Exploring Tibet: 17th-20th c. Travel Accounts
Fall 2012 Day/Time: Tu 2:10-4pm Location: 522A Kent Hall
Office: 913 IAB Office hours: Tu 1-2pm and by appointment
Instructor: Gray Tuttle
Phone: 854-4096 Email: gwt2102@columbia.edu
A great deal about Tibetan cultural history and society can be gleaned from what, on the surface, are entertaining accounts of travel and exploration, whether written by Tibetans, Europeans, Americans, or Chinese. This course is designed to utilize valuable English language travel accounts on Tibet to access and assess Tibetan history since 1600. This period marks a time when Tibetans traveled widely and left accounts of their travels in Tibet and on its peripheries as well as when the first European travelers crossed into Tibet. Certain views of Tibet as a “backwards” place are often attributed to European visitors of Tibet. We will question whether this has always been true and ask why representations of Tibet might change over time. One of the main objectives of the class is to understand how Tibet was integrated in global patterns of trade and missionary activities, as well as being caught up in imperial and national ideologies in the modern period. Though the class will not attempt a systematic survey of major Tibetan historical events, students will leave the course with a good sense of Tibet’s modern history and place in the modern world.
Prerequisites: None, but if this is your first time studying Tibet, I recommend that you skim and have available: Francoise Pommaret, Tibet: An Enduring Civilization. 2003.
Required Books:
1) Peter Hulme. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Literature.
2) Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol; Matthieu Ricard, Jakob Leschly, Erik Schmidt, Marilyn Silverstone, and Lodrö Palmo; Edited by Constance Wilkinson with Michal Abrams. The life of Shabkar: the autobiography of a Tibetan yogin, 1994.
Most resources will be available on-line through Courseworks or on reserve in Starr.
Books marked with (*) can be found at Google books, just type in author, title, use the same edition.
Requirements:
Participation: in class discussion& on-line reactions to readings. As participation is such a key component of this class, attendance & active discussion at all classes is expected. By midnight Monday, everyone is expected to register your reactions and questions (around 150 words) to the week’s readings on Courseworks. 20%
Short wiki-style writing assignments on a rotating basis 30% (With the exception of the last three weeks when everyone will present on their written work, each week 2 students will read additional materials on the explorer and texts in question; then, in class, they will present a brief report on the explorer and his/her text(s) and lead discussion.). Written work for the class should be entirely yours (see Columbia guidelines for academic integrity) with close citation of all sources according to an accepted manual of style (Chicago, MLA).
Short paper due toward the end of the term (20%) and a final analysis paper: 30%
Academic Integrity
This course is taught in the spirit of the guidelines for academic integrity of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. We expect all work to be the original work of the student her or himself. Papers may be discussed with other members of the class but may not be copied in any part from the work of anyone else, including from printed or Internet sources.
Disability Support
Students with disabilities who will be taking this course and may need disability-related classroom accommodations are encouraged to see the instructors as soon as possible. Also, stop by the Office of Disability Services to register for support services.
Exploring Tibet: 17th-20th c Travel Accounts: HSEA 4710
Class Outline
Objectives:
• Learn about Tibet from primary sources (as opposed to secondary analysis)
• Learn about their strengths (immediacy, direct experience) and weaknesses (unconscious biases of authors, deliberately motivated narratives, and confusing because of lack of context)
• Learn to analyze and compare sources, esp. how very different the variety of perspectives of the “same” place/data can be (is Tibet one thing, or does Tibet totally depend on the viewer?)
