Golden Urn
| Golden Urn | |||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 金瓶掣籤 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 金瓶掣签 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Drawing Lots from the Golden Vase | ||||||||
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| Tibetan name | |||||||||
| Tibetan | གསེར་བུམ་སྐྲུག་པ | ||||||||
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| Tibetan Buddhism |
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The Golden Urn is a method introduced by the Qing dynasty of China in 1793 for selecting Tibetan reincarnations by drawing lots or tally sticks from a golden urn. After the Sino-Nepalese War, the Qianlong Emperor promulgated the 29-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet, which included regulations on selecting lamas. The Golden Urn was ostensibly introduced to prevent cheating and corruption in the process but it also positioned the Qianlong Emperor as a religious authority capable of adducing incarnation candidates. A number of lamas, such as the 8th and 9th Panchen Lamas and the 10th Dalai Lama, were confirmed using the Golden Urn. In cases where the Golden Urn was not used, the amban was consulted. Lhamo Dhondup was exempted from the Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama in 1940.