Tibetan Scapegoat Custom at Shassa
The Moravian missionaries in Thibet mention this singular custom at Shassa: “Every year the lama community provide a man of the lowest class, dress him up in goat skin, with the hair outside, and a singular head-dress, and then drive him out of the town to the river, where they lay on him the sins of the whole people. The man has then to cross the river, and live in a wilderness in solitude for some weeks, being abundantly supplied with food during this season. On his return he receives many presents from the people. The disgrace is so great, however, that no one is found voluntarily to go through the ceremony, except in very rare instances. It is a singular analogy to the scapegoat of the Old Testament.”