of the year only are
the two mortuary tents opened, and the coffin is exhibited to be venerated
by people coming from all parts of Mongolia. Many other relics, dispersed
all over the Ordo land, are brought thither on this occasion; these relics
called in Mongol Chinghiz Bogdo (Sacred remains of Chinghiz) number ten;
they are in the order adopted by the Mongols: the saddle of Chinghiz,
hidden in the Wan territory; the bow, kept at a place named Hu-ki-ta-lao
Hei, near Yeke Etjen-Koro; the remains of his war-horse, called
Antegan-tsegun (more), preserved at Kebere in the Djungar territory; a
fire-arm kept in the palace of the King of Djungar; a wooden and leather
vase called Pao-lao-antri, kept at the place Shien-ni-chente; a wax figure
containing the ashes of the Khan's equerry, called Altaqua-tosu, kept at
Ottok (one of the seven tribes); the remains of the second wife, who lay at
Kiasa, on the banks of the Yellow River, at a place called on Prjevalsky's
map in Chinese Djiou-Djin-fu, and in Mongol Tumir-Alku; the tomb of the
third wife of Chinghiz, who killed him, and lay to-day at Bagha-Ejen-Koro,
"the abode of the little Sovereign," at a day's march to the south of the
Djungar King's palace; the very tomb of Yeke-Etjen-Koro, which is supposed
to contain also the ashes of the first wife of the Khan; and last, his
great standard, a black wood spear planted in the desert, more than 150
miles to the south of the tomb; the iron of it never gets rusty; no one
dares touch it, and therefore it is not carried to Yeke-Etjen-Koro with the
other relics for the yearly festival.
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