A professor of Asian history at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), Max Oidtmann in his book Forging the Golden Urn: The Qing Empire and the Politics of Reincarnation in Tibet, presents historic events explaining reasons behind the invention of the golden urn lottery by the Qianlong emperor in 1792. 
He also evaluates the Qing state’s ability to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions. He contrasts the efforts of the Chinese imperial state to manage religious affairs with the policies of China. 
The “Golden Urn” was a small gold-plated copper pot forged imitating the shape and decoration of a Tibetan ritual vessel, it was intended for use in identifying the reincarnations of important Lamas by putting the names of candidates on lots in the Golden Urn and then drawing one out. 
“In my research, I found that one of the main reasons the Qianlong emperor invented the Golden Urn ritual procedure was to shore up people’s faith in the authenticity of reincarnations. The Qing government and some Tibetan elites were worried that a lot of corruption had seeped into top levels of leadership among Tibetan Buddhists. And because reincarnate monks were also political leaders, conflicts about their authenticity might undermine the political stability of many parts of the Chinese empire,” explains Oidtmann. 
“The modern Chinese state has reinstituted this procedure for different reasons: It wants to use the ritual to maintain control over the future Dalai Lama and other prominent Tibetan leaders. The Communist Party is more concerned about suppressing Tibetan nationalism than finding real reincarnations,” he added.