MONGOLIA AND THE MONGOLS
By A. M. Pozdneyev
Presenting the Results of a Trip Taken in 1892 and 1893
Urga or Da Khuree
Various Names of Urga
. . . Urga, or Da Khuree, the principal city of Northern Mongolia or Khalkha, is situated at
a latitude of about 48' North at the confluence of the Tuula and Selbi rivers three hundred
versts South of the Russian border city of Troitskosavsk and the more familiar Kyakhta.
The Mongolian word Orgoo, which means literally "palace" or "camp of an important
person" and which the Russians have changed into "Urga," is almost unknown to the
Mongols as the name of this city; it h used in this sense only by Europeans, and among
Mongols it is familiar perhaps only to those who come into frequent contact with Russians.
Undoubtedly, however, it was not the Russians who gave Urga this name, and it was quite
natural for the Mongols in ancient times to call this monastery-city Orgoo to distinguish it,
as the residence of the Hutuktu, from all the other monasteries of Mongolia. At the present
time the Mongols most frequently call Urga by its official name of Da Khuree or Yekhe
Khuree, that is, "the great kuriyen," while in common parlance it is called Bogdo Khuree,
or the Holy Khuree, and sometimes simply Khuree, a term by which they mean, in general,
a group of buildings situated in a circle, and, in particular, any monastery, doubtless on the
grounds that the cells of the monks living in a monastery must, by law, surround its
temples, which is, in fact, their arrangement. Some Chinese authors, understanding the
word khuree to mean "fence," have supposed that Urga received this name from the yellow
wooden fence which is a distinguishing feature of the palace of the Jebtsun Damba
Hutuktu, but we cannot accept this view, as it is known from history that Urga bore the
name Khuree long before the Hutuktu was granted the above-mentioned distinction ....
The Location of Urga and Mount Khaan Uula
Thus, at the present time Urga is situated on the Selbi River. Generally described, its site
presents the appearance of a hollow, surrounded on all sides by mountains, the exit from
which is formed on the east and west by the narrow valley of the Tuula River. It can be
understood that this site, which is advantageous to the population of Urga in that it offers
them protection from the wind, does not offer any special advantages to the Mongols in a
strategical sense since an enemy, by stationing himself at the two above-mentioned passes,
can contain the whole population of the valley in a sort of trap, depriving them of
provisions or of a convenient exit. Properly described, the city consists of three separate
sections: (1) The Khijree of Urga, or the monastery in which Jebtsun Damba <ie, the
hutuktu or reincarnate saint> has his residence; (2) Gandan, or the separate section where
the temples of tsanid are situated and where the lamas who study the advanced course in
Buddhist dogmatics live; and (3) the Mai-mai-ch'eng, or market city. These three sections
of the city are located on the right side of the Tuula River, about three versts from its
banks, while the Selbi River, which flows from north to south through the very middle of
the Khijree, passes to one side of the other part of the city. The site of Urga looks like an
oblong plain, extending from north to south for a width of from six to thirteen versts in
different places, and from east to west for a length of about thirty versts or perhaps a little
more. This area is enclosed on all sides by mountains . . .
Bogdo uula is the most prominent of these mountains. Its elevation above sea level has
been determined by Mr. Fritshe as 5,412 feet, while it extends directly east and west for a
distance of about 30 versts. Like the name of the whole mountain, Bogdo uula, which
means "The Holy Mountain," its separate parts also bear lofty designations. Thus, of the
three gorges, which are notable for their size and the veneration in which they are held by
the Mongols, the first is called Yekhe tengriin ama, i.e., "The Great Heavenly Gorge," the
second, Baga tengriin ama, "The Little Heavenly Gorge," and the third Dzaisang ama,
"The Ruler Gorge." The whole mountain, from its base to its summit, is thickly overgrown
on both sides with coniferous forest and is notable in this respect because it constitutes the
forest boundary of Mongolia; no trees are encountered south of this mountain. Bogdo uula
has been venerated by the Mongols from early times. No timber may be felled on it, nor
may even wild game be rounded up or shot, though it abounds in the virgin forest. Even in
recent times Mongol accounts tell that, according to an accepted and well-observed custom,
criminals could not be executed within sight of Bogdo uula, and actually all criminals
sentenced to death were formerly sent away from the Khilree, usually either to Doloon
nuur of Kalgan, but it is difficult to say how true these assurances are, since executions
were also prohibited in the Khuree for the reason that it was the residence of the hutuktu.
Thus, it is difficult to determine whether it was Khaan uula or the hutuktu that was
important in this matter. But in recent times this tradition of the impossibility of carrying
out the death penalty in Urga must be relegated to legend. In 1890 a crime was committed
at the Russian Ulkhun guard post, in which two Mongols, with robbery as their object,
slaughtered the entire family of a Russian Cossack, consisting of seven persons. The
criminals were traced, caught, tried, and sentenced to death by beheading. The execution,
from the scene of the trial, was to take place at Urga. It is said that the lamas pleaded that
the decision be countermanded, but the emperor's government did not honor their request,
and all that the lamas were able to achieve was an order on the part of the local Urga
ambans that the execution be held in the narrow gorge of the Uliaatai River, about seven
versts from Urga and surrounded by such high mountain spurs that neither Khaan uula
nor the Khuree with its palace of the hutuktu could be seen from there. The veneration of
Khaan uula is usually ascribed to the generally well-developed respect for mountains
among Mongols, especially for high ones or for those that for some reason are distinguished
from other mountains, and this veneration is supposed to be a survival of shamanistic
beliefs. In my talks with Mongols, however, I had occasion to learn of quite another belief
regarding Khaan uula, whose authenticity I confirmed later in written documents. In the
ninth moon of 1778, a report was submitted to Peking from Urga to His Imperial Majesty
which stated that "according to tradition, Khaan uula, to the south of the Khilree, bears
the name of Khaan uula because Chinggis Khaan was born near its foot;" the same report
further states that all inhabitants of Khalkha since the time of the grandfather of Ondiir
Gegen, i.e., Abatai, have made yearly offerings to the mountain, and in conclusion the Urga
officials requested the emperor to permit them to make a civil holiday of the veneration of
the mountain and to offer it gifts from court. It goes without saying that the Chinese did
not believe this fable, as they knew from historical documents that the foot of the mountain
was by no means the birthplace of Chinggis. Nevertheless the reply to this report was as
follows: "The veneration of Khaan uula is a worthy thing. Therefore, in accordance with
the report of Sanji Dorji (the name of the Mongol amban at Urga) the appropriate ministry
is empowered to send incense, candles, and silk stuffs in the ordained amount, in the spring
and autumn of each year with instructions to Sanji Dorji that he make offerings in the
presence of the wangs, kungs, and dzasaks." From that time to this, offerings have been
made to Khaan uula twice a year, with the days on which they are presented being
determined, as in all other cases, by lama astrologers . . . In addition to Khaan uula, all the
inhabitants of each separate section of Urga have a mountain that they hold in veneration.
These mountains are Chingiltu uula for the lamas of the Khuree and Bain dzurukhe for the
Mai-mai-ch'eng. On each of them, oboos, on which offerings are placed, were erected, and
these date almost from the founding of the city. . . .
Population of the Khuree
In turning now to a description of the life of the separate sections of the city, as they are
today, I must say first of all that an exact determination of the population of any of these
sections is quite impossible. Not to mention the Mai-mai-ch'eng, where the number of
inhabitants continually varies with the seasons of the year due to the influx and exodus of
both the Chinese merchants and the Mongol buyers; even in the Khuree, where the
population is more stable, it is entirely impossible to find out the exact number of lamas.
The Mongols themselves, when asked the number of lamas in Urga, usually reply "tilmen
lama," that is, "ten thousand lamas" or, more accurately, "a multitude of lamas." I, too,
can reiterate that the number is indefinitely large, but no doubt it exceeds ten thousand.
During my last trip to Mongolia from 1876 to 1879, a certain official document came into
my hands, namely, the account book of the treasurer (nirba) of the tsokchin temple where
all the Urga lamas assemble on certain annual holidays to officiate at khurals, these lamas
each receiving a portion of tea, flour, butter, and so on, from the tsokchin supplies as noted
in the above-mentioned account book. This account book sets forth the number of a full
complement of lamas according to their division into aimaks. As I now had knowledge of
the existence of this kind of document, I attempted to find specimens on this trip as well,
and my efforts were not without success. I secured this time from the same tsokchin nirba
a new list of this sort which had been issued to him as recently as 1889. An inspection and
comparison of this list with the old list not only showed me the approximate number of
lamas in Urga, but also supplied evidence that the lama population of Urga had been
gradually increasing, although not at an especially great rate . . .
The tsokchin does not have a separate staff of priests, and daily services are held there by
junior lamas (i.e., by lamas from eight to eighteen years of age) from nine to eleven o'clock
in the morning. It was probably this khural that was thought by one of our tourists to be
the school of Urga. There is a general assembly of priests in the tsokchin only four times a
year, namely: (a) on New Year's Day; (b) on the feast of Choinkhor duichin, which at Urga
is combined with the reading of the Kanjur, for which three days are set aside, the ninth to
the twelfth of the last summer month; (c) the feast of Maidari, in the third or fourth
month; and in connection with (d) the presentation of danshik (offering) to the gegen <ie,
the hutuktu>. The tsokchin differs from all the other temples at Urga in its architecture,
and the biography of Ondur Gegen assures us that the plan for this temple was drawn up
by the gegen himself, and that he left instructions behind him pertaining to how it was to
be enlarged should there ever be a necessity for this. As we possess this evidence in a
written document, we may easily form a judgment concerning the form of the temple at the
first period of its existence and to what extent it was enlarged subsequently. The ancient
temple presented the appearance of a square building, whose plank wall did not exceed
four arshins in height and was covered with a similarly quadrangular roof, of extremely
gentle slope, painted white, which at the top was framed by a red border with black bands
and white circles. This roof terminated in a special, likewise square cupola, somewhat
narrower towards the top. Such, no doubt, was the form of the tsokchin temple at Urga in
early times prior to the period of its enlargement, and this is attested not only by ancient
traces of the building which remained after its enlargement, but also by the form of the
tsokchin temples of the monasteries of Baruun Khuree, Dziwn Khuree, and others that
have been preserved in this form, having been built according to the same plan as drawn
up by Ondbr Gegen. As concerns the Urga tsokchin, we know that, in spite of the
continual moves of the Khiiree, this building was always constructed of wood. The
illumination of the temple was always and is still today effected by only four windows cut in
the cupola. Within the temple 108 columns were always placed supporting the roof from
the very earliest period of the temple's existence, and between these columns the seats for
the lamas . . . were arranged. Today the former quadrangle of the temple has been
enlarged according to the instructions left by Ondijr Gegen, but the additions have been
made in such a way that the old temple remains entirely unchanged. Around it a sort of
gallery has been constructed with a high roof with two slopes on both sides of the added
structure, and later the waus of the old temple were dismantled, so that its old roof and
one-half of the roof of the newly-added part remain supported only by the columns erected
by Ondiir Gegen. Three broad folding doors lead from the outside into the tsokehin, the
central door differing from the side doors by its height, being used only for the entry and
exit of the hutuktu. As to the interior of the temple, it is not luxurious at the present time,
and differs scarcely at all from the aimak khuruliin shrines. There are the same wooden
floors full of holes, and the same low, bare benches for the officiating lamas, which take up
almost all space in the temple with the exception of a narrow passageway in the middle that
passes between two rows of pillars to the north wall. The passageway, however, in this case
does not lead to the altar, on which the offerings and burkbans are placed in the ordinary
khur-uhin silme, but to the throne of the gegen, which is located, quite in the manner of
our bishop's thrones, on an elevated place, with the sole difference that the throne of the
gegen is not an armchair, but consists rather of five thin pillows (olbok) on a table which
rests on the heads of four bons, and instead of a back this throne has a similar pillow in a
gilded wooden frame . . .
. . . In addition to the temples described above, mention may be made of the following
buildings on the central square at Urga. Just opposite the north wall of the temple of
Maidari are the quarters of the only office to be found in the Khuree. This is the yamun of
the shantsotba, who is today not only the chief administrator of the Khuree but has
concentrated in his hand the supreme administration of the entire department of the
Jobtsun Damba Hutuktu. In its external appearance this office does not differ at all from
the other Lamaist buildings, being like them a khashaan surrounded by a picket fence of
logs with a red gate. But it is very easy to identify, on the one hand because its gate is
always thronged with people nearly all day long, and on the other because directly opposite
the gate is the yurt court, and by this place of justice one can always see criminals sitting in
chains near the yamun or wearing heavy planks on their necks. All day long the gate of the
yamun is open, and thus, if you stand nearby, you can always observe how a sentence is
carried out in a Mongol court and hear the groans of the prisoners being punished or
tortured. As the shantsotba, who is the supreme ruler of the shabinar, is at the same time
the chief treasurer of the hutuktu's property, his yamun is divided into several departments
or, physically, into four courtyards. In the first courtyard, as already mentioned, is the
administrative headquarters of the shabinar; in the second, the office of the affairs of Urga
proper and of the palace of the hutuktu. The shantsotba himself lives in the third and has
here his private office. And in the fourth is the administrative headquarters for all the
property of the department of shabinar, especially livestock and arable lands. On the cast
side of the temple of Maidari and likewise directly opposite the palace of the gegen is the
khashaan of the Urga Khambo nomun khaan, the supreme ruler of the Khiiree, strictly in
matters of faith. This khashaan differs from the others in that a number of trees have been
planted in the courtyard. All their branches are hung with square scraps of red, yellow,
white, and blue calico with the words of prayers and the nvni inscribed on them. Similar
scraps of cloth are fastened to ropes stretched over the fence, and all of them flutter and
wave in the wind, automatically uttering prayers for the resident of the khashaan. On the
west side of the temple of Maidari, paralleling the courtyard of the Khambo is the Urga
Baariin khashaa or printer's courtyard. Here there is a special baiswng for storing the
wooden plates, with the xylographic type carved on them, of works printed, with a large
yurt in which the printing itself takes place. At the present time, the Urga printery
operates on a very small scale. It does not print more than twenty Mongolian works, of an
exclusively religious nature, of course, and these are small brochures. A somewhat larger
number of Tibetan works is published, approximately fifty brochures, but the majority of
books printed here consists of Lamaist liturgical works. More attention was given to
printing at Urga in earlier times. Under the fourth khubflgan the carving of plates for the
Tibetan Kanjur was begun, and plates were carved for 72 volumes of the 108 volumes of
the complete edition of the Kanjurl but, with the death of the fourth khubilgan, this work
was stopped, and to this day the Kanjur at Urga remains incomplete. More than that,
many of the plates that were prepared have today been lost or broken, and others have
been defaced through use, so that the Urga Kanjur may be regarded as almost nonexistent,
although the poor monasteries of Khalkha still buy it, supplying the missing portions by
hand.
