A History of Tsam in Mongolia by the Abbot of Gandan Monastery Ka-Chu Erdenipel

The article examines the published excerpt from A History of Tsam in Mongolia, a historical work by the Abbot of Gandan Monastery (Ulaanbaatar) ka-chu Erdenipel (1877–1960) who was one of the last representatives of the classical Mongolian academic tradition with expertise in Buddhist literature and held the position of Gandan’s Abbot after the 1944 reinstatement of religious services. As compared to many other educated Buddhists of Mongolia, he is distinguished for written literacy in both Tibetan and Mongolian. Still, only few his works survived to the present day. E.g., he is known to have written Khor-Choijun (A History of Religion in Mongolia) but the work was never discovered, and only a Russian translation of part one is available nowadays. According to Ts. Damdinsuren’s diaries, historical works of the priest were kept by his student Dangaasuren who attempted to publish them. Acad. Ts. Damdinsuren’s House Museum (Ulaanbaatar) stores two Mongolian-language works by Erdenipel ― A History of Khambo Nomyn Khans of Ikh Khüree and A History of Tsam in Mongolia. The composition about Tsam is a manuscript written in ink and feather. Ts. Damdinsuren’s inscription says the text was composed in 1942. And the autograph may very possibly have been made by Erdenipel himself. It contains a number of marks and corrections that could have been made by the author only.
A History of Tsam in Mongolia comprises a brief introduction and a list of Mongolian monasteries indicating whether and which specific kind of Tsam (dance) used to be arranged there. The introduction relates about origins of Tsam supposed to have developed from magic rites of Indian Yogâcâryas who made use of special garments and ritual objects during corresponding performances. Erdenipel concludes Tsam appeared in Tibet during the second (‘later’) dissemination of Buddhism, i.e. after the 11th century AD. Moreover, Tsam was initially performed by monks of the Red Hat sects, while the Yellow Hat Gelugpa introduced Tsam into its rites only under the 1st Panchen Lama Chӧkyi Gyaltsen in Tashilhunpo and Namgyal Monasteries in the late 16th – 17th centuries.
After that Erdenipel starts explaining the meanings of Tsam moves supposed to suppress anti-religious and anti-human demonic powers, and describes attributes of the mystery characters. Special attention is paid to Tsam characters, such as tarnichi who direct Tsam dancers (the so-called Black Hats), or tarnichi who suppress evil powers (masks of oxen and deer) and act as assistants to the Ruler of Hell Chӧejel, the dead in the form of skeletons, the merciful Hushan, White Old Man, acharyas and others.
The most interesting part is a narrative about the dissemination of Tsam in Mongolia. According to Erdenipel, the beginnings of Tsam in Khalkha Mongolia were laid by the 2nd Khalkha Dzaya Pandita Lobsang Nyandag Geleg Namgyal in 1744, though there is no data about that Tsam. Still, concrete facts testify about a 1787 Tsam performance in Erdene Zuu Monastery where it was initiated by the famous Abbot Nomchi Tsorji Dagvadarj (1734–1803). The dance scheme followed the pattern of Namgyal Monastery (Lhasa) but was supplemented with Tsam characters of Sakya Monastery which significantly influenced the rituals in Erdene Zuu.
The capital of Northern Mongolia ― Ikh Khüree ― first witnessed a Tsam mystery only in 1810. Its principles and scheme also followed the pattern of Tashilhunpo and Namgyal Monasteries. As time passed, the number of Tsam characters increased upon initiatives of different Mongolian public and religious officials. So, there were added masks of lions, Gombo, Chadrabal, Jnanamitra, Dagiradza, Daragsada, Lhamo, etc. Tsam was performed in winters and summers, a complete variant being the privilege of summer ceremonies only.

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