TIBETAN RELATIONSHIP “CHO-YON” IN QIN SOURCES MID. XVII - END XVIII CENTURIES

In the relations between Tibet and the Qing Empire an important place belongs to the traditional spiritual-patronal principle of “Choi-yon”, according to which the supreme lama of Tibet was considered as the religious counselor and mentor of the Emperor. The Emperor in his turn patronized the teachings of the Gelug school and played the role of a “charity”. Neither Tibetan leader nor Qing’s was in priority. After the Dalai Lama V’s visit to the court of the Emperor Shunzhi in 1652, on the basis of “Choi-yon” there was established a religious-political alliance, which existed until the fall of the Qing Empire in 1911. Nevertheless, in the period from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century we can trace the changes of interpretation of “Choi-yon”, and, first of all, for the status of the Dalai Lama. The Qianlong Emperor in his treatise “Lamasho” (1792) proclaimed domination of the Emperor’s authority before the spiritual guidance of the Lama.