In passing from these private observations to a general description of the life of the Khuree
I should note first of all that its population at the present consists exclusively of lamas. The
Chinese shops and merchant's dwellings, which have always been situated near the
Khuree, have never been permanently situated in its midst, and this isolation of the
Chinese settlements dates not only to the time of the Khuree on the Selbi and Tuula but to
an even earlier period. Traces of the Khuree, which was camped in the vicinity of Seer in
1720, have been preserved to this day and bear witness to the fact that even at this time the
Chinese merchants lived away from the lama city, though not at a very great distance. As
concerns the Mongols, we have reason to think that they lived within the Khiiree. Thus in
1763, on the twelfth day of the fourth moon, an imperial edict was issued at Peking that
had been elicited by a report from the Urga ambans and which decided various questions
relating to the life of the gegen and of Urga. This order, among other things, said: "It is
impossible for men and women to live together in the Khuree, the residence of the hutuktu,
and for this reason the residence of women in the Khuree must be prohibited, of which the
amba Sanji Dorji is notified, that he may take action." We do not know to what extent this
order was enforced, but at the present time the population of the Khuree, as already noted,
consists exclusively of lamas. To be sure, nearly every lama residence is sure to have its old
woman or "shibagantsa" (nun), whose duty it is to prepare tea, to cook food, and to
perform a few duties in the lama dwellings, but these old women can hardly be counted
among the population. They are individuals without individuality.
External Appearance of Khuree Streets
The external appearance of the Khuree cannot seem otherwise than unattractive to the
European. It is laid out in a circle, which is intersected by two broad streets (Khureenei
side) in the form of a cross which meet at the center of the Khuree and form a broad square
on which stand the temples of the Khuree, just described, that are not associated with
aimaks, the palace of the gegen, and the yamun of the shantsotba and the buildings
pertaining to it. Around the square are the aimak dugangs and the dwellings of the lamas
belonging to them. All this space is dotted with small streets, lanes, and alleyways, where
sometimes not only will a carriage findit impossible to get through, but even three men
abreast will have difficulty in passing. Following the general custom of Asiatics, the lamas
do not build their houses on the street, and, when you enter the Khuree, you can see
nothing but fences and gates. The fences, for protection against thieves, are always built
very high of upended larch logs, and the small folding gate is always painted red and
crowned with a tablet with the om carved on it, over which a wind-driven khilrde is also
attached. To make it still more difficult to climb over the fence, the rich constructs
penthouse against it on the inside, and on the top of these penthouses they pile wood, so
thata fence three and a half sagenes in height can by no means be regarded as a rarity at
Urga. Over the fences of important officials ropes are also stretched to which square
quadrangular pieces of silk and cotton cloth are attached, bearing sacred maxims and the
words of prayers, whose purpose is identical with that of the wind-driven khilrde. On both
sides of the gate at every house there are short wooden stakes driven into the ground for
tethering the horses of visitors. This is the appearance of every street in Urga. Within the
khashaa there are usually two Mongol yurts. This is the winter residence of the lamas and
his kitchen. If a lama is rich, he also builds a wooden house where he spends the summer.
In Urga everyone attaches a wooden entranceway to his winter dwelling, the felt yurt, for
protection from the wind.
With a population and way of life of this sort in the Khijree, it is natural that one sees
hardly any signs of life in the streets. Mongol pilgrims moving from one temple to another
wander throuo the streets of the Khuree until perhaps 11 a.m., that is, before the services
in the temples have been concluded and the gate of the gegen's palace has been closed. The
gegen gives blessings in the morning, and after this time all the worshippers either sit in the
yurts of their lama friends or spend the whole day in the market place beyond the Khuree.
It is here, too, that the majority of lamas pass their eternal leisure time. Thus the streets of
the Khuree during the greater part of the day are so deserted that one may go through the
entire Khuree without encountering more than five or six persons, in spite of the
comparatively large population. A rather sizeable crowd of people always throngs the
yamun of the shantsotba, but with this exception it is almost impossible to find anyone
anywhere. The residents of the Khuree spend their whole day at the market.
The Khuree Market
The Khuree market is situated on the west side of the Khuree and of the residences of the
lamas. Formerly it was situated on the plain proper, beyond the lama city, but from the
middle of the sixties the construction of Chinese and Russian shops began little by little to
surround the marketplace from its western side, and, multiplying with each year, these
shops had surrounded it from all sides by the 1870s and formed in themselves a good half of
the Khuree. Today this part of the city has spread out even more. In the course of the last
fifteen years, eight new streets have been formed, and they are all solidly taken up by the
houses of the merchants, who now occupy almost all the area between the Khuree and
Gandan. In the popular language of the Mongols, the part of the Khuree so described is
called damnuurchin, a name that comes from the verb damnakhu, meaning "to carry on
one's shoulders." It is not difficult to guess that this name has a historical foundation and
clearly reflects the early times of the Khuree market when only dealers in small wares came
here to trade, bringing their goods on their shoulders and withdrawing daily into the Mai-mai-ch'eng at sundown. Today this has all long since passed into the realm of tradition.
The only remainder of the street-hawking that was practiced here at one time is the
quadrangular square, which anyone not properly acquainted with the facts might easily
take for the center of the Khuree proper, as on one side it adjoins Lamaist buildings.
Today all the buildings of Russian merchants, who trade, live, or have property at Urga,
face the square. Foremost among them all stands the building of the company of Kokovin
and Basov, which is the best building and the only two-storied one in the market section of
the Khuree. . . . Unfortunately it must be said that the external appearance of the Khuree
market has considerably deteriorated during the last fifteen years and that this is the result
of the circumstance that the number of Russian shops on the square has diminished almost
by half. . . . Hence the firm of Kokovin and Basov remains with the dealers Lushnikov and
Ogorodnikov, who alone keep their shops open where they retail goods. To make up for
the three Russian shops that have closed, the number of Chinese shops has increased here
tenfold, if not more, while their location has so altered that they must today be regarded as
completely separate from the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng, which was formerly the center of
Chinese trade at Urga.
Peking Shops and Their Mode of Existence
The best shops in the Khuree from the point of view of their wealth and furnishings are the
shops of merchants from Peking. . . . in all there are nearly thirty-five Peking shops in the
Khuree market. The mercantile houses of Chinese from Shansi may also be included in
this category, though there are very few of these . . . Following the general custom of the
Chinese, not a single one of the Peking shops enumerated is owned by any one merchant,
but all belong to separate trading companies, while the owners themselves almost never live
in the Khuree. In spite of their relative outward magnificence, all these shops have nothing
substantial behind them, generally speaking, and at Peking their dealers belong in the
majority of cases to the middle and even the lower class of merchants, who conduct their
business beyond the gate of An-ting-men. When they intend to open a business in
Mongolia and particularly at Urga, these merchants form a company before leaving
Peking, obtain money or goods on credit from some rich man and with these goods go to
Urga to commence trade, attempting above all to lend their shops an external magnificence,
which is expressed, among other ways, in the relative tidiness for which the Peking shops
are noteworthy. The buildings of the Peking shops are constructed, of course, on the
general model of Chinese mercantile establishments, a detailed description of whose plan
and facade will be given somewhat later, in the discussion of the special mercantile section
of Urga, the Mai-mai-ch'eng. Here let me say only that never in the shops of the Urga
merchants does one see such outward trimmings, such carving, such fine designs, and such
bright colors on the door and windows as one finds on the buildings which house the
Peking shops. Their signs, which are also always artistic and clever, are invariably in two
languages, Chinese and Mongolian. In Chinese, however, which the Mongols cannot read,
there are only the three characters denoting the name, while in Mongolian the specialties of
the shops are described in somewhat more detail: Here, for example, is the text of one of
these signs: (The Peking Shop of Batu, selling silken cloth and woven damask and every
sort of choice wares. The proprietors are well known for their honesty and easy dealing.)
Inside, the Peking shops are always divided into two or three rooms, which are very tidy
and elegant. Behind the counter, which is directly opposite the entrance, there are usually
shelves built in tiers, upon which all kinds of small ware and bright knickknacks are
artistically displayed. At the sides of these shelves are whole piles of bolts of silken cloth,
along both walls lower-quality silk and cotton fabrics are laid out on shelves, while in the
free space ready-made clothing is spread out on benches, such as silk robes, khantadzas,
and various sorts of jackets. The walls of the side rooms, which are either offices or living
quarters, into which the most honored buyers are usually invited, are always hung with
pictures and eulogistic inscriptions, sometimes in pairs, which have been presented to the
shops by the Mongols as a sort of testimonial or a token of their special regard . . .
All these comparatively tidy and elegant furnishings cannot help but win over any
customer, from the European to the Mongol, in favor of the Peking shop. With a favorable
turn of events and with the fine profits to be made in Mongolia, a company soon becomes
rich and independent. But it also frequently happens that, after five or six years of trade, it
must close its doors and declare bankruptcy. It is remarkable, however, that even the day
before it goes into bankruptcy, the Peking shop always maintains its customary elegance
and can easily be distinguished from a Shansi shop, for example, by its furnishings, wealth,
and the condition of its goods. Among the products from China proper, you can always
find in every Peking shop the best silk fabrics: k'ang-fa, sets of buttons, and light cloths
such as fang-tzu, durdungs (yang-chou), ch'ih-ch'a-ch'ou, and so on. The woolen and
cotton goods in the Peking shops are for the most part of European manufacture. In
addition to these things, they always have an abundance of the accessories pertaining to
every aspect of Mongol life. These are manufactured in Peking and range from the
furnishings of religious and public life to household objects and from a luxurious prince's
yurt to the most modest kitchen. Thus, they sell all sort of religious musical instruments
here, different accessories for worship and sacrificial vessels, all sorts of caps and
ornaments of Lamaist priests, and so on. Here Mongolian princes can find all sorts of
buttons and other external insignia of their rank and buy all the office supplies they need.
Of household furnishings they can buy vases to decorate their rooms, lanterns, pictures,
figurines and similar knickknacks. This latter department is always especially well stocked
in the Peking shops, since its stock is not confined to Peking products alone, but is
supplemented by European products as well. European watches, barometers,
thermometers, vases, figurines, boxes, exotic mechanical and other toys can be found in a
very large number of the Peking shops, if not in all. For the poor Mongol of the steppes
they have here dombos, wooden, porcelain, and stone bowls or shaadzangs, various sorts of
ladles and spoons, work-tools, and the like.
The Peking shops in the Khuree receive a general shipment of goods twice a year, in the
spring and in the autumn, while small consignments are received at unspecified times, two,
three, or as many as ten times a year, depending on the size of the shop and the style of life
and way of doing business adopted by a given merchant.
It should be noted that the Peking shops usually maintain very large staffs. Even the
smallest shops have five or six shop assistants, while the wealthy firms maintain forty, fifty,
and even as many as eighty persons. The shop assistants are usually brought here as boys
of ten or twelve and work at first for no wages. About four or five years later they are
allotted a salary, but during all this time the assistant is still not considered a trusted clerk.
He is a servant, a worker, and is required to work without any privileges or days off. He
cannot go home to his native land until he is accepted there as an employee; otherwise, if he
wishes to go home, he must receive a discharge. When he has worked a certain time on a
salary, the assistant, one who has, of course, earned the confidence of his employers, is
taken into the company by the firm and begins to receive a certain percentage, the lowest
unit of which is one li per liang of gross income, i.e., one one-thousandth of the total goods
sold. From this time on the former shop assistant, as an associate and, to a certain degree,
a proprietor of the firm, is entitled to go home to see his relatives, according to the
following schedule, however. If he is receiving from one to five li percentage, he is entitled
to a trip at the end of three years. If he is receiving more than five li he is entitled to a trip
in two years, while the partner who is getting ten li or more or one feng can live in China
and is obliged to go to Urga only when his turn comes up for a tour of duty not exceeding
one year. They are free, if they so desire, of course, to live at Urga longer than the required
time, but in any case they are entitled to visit China annually. Many of these associates,
who have earned these privileges, never come to Urga at all, being engaged in private
business in Peking and simply drawing their ten li percentage from the business at Urga.
This common custom also explains the fact, which is very striking, that one never sees
merchants who are advanced in years in the Urga shops-the oldest of them is forty, forty-five, or no more than fifty years of age. As the wealthy Peking shops have many shop
assistants with the rank of associate, it is easily understood that there are trips of this sort
in each shop five or six times a year and that each time a shop assistant with this rank
returns he brings fresh goods to his shop. This accounts for the variable number of
consignments of goods received by the Peking shop.
The firms carrying on a successful business in Urga usually see to it that they have several
shops. ... This is done, of course, for the purpose of achieving a larger number of sales, for
a Mongol, not having bought the goods he wishes in one shop, will go buy in another or in a
third, without the least suspicion that these shops belong to the same company. Actually
only a very small number of the Mongols, and these local inhabitants, are privy to this
secret of the Chinese, all the more since the Chinese, the better to conceal this fact, even
give their shops different names. The Peking shops are never known to the Mongols by
their Chinese names-the Mongols give them their own nicknames, and this circumstance
makes it considerably easier for the Chinese to achieve their purpose, as outlined above.
Thus the oldest and largest shop, that of Jen-ho-i, is known to the Mongols by the name of
Bain-milnku, while the second shop of the same firm, which is not more than two hundred
paces from the first is called the shop of Buin-delger, the third is called the shop of Mishik,
and so on.
The less prosperous Peking shops are today no longer situated in the square, but in the
alleys. They do not have their own buildings and do business in rented baishings. In these
cases the shop faces directly onto the street and is entirely open in the majority of cases.
The wares are the same though in smaller quantity. On the other hand one can find in
these shops fine articles of Peking manufacture, which perhaps he would not find even in
the prosperous shops. Thus, for example, one comes across antique articles of fa-lan,
precious vases, and figurines, perhaps bought by accident by these merchants in the Peking
secondhand market and brought to Urga.
Shops of Chinese from Shansi
Among the Khuree shops belonging to Shansi merchants, the prosperous ones are nothing
but retail departments of the lao-sir (i.e., Shansi ) mercantile houses and warehouses in the
Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng. The less prosperous and finally the very small-scale shops of the
Chinese from Shansi doing business in the Khuree market, buy almost all their goods from
the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng. Outwardly the business of the small-scale shops seems very
brisk, and they are always filled with customers. They almost never trade for silver or tea,
but receive everything else from the Mongols in exchange for their goods: wool, hair,
sheepskin, and felt, in short, every possible product of the Mongolian steppe. All these
things are sent late every morning from the Khuree to the Mai-mai-ch'eng to the wholesale
merchants there, in payment for the goods they have received on credit. For this reason
one may see every day hundreds of two-wheeled carts drawn by mules, asses, or oxen on
their way from the Khiiree to the Mai-mai-ch'eng loaded with types of raw materials
referred to above. I chanced to see an especially large number of hides, perhaps one-tenth
of which are sent to Peking, all the rest going to Kyakhta. The shops mentioned have for
the most part served to enlarge the Khuree, and the eight side streets which have appeared
there in the last fifteen years are completely taken up by them.
Urga Craft and Industrial Establishments
In addition to these dealers in small wares, on the side streets of the Khuree market are the following:
1. Confectionery shops, five in number, which deal exclusively in gingerbread and sweet rolls.
2. Two candle shops, with attached workshops where the goods sold in these shops in the form of red and white candles are manufactured.
3. Mu-chiangs, or carpenters and cabinetmakers, the total number of whose establishments in Urga exceeds forty. Their premises are always easy to recognize because their yards are piled with boards and lumber. Their work goes on every day since, in addition to filling orders, they also manufacture for sale Mongolian tables and benches, caskets in which Lamaist books are kept, little boxes, trunks, ash receivers for incense candles, and so on. The Chinese cabinetmakers at Urga come for the most part from Kalgan. In the Khuree, as it appears, none has his own home, and all of them live in rented quarters, paying from eight to twelve packages of brick tea a year for their lodgings.
