清宫藏有关“金瓶掣签”文物析

Some Notes on the Qing Palace Archive Concerning ’Drawing Lots from a Gold Vase’

公元1793年,清中央政府在西藏颁布实施了意义深远的《藏内善后章程二十九条》,这是清军入藏平定廓尔喀后,乾隆皇帝治理整顿西藏政治的重大举措。二十九条章程将中央与西藏地方关系加以法典化,标志着清中央政府治藏政策的完善与主权地位的完备。“金瓶掣签”是章程的第一条:

The incarnation of a living Buddha,something peculiar to the succession system of the spiritual office in Tibetan Buddhism, became widely practiced after the Yellow Sect of Buddhism took predominance over other sects in the region. The system had behind it an interest relationship involving those ecclesiastical and secular upper noble groups. Among others,rebirth of Dalai and Banchan Living Buddha was the biggest influence on the political stability in Tibet. The 'drawing lots from a golden vase' was purposed by Emperor Qianlong to eliminate any possible under-table take-over in the rebirth of living Buddha, by moving to the central government the right of authentification of the incarnation boys. In this paper, the author bases himself on some related documents and relics, inquires into the conception and development of the system of 'drawing lots from a golden vases. '