Seal of Imperial Tutor of the Yuan Dynasty, Leader of the Buddhist Faith, Yuan Dynasty,White jade seal with a double dragon knob, 8.1cm high, each side: 9.6cm

Imperial Tutor, title of a monk official in the Yuan Dynasty, Tibetan monks should ordain emperors soon after they succeeded to the throne. Therefore, Imperial Tutors existed in successive dynasties. Yuan Emperor Shizu (Kublai) was ordained by vPhags-pa. In the first year of Zhiyuan (1264), he ordered vPhags-pa to take charge of the General Council and administer Buddhist affairs all over the county and administrative affairs in Tibet in an Imperial Tutor capacity. In the seventh year (1270), vPhags-pa was conferred upon the title of Imperial Tutor. In the twenty-fifth year of Zhiyuan (1288), the General Council was changed into the Political Council. Since then, those who acted as Imperial Tutors became councilors of the Political Council. Yuan Emperor Chengzong bestowed this seal upon the Fifth Imperial Tutor Grags-pa-vod-ser.