4. T'ung-chiangs , braziers, and in general all those who work metals, have about twenty workshops here. Their main and perennial occupation at Urga consists in the manufacture of burkhans; they manufacture other articles only on order. The majority of braziers and burkhan makers at Urga come from Doloon nuur. The burkhans that they cast are notable for their beauty and elegance of ornamentation, but their prices, as they say, are considerably higher than those of burkhans from Peking or Doloon nuur; the truth of this statement I verified myself personally.
5. Painters, known by the Mongol name of dzuraachis, come to Urga mainly from Shansi, especially from Wu-t'ai and Yin-chou. The total number of their workshops does not exceed seven, but even these make a very poor living. The only exception in this case are those craftsmen who succeed in securing a contract in the gegen's treasury. In this case, although their work is not paid especially well, at least they have permanent employment on contract. They paint burkhans on linen, paint and gild burkhans made of wood, clay, and papier-mache, and finally fill every other type of order in their craft. The quarters of the majority of dzuraachis are incredibly small and dirty: they are usually quartered somewhere in a rear courtyard and occupy baiswngs of no more than two chiang and for these lodgings pay about ten teas, i.e., approximately three rubles per month.
6. The gutulchin or shoemakers come from the most varied places in northern China, everywhere from Kan-ch'ou up to and including Ku-pei-k'ou. Their workshops are also small and in outward appearance are almost as dirty and wretched as those of the dzuraachis. The gutulchin almost never own their own shops, and the footwear they manufacture is usually offered for sale in the prosperous Chinese shops. They buy nothing but Russian hides at the Mai-mai-ch'eng and from the local Chinese merchants. Hides prepared in Irkutsk and Tomsk tanneries are in greatest demand, and of hides from Kyakhta only those of the Matreninskii tannery are in greater demand.
7. The elduurchin, that is, curriers, live somewhat more prosperously than the gutulchin.
They are engaged in the preparation of skins, and at the present time have twelve
establishments. They all come from Shansi and, from the viewpoint of income, are perhaps
even well-to-do, as all of them conduct business of no less than five or six thousand rubles.
But, when one considers that their capital turns over only once a year, they do not assume
any superiority over the other craftsmen. The chief materials for their manufactures are
sheep and goat skins which they buy locally in the Khuree from the yargachin or butchers.
Considering that no less than two hundred sheep and goats are slaughtered daily in the
Khijree, while sometimes the number of animals required per day exceeds one thousand, it
is easy to understand that the number of skins is entirely sufficient for twelve or even more
establishments. Every elduurchin maintains his own hired Mongol yargacthin who sell the
hides of the animals they slaughter to him alone. Thus every morning one may see the
yargachin bringing whole bundles of skins to their elduurchin. The elduurchin collect skins
throughout the entire year, but dress them only in sununer. As the Urga authorities
prohibit Chinese from polluting the water of the Tuula River, the soaking of hides in
connection with their preparation is done in streams and tributaries. Hides dressed by the
Chinese are considered less durable and warm than those tanned by Mongols, as the
Chinese scrape the flesh side too vigorously, but on the other hand the hides dressed by the
Chinese are infinitely softer and finer than those of the Mongols. The elduurchin, however,
sell an extremely small number of the hides they dress in their natural form, much more
frequently cutting them out and making blankets and coats of them. In winter they take
these wares of theirs to market, hang them out on poles and fences that they may be
examined more easily, and recover from their sale all the capital they have laid out in
summer in buying and dressing the hides.
Below is a list of those craftsmen who do not have business establishments.
8. Tailors . . . rarely live in the Khuree, mainly renting quarters in the Mai-mai-ch'eng. In
1892 only two tailors were living in the Khuree. Like the shoemakers they did not have
their own shops and did not even entrust their products to the Chinese shops and only
filled orders for the making of clothing for Chinese living in the Khuree. There is no doubt
that the small demand for craftsmen of this sort accounts for their limited number,
although the cost of tailoring is, comparatively speaking, very high. Thus for making a
winter coat of fur or of quilted cotton they usually charge from ten to twelve bricks of tea,
that is, from three rubles fifty copecks to four rubles twenty copecks, and from eight to nine
bricks of tea for making a summer coat, i.e., from two rubles eighty copecks to three rubles
fifteen copecks.
9. There is also an extremely small number of barbers in the Khuree-though they
outnumber the tailors-and they are known by the Mongol name of usuchin. They do not
have public establishments and either perform their duties in their own lodgings or, what is
still more common, at the residences of those in need of their services. All the Chinese
merchants without exception maintain their own barbers on yearly contracts who are paid
monthly the amount they have earned. In spite of this yearly contract and monthly
payment, however, payment is by the job and according to the amount of work done. The
usual agreement is as follows: the barber, hired by a given firm or a given household, must
dress the hair of all the Chinese in this firm or household every five days, and in addition
he must wash and shave their heads in the proper places every fifteen days in summer and
every twenty days in winter; one hairdressing for each person is reckoned at six shara ts'ai
under this system and for an individual hairdressing, with a shave and a haircut, they
charge no less than half a brick of tea, i.e., fifteen, or as much as seventeen and a half,
copecks.
10. Finally, the lowest-ranking craftsmen in the Khuree are the darkhan, or blacksmiths.
living in the most out-of-the-way places in the Khuree market, they come out every day
with their anvils to the market square and do there all the work that is needed: they shoe
horses and oxen, repair trivets, axes, adzes, and similar household articles of iron, and
sometimes manufacture new ones.
This is the present-day composition of the population and condition of the commercial
section of the Khuree. As concerns the market square proper, it is the place where trade in
very small wares is conducted. Its width is about three hundred twenty sagenes from north
to south and about sixty sagenes from east to west. At night this space is completely
deserted, but with the dawn the Chinese daily pitch from eighty to one hundred twenty
movable felt tents, which they sell every kind of small wares sent them from the large
shops: chibouks, pipes, snuff boxes, toys, rosaries, pieces of cloth, cups, small mirrors, belts,
and so on. These articles can, of course, be found in the large shops as well, but as the
merchants declare, small wares are sold at much higher prices in these felt tents than in the
main Chinese shops. These bfikheks sometimes house the local gutulchins and their wares,
and the latter sell ready-made footwear at a minimum of ten percent cheaper than they
may be bought for in the shops. As for the Mongols living at Urga, they conduct trade on
an even smaller scale. They do not even do business in tents, but right on the ground, on
mats full of holes or on small pieces of lath, they display old clothes and every kind of junk
which they buy up at the Mai-mai-ch'eng or from the lamas of the Khuree. Old snuff
boxes, buttons, scraps of leather: these are the articles over which they are continually
bargaining. These businesses are conducted for the most part by women without homes
who are unfit for more difficult work. A speciality of the women merchants are Mongolian
caps, both women's and men's; this business brings in much greater profits, of course, but
at the same time it is more difficult, as the manufacture of Mongolian caps requires
considerable ability and skill. The chief articles of trade at Urga for the Mongols of the
plains are as follows: milk and kumiss for the women and livestock for the men, especially
horses and sheep, as necessaries of life. The average price of an ordinary horse is from
twelve to twenty rubles, depending upon the season and the requirements of the buyer:
towards winter livestock is always cheaper, and in spring it is dearer. The cheapest season
of the year for buying horses and large cattle is, in general, the months of January and
February. As concerns sheep, their price remains almost invariable throughout the year,
and depending upon the quality of the animal, fluctuates between two and three and a half
rubles. The number of livestock driven to market at Urga is never large and in the market
one usually sees about two dozen horses and one hundred fifty or two hundred sheep in
small groups. Camels are sold only singly and infrequently, at that. The basic reason for
this is that Urga, properly speaking, is not a livestock market where merchants gather to
buy and sell animals as we see them doing at Doloon nuur or Khokhe khoto, for example.
The neighboring Mongols drive their livestock to market here in small groups only if forced
to by necessity and then again, this livestock is exclusively to satisfy the small everyday
demands of the local population. In times of crop failure of forage grasses, or of cattle
plague, there is sometimes no livestock on the Urga market square for weeks at a time and
thus it is entirely impossible to regard Urga as a convenient place to buy cattle. They say
that when the late Przhevalskii wanted to organize his expedition at Urga in 1882, he was
unable to find a single suitable camel for two weeks. He was offered only camels that were
exhausted from hauling tea and required prolonged rest and feeding; they were, in short,
completely unfit for a long trip. If it had not been for an accidental circumstance that
made it possible for our traveler, with the aid of Russian merchants, to take possession of a
number of camels and to drive them from the Orkhon, from Erdeni Dzuu, he would have
had to remain at Urga for an indefinite period. But the amount that he laid out for this
purchase was simply incredible. He paid from forty to forty-five liang in yamb, i.e., the
purest silver, which at that time equalled from one hundred twenty to one hundred thirty-five silver rubles for each camel. Ordinarily the Mongols would have easily parted with a
camel for from sixty to eighty rubles, and with the purchase of the herd, for even less. At
the same time an ox of average weight ,and strength, ordinarily costing about twenty
rubles, was sold for forty, and sheep weighing no more than a pood were to be had for from
four to six rubles a head. In addition to livestock, the Mongols bring firewood and hay
from the plains. They transport both of these on two-wheeled arabas drawn by oxen
sometimes from a distance of fifty or seventy-five versts and in very small quantities, no
more than thirty or forty cartloads daily. Not more than half a hundred sticks of firewood,
one and a half arshins in length, costs about two rubles, and green hay, i.e., hay that had
been stored since autumn, is never sold for less than fifty copecks a pood, although it is
sometimes three times this dear. The so-called "old stuff," or last year's grass, is sold more
reasonably. Tht Mongols gather it with rakes in the plains even in winter and bring it to
Urga, pricing it here at about twenty to thirty copecks per pood.
There were no special inns or taverns at the Khuree market prior to 1878, and until that
time ready-cooked food was sold only out in the open, right on the market square. The
selling of food was in the hands of Chinese soldiers exclusively, and they set up in the
market something on the order of the rows of eating establishments of the old county seats
of Russia. The kitchens of these rows of eating houses were set up by the Chinese right out
in the open air. A trivet was set out on the square, and the fire was protected perhaps only
by a piece of felt hung up to windward; here they cooked and sold roast mutton, meat pies,
pastries and gingerbread. In the year mentioned, 1878, with the expansion of business near
the Khuree and the increase in the number of Chinese shops, something resembling
hostelries where any private individual might get a prepared dinner, tea, order spirits, and
so on, were established, and soon visitors, too, began to stop here. At the present time the
number of such hostelries in the market section of the Khuree has increased by five. As
regards size, two of them are regular hotels, each containing more than fifty
accommodations or separate rooms for guests, while the others are somewhat smaller. In
spite of all this the Khuree hostelries are quite unlike the Chinese tien common to all
Mongol cities, merchants coming to Urga to trade almost never stop at them, and selling
their wares here, as this is done, for example, at Uliyasutai, and in other cities, is out of the
question. The Khuree hostelries are occupied during their sojourn in Urga by petty
officials and merchants who have come to the city to obtain some favor or on some matter
of litigation and, last of all, by lamas. Thus, during my stay at Urga, one of the Khuree
hotels was the residence of the Doloon nuur nirba, who had come to settle his accounts with
the hutuktu's treasury and to receive maintainance from the department of the diet for the
lamas living in Shara same at Doloon nuur. It should be noted that the construction and
presence of these hostelries did not cause the closer of the row of eating houses on the
market square. The food business has continued there as before and, as it seems, without
even the slightest decline. At least, around every trivet, today just as before, you always see
a group of five or six Mongols from the plains sitting right on the groups and having a
snack of hot pies. To complete the description of the market it must be added that close by
these grassy plains there are usually wandering musicians sitting with violins, balalaikas,
lutes, and other musical instruments, while blind men and wandering lamas read prayers,
from time to time brandishing their staffs with their little bells, upon which the pious
auditors hang large numbers of khadaks.
Beggars
Today, wandering beggars are scarcely to be seen at Urga; only now and then does one find
some boy or old man reading a prayer aloud at the gate and thus soliciting charity. The
mog terrible period of beggary at Urga was, as it is said, the end of the 1860s and the
beginning of the 1870s, when all of Mongolia was experiencing, directly or indirectly, the
destructive force of the Dungan revolts and subsequently underwent still more destructive
physical calamities. At that time there was a large number of beggars at Urga, and all of
them without exception lived in the market square. It is related that the square at that
time presented an extremely distressing spectacle. These beggars, sick and half-naked, lay
about on the bare ground or on some kind of rags and from time to time died where they
lay in the open air. In 1871 their mortality rate was so high that the yamun of shabinar
charged one Mongol beggar with the duty of looking after the ill who were growing weaker
and of taking them out of the city immediately upon their death. As a reward for this labor
the Mongol received maintenance in the form of food and clothing from the yamun. Later,
in the second half of the 1870s, during my first visit to Urga, the number of beggars here
was small, but, in the beginning of the 1880s, with the new physical calamities that visited
Khalkha, it again increased. The beggars of this period were vagabonds, properly
speaking, and were also to be distinguished by a special trait. Among them there were
many persons who were not satisfied with alms in the name of Buddha, but lived openly by
thievery, horse stealing, even by counterfeiting tea notes, and even more frequently by
petty swindles, which caused great injury to the local inhabitants. The authorities, not
knowing how to got rid of these homeless persons, took extraordinary measures against
them, such as weekly roundups, following which the vagrants were immediately sent off to
the hoshuns to which they belonged. This measure did not even half attain its goal because,
first, there was always an influx of new vagrants and, second, even those sent away usually
returned, for the most part, in the shortest possible time. A measure taken by the treasury
of the Urga Hutuktu proved much more expedient: the beggars in sound health were
provided directly with food and were made to do some kind of work, while something on
the order of a hospice for the sick was constructed in the southwest part of the
damnuurchins. From the beginning of 1884, when the prosperity of Khalkha somewhat
increased, this food dole was discontinued, but a recollection of it remains today in the fact
that all the Urga beggars now have their wretched quarters in the place where they
formerly received food. Today this quarter in the southwest section of the city presents a
terrible spectacle. These unfortunates have taken up residence amid piles of rubbish and all
sorts of refuse. Those of them who are stronger and better off beg alms or gather worthless
branches, knotted and crooked, which are strewn about the steppes, and construct huts
from them, which they sometimes cover with grass, sometimes with rags of some sort.
Those who have no strength at all, however, lie directly on the ground without shelter,
naked and emaciated from starvation. Compassionate shibagantsas throw rags from their
old coats over them, and this comprises the only shelter for the extremely impoverished of
Urga, who, when they die, are not even buried but are eaten by dogs on the spot where they
lay dying, in full view of their companions, who look forward to the same fate.