• Learn a different perspective on globalization (Mongol empire 1st; European 2nd)
• Learn a different perspective on colonization (Europeans globally; Tibetans/Chinese locally)
Methods:
• Close reading of primary sources (attend to language, recognize motives and strategies)
• Summarize essentials (who, when, where, what) for later analysis
• Data accumulation to generate basis for comparison and analysis
• Pattern recognition once there is sufficient data
• Comparative study of patterns and data
• Final analysis: synthesis of all that has come before
Outline of classes
Class 1 (9/4) Introduction to the Class, Tibet, and Early Reports on Tibet
I will share a report on the authors and travel writings for class 2, to provide model
Class 2 (9/11) 17th c. Tibetan & Catholics Missions, Tibetan Hidden Lands
Weekly writing assignments & reports on authors of specific accounts (students will take rotating turns covering weekly readings from week 3 to week 9)
Class 3 (9/18) Early 18th c. Catholic Missions to Tibet
Class 4 (9/25) Late 18th c. British Trade Missions & Hindu/Buddhist Pilgrimages
Class 5 (10/2) 19th c. Tibetan Pilgrimage
Class 6 (10/9) 19th c. European Adventurers & Scientific Exploration
Class 7 (10/16) Tibetan Territorial Claims & the European “Great Game”
Class 8 (10/23) 19th c. Tibetan Pilgrimage Guides & European Armchair Travel
Class 9 (10/30) European & Tibetan (Mostly Religiously) “Motivated” Accounts
(11/6) NO CLASS, ELECTION DAY
Class 10 (11/13) Political Collapse & the “Golden Age” of Exploration 1890-1950
Class 11 (11/20) Modern Pilgrimage & (Western-educated) Tibetans on Tibet
End of weekly report & writing assignments, start of paper-writing
Class 12 (11/27) Photo-journalism & The Photographic Record
Short written assignment option #1: due 11/29: photographs of Tibet
Class 13 (12/4) Up-Rooted in Asia, Lhasa as Refuge & Flight to Exile
Short written assignment option #2 due 12/6: pilgrimage/flight to/from Tibet
Final Paper (due on the last day of reading period): Consider the changes over time in your analysis of the accounts of travel in Tibet. You have the option of exploring a topic of your own interest for a final research paper.
Useful reference works: As we are concerned with the actual accounts of travelers, these reference works listed below should be used merely to orient you to the context of the travelers’ accounts and the biographical particulars of their lives:
*Sandberg, Graham, 1852-1905. The Exploration of Tibet: its history and particulars from 1623 to 1904. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1904. [Delhi: 1973.]
*Wessels, C. (1851-1924), Early Jesuit travellers in Central Asia, 1603-1721. The Hague, 1924.
Das, Sarat Chandra 2007. Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC. [1965 ed. Calcutta : Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1965.]
*MacGregor, John. Tibet: a chronicle of exploration. London. 1970.
Woodcock, G. Into Tibet: The Early British Explorers. London. 1971.
*Rawat, Indra Singh. Indian explorers of the 19th century: account of explorations in the Himalayas, Tibet, Mongolia, and central Asia. New Delhi: Govt. of India, 1973.
*Hopkirk, Peter. Trespassers on the Roof of the World: Secret Exploration of Tibet. London, 1982.
Stewart, Gordon 2009. Journeys to Empire: Enlightenment, Imperialism, and the British Encounter with Tibet, 1774-1904. Cambridge UP.
*Premen, A. Tibet on the imperial chessboard: the making of British policy towards Lhasa, 1899-1925. Calcutta 1984.
Peter Bishop. The myth of Shangri-La: Tibet, travel writing and the Western creation of sacred landscape. London: 1989.
*Derek Waller. The Pundits: British exploration of Tibet and Central Asia. Lexington, KY: 1990.
Scott Berry. Monks, spies, and a soldier of fortune: the Japanese in Tibet. New York: 1995.
“Christian missionaries in Tibet.” Dharamshala (H.P.), Lungta 1998: 11 Amnye Machen Institute.
Shaumian, Tatiana. Tibet. The Great Game and Tsarist Russia. Oxford. 2000.
P.L. Madan. Tibet, saga of Indian explorers (1864-1894). New Delhi, 2004.
http://www.tibetmap.com/brtext.html, see esp, “22 The Travellers” link
Biographies of Individual Travellers:
1) W. W. Rockhill. (1st American Tibetologist & US diplomat in China)
Varg, Paul A. Open door diplomat; the life of W.W. Rockhill. U. of Illinois Press, 1952.
K. Wimmel. William Woodville Rockhill : scholar-diplomat of the Tibetan highlands. 2003.
2) Albert Shelton (American missionary in Kham; source of Newark Museum collection)
Carr, Floyd L. Albert L. Shelton : martyr missionary of Tibet. New York: 1929.
Douglas A. Wissing. Pioneer in Tibet. New York: 2004.
3) Joseph Rock: (Botanist-explorer on the eastern Tibetan borderlands)
Alvin T K Chock. J.F. Rock, 1884-1962. Honolulu, 1963.
S B Sutton. In China’s border provinces; the turbulent career of Joseph Rock, 1974.
4) Alexandra David-Neel (French Buddhist who traveled all over Tibet with adopted Tibetan)
*Barbara and Michael Foster. Forbidden Journey – The Life of Alexandra David-Neel.
