414 klaus sagaster
a noble family, but was the son of a simple Chinese merchant and a
Tibetan or Mongolian mother. The high position that was intended
for him is evident in an invitation letter by Kangxi from the year 1693
transmitted in the biography of the Lama. The emperor stated that
he needed an able Lama in Beijing. He would not have been able to
invite the Dalai Lama or Pa-chen Rin-po-che, since these were too
old (Kangxi did not yet know that the Dalai Lama had already died in
1682). He therefore summoned the lCang-skya Qututu, since he had
heard that he also possessed great abilities. Ngag-dbang-blo-bzang-chos-
ldan complied with the request and became the rst Great Lama of
Beijing and Inner Mongolia. He simultaneously assumed the function
of clergyman at the court, and, in 1706, was appointed “Great State
Teacher” (Chin. da guoshi ). Together with the Dalai Lamas, the
Pa-chen Rin-po-ches and the rJe-btsun-dam-pa Qututus, the lCang-
skya Qututus were, from that moment on, one of the highest and most
in uential representatives of the dGe-lugs-pa. After him many other
high Lamas were also summoned to Beijing. In this way, Beijing became
one of the most important centres of the Yellow Doctrine.^157
8.3.1. Tasks of Lamas in Beijing
The tasks of the Lamas who resided in Beijing were not only of a
religious nature. Through them, the emperors had control over the
administrative structures, and they used them as intermediaries between
the government and the religious authorities in Tibet and Mongolia or
for settling disputes. Thus, the rst lCang-skya Qututu was dispatched
to a meeting of princes in Küreng Belir, to the south of the Qangai
Mountains in Northern Mongolia in 1685, i.e., before he was sum-
moned to Beijing. On this occasion the long-lasting struggles among
the Qalqa, in which eventually Galdan had also interfered, had to be
solved. Apart from the Qalqa princes and the Oirat nobility, also the
rst rJe-btsun-dam-pa Qututu and envoys of the emperor participated
in this meeting—a proof that Kangxi had an active interest in the events
taking place in Mongolia, long before 1691. Through his skill in nego-
tiations the lCang-skya Qututu contributed to the recognition of Qing
leadership by the Kukunor Mongols in 1697. Kangxi was so impressed
by the Qututu that, in 1697, he sent him as his representative to the
(^157) Miller 1959, pp. 69–86; Sagaster 1967, pp. 105–108, 126–127; Úiral 1996,
p. 220.