A Police Unit in the Khuree
People begin to appear on the market square about 5 a.m. and remain there until sundown,
when the felt tents are taken down and the petty merchants depart. In order to maintain
order in the daytime, and especially at night, a guard of Chinese occupies a government
sentry box, being dispatched from the Mai-mai-ch'eng by the dzarguchi's yamun. Their
number is always quite variable and fluctuates at various times between three and six,
though most of the time there are four. In the daytime these policemen are scarcely ever to
be seen. They sit in their sentry box and busy themselves with housekeeping. In case of
necessity a messenger is sent to fetch them, and it is only then that they put in an
appearance at the scene of the event, but rather as judges of the lowest instance than as
policemen. At night they are charged with the duty of maintaining night watches, with the
number of guards set at five. In view of the importance that these police officials have
arrogated to themselves, however, they have managed to exempt themselves from
maintaining a night watch, and, for the protection of the city, the Khuree merchants
maintain additional special guards, whose salary they pay themselves. Seven guards in all
are hired, one of whom is regarded as the sergeant. The latter has the duty of collecting
payment from the merchants and distributing it in the form of salary to the guards. The
Russian merchants at Urga also participate in these payments, paying fifteen teas per
khashaan each per year. The night watches, who are known among the Mongols by the
Chinese name chang, (?) consist of two policemen passing through all the streets of the
Urga market, and, as evidence of their vigilance, beating a gong. The watches at Urga are
divided in such a way that each round is made once every two hours, the first at 9 p.m., the
second at 11 p.m., the third at 1 a.m., the fourth at 3 a.m., and the fifth at about 5 a.m. in
the summer and at exactly 5:00 in the winter. Every watch is marked by an appropriate
number of blows on the gong, the number of which is increased progressively in the
following manner. The first watch is announced by one blow-one; the second by one, two;
the third by one, one-two; the fourth by one, one-two, one; and the fifth by one, one-two,
one-two. One must know this, inasmuch as in addition to the watch, the gong informs the
inhabitants of all incidents that take place at night. If in making their rounds the watch
comes upon thieves, to apprehend whom the help of citizens is needed, they begin a steady
and measured striking of the gong. If they discover a fire, they strike it steadily with short
strokes, and so on. For guarding the Khuree market in the daytime the yamun of shabinar,
in addition to the dzarguchi's guards, also dispatches one khya, who is charged with the
duty of seeing to the tidiness of the place, to suppress any kind of fight, and to apprehend
thieves. In spite, however, of all this seeming solicitude and activity on the part of the Urga
police, it would be difficult to describe everything that is done on the streets of Urga and on
the market square. A sufficiently clear idea of their cleanliness may be supplied by the fact
that Mongols of every age, sex, or calling never hesitate to relieve nature wherever they
may be. Indeed, the Mongols living in the Khuree do not feel that they can empty out any
sewage in their own yards and at once go out into the street for this. In spite of all the
Mongol slovenliness, however, the air in Urga is comparatively pure, and nowhere is there
the ordure or the stench that fill the streets of Chinese cities. This circumstance is aided,
on the one hand, by the climatic conditions of the place and even more, one might say
principally by the packs of hungry dogs that roam through the Khuree, and devour not
only all ordure but even the bodies of their departed brethren. Not a single day passes
without a fight on the square, and at the same time there are even murders not
infrequently. Once, during a visit to the square, I chanced to observe the following scene.
A lama had bought from another an orkimji (name of a type of lama's garment) for a two-tea t'ieh-tzu (banknote issued by the Chinese shops). The seller quickly found out that the
t'ieh-tzu he had received was counterfeit and, having found that the lama who had bought
the orkimji was still in the square, he began to demand that the lama exchange the note for
a good one. The lama refused, saying that it was not the t'ieh-tzu he had given Mm.
Unfortunately, however, witnesses to the fraud were found who gave the cheat such a
thrashing that he died a quarter of an hour later. The dead lama was from the Khuree,
and so three comrades from his aimak soon came and dragged him home. The Russian
traders who were with me at the time in the Khuree doubted the fact of his death and told
me that there are many rogues who, after a thrashing, feign death in order to escape
further prosecution for their swindle, and in this case I will not maintain that the Mongol
was actually killed. The fact remains that in the market square murder is entirely possible.
I mentioned the fact that the body of the lama was quickly taken away since it frequently
happens that persons who die or are killed on the streets and in the square have no friends
in the Khuree and their bodies he about for days at a time. On the same day that the
murder of the lama took place as described above and in the same square some
impoverished Chinese died suddenly at about 7 a.m. An entire day passed before any of his
friends or relatives could be found. As ill luck would have it the day was hot, and the face
of the dead man turned quite black, blood flowed from his nose and mouth, and it was
apparent that complete disintegration had set in, none of which prompted the Urga
authorities to remove the body. It was not until late in the evening that some relatives
appeared with a coffin. Kneeling, they read prayers over the deceased and then placed him
in the coffin. For some reason or other this coffin was not removed the same evening, but
left in the street until the following morning.
Urga Slums
To conclude my description of the public buildings of the Khuree, I must add that it also
has its slums, which may be called public places too, though unofficially. Here one may see,
for example, something on the order of our brothels, and there is also a type of inn, but
they differ basically both from our establishments and from Chinese establishments of the
same kind and have a unique character, mainly by reason of their unofficial nature. Both
the brothels and the inns at Urga are maintained exclusively by Chinese. The former are
run by the very poorest class of day laborers, while the latter are kept by the managers of
the most modest small-wares shops, which deal for the most part in any kind of junk, but
sometimes sell good wares of suspicious origin. The Chinese do not keep prostitutes in their
brothels. They have only rooms where a man and a woman may stay privately. In
addition the proprietors perhaps also serve the debauchees wine and some kind of snack.
As generally happens, the man always seeks out a woman somewhere in the square, and,
making an agreement with her, goes with her to this brothel. Sometimes and, of course,
only for the wealthy, the Chinese proprietor of the house finds the women, but such cases
are rare, although no doubt profitable for the Chinese, since then a considerable
percentage passes into his hands from the woman he chooses, in addition to the agreed sum
paid by the man. From their external appearance it is even difficult to term these brothels
part of the slums, they are so crowded, dark, dirty, and repulsive. The entire quarters of
the proprietor are limited to one single room, which, according to the Chinese custom, is
half taken up by a k'ang. Space is provided for guests in this same room. It consists
entirely of a bed which is partitioned off by boards on all sides all the way to the ceiling, so
that it presents the appearance of a private stall into which one may climb through an
opening about one and a half arshins high and one arshin wide, which is provided with a
door, likewise of wooden boards. A dirty and tattered piece of felt, rolled up on one end to
form the head of the bed, comprises all the bedclothes. The charge for staying in this stall
is one-half brick of tea, i.e., from thirty to thirty-five copecks, in the event that the woman
is receiving payment. But it frequently happens that some lama will persuade a prostitute
to share his bed without payment, in which case the proprietor's only profit is that received
from the sale of wine. The usual clientele of these establishments are Chinese from the
large Chinese shops who still are in service as shop attendants, the sons of Mongol officials
of the middle class, and the young lamas who are living with their relatives or teachers. As
regards the inns of the Khuree, they are, as I mentioned, in the small shops and wine shops,
which are open to guests and which carry on a retail trade in wine. Here, too, one may
smoke opium. The shop assistants from the Chinese mercantile houses frequently visit
these inns because they are strictly forbidden by their landlords to smoke opium at home.
Gandan
The second section of Urga, which also has a lama population, is Gandan. It is situated west of the Khuree on a low hill which divides the area of the Selbi River from the spacious and rocky valley of Chingiltuin tala, which extends west from this Nil all the way to the Sangiin uula Mountains, and it is about one and a half versts from the Khuree. Today, now that the number of Chinese shops on the west side of the Khuree has increased, they almost touch Gandan on one side . . .
As Gandan was built exclusively for those pursing the advanced course in Buddhist theology, its history is intimately associated in Urga with the fortunes of tsanid, by which name this subject is known . . .
In appearance Gandan is almost identical with the Khuree. There is the same
quadrangular square, in the center of which are two large temples of tsanid similar to the
temple of Maidari and the tsokchin temple in the Khuree; there is the same outer
appearance of the palace behind its yellow wall, only here it is much less spacious, and at its
sides one can see behind the walls two other buildings, like kiosks, in which the relics of the
fifth and seventh gegens repose. On my earlier trip I was not allowed to visit these kiosks.
First I was forbidden to enter them under the pretext that they were being remodeled
inside and later on the pretext that they did not have the key, which was supposed to be in
the hands of the hutuktu himself. This time I did not even try to visit these kiosks, as one
can gain a completely accurate idea of them from the fact that they are all built in the same
way, and I was able to inspect two similar kiosks at the monastery of Damba dorji. I shall
include a description of them when I have occasion to speak of this khid (hermitage). The
Lamaist buildings at Gandan are also laid out in a quadrangle, but fewer of them are to be
seen on the south side, where the palace of the gegen is. The external appearance of the
streets and the view of the courtyards from within are quite identical with those of the
Khuree. On the west and north sides of Gandan there are twenty-eight white suburgans
built by pious worshippers of Buddha for absolution from their sins and to ward off every
kind of misfortune and disaster. The names of these builders have not been preserved for
us either by legend or by the inscriptions on the suburgans themselves, nor have they been
preserved in the annalistic accounts of the Mongols concerning Urga, its temples and its
sights.
The Mai-mai-ch'eng
The third section of Urga, like Gandan, is situated entirely apart from the Khuree and to
the east of it at a distance of no less than five versts, the reason for which it represents an
entirely independent city. This differentiation from the Khuree is also aided by the fact
that it contains an entirely different population which lives a different life and has different
interests. The name of this third and last section of the city is the Chinese Mai-mai-ch'eng,
which is translated as "trade city." There is no need to state the purpose of this section in
the total make-up of the city; the name itself indicates its specialized character. The Urga
Mai-mai-ch'eng is situated in the same oblong valley as the Khuree and Gandan, though
the valley here has another name, Tuulain tala, that is, the valley of the Tuula River, which
flows past about four versts from the city. Externally the Mai-mai-ch'eng presents the
appearance of an almost perfect rectangle. There is no separate wall surrounding it, but
the fences of the courtyards which form the outer part of all sections of the city are so close
to one another and are so contiguous that it would not be difficult to mistake them for one
continuous wall around the city. Leading into the Mai-mai-ch'eng from the direction of
the Khuree are three wide streets, which are parallel to one another and have at their
entrances wooden gates, which, by the way, are never closed. In fact, not all of them are
equipped with doors. Beyond these gates the Mai-mai-ch'eng may be divided into two
sections, one of which, the commercial section proper, which is inhabited by Chinese,
occupies the very center and comprises the citadel of the city, so to speak, while the second
section, the Mongolian section, is a sort of suburb surrounding the citadel on all four sides.
The Mongols do not have separate names for these two sections of the city, and in order to
designate the place more exactly they use only the words dotoro for the Chinese part and
gadaa for the Mongolian section, which mean literally "inside" and "outside." The basis
for this distinction, no doubt, is the fact that there is a palisade around the commercial
section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng, and thus the words "inside" and "outside" are adequate to
indicate the place. The palisade of the Mai-mai-ch'eng which separates the inner section
from the outer section, the suburb, has seven gates, three on the east, three on the west, and
one on the south. All of them are of wood and following the customary Chinese regulations
are closed at sundown, when all trading is halted: thus it is impossible to pass from one
part of the city to the other at night.
Its Location and Divisions
The soil upon which the Mai-mai-ch'eng is situated differs in no way from all the soil of the
Urga valley. Generally, it is clayey and here and there sandy, thickly strewn with rocks in
places, but for the most part it is covered with short grass. In the spring when the snows
thaw, small lakes are formed at the Tuula which dry up in the hot season. The Tuula
River, as mentioned before, flows by about four versts from the Mai-mai-ch'eng and is
sometimes almost the only source from which its inhabitants may draw water. The
breaking up of the Tuula occurs usually between April 20 and April 30, and it freezes about
October 25. It overflows at the end of July or at the beginning of August, and since its left
bank is higher than its right, usually overflows in the direction of the Mai-mai-ch'eng. Yet
it never floods the Mai-mai-ch'eng and, generally, the overflow of the river causes no harm
to the inhabitants. In addition to the Tuula, the small Uliyatai River flows from north to
south about one hundred sagenes from the Mai-mai-ch'eng, taking its source in a spring on
Mt. Uiyatai northwest of the city and emptying into the Tuula. Along its course the
Uhyatai is fed by a few more springs, but these are so small that, by the end of May, the
bed of the Uliyatai has usually dried up, at which time it can easily be seen that the range
of springs that form this river is hardly more than one hundred fifty or two hundred
sagenes. This is why I asserted that the Tuula at times is almost the sole source from which
the inhabitants of the Mai-mai-ch'eng draw their water. Let me add now that the Chinese
usually bring water on oxen, horses, and donkeys, while the Mongols carry it on their
shoulders, and, in spite of the difficulty of transporting it thus, the need for a special type of
trade-that of water carrier, has not as yet been recognized. Thus it is very natural that,
with such conditions of soil and of its irrigation, one does not see a single bush or a single
tree throughout the entire extent of the valley of Urga. About six or seven versts west of the
Mai-mai-ch'eng, that is, about opposite the Khuree and somewhat farther west of it
immediately on the banks of the Tuula and on the islands formed by its channels there
stand four groves, each containing about twenty or thirty trees, rose willow and larch, but
it is hard to include them in the valley of the Mai-mai-ch'eng because of their great
distance and also, the most important reason, because at the present time they are slowly
dying rather than flourishing. Since the Mongols who are encamped here in their yurts are
forbidden to cut the trees, they have contrived another way of destroying them. They
break off the branches and use them when they have dried out. In this way, apparently,
much of the vegetation has perished. The Urga lamas relate that no more than forty-five or
fifty years ago the banks of the Tuula were entirely covered by a single oblong grove which
extended eastward beyond the Mai-mai-ch'eng and on the west reached Sangiin uula.
Only the mountains which surround Urga are covered with forest consisting of birch, osier,
cedar, larch, fir, pine, nut trees, apple, bird-cherry, and so on; this enables the inhabitants
to have firewood at rather moderate prices. As concerns lumber, it may be obtained on
Mt. Uhyatai (at the headwaters of the Uliyatai River), though, to be sure, in rather limited
quantities. From the middle of August a rather large quantity of berries is to be had in the
forest: in the summer blueberries, bird-cherries, red bilberries, huckleberries, raspberries,
and strawberries comprise a rather important commercial item for the Mongols, which
they usually sell in small pails weighing about eight or ten pounds, priced at a half-brick of
tea or thirty-two and one half copecks in silver. Among the representatives of the animal
kingdom in the forests, here one finds roe-bucks, whose horns are highly prized by the
Chinese as a medicinal remedy and are so bought by them at a high price (approximately
one hundred and even more silver rubles each); wild goats, wild boars and, wolves in large
numbers. Of the reptiles one encounters many snakes of various species, but an especially
large number of adders. The Mongols hunt all the above-mentioned animals with flintlocks
and sometimes they also use flintlock pistols.
I have already stated that one part of the Mai-mai-ch'eng is inhabited exclusively by
Chinese, while Mongols live in the other part, though not exclusively, since during the last
decade a rather large number of Chinese houses and shops were built here, so that today
Mongols five mixed together with Chinese in the Mai-mai-ch'eng suburb. The total
population of the Mai-mai-ch'eng can be put at five thousand persons of both sexes, of
which about eighteen hundred are Chinese and the rest Mongols.