*Ruth Middleton. Alexandra David-Neel, Boston, Shambhala, 1989
Class 1 (9/4) Introduction to the Class, Tibet, and Early Reports on Tibet
Optional Reading: Campbell, Mary B., Ch 3: The Utter East: Merchant and Missionary Travels during the “Mongol Peace”, The witness and the other world: exotic European travel writing, 400-1600. Ithaca :Cornell University Press, 1991 [1988]. 87-121. Available on-line as an e-text through CLIO.
Class 2 (9/11) 17th c. Tibetan & Catholics Missions, Tibetan Hidden Lands
Mary Baine Campbell, “Travel writing and its theory” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, Ed. Peter Hulme, Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 261-273, 13pp
Nancy Moore Gettelman. “Karma-Btsan-skyong and the Jesuits.” in Epstein & Sherburne. Reflections on Tibetan Culture. Lewiston, ME: Edwin Mellen Press. 267-277. 11p
*Grueber: Summary of travels and letters. In Clements R Markham, Sir George Bogle; Thomas Manning. Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet, & of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. London, Trübner and Co., 1876. 295-301. 7p.
Grueber (& D’Orville). Kircher, China Illustrata, 1667. 43-48; 60-70. 15p
Gray Tuttle. “A Tibetan Buddhist Mission to the East: The Fifth Dalai Lama’s Journey to Beijing, 1652-1653.” In Tibetan Society and Religion: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Bryan Cuevas and Kurtis Schaeffer, eds. Leiden: Brill, 2006; 65-87. 22p
Franz-Karl Erhard, “The Role of ‘Treasure Discoverers’ and their Search for Himalayan Sacred Lands.” & “Political and Ritual Aspects of the Search for Himalayan Sacred Lands.” In Toni Huber, ed. Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places in Tibetan Culture. Dharamsala, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. 1999, 227-257. 30p text
Skim Intro & Conclusion of B. Steinmann, “The Opening of the sBas Yul ‘Bras mo’i gshong according to the Chronicle of the Rulers of Sikkim: Pilgrimage as a Metaphorical Model of the Submission of Foreign Populations.” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. Alex McKay, ed. London: Curzon Press. 1998. Pp. 117-143. 26p (we will revisit this topic in week 10)
Further reading: Rudolf Kaschewsky, “The Image of Tibet in the West before the Nineteenth Century.” Imagining Tibet: perceptions, projections, & fantasies. edited by Thierry Dodin & Heinz Rather. Boston : Wisdom Publications, 2001. 3-20.
On Armenian Traders in Tibet in the 17th c. see: Dan Martin, “The Mysterious Whitehead” http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2006/12/mysterious-whitehead_21.html
Colless, B. E. “The traders of the Pearl: the mercantile and missionary activities of Persian and Armenian Christians in South-East Asia”. VI, the Tibetan Plateau. Abr-Nahrain (Leiden) 15 (1974-1975) 6-17.
Hugh E. Richardson, “Armenians in India and Tibet,” Journal of the Tibet Society, vol. 1 (1981), pp. 63-67. Republished in Hugh Richardson, High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture, Serindia (London 1998), pp. 462-467.
Class 3 (9/18) Early 18th c. Catholic Missions to Tibet
First summaries and oral reports due this week: see the models for Marco Polo, John Mandeville, and William of Rubruck at: http://www.hku.hk/english/courses2000/2045/week2.htm
Sweet, Michael. “Desperately Seeking Capuchins: Manoel Freyre’s Report on the Tibets and their Routes (Tibetorum ac eorum Relatio Viarum) and the Desideri Mission to Tibet.” Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 2 (August 2006): 1-33. 34p
Trent Pomplun, Introduction, Ippolito Desideri and the Myth of Tibet, Forthcoming, 1-19. 20p
Desideri,. An account of Tibet : the travels of Ippolito Desideri of Pistoia, S.J., 1712-1727. Filippo de Filippi, ed; introd by Wessels. London : Routledge, 1937. 82-102, 117-120, 133-138, 172-197, 302-307. 66p
J -B Du Halde. A description of the empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, together with the kingdoms of Korea and Tibet containing the geography and history (natural as well as civil) of those countries: enrich’d with general and particular maps, and adorned with a great number of cuts. London : Printed by T. Gardner for Edward Cave, 1738-1741. * Rare Book, Butler 6th Fl. East, B899.63 D883;F. Available for viewing in the rare book room.
