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52
EAST ASIA.
by magnificent buildings, which are palaces, fortresses, temples, and monasteries
all in one. Such are, on the north side of the Tsang valley, the towns of Namling,
or " Heavenly Garden," and Shakta-jong, south-west of Shigatze,
near the Sikkim
frontier. Gi/anzch, south-east of Shigatze, is an important town, as the centre of
trade with Xepal and a manufacturing place, producing cloth goods, very warm,
pliant, and soft to the touch. Like Tingri, it is held by a strong Chinese garrison.
Shigatze is the future terminus of the carriage road which is being constructed
by the Indian Government, and which starts from Darjiling, in Sikkim.
Lassa* is at once the capital of the province of Wei and of Tibet, as well as the
religious metropolis of the Buddhist world in the Chinese Empire. The name
means " Throne of God," and for the Mongolians it is the Morke-jot, or " Eternal
Sanctuary." The number of priests, estimated at some 20,000 in Lassa and neigh-
p
LofG. 90 3o
Fig.
19. LASSA.
Scale 1 : 1,425,000.
. 30 Miles.
bourhood, probably exceeds that of the civil population, which, however, is
constantly swollen by crowds of pilgrims from all parts of Tibet, and even from
beyond the frontiers. Along the two great avenues lined with trees, which lead
from the city to the palace of the Dalai-lama, the courtly prelates, clothed in
sumptuous robes and mounted on richly caparisoned horses, are met haughtily
riding through the multitude of devotees. The palace of Potala, residence of the
sovereign, forms a group of fortifications, temples, and monasteries, surmounted by
a dome entirely covered with gilded plates and surrounded by a peristyle of gilded
columns. The present edifice, reconstructed by Kang-hi and filled with treasures
from every part of Tibet, Mongolia, and China, has replaced the palace destroyed
by the Zungarians in the beginning of the eighteenth century.
This " Mountain of
The current forms Hlassa, Hl'assH, L'hassa, Lhassa, do not re] reduce the local pronunciation of
this word, which is simply Lassa (Jaschke).