Streets of the Mai-mai-ch'eng
The streets of the Mai-mai-ch'eng, for the most part, cannot be termed narrow. The main
ones, both in the Mongol and in the Chinese section of the city, may even be regarded as
rather wide, but on the other hand almost all of them are crooked and irregular. The first
curves; the second, broad in the middle, becomes narrow at the ends; the third, which
begins wide at one end becomes so narrow at the other that it will hardly permit two carts
to pass abreast. In spite of this there is not a single alleyway in the Mai-mai-ch'eng so
narrow that one could not drive through it, as is frequently the case in the Khuree or in
Gandan. The streets in the Mai-mai-ch'eng are unpaved, and thus in the rainy season or
when the snow is thawing, they are extremely dirty, while in the summer they choke one
with their dust, in spite of the fact that the Chinese very frequently pour into them their
slops or their moist leavings from yesterday's meals or, finally, their own excrement and
even, in extreme cases, imported water. In order to water the streets small canals have
been dug through the Chinese part of the city from the Uliyatai River, but, during the
major part of the year, they are dry, as is the Uliyatai River itself, and do not fill with water
until such a time that the streets themselves no longer want watering. Across these canals,
which pass along either side of the streets, there are little bridges in front of each house, as
is the case in the alleyways, where the canals cross the street. On the other side of the
canals, extending right to the fences of the yards are also low clay sidewalks about three or
four arshins wide which run along both sides of the street and which on the main streets
are fenced off from the thoroughfare by posts. In two of the alleyways, the fences are
bordered with scraggly rose willow trees set far apart.
Dwelling houses facing the streets, in the Chinese section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng as in the
Khuree, are absent, and thus all the streets of the city, with the exception of several open
shops, look as if they consisted of walls and gates. The Chinese do not provide their gates
with wickets, probably because they have no need of them, as they keep the large gates
open all day long.
Types of Chinese Shops
The Chinese section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng consists exclusively of shops, and the prosperous
ones have the following external form: Their outer fence facing the street is constructed, as
in the Kharee, of larch logs fixed upright, usually coated with clay, so that the entire Mai-mai-ch'eng has the appearance of being constructed of clay. In its very center a broad gate
leads into the courtyard, the doorposts of which are sometimes pillars of brick and
ornamented with pilasters, but more often simply wooden beams, set directly against the
clay fence. The gate is always provided with a penthouse, the roof and cornice of which are
usually painted in the brightest colors-red, green, dark blue, and so on. The combination
of these colors gives the penthouse over the gate an extremely motley appearance, but from
a distance it seems rather handsome, especially when the top is ornamented with carved or
painted gilt representations of coiled serpents, dragons, or with other kinds of figures. At
each house there are invariably affixed to the gate itself several inscriptions in characters,
which are changed every year on New Year's Day and which consist of some
congratulatory maxims chosen from the classics. In the case of the more well-to-do, the
gates, like the penthouses over them, are painted and, in addition to the inscriptions affixed
there, are also ornamented with figures of Chinese in their ancient costumes, in exactly the
same form as we see them painted on tea chests or on Chinese vases. The Chinese also
usually have large courtyards, although this is not apparent at first glance, and from the
gate to the interior their courtyards are sometimes so small that it is difficult for a cart to
turn into them. The reason for this is, on the one hand, that the courtyards are crowded
with various furniture of the shops and the home and, on the other, the position of the
buildings themselves. Almost at the gate itself and for the most part extending across the
entire width of the courtyard is the building either of the shop proper or of its warehouses.
Behind this main building, visible from the street, usually comes the much larger half of the
courtyard, where the kitchens, outbuildings, storehouses, and so forth, are located. Thus,
when one enters the gate of a Chinese shop, one always sees a small courtyard skirted on
three sides by oblong one-storied buildings with rather narrow galleries, which are
sometimes open and sometimes supported at the sides by columns which terminate at the
top in a penthouse formed from the roof of the building itself. The extremities of the roof
which form the penthouse of the gallery are also ornamented with carving and painting
resembling those over the gate. In summertime, in many shops, flowers and plants in boxes
and pots are set out in the galleries, and sometimes similar flowers are arranged upon
special stands and ladders in the middle of the courtyard. All this gives the courtyard a
very pleasing appearance, especially after the monotonous and deserted Mongolian plain.
In the winter, instead of flowers, small firs and other evergreens are displayed, and thus the
Chinese shop is to a certain degree an eternally green and blooming garden. From the gate
to the shops, the courtyards of the more prosperous firms are almost always paved with
wooden planks which offer a rather clean flooring, while in the case of poorer merchants a
path paved with planks leads all the way to the door of the shop. This entrance is almost
never a folding door but is covered with either a curtain of felt edged with dark blue
canvas, or is provided with a single-leaved door, the lower panel of which is solidly boarded
up with wood, while the upper panel is open. In this upper panel of the door, frames are
placed covered with paper, to admit more light into the shop. The windows of the shop are
always situated on one side and face the front. Their frames are sticks of wood somewhat
thinner than those one finds in Russian window frames and are arranged in the most
varied combinations: circles, triangles, squares, octagons, and so on. The frames are
ornamented with carving and painted on the outside while on the inside they are covered
with paper which takes the place of glass. As the paper admits the passage of very little
light, the Chinese are obliged to put windows over almost the entire wall, so that the walls
of their buildings that face the courtyard, one might say, are only half built on this side, the
upper of them being windows. As to the roof of the building, it is supported on this side at
the corners by the side walls and by a small pier in the middle of the building, that is,
where the door into the shop is situated. In some prosperous shops, panes of glass are also
inserted along with the paper in sufficient number such that, if all these panes were
combined into two windows of average size, I believe they would supply quite sufficient
illumination for the shop; but the Chinese are so accustomed to their enormous windows
covered with paper that to this day they have not considered the possibility of having more
illumination and, at the same time, by leaving less space open, of avoiding excessive cold in
winter. It might be supposed that, with their at times rather misplaced penchant for the
elegant, the Chinese do not recognize real light when they see it coming through a pane and
therefore make no use of it. Indeed, when a rich Chinese installs a pane in the frame of his
window, he almost never leaves it clear, but invariably either sticks some picture on it or
ornaments it richly with painted pictures of flowers, animals, scenes from the ancient life of
his people, and so on. The shops usually contain a very small quantity of wares, as the local
Chinese are in the habit of keeping their wares in storehouses and warehouses, while in the
shops they keep for display only the sorts of cloth and other manufactured articles that
they have in stock, one and, in many cases, two samples of each. In addition they have
small articles, haberdashery, toys, small toilet articles, groceries on display, confections,
sugar, tobacco, and so on. All this reposes openly on the shelves, and perhaps only the most
expensive articles are displayed on stands and in cupboards behind glass. The wares
usually take up two walls, and on the third wall ready-made garments are hung out for
sale, d the shop deals in this line. In the majority of cases, however, the third wall is left
free and is appointed as the place for the entertainment of the buyers who tarry long in the
shop. For this purpose a k'ang is built here, or a low but wide stove-couch, warmed by a
stove from beneath. There is nothing on the stove-couch but the felts which cover it and
two or three olboks (a thin pillow usually made in the shape of a square from two or three
pieces of quilted felt and trimmed with some kind of material) in front of a table about half
an arshin high. In front of the table, however, there is always a brazier containing glowing
coals, which is used in winter for heating and in summer for fighting pipes. Here, however,
the Chinese entertain only customers of the second rank: rich buyers enjoy greater honor
and are invited into a second, more remote section of the shop. Here there is a similar
k'ang, two or three stools, scales are set out on the tables, and account books and an abacus
are scattered about. Sometimes there are a few cupboards containing similar supplies,
those of any business office. There are no goods in this room, and in their place the walls
are decorated with mirrors, pictures, or oblong sheets of paper on which maxims from the
classics are written in a bold and artistic hand. This is the usual appearance presented by
the prosperous Chinese shops in the Khuree and the Mai-mai-ch'eng. All of them are
arranged in the same manner, and perhaps the only difference can be found in the
circumstance that some of them do not display goods at all and keep only open offices; in
these shops everything demanded by the customer is brought from the warehouses.
The shops of the second rank do not differ so much from the rich commercial houses in
their wares as in their arrangement, since almost identical merchandise can be found in
them. Almost none of these shops have business offices in separate quarters and retain
very small warehouses. This system and arrangement is in its turn due to the circumstance
that they import their own goods from China and also that they receive a very small
quantity of goods addressed to them from within the Great Wall, procuring them instead, if
need arises, in the Peking shops doing business right here in Urga. The shops of this
quality belong for the most part to laosirs, that is emigrants from western China. They are
built facing the street and instead of a door have wide openings which, when the shop is
closed, are covered with from ten to thirteen boards. About two paces inside the entrance
to the shops is a polok (counter) behind which the goods are laid out on shelves; small
wares such as tape, cord, bridles, ornaments for saddles, and harness are hung from the
ceiling and so forth. From the shop there is an entrance into the proprietor's room, and
here he has his office. Customers and strangers almost never enter here as this is not a
room for receiving the public but rather something on the order of the living quarters of
the proprietor and also because the customers come here to make retail rather than
wholesale purchases, and, hence seldom remain long in the shop. For the most part, they
conclude their transactions at the polok, that is, only two paces from the outer door.
The third and still lower rank of shops resembles the shops of the second order in their
arrangement, differing from them mainly in the merchandise displayed inside. As
everywhere else, the merchandise sold in these small-wares shops is of the most everyday
sort, and its quality varies as infinitely as does the character of the merchants, their capital,
the confidence of their creditors in them, the manner in which they obtain their
merchandise, and the merchandise in demand. The shops of the first quality are located
for the most part within the inner wall of the Mai-mai-ch'eng or, properly, in its Chinese
section; shops of the second and third quality fill the Mongol section of the city, but even
here the shops are not mingled with the dwellings of Mongols but are grouped apart from
them around the palisade of the Chinese city. Thus, as one leaves the gate of the Chinese
section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng and enters the Mongolian section, one again encounters
Chinese shops, but these are situated out in the open. Here they exhibit greater activity
and indeed there are always more people in these places than in the Chinese section.
In addition to shops there are also peddlers here. Meat sold by weight is displayed on
trays. Geese, ducks, and sometimes hares are hung on the palisade-the surplus game of the
Mongols, which they bring to the city to sell. Here, too, the Mongol women sell berries,
butter, and other products that they have manufactured or raised, and some sit selling
various kinds of belts, bibs, children's toys, caps, and so on. It should be noted, however,
that the greatest commercial activity and life is concentrated in the western part of the
Chinese Mai-mai-ch'eng and only at the central gate of its palisade; in other places the
same trade is carried on, but much less briskly. The spot at the central western gate might
perhaps be called the bazaar, only here there is neither square, nor any other of the things
associated with such a market place, although, to be sure, the space in which the merchants
assemble is somewhat wider than the street alone, as it is a place where several streets
converge at the gate of the palisade of the Mai-mai-ch'eng.
Hotels
In addition to the shops, the Chinese section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng also has two hotels
(tien) for guests, which are patronized mostly by Chinese who have come to spend a little
time at Urga or are passing through. The guests may engage one, two, three, or four
rooms, but these never comprise one apartment and are entirely separate, with separate
entrances, this being the arrangement of Chinese buildings of this type. The dimensions of
each room are one chien, and the exact center is taken up by the k'ang spread with felt and
olboks. In addition, it contains two oi three tables and chairs, and pictures or texts are
hung about the walls, these comprising the total furnishings of the rooms, which are as
alike as two peas in a pod. Each hotel in the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng has an area of thirty
chien and, hence, contains thirty rooms. The guests must take dinner here, and the guest
engaging one room with food pays one brick of tea a day (from sixty to sixty-five copecks of
silver in our money). There are no cabmen in the Mai-mai-ch'eng, nor an they maintained
by the hotels; however, one may always privately procure a saddle horse of Chinese cart for
transportation, and one need only inquire concerning this matter of the proprietor of the
hotel. There are no public houses, though there is what we call in our country a "white
inn," that is, a place where spirits are sold for consumption on the premises and where one
may at the same time procure some sort of dinner, drink tea, and so on. These taverns are
usually located in small shops where the smallest merchandise, such as tobacco, a sort of
bread, gingerbread, and the like, is sold. One goes through the shop into the premises of
the tavern, which consists of two or three rooms similar in arrangement to the rooms in the
hotels and there orders what one wishes. The prices are very reasonable; for example, one
Chinese pound of roast mutton costs sixteen copecks; five eggs, sixteen copecks; twenty
ravioli, thirty copecks; a plate of mutton soup, sixteen copecks; spiritous liquors sold are
darsun, at eighteen copecks a bottle and ten copecks a half-bottle, and han-hsing at sixty
copecks a bottle, and thirty-six copecks a half-bottle. The Chinese seldom visit these
establishments, but the Mongols, on the other hand, spend a great deal of money here,
especially when, inflamed with wine, they are enticed by the beauties who are always on
hand. There are about fifty-seven such inns in the Mai-mai-ch'eng, and nearly all are
situated in the second section of the city, the Mongol section.
Lumber Trade
Here too, in the south and especially in the southeast section of the Mai-mai-ch'eng, the
Urga timberyards are concentrated. It should be noted that the timber trade is one of the
rather large branches of Chinese industry at Urga, and in the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng and
the Khuree together there are nearly a hundred offices dealing in this item. Of these
twenty-eight offices belong to merchants from Kalgan, thirty-six to merchants from
Khokhe khoto, one to merchants from Biruu khoto, and the rest to merchants from Shansi,
or, more accurately, from T'ien-cheng and Hsi-ch'eng. Properly, there are thirty offices in
the Mai-mai-ch'eng dealing in the exporting of timber; the largest of them, six in number,
are those which do an annual business in timber amounting to from three hundred to six
hundred bales of brick tea, or from fifty-five hundred to ten thousand and as much as
eleven thousand silver rubles. The rest do a smaller business, and, finally, nearly a dozen
warehouses have a yearly turnover amounting to no more than fifty or sixty bales, that is,
from eight hundred to one thousand silver rubles. The total annual value of timber
exported from Urga is as much as one hundred thousand rubles or a little more.
The timber is prepared in the vicinity of Urga, mainly north of here, at a distance of about
eighty versts. . . . The prosperous timber firms negotiate for this with the hoshuns and rent
from the hoshun authorities separate tracts of timber for felling which belong to the latter
and are situated in the mountains. They then send their Chinese workmen there, although
they also hire Mongols to assist the latter, and together these workmen prepare the wood
for market. For their work in hewing the timber, the Mongol workmen receive from ten to
twenty shara tsai per log from the Chinese firms, depending upon the length and thickness
of wood. Less prosperous firms buy lumber in small lots from the Mongols, who long ago
learned from the Chinese how to make timbers in the form they require and in the accepted
dimensions. These timbers are always of the same length and width, namely seven Chinese
ch'ih in length and one ch'ih in width; the thickness, however, varies, and is reckoned by
so-called "marks." Each mark comprises two Chinese ts'un, the length and width as
described above. A timber is from five to nine marks in thickness.