Suggested Reading, on the Capuchins who preceded & succeeded the Jesuit mission in Lhasa:
*Orazio della Penna, Capuchin Prefect of the Mission of Tibet, “Brief Account of the Kingdom of Tibet.” 1730. In Clements R Markham, Sir George Bogle; Thomas Manning. Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet, & of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. London, Trübner and Co., 1876. 309-340. 31p
Trent Pomplun. “Ippolito Desideri, S.. on Padmasambhava’s Prophecies and the Persecution of the Rnying ma, 1717-1720.” In Tibetan Society and Religion: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Bryan Cuevas and Kurtis Schaeffer, eds. Leiden: Brill, 2006; 33-46.
Further Reading, for a Tibetan example of travel & pilgrimage, from 1706-1746: Travels of amonk from southern central Tibet (Mon yul) around Tibet, to China, Nepal and India, Ngawang Lhundrup Dargyé, trans. by Simon Wickham-Smith, The Hidden Life of the Sixth Dalai Lama. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2011. Also discussed in Aris, Michael. Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives: The Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706). 167-212.
Class 4 (9/25) Late 18th c. British Trade Missions & Hindu/Buddhist Pilgrimages
John Clarke. “Hindu Trading Pilgrims.” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. Alex McKay, ed. London: Curzon Press. 1998. Pp. 52-70. 18p Helpful for understanding the role of Purungir [Poorungheer] Gosain, see below.
*George Bogle. Narrative of the Mission of Mr. George Bogle to Tibet. In Clements R Markham, George Bogle Thomas Manning. Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet, and of the journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. Ed., with notes, an introduction, and lives of Mr. Bogle and Mr. Manning. London, Trübner and Co., 1876. p. 61-181. 96-119. 24p.
Samuel Turner. An account of an embassy to the court of the Teshoo lama, in Tibet; containing a narrative of a journey through Bootan, and part of Tibet, London: Bulmer. 1800. 232-257, 267-273, 305-324; 347-351. 57p
Wim van Spengen. “On the Geographical and Material Contextuality of Tibetan Pilgrimage,” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. Alex McKay, ed. London: Curzon Press. 1998. Pp. 35-51. 17pp.
Further Reading: Purungir [Poorungheer] Gosain. British agent at Tashilhunpo, who traveled with Bogle and Turner. See: “Narrative of the Particulars of the Journey of Teshoo Lama, and his Suite, from Tibet to China.” (oral report) In Samuel Turner. An account of an embassy to the court of the Teshoo lama, in Tibet; containing a narrative of a journey through Bootan, and part of Tibet, London, Printed by W. Bulmer; Sold by G. & W. Nicol, 1800. p. 457-473.
Class 5 (10/2) 19th c. Tibetan Pilgrimage
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol (1781-1851); Matthieu Ricard, et. al. “Introduction,” xviii-xxiv “Pilgrimage to Central Tibet, 205-242; “The Ravines of Tsari,” 243-275 (we will revisit in week 9),”At Mount Kailash,” 275-349. 146pp
Class 6 (10/9) 19th c. European Adventurers & Scientific Exploration
*Thomas Manning. Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. In Clements R Markham. George Bogle; Thomas Manning. London, Trübner and Co., 1876. 263-292. 30pp
*Evariste Régis Huc; trans by William Hazlitt, Mrs. Recollections of a journey through Tartary, Thibet, and China, during the years 1844, 1845, and 1846. 1851. Vol. II, Amdo: 45-114; Lhasa: 168-252. 154p
Suggested Reading: Hervey, Mrs. The adventures of a lady in Tartary, Thibet, China & Kashmir: with an account of the journey from the Punjab to Bombay overland. London, Hope and Co., 1853. vol. 1: iii-vi, 3-9; vol. 2: 297-309; vol. 3: 54-67.
Moorcroft, W. “A Journey to Lake Mansorovara in Undes, a province of Little Tibet.” Asiatic Researches. Vol XII, p. 375. 1st Western to Mount Kailas.
On German exploration see: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fnora%2Fnora0117%2F&tif=00489.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABQ7578-0117-25
Class 7 (10/16) Tibetan Territorial Claims & the European “Great Game”
Alexander Gardner, “The Twenty-five Great Sites of Khams: Religious Geography, Revelation, and Nonsectarianism in Nineteenth-Century Eastern Tibet”, 2006, pp. vii-xv. 8pp.
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodro Tayé (aka padma gar dbang blo gros mtha’ yas). A short, Brief Clarification of the List of the Twenty-five Great Sites of Khams Together with Their Auxiliaries. 1868. [Trans. Gardner 2006]. 205-218. 14pp.
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodro Thayé. The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors, translated by Richard Barron. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2003, pp. 109-129. 20 pp.
