"This important book is interesting not only as a first-person account of an important ecclesiastic figure, of significance for the studies of church and religion, it also contributes to the studies of modern political and social life of an important area of the world and a critical period of which we know very little," -- John G. Hangin, Indiana University

The Khutughtus were highly ranked in the Lama Buddhist hierarchy. Considered equal to or higher than secular princes, they wielded great influence in both ecclesiastical and secular life in Inner Mongolia until the end of World War II. The career of the Kanjurwa Khughtu (1914-1980) covers an especially important period in Inner Mongolia. He was born soon after the Chinese Republican Revolution and the painful years of Mongolia's Independence Movement. He saw the period of war lords in China, followed by the struggles for Chinese unification, the rise of the Kuowuntany party and the establishment of the Central Government in Nanking. Notable in this period was the spectacular rise of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Movement. The communist conquest of China had a decisive impact on the Kanjurwa's career and resulted in his flight to Taiwan, where he remained until his death.

This unique work grew out of a two-year series of Mongolian-language interviews with the Kanjurwa, taped at his monastic residence.