The sale and export of lumber from Urga is carried on almost the entire year round and
diminishes to a certain degree only in spring. The principal export trade is with Khokhe
khoto, Kalgan, and, to a certain extent, Doloon nuur. The lumber is transported in
summer on ox-drawn carts and in winter by camels used as pack animals. Special caravans
taking lumber from Urga, however, are very seldom fitted out. It is picked up and taken
from here on the return trip by carriers bringing manufactures from Khokhe khoto, tea
from Kalgan, and flour from Doloon nuur. Of course, the first concern of these drivers is
always to take back the easiest load, for example, hides, wool, hair, and other raw
materials. If, however, they do not find these articles, they will also take lumber, in order
not to take their camels or carts back empty. There are, however, drivers from Khokhe
khoto and Feng-cheng who, before leaving home, when they accept an order to deliver
manufactured goods to Urga, at the same time contract to bring lumber back to Khokhe
khoto. The number of such drivers is always of critical importance in fixing the price for
the delivery of lumber from Urga to the south. Yearly, the amount of lumber sent out of
Urga is as follows: from one thousand to sixteen hundred cartloads and nearly two
thousand camel loads to Khokhe khoto, and, if we take the average for each cart and camel
at twenty-eight marks, from eighty thousand to one hundred thousand marks; from one
thousand to fifteen hundred cartloads and from two thousand to three thousand camel
loads to Kalgan, that is, from ninety thousand to one hundred forty thousand marks; only
fifteen thousand to twenty thousand marks are computed as exported to Doloon nuur. The
price of cartage of lumber from Urga to Khokhe khoto, according to the Chinese, fluctuates
from year to year between one liang and one liang two ch'ing of silver for each cartload or
camel load; to Kalgan, between one liang three ch'ing and one liang eight ch'ing for the
same loads. In spite of the fact that it is a shorter distance from Urga to Kalgan, the
cartage charges to Doloon nuur are the same as those to Kalgan. This seeming discrepancy
is due to the fact that there are always fewer drivers returning to Doloon nuur, though it
cannot but be noted that recently their number has steadily increased from year to year,
due to the increased delivery of cereal products from Doloon nuur and Biruu khoto to
Urga.
It is rather difficult to ascertain the cost of timber for the Urga merchants themselves who
rent it from the Mongols for felling. The price is set by the Mongols according to the size of
the tract, at from five to fifteen bales of tea a year, with the tract being measured only
approximately. Payment for the lumber is also for the most part made in tea, although
there are cases of the Chinese paying both in silver and in merchandise. The less
prosperous firms buy lumber from the Mongols at a rate of from twelve to fourteen shara
tsai, that is, from twenty-four to twenty-eight copecks, per mark. The latter rate, of course,
cannot be taken as entirely correct, first, because the Chinese always pay the poor Mongols
the value of the lumber in goods, estimated at its sale value, and, second, still more because,
when the Chinese contract with the Mongols for the delivery of lumber, they usually give
merchandise in advance and, taking advantage of the poverty of the nomads, artificially
raise the price of their merchandise and lower the price of the lumber. In 1892 lumber for
export was sold at the Chinese lumberyards at Urga at a price of eighteen shara tsai, that
is, approximately thirty-six of our copecks, per mark.
The majority of the average and less prosperous firms dealing in lumber in the Mai-mai-ch'cng, and all lumbermen without exception who do business in the Khuree, in addition to
selling lumber, also deal in various wood manufactures such as carts, dishware, household
furniture, utensils, and so on. These are sold mainly to the local Urga Mongols as well as to
the Mongols of the plains, and not a single firm does a business of less than forty bales of
tea in various kinds of wooden articles.
The shops at Urga that deal in lumber do not engage in charcoal burning: this trade is
concentrated for the most part in the hands of the Mongols themselves, although in the
Mai-mai-ch'eng there are also two or three associations of Chinese workmen who make
their living from the manufacture and sale of charcoal, for which purpose they rent forest
tracts in the same hoshuns.
Dwellings of the Mongols
Even from the street the dwellings of the Mongols differ from those of the Chinese. Their
fences are not faced with clay and present the appearance of palisades of larch logs. The
gates of every house, which are without the penthouses that the Chinese always have, are
painted red with monotonous regularity and, in complete contrast to those of the Chinese,
are never open. The Mongols never ride in carts, and it is for this reason, properly, that
they have no need of a gate. They enter themselves or drive their livestock or lead their
saddle horses through wide wickets, which are lacking in the Chinese houses. Behind the
fence the Mongols always have a large courtyard, but they never build many outbuildings
in them, and for the most part these are confined entirely to sheds along the fence, under
which stand the carts if the proprietor of the house is in the carrier's trade, and, if not,
boxes, vats, and so on are kept here. In the middle of the courtyard there are one or two
yurts, exactly identical with those we saw in the dwellings of the lamas of the Khilree. Here
the Mongols spend the winter. A baishing is built behind the yurts, in which the Mongol
lives in summer. Well-to-do Mongols have two or three baishings, though it is unnecessary
to give a description of them, as they are all built in the same style, both in the case of the
Chinese and of the Mongols.
Passing now to a general description of the construction of the houses, I must say, first of
all, that, in the Mai-mai-ch'eng of the Khuree, the houses are of wood. The buildings of the
Chinese appear to be of clay, and from their outward appearance they might be thought to
be constructed of the unburnt brick that the Chinese use in the construction of their
dwellings, but, as I have mentioned before, they are only wood coated with clay, both to
preserve the wood from rapid deterioration and for greater retention of heat within the
building. Lumber used in the construction of the buildings is felled in the forest of Ubyatai
(at the headwaters of the Uliyatai River); recently, however, it has become very scarce
there, so that lumber is brought from various places northwest of Urga. Larch is mainly
used for construction; the roofs of the houses, as well as the fences and every kind of
outbuilding, are constructed of larch logs. The Mongols do not coat their fences with clay,
but, on the other hand, like the Chinese, they plaster their baishings all over, including the
roofs. Thanks to the clayey soil on which Urga mainly stands, there is quite enough of this
material in the Mai-mai-ch'eng. Clay is to be found everywhere, and one sees pits right in
the Mai-mai-ch'eng. The clay dug in the Chingiltu Mountains northwest of the Mai-mai-ch'eng, however, is regarded as the best. It is used in the manufacture of pots, brick, and
tile at Urga. The potter's trade is exclusively in the hands of the Chinese, and the Mongols
take no part whatsoever in work of this nature. Bricks are manufactured in quadrangular
wooden forms similar to ours, and, when they are fired they weigh from seven to nine
pounds. The price of a fired brick is between sixty and sixty-five copecks per twenty-five;
two hundred unburnt bricks may be had for the same price. Both burnt and unburnt
brick is used only for stoves in the construction of houses, both by the Chinese and by the
Mongols, although the former mainly use unburnt brick while the latter prefer fired brick.
Some of the Chinese use tile for their roofs, but the majority construct them of larch logs.
Generally speaking, the construction of a house at Urga is not especially expensive, and the
chief difficulty encountered here is in the lack of skilled hands. The total number of
carpenters at Urga is no more than thirty. The majority of them are Chinese, but they are
hired with reluctance as the work of Mongol carpenters is considered more durable. AU
houses are built to order, and the average cost of a baishing three chien in size (the usual as
houses are built to order, and the average cost of a baishing three chien in size (the usual
dimensions of a Mongol house) may be put at from ton to twelve bales of tea, which in our
money is between two hundred twenty five and three hundred rubles. It goes without
saying that not every Mongol builds a house for himself, and the majority of Mongols in
the Mai-mai-ch'eng live in rented quarters. Yurts are rented, and the average rent for one
of these, without heat or light, may be put at from two to three rubles in silver per month.
Both the Mongol men and the Mongol women usually rent yurts in companies of two or
three persons, and thus the rent for their lodgings totals some copecks per month.
The cost of living for Mongols in the Mai-mai-ch'eng, thanks only to the modesty of their
tastes, is not especially high. Flour, meat, and tea are the three products which represent
the daily requirements of the Mongols here. A brick of tea (dzuzaan) weighing two and
one-half Chinese pounds costs from sixty to sixty-five copecks, and flour of the second
grade, brought from the Selenga, Kalgan, Doloon nuur, or Biruu khoto, costs from nine to
eleven copecks per Chinese pound. Rye bread and flour are not used at all in Mongolia,
and the finest grade of flour is brought here in rather limited quantities, and it costs from
twelve to thirteen copecks for a Chinese pound. The meat of various cattle is sold here with
bones for from four to six copecks a Chinese pound. The Chinese, being more accustomed
to delicacies of the table, use various sorts of greens as seasoning for their dishes, for which
reason some of them cultivate small truck gardens right in the Mai-mai-ch'eng on the
outskirts of the city, and their produce is sold in the Mai-mai-ch'eng itself. Thus,
pumpkins are brought for sale here at half a brick of tea each, or from thirty to thirty-two
copecks. Carrots, parsley, and radishes are sold by weight and from twenty-five to twenty-seven Chinese pounds may be had for one brick of tea. Up to thirty chin of Chinese
cabbage may be had for one brick of tea. Potatoes are seldom sold by weight, and are
usually sold by dry measure, which, as reckoned by the Mongols in the sale of groceries,
comprises a row of potatoes the length of the distance between the fingers of the
outstretched arms. This amount costs ten shara tsai, or about twenty copecks in our
money. In addition, onions, garlic, and Chinese cucumbers are cultivated and sold, but the
latter in very limited quantities. The houses are heated mainly by firewood of larch, pine,
and sometimes birch, but the Mongols prefer argal to firewood and consume it in winter at
the rate of seventy or eighty cartloads per yurt.
The principal occupation of the Chinese is commerce, and only the most inconsiderable
portion of Chinese make a living at any trade. In the Chinese shops one can find hot
Chinese and Russian merchandise. The latter is bought by the Chinese at Kyakhta and at
the Verkhneudinsk, Irbitsk, and even Nizhegorodsk fairs, while the former is brought from
Peking, Khokhe khoto, and Kalgan. By the same route European merchandise or,
properly, English manufactured goods are brought to Urga in abundance.
The Mongols living in the Mai-mai-ch'eng are mainly engaged in the transport of goods.
They deliver tea and hides to Kyakhta and camel and sheep wool and Russian goods to
Kalgan. They an hired both by the Chinese of the Mai-mai-ch'eng and by the Russian
merchants living in Urga. The Mongols have no farms in the Mai-mai-ch'eng, leaving all
their livestock on their pastures in the plains. Thus, in spite of the fact that some of the
Mongols of the Mai-mai-ch'eng number their cattle in the thousands, hardly a hundred
head of horses and not more than five thousand sheep are kept in the Mai-mai-ch'eng itself.
Cows are very seldom brought into the Mai-mai-ch'eng, since it is more expensive to keep
cows than to keep sheep, and to the Mongol mind sheep bring mud more profit than cows.
Butter-the only product a sheep cannot supply-is brought by the Mongols from the plains.
However, they even get milk from the sheep and have wool from them in addition. Sheep
are sheared once a year, in the autumn, and at this time they obtain from one to one and
one-fourth pounds of wool from each sheep. This wool is usually not marketed, but go into
the manufacture of the felts that are so necessary in the household life of the Mongols. The
manufacture of felts, as in general the production of all the necessities of life, is left
exclusively to the Mongol women. A sheep produces one lamb a year and lambs only once
a year. The poorer Mongols keep goats, but the Chinese raise only pigs, and even these in
very small numbers-then are no more than thirty of them in the entire city. Cattle
breeding on such a small scale in the city is, of course, mainly due to the high cost of
keeping animals. The environs of Urga offer anything but luxuriant pasturage, and the
Mongols of the Mai-mai-ch'eng are not accustomed to making hay for winter and keep
their animals out to grass the whole year round. This is why in winter, by the time the
grass is all eaten away, the Mongols are obliged to buy hay and pay dearly for this article.
Hay is brought to the Mai-mai-ch'eng from the banks of the Khuntsal and Khara rivers,
which are about sixty or seventy versts north of Urga. It can be understood that, if we
consider the long journey alone, this hay cannot be cheap, and, for the Mongols who bring
it here, it comprises one of the most profitable articles of trade. Instances of the price of
one pood of hay being as high as two bricks of tea, i.e., one ruble twenty copecks or one
ruble thirty copecks, are by no means rare. Of course, the Mongols do not pamper their
animals with hay like this and buy old stuff" or last year's grass, which is collected in the
winter with rakes. But even this is not especially inexpensive; a cartload of "old stuff"
weighing about four poods is also seldom sold for less than two bricks of tea. In general the
maintenance of horses in the Mai-mai-ch'eng during a winter month, with the sort of stock
raising to which the Mongols are accustomed, can never cost less than ten of twelve rubles,
which to the Mongols represents a very considerable sum.
By religion the inhabitants of the Mai-mai-ch'eng may be divided, properly speaking, into
two groups, Taoists and Buddhists. Only Chinese belong to the first group, and all the
Mongols and a small number of Chinese belong to the second. In addition, about twenty
Mongol shamans live in the Mai-mai-ch'cng, although they, properly, may be considered
shamanists to the same extent that any Chinese may be considered a Taoist, Buddhist, or
Confucianist. All the Urga shamans are at the same time Buddhists, and a very clear
demonstration of this is that the old woman shaman with whom I first had occasion to
become acquainted had even taken the vows of a shibagantsa (Buddhist nun). It must be
said in general that in the Khuree shamanism exists, not as any kind of religion, but as
soothsaying or fortune telling, a trade plied by private individuals, out of a desire to
augment their means of living in any way possible. Thus, in the Mai-mai-ch'eng only two
faiths exist, Taoism and Buddhism, and the temples are built accordingly. There are only
four temples in the Mai-mai-ch'eng: three Taoist in various places in the Chinese section of
the city and one Buddhist temple built on the southwest side of the Mongol section. In
addition to the public buildings described, there is also a theater in the Mai-mai-ch'eng
opposite the temple of Geser, almost in the very center of the Chinese Mai-mai-ch'eng.
There are no permanent troupes in the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng, however, and the actors
come only on short visits from Kalgan and Khokhe khoto. These visits occur about three
or four times a year and of course cause great excitement in the Mai-mai-ch'eng.
The Chinese Cemetery
Then the Chinese cemetery may also be included among the public places in the Urga Mai-mai-cWeng. It is situated at the north end of the Mai-mai-ch'eng and is a spacious field
surrounded by a fence of upended larch logs. On the south side of this field there is a
baishing with an adjoining courtyard and outbuildings. These are the quarters of the
cemetery watch. In the rear of the courtyard there is a large folding gate, which leads into
the cemetery and through which the deceased buried here are conveyed. The total number
of graves in the Chinese cemetery is comparatively small. Over the period of more than
fifty years since the cemetery has been in existence, no more than two hundred tombs have
been constructed here. The custom of Chinese families possessing their own land to prefer
burying their members there is well known, and, in conformity with this custom, the
majority of the Chinese who die at Urga are transported home to China beyond the wall by
their relatives and only the poorest persons and even more frequently homeless persons
without relatives remain in Urga. For their dead the Chinese usually make very large
coffins, no less than a sagene in length and up to an arshin and a quarter in height, using
boards of a thickness of no less than two and one-half and frequently three or as many as
foul inches. The coffin somewhat resembles ours. It is also wider at the head and narrower
at the foot, while the board at the head is frequently made to curve outward and is always
higher than at the foot. Thus, the cover of the coffin is always in an inclined position. This
cover is usually wider than the coffin itself and has pins on its underside which fit snugly
into the sides of the coffin. The top side of the coffin lid, however, is entirely smooth and
often is even polished. Everything is constructed in this manner in order to protect the
remains of the deceased from dampness and to enable the rainwater to flow easily off the
coffin. The Chinese do not have graves in their cemetery and do not bury their dead in the
earth, but enclose the body in the coffin, which they put in the cemetery directly on top of
the earth, inscribing the name of the deceased, the place of his origin, his age, and the date
of his death on the headboard. Persons who are more well-to-do and feel more
compunction toward their dead sometimes also construct cases over the coffins on the
ground, which look like wooden boxes overturned on the gave. It may be understood that,
with this method of burial, the stench in the Chinese cemetery is sometimes simply
unbearable, and in appearance the cemetery is anything but attractive. One can see bones,
skulls, hair, and the dirty clothing of the dead from the coffins that have collapsed with age.
Everywhere in the holes and puddles formed by the rains there gather some sort of reddish
or yellowish liquid, covered with grease. Wherever one turns his head there is everywhere
the same loathsome foulness and stench.
Establishments for charitable purposes, as for example, hospitals, almshouses, poorhouses,
and the like, do not exist in the Mai-mai-ch'eng. In spite of this, there are comparatively
few beggars to be seen here, for the philanthropy of the Mongols sees that all who visit their
yurts are cared for. Only those suffering from syphilis do not enjoy this protection, and
incidentally there are large numbers of such persons living here. The celibacy of the lamas
and the single, familyless life of the wealthy Chinese is no doubt the principal reason for the
wantonness of the women, which exhibits itself at a very early age and to an extreme
degree. Fathers and mothers not only take an indifferent view of the waywardness of their
daughters, but even frequently bring about their downfall by selling them for one or, in
many cases, two bales of tea (from sixteen to thirty-two rubles). Husbands part with their
wives without a twinge of conscience, so long as they bring home their fee. It goes without
saying that with the preponderance of the male population over the female population and
the low level of the moral concepts existing at Urga, the presence of syphilis on an extremely
large scale is a natural product of circumstances. Those who contract syphilis are treated
by the lamas, and, if they manage to recover in the least, they go off into the plains. If they
do not improve, however, they find themselves entirely without shelter, roaming feebly
through the streets or lying on the ground by the fences at the outskirts of the city. Here
they die, and usually their iniquitous bodies are torn to bits by dogs where they lie.
Administration of the Mai-mai-ch'eng
To a European this will seem most strange, and he will inevitably inquire: "Doesn't anyone
look after this city? Aren't there any authorities or city government?" The answer: there
are authorities, and there is also a city government. The latter is charged with the duty of
keeping order, but it considers the cases described above quite in the order of things and in
its yamuns deliberates only on cases of thievery, robbery, violence, murder, fraud, and
other transgressions of the law. Since it comprises one of the sections of the city of Urga,
the Mai-mai-ch'eng is naturally under the central administration of the Urga ambans, but
especially great importance in the Mai-mai-ch'eng is enjoyed by the dzarguchi, who has his
residence here and his separate office, which goes by the name of the dzarguchi's yamun.
The office of dzarguchi was established in the Urga Mai-mai-ch'eng in 1742. It has always
been occupied by a Manchu and by law must have a new incumbent every three years. It
is the duty of the dzargucw to maintain order in the city. In addition all the subjects of the
Chinese empire are immediately answerable to him, both those residing and conducting
business in the Khuree and Mai-mai-ch'eng, and all those traveling for this same purpose
within the boundaries of the aimaks of the Tilshetil Khan and Tsetsen Khan. The
dzarguchi examines all cases in lawsuits between Mongols and Chinese, but is not fully
independent in deciding especially important cases and must make a report concerning
everything to the ambans. He alone is in charge in the dzargucm's yamun and there are no
officials besides him who are even entitled to lay down any decision whatever or are even
entitled to a vote. Thus the dzarguchi's yamun is simply the office of the dzargucm himself.
It consists of fifteen clerks (bicheechi), five of whom are Chinese and ten Mongols. None of
these clerks receives a specified sum as salary, but they profit from the revenues of the
yamun, consisting of imposts, levied by the Chinese for certificates granting the right to
conduct business in a given place. These permits, which the merchants get from the
dzarguchi's yamun, are granted to Chinese merchants on the basis of special decrees of the
Ministry of Native Affairs in Peking. The highest charge for such a permit is set at six and
one-half bales of tea, that is, about one hundred silver rubles. The average number of these
permits granted by the dzarguchi's yamun varies between ninety and one hundred twenty,
and hence the revenues of the yamun may be put at about fifteen thousand (sic-Translator). It is this money that the employees of the dzarguchi's yamun divide among
themselves. These funds also provide for the maintenance of the messengers, of whom
there are never less than eighty in the yamun. The dzarguchi himself receives a salary of
only three hundred liang from the Chinese government. Nevertheless this post attracts a
very large number of competitors as it is considered extremely lucrative: at Peking it is
virtually never sold for less than five thousand liang in silver, that is, ten thousand rubles.
Dzakha Deere (On the Outskirts)
The sections of Urga already discussed do not constitute an exhaustive description of the
city. The area between the Lama Khuree and the Mai-mai-ch'eng contains so many more
separate buildings, that, if they could be grouped together into a single whole, it would no
doubt form a city every bit as large as the Khuree or the Mai-mai-ch'eng. First of all,
south of the Khuree marketplace there is a special commercial section of the city called
Dzakha deere, which, literally translated, means "on the outskirts." Here, beyond the road
of Maidari, is the Khuree food market, and here live the Mongols who do business in the
market, for the most part butchers or yargacwns. All of them are camped close to the
market in yurts, near which they slaughter the animals they buy for selling, after which
they take the hides to the elduilrchins, cut the meat into pieces, and carry it to the market,
where it is displayed right out on the ground or hung on the fences. The more prosperous
of these merchants, who slaughter ten or more sheep a day, transport the meat in carts and
sell it from these carts. For Russian visitors to Urga, it should perhaps be noted in this
connection that it is much safer to buy meat from these carts, for here one is less likely to be
given spoiled meat than in the case of the poor merchants who hang their merchandise on
the fences. Mutton is usually sold in the following cuts: the forequarters, which consist of
the breast and the two forelegs, cost from two and one-half to four teas, and the hind
quarters from four to six teas; one foreleg costs from one and one-half to two teas; one hind
leg costs from two and one-half to three and one-half teas. Beef is always sold separately
from the bones, with a pound of meat costing from two and one-half to three and one-half
shara tsais or from five to seven copecks, and a pound of bones costing from two to two and
one-half shara tsais or from four to five copecks. Here they also sell live sheep and oxen
that are driven into the city: the price of the former fluctuates between ten and sixteen teas,
and the price of the latter between thirty and fifty teas. In addition to meat, flour, groats,
rice, and other varieties of grain are sold on the sarne market. The lamas of the Khuree
engage in this business, buying the above-mentioned merchandise from the Chinese and
then reselling it to the Mongols, with an additional margin of profit, of course, and with a
decrease in the weight. It is remarkable that, in spite of this, the Mongols still prefer to buy
flour from the lamas in the market rather than getting it from the Chinese merchants in the
shops.
Yamuns of the Urga Ambans
Southeast of Dzakha deere are the yamuns of the Manchu and Mongol ambans. This is
also a separate section of the city, which consists of no less than sixty courtyards
(khashaan), along two streets. The southernmost part of this section of the city is taken up
by the yamun. Its enormous courtyard, surrounded by a wooden palisade, is divided from
east to west into three parts, with the building of the office itself being situated in the
middle section. The guards and the servants live in the part on the west side, and the east
side is reserved for the detention of criminals awaiting their turn to be questioned in cases
being conducted concerning them. Here, too, there are baishings where instruments of
torture and punishment are stored, a portion of the yamun archives, and warehouses
containing yamun property. In the streets behind the yamun are the homes of the officials
employed in the yamun and of the relatives living with them. The easternmost part of this
section of the Khuree is occupied by a prison, surrounded by two high palisades, the tops of
whose logs are hewn like pointed stakes. Its interior, which does not differ from other
institutions of this nature, will be described in another place. Here I shall mention only
that visiting the prison is a very simple matter for anyone who can gain access to the
guards, negotiate with them for a few minutes, and then ask permission to give alms to the
prisoners. It goes without saying that a present to the guard that acts as guide is also a
necessity.
Khoroons
The section of the city which is situated opposite the yamuns and southwest of the Dzakha
deere is called the khoroon, that is, the "townhouse section." Here are the Urga residences
of the Khalkha dzasaks who have them built and maintain them here for the visits to the
city to worship the hutuktu, to attend the diet of princes, or, lastly, to serve their turn in
the diet jisang of the aimak of Tilshetil Khan. Hence it may be understood that these
buildings, once erected and maintained, are sometimes vacant for five or six years to
perhaps the one month that they are occupied. The only permanent residents of these
khoroons are their watchmen, though in recent times the Urga authorities have also
introduced the custom of handing over criminals to the khoroon of their proper hoshuns to
be transferred home. Today the number of these townhouses in Urga amounts to more
than thirty, and none of them consists of a single house, but invariably includes three or
four baishings enclosed by a fence and sometimes also surrounded by small gardens. . . .
The New Urga Fortress
Besides those structures enumerated above, there are no other buildings beyond the
southwest corner of the Khuree; to the east of Urga, however, approximately one and one-half versts from it in the area between the Khuree and the buildings of the Russian
consulate, there stands today the new Urga fortress intended to quarter Chinese troops and
built as recently as 1883. At that time Mongolia was quite unexpectedly declared to be
under martial law, and Chinese troops were ordered from Hsuan-hua-fu to guard the city.
This fortress reminds the Mongols to this day of the grievous oppression of the Chinese
government. In that terrible year there was first a drought accompanied by the inevitable
lack of fodder, which was followed by a severe winter. The two eastern aimaks of Khalkha
adjoining Urga were obliged to expend more than 600,000 liang for the outfitting, arming,
and delivery of the troops required of them and in addition to serve the Chinese soldiery by
extending to them every sort of accommodation, first on the list of which was the building
of the fortress. For its construction 2,664 logs were demanded of the Mongols, the dressing
and delivery of which, by decree of the Khaan uula diet, were made the duty of the five
hoshuns adjoining Urga . . . Although they supplied the transportation for this lumber, the
same hoshuns were also obliged to dispatch 100 mounted men especially for the
construction of the fortress. The brick and clay required for covering the buildings and for
constructing 150 stoves and couch-stoves in them could not be manufactured and mined
closer than a distance of 10 versts from the fortress. Transportation for the delivery of the
above could not be hired anywhere or for any price, and indeed the Chinese administration
was not accustomed to hiring in this way. Therefore, all the ox caravans entering and
leaving Urga, when their passports were visaed, were forced to deliver the required brick
and clay for the camp within a set period of time. Unused to such work, the livestock,
especially that of the Gobi, was brutally crippled and sometimes rendered unfit for further
work in caravans. When the work of construction was completed, the Chinese government
decreed that the Mongols were to be paid for the above mentioned work at a rate of 5 feng
per log. Thus the entire construction of the fortress cost 130 liang, 2 ching, or in our money
260 rubles in silver, 40 copecks. Built in the shape of a square, with one gate on the south
side, this fortress is about 240 Russian sagenes in circumference. Its walls are built in the
usual style of Chinese fortifications in Mongolia, the space between two upright larch logs
in the palisade being rammed full of earth. In this way the thickness of the wall is as much
as two arshins. Then the outer wall of the palisade is built up by brick laid on it, again in
one tier. The wall of unburnt brick thus raised above the main wall acts as a parapet in
which embrasures have been made, forty-five on each side of the fort; the merlons
according to custom are equal to twice the width of the openings. Then this entire wall, the
part of unburnt brick and the part of larch wood, is coated with clay both on the outside
and on the inside.
The Urga fort is situated at the foot of a broad hill, in the middle of which are the buildings
of the Russian consulate, and this position leaves it entirely unprotected. From the top of
the hill one can see not only the inner arrangement of the buildings of the fort in minutest
detail, but even individual soldiers moving about the streets. The entrance to the fort is
guarded by the usual double-doored wooden gate, which does not differ in sturdiness from
the gate of any shop of tea warehouse. As one enters the fort, the first space inside is
occupied by two adobe baishings, where the soldiers on guard duty live. Extending north
and south from these two baishings are two barracks, one opposite the other, in which the
soldiers are permanently quartered. Going down the street formed by these two barracks,
one emerges in a small square in the center of which stands the tall column which is usually
placed before the yamuns and residences of the ambans. Farther on, on the north side of
the square, in the same position as the barracks are two baishings, one of which, that on
the west, houses the yamun of the fort and the other, that on the east, houses the officer's
quarters. These baishings are set against a long building, likewise of adobe, constructed
across the fort from east to west, which is the quarters for the amban in charge of the fort.
Th residence of the amban adjoins the sole main street of the fort and the remaining
buildings are situated on it along the walls, as follows. There are eight baishings which are
used for soldiers along the western and eastern wall and two buildings along the north wall.
The first of these two, in the very center of the north wall of the fort and exactly opposite
the residence of the amban, is a grain storehouse. This is a large adobe shed with one door
and without windows, the roof of which contains two dormer windows for ventilation. The
other similar shed, though much smaller and with one dormer window in the roof, is used
to store arms. This armory, it is said, has never been opened from the time the weapons
were put into it in the first year the fort was built, and the key is kept by the amban. It
may be understood that I did not succeed in getting into it to see the military stores, but
from talks with the officers, I learned that eight cannon were put thereat that time. My
informants were unable to give me an exact description of these cannon, but, judging from
the mobility ascribed by them to these cannon, one may suppose with sufficient probability
that they are all eight-inch breech-loading weapons. It would also be difficult to state with
accuracy the system of this weapon, but, judging from the construction of the lock, which
apparently works transversely, one must suppose that it is of the Krupp system. Gun
carriages were not supplied with cannon, except for one model, from which the local
Mongol carpenters constructed the rest out of pine. The gun carriages, judging from their
description, are stationary. At the same time, one thousand rifles were delivered to the fort
and are kept in the same armory and are both Chinese smooth-bore rifles and rifle-barreled; I do not know of what system. Fifty small boxes of shells were bought, and all
these have lain here for nine years, unopened and riot on the damp ground.
The Russian Consulate
No more than half a verst east of this fort in the center of a low hill rise the buildings of the
Russian consulate, which was built in the period between 1863 and 1865. Formerly, the
residence of the Russian consul was situated somewhat southwest of this place, among the
townhouses of the Mongol princes. The construction of this old residence dates to 1786,
when according to the accounts in the chronicle Erdeni-yin erike, the Urga ambans
submitted a most respectful report to the emperor, in which they requested permission to
build six wooden buildings and to enclose them within a wooden wall "like a prison," in
order that they, the ambans, might keep watch over the Russian envoys here . . . Today,
instead of a prison of this sort, the Urga consulate is, although only from the outside,
undoubtedly the most handsome building in the city. Unfortunately, it is not situated in an
entirely suitable place. Thus, because of lack of water, the residents of the Russian
consulate have neither flower nor vegetable gardens, although no little effort, time, and
money have been spent in cultivating both. The consulate consists of one large, two-story
building of wood and plaster, with an iron roof and two wings. Immediately adjoining the
main building there is also the small one-story building of the house chapel, the roof of
which is graced by a small cupola. The upper story of the consulate is taken up entirely by
the quarters of the consul, and the lower story houses the quarters of the secretary on the
right and of the interpreter on the left, next to the chapel. Of the wings the left wing houses
the Urga post office and the adjoining quarters of the postmaster, while it has been
proposed to install quarters for a priest in the right wing. In addition, there are the
following small buildings in the courtyard of the consulate: accomodations for the psalm
reader, for the pupils of the Urga school, for the Cossacks, and for the kitchen. All of these
buildings, though of tolerable appearance from without, have fallen into great decrepitude,
especially the wings containing the quarters of the postmaster and of the priest. On the
east side of the premises of the consulate is the Russian cemetery, whose original laying out
cost the Russian consulate no little trouble, as it is related. The difficulty was that,
according to Lamaist regulation, the dead cannot be buried in a spot closer than ten li from
the residence of the hutuktu; the Russian consulate, however, is only six li from the palace
of Jebtsun Damba gegen. For this reason, as soon as the Mongols learned of the burial of
the first Russian near the consulate walls, they immediately demanded the removal of the
corpse. The first time the consul assured them that the body had been buried in the
ground only temporarily and that, like the Chinese, the relatives of the deceased would no
doubt remove it to his native land. The affair was hushed up at that time. Today more
than twenty years have passed, in the course of which dozens of Russian graves have been
added, and the Mongols, who have become accustomed to the burial of Russians, regard
this with complete indifference, apparently having forgotten about their regulations. It
should be mentioned, however, that apparently the Russians in Urga have also forgotten
about their cemetery. Lacking a fence and uncared for, the cemetery is trampled by cattle,
torn up by dogs and has become inconceivably bemired. Instead of Mongolian mounds it is
now covered with pits, and there is not a trace of a cross or of a marker. It is said that a
monument with an iron tablet was placed over the grave of a missionary here, Father
Arkhip Pohkin, and that stones and other tokens of remembrance were placed over the
graves of other departed persons. Today all these have been stolen by the Mongols, who
even make away with the wooden crosses from the graves and use them for fuel. It goes
without saying that they could have a Mongol guard here for a monthly salary of three
rubles, but this, of course, would require some attention, and wanting this, the matter is
usually discussed and then forgotten again. The cemetery continues in its ugly state, a sort
of living reproach to the Russians, even as compared with the slovenly Chinese. I need not
say that these are modern times, and today friction with the Mongols is a thing of the past.
In former times, for example, the lamas demanded that the consulate lower its flag, since,
flying from the top of a two-story building, it was higher than the takhiliin modo (a pole
erected by the Mongols in front of the doors of temples and dwellings of the higher lamas,
upon which offerings and lamps are placed) in front of the palace of the hutuktu. I do not
know what motivated the refusal of the Russians at this time, but the Mongols tolerated it
this time as well, though with dissatisfaction. At first there were a great many such petty
demands and frictions at various times. The matter arose concerning the Russians' riding
horses through the Khuree, of common pastures for Russian livestock, and so on. In this
connection the Mongols always presented their demands with such vehemence and in such
a form that it was thought that the Russians would not even be allowed to live there. They
would have no place to pasture their livestock, no place to get hay, they would have to pay
three times as much for fuel, and so on. But nothing of the sort happened. Once they had
voiced their demands, the Mongols let the matter go, while the Russians continued to live
as before, though, of course, much more comfortably and prosperously than the Mongols.
To this day they mow their hay from Mongol fields and lay in a stock of winter firewood
from Mongol forests, for payment of course. The Russians not only pay nothing for the
common pastures for cattle in summer, but, once having chosen a good spot, they even
exclude Mongols from it. All the above is true not only of the consulate, but of all the
Russians living in the Khuree. The Russian population here, however, naturally fluctuates
from season to season, though it is never less than one hundred persons.
Need for a Doctor
. . . The Russians spoke to me of this news with sincere joy, for now their only need which
has been left unsatisfied is that for a physician with European training. Actually the
Russian colony at Urga, in the number of its members, is the largest one in China (usually
there are nearly fifty persons living at the consulate alone, and there are always more than
one hundred at Urga in general), but they are nevertheless without medical aid. In the
event of sickness, there is no one to turn to except the lamas, and of these, although many
study Tibetan medicine, the number actually skilled in it is very small. To this it must be
added that the best of the Tibetan doctors are very often absent, having been invited into
the hoshuns, so that you can never find them when they are needed. Here it is also to be
noted that Tibetan medicine (perhaps because it has drawn its experience from the
treatment of natives of the mountains and plains, who have become hardened in the
struggle with nature) is not always of service in the treatment of Russians. The best of the
Tibetan doctors recognize this themselves and in doubtful cases often say, "We should
know what medicine to give our own people and what effect to expect from it; as for your
people, we cannot say this. We have, against our will, to grope our way cautiously for fear
that we may do greater harm." Sometimes these physicians refuse outright to administer
their remedies, pleading ignorance concerning our diseases, and in this case the bystanders
have nothing to do but reluctantly watch a man die who perhaps might easily be gotten out
of bed. Women and children are particularly left without aid, since the lamas know
nothing of children's or women's diseases and still less of obstetrics. In 1884 Mr. Protasyev,
the director of the consulate, submitted a petition for the appointment of at least some
doctor's assistant together with a small stock of the essential drugs, but this problem
remains unresolved to date. The need for a doctor here is really a general one and it must
really be met.
Of the environs of Urga which are associated with the city, the ravine of Khundui should
be mentioned. This ravine is noteworthy for the reason that it is here that the Mongols
bring their dead. The Mongols do not have cemeteries and very seldom bury the bodies of
their dead. Usually their method of disposing of the dead is very simple. Wrapping the
corpse in some kind of rags, they take it out of the city and put it directly on top of the
ground somewhere to the side of the road. The corpse, however, does not usually lie there
long, nor does it infect the air with its decay; scarcely anyone ever sees it. As soon as the
funeral party leaves the dogs come out of their holes in the ravine, tear the corpse to pieces
and devour it, leaving absolutely nothing but the bare bones. This scene may often be
witnessed from the windows of the second story of the Urga consulate, but walking around
this cemetery is by no means safe by reason of the large number of dogs that live there,
which by now are accustomed to human flesh. Cases have been known in which they have
attacked living persons and dealt with them exactly as they do with corpses. The Russians
in the Khuree, when describing the Mongol cemetery and its dogs, never fail to tell how a
Buriat woman, a Russian subject, was eaten by these dogs in 1871. The dogs, attacking
her, dragged her off the horse she was riding and devoured her. No one, of course,
witnessed this, and only the horse, which came running to the consulate, and the bits of
clothing found bore witness to the misfortune which had overtaken the Buriat woman.
A Mongol Myth
During the reign of Yung-chen, in 1731 . . . the Dzungars again attacked Khalkha, and this
time, near Erdeni-dzuu, they entered into battle with the Khalkhas and were defeated.
There exists a legend, which is moreover confirmed by official documents, that when the
enemy troops burst into the monastery and opened the doors of the main temple, the idol of
Gombo-guru which was standing in front of the statue of the great Dzuu bent down and
leaned out. The terrified thieves did not dare enter the temple and went back; but at that
time the stone lions standing in front of the temple began to growl, and the latter caused
the attackers to fall into a complete panic; they broke into a run and, hurling themselves
into the Orkhon River, perished in it. The Bogdo Khan, graciously taking these
circumstances into consideration, bestowed on the Orkhon River the title Tilshee-kung,
that is, prince of the fifth degree, with the condition that the river be worshipped once each
year on a date set by the astrologists and that a payment, as determined according to the
title of tilshee-kung and to the amount of three hundred taels of silver, at the performance
of known religious ceremonies be cast into its waves. ....
Conditions of Our Travel and a Description of a Camel
All yesterday evening and this morning we spent in conversations touching on making a
plan of movement. It should be noted that the merchant Pentegov was riding in a special
cart in our caravan as far as Kalgan; he also participated in the advising, but he declared
directly and positively that he was absolutely indifferent as to how or where we went, just
so we reached Kalgan; thus, the entire matter of organizing our movements fell to me and
the contractor. But what is a Mongol-contractor? In the first place, he was supposed,
according to the agreement, to subordinate himself to me in everything; and in the second
place he was absolutely unable to say anything himself about the manner in which we
might go and how far. To the question as to where we would spend the night tomorrow, he
answered with the characteristic passiveness of the Mongol: "temee medene," i.e., "the
camel knows." This was in fact the case, probably, for here everything depends of this
animal that is ugly in all respects. I should however here make the reservation that this is
my personal opinion inasmuch as the significance and dignity of the camel are regarded
very differently among us as well since the time of Przhevalskii, and many extol this "ship
of the desert," lauding it as an irreplaceable animal. Actually, the camel may even at the
end of winter, at which time after a half year's work his powers are already worn out,
nevertheless go without food and water for two, three, or even four days, making at the
same time his regular journeys. This capacity--irreplaceable in the eyes of a lazy, careless
Mongol who never hurries in his business--forces me to rate the camel very highly; with
this one ability, it may be said, all of the merits of the camel are exhausted--more than this
it is an animal that is positively unbearable for the European. First, it is able to work only
in the winter; during the summer the camel becomes weak and has to walk and fatten up.
Of course, one may ride an especially good camel in the summer too; but a trip such as this
would be is always and without fail paid for threefold, for on the one hand the camel
becomes incapable of working in the winter when it works in the summer, and on the other
to force the camel to work in the summer is a tremendous risk for the owner; during the
summer the camel sheds its hair, is ill, and may easily die while working; if it survives this
work it might die in the winter, for it may not get refreshed in the summer. Thus, it is
necessary to suppose that the term of the camel's labor is only half a year. In the course of
this half-year period of work, its movement is extremely slow, and the camel generally,
when following a caravan, can do not more than four and one-half versts per hour at its
most rapid pace. Riding on a camel is, by virtue of the special nature of its gait, extremely
fatiguing: all the time one has to roll back and forth, making low bows with each step taken
by the animal; movement at a trot on a camel is very bumpy; nor is the camel well suited
for drawing a cart, for each step taken causes the carriage to jerk. To the unpleasant
characteristics of the camel, one must also ascribe its fearfulness; frequently a sparrow
rising suddenly from a place will force the camel to cast itself to the side, and in the
caravan's movement all the other camels will throw themselves after the first, at which case
it is easy for loads and all sorts of freight to be damaged and broken. The camel feeds only
by day, and it cannot graze at night; as a result, the Mongol wagoners travel mainly at
night, and during the day they are at a standstill. In strong rain, wind, or snow,
particularly if they beat on the camel's face, the latter refuses to move and lies down; then
the caravan has to stop; the same thing occurs when moving through sands, at which time
the camel perspires. To ford a river on a camel is safe only when the water is shallow; but
only let the water touch the animal's belly and it always necessary to be careful and look
out because it may easily occur that the camel will lie down and get not only the rider, but
the load, wet. Fording a river during light autumn frosts on a camel is impossible because,
on breaking through the ice, he will cut and damage his feet; in view of this, the drivers
always have to cut through the ice all the way across the river and make a way for the
camel along the bottom. The camel is very lacking in the ability to cross a river on ice--it
slips and falls so much that on the way one must sprinkle sand or soil in its path. To go
over stony or gravel soil with a camel is also difficult because it rubs sores on its feet and
becomes lame: one must treat it and travel on a suffering animal, which is also unpleasant.
Since his load animals are such as these, the Mongolian wagoner becomes in fact a
completely passive person in his operations, and of their fulfillment he can only say,
"Temee medene"-that is, "the camel knows." But, as far as I was concerned, I could not be
indifferent to our journey's being completed. I could not, as a Mongol, travel at night
because this would mean that the greatest half of the route could not be seen at all.
Pondering all of the circumstances set forth, we agreed to graze the camels at dawn for two
or three hours; we would leave daily at 8 or 9 a.m. after the camels had gotten a bite of
grass to eat; we would travel the whole day without stopping, and we would halt for the
night at the onset of evening darkness. We would keep to this schedule throughout the
route.
<In the town of Shang-pu> ..... A very large number of shops represent, apparently, a special trade: there are shops of metal, china and glass manufactures, candler's shops, pharmacies, etc. The best drug store belongs to the T'ien-hsin-hao family, which acquires all of its medicinal goods from the city of Ch'i-chou, Chih-li province, renowned for its specialized trade in medicines. All of the shops are decorated with Chinese and Mongolian signs, sometimes cut in wood and gilded, but more often written simply on white linen. The contents of the inscriptions on the signs, besides the designations of the name of the tradesmen, generally include praise for the goods and the seller in the following vein, for example:"In this our shop is found everything possible in the way of Tibetan and Mongolian, delicate and coarse, medicines of various kinds, holy pills, and other things. Because they are sold at a low price and the salesmen are pleasant and honest, our Mongolian brothers can trade here with confidence."
Directly opposite the best drug store, which was mentioned above, is the most celebrated
Chinese temple in Shang-pu; it is dedicated to the spirit of the wind and was built during
the fifteenth year of the reign of Chia-ch'ing. This temple controls extensive lands in the
form of hotels and farms for its maintenance. Thus, next to it and in the same yard are
situated the only salt works in upper Kalgan or Shang-pu and the storehouse for stone coal,
in which the coal, however, is sold retail only at a price of eight choklis for a On. It should
necessarily be mentioned, however, that, despite the abundance of shops in Shang-pu, the
main street in Shang-pu is rather monotonous; for this reason it is indeed tiring and dull to
pass here many times. From the outside Ta-men-chieh, which is typical of the majority of
the main streets in Chinese cities in general, presents a striking appearance to the eyes of a
European. Its width does not in some places reach even two sagenes; it is paved only in
certain sections, and the wagon road passing over loess soil forms ruts in it which reach
depths of some ten vershoks; these potholes are sprinkled every day with all sorts of trash,
but this is completely useless because by noon everything has resumed its former
appearance. After a rain Ta-men-cmeh becomes literally impassable due to the mud
dissolved on it; during dry weather there is an inexpressible amount of dust, and that is
why I was not once able to take a respectable photograph of it: the negative was invariably
covered with dust. This street extends for not more than a verst, but one has only to cross
it at one end to be covered completely with a thick layer of fine and acrid dust. According
to the common custom, the Chinese dump all kinds of garbage from their cooking on it
and, finally, pour onto it nothing less than tubs of human urine; from this the stink is
everywhere beyond imagination. It is hard to imagine how people could breathe in that
air, truly saturated with miasma. At the place where the road is paved, it is, perhaps, even
less suitable for passage because the huge potholes formed by the ruts in the stone slabs
exclude every possibility of turning off the road to go around a hole: there is not an animal
that has the strength to pull a cart from such a rut, and, once a carriage has gotten into
one, it has to go along it to the end and reach an unpaved spot where turning is somewhat
easier. There are sidewalks for pedestrians, and their path now descends to the level of the
road, now rises above it by some one and one-half arsans. The width of these sidewalks
often reaches one arshin and somewhat oftener is limited to a single slab of some ten to
twelve vershoks; if you want to go along it you have to get over to the side constantly or else
be bumped into by other pedestrians every minute.
Return to the Asia page.
Last Updated on April 21, 2001 by Sylvia