*Nikolai Mikhailovich Przheval’skii; trans by E Delmar. Morgan. Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet, being a narrative of three years’ travel in eastern high Asia. London, S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. 1876. Vol. II, 148-173 (25p)
*Sarat Chandra Das (1849-1917). Journey to Lhasa and central Tibet. 1902. 40-69, 84-91, 112-121, 132-140, 148-194, 104p. (do as much as you can)
For Further Reading, see the courseworks listings online, such as:
Chokgyur Lingpa’s treasure text, A Brief Inventory of the Great Sites of Tibet composed by the Wise One of Oddiyana, Padmasambhava. 1857. [Trans. Gardner 2006]. 187-207.
Class 8 (10/23) 19th c. Tibetan Pilgrimage Guides & European Armchair Travel
John Newman, “Itineraries to Sambhala,” in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre – Cabezon and Jackson. 485-487. 3pp. See link at www.thl.org
‘Jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse (1820-1892) Short Summary of the Pure Names of Some of the Holy Places and Images of Dbus and Gtsang: Called the “Seed of Faith.” In Ferrari, Alfonsa, trans. Mk’yen Brtse’s Guide to the Holy Places of Central Tibet. Edited by Luciano Petech. Vol. XVI, Serie Orientale Roma. Roma: Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1958 [1892]. Annotated and indexed translation of a Tibetan geography written in 1892. 37-54; 73-76. See also new translation & commentary: Tolung section. 28p.
Havnevik, Hanna 1998. “On Pilgrimage for 40 Years in the Himalayas: The Female Lama Jetsun Lochen Rinpoche’s (1865-1951) Quest for Sacred Sites.” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. Alex McKay, ed. London: Curzon Press. Pp. 85-107. 23pp.
*Isabella Bird. Among the Tibetans (1894). 17-26, 136-144. 19p
Joan Pau Rubiés, “Travel writing and ethnography,” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, Ed. Peter Hulme, Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 242-259.
*Rockhill, William Woodville. The land of the lamas : notes of a journey through China, Mongolia and Tibet. New York : Century Co., 1891. East Asian Special Collection (Non-Circulating). Amdo to Jyekundo to Dartsedo. 82-117 (25pp text; with illustrations.)
Rockhill, William Woodville, 1854-1914. “An American in Tibet : an account of a journey through an unknown land” The Century Magazine. New York : Century Co. ; London : T. Fisher Unwin, c1890] Rare Book, Butler 6th Fl. East (Non-Circulating). 17 p http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fcent%2Fcent0041%2F&tif=00013.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%
Further reading by Rockhill see Bibliography section of Courseworks or search the journal Century Magazine at Cornell University’s online source: The Making of America:
See also: Hedin, Sven (1865-1952). Central Asia and Tibet, towards the holy city of Lassa.. London, Hurst and Blackett, New York, C. Scribners Sons, 1903; Adventures in Tibet. London, Hurst and Blackett, Ltd. 1904; A conquest of Tibet. [NY, 1934].
William John Gill; Edward Colborne Baber; Henry Yule, Sir. The river of golden sand: being the narrative of a journey through China and eastern Tibet to Burmah. London, 1883.
On the popular excitement these accounts generated, focused on Landor and Hedin, see: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fharp%2Fharp0097%2F&tif=00857.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABK4014-0097-8
Class 9 (10/30) European & Tibetan (Mostly Religiously) “Motivated” Accounts
John Bray, “Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Missionary Images of Tibet.” Imagining Tibet : perceptions, projections, & fantasies. edited by Thierry Dodin & Heinz Räther. Boston : Wisdom Publications, 2001. 21-46. 26p
Susan Bassnett, “Travel writing and gender,” in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, Ed. Peter Hulme, Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 225-240. 16pp
*Rijnhart, Susie Carson. With the Tibetans in tent and temple : narrative of four years’ residence on the Tibetan border and of a journey into the far interior. Chicago : Fleming H. Revell, 1901. 120-132, 144-151. 20p.
*Shelton, Flora Beal. Sunshine and shadow on the Tibetan border, Cincinnati, Foreign Christian missionary society [c1912]. 40-51. 12p. [optional: v-vi (her biography) 75-78 (call for missionaries)]
*Annie Taylor. Pioneering in Tibet. 1895. 75-79. [Optional: 37-51, on her travels in Tibet] 5p
*Arnold Henry Savage Landor. In the forbidden land: an account of a journey into Tibet, capture by the Tibetan lamas and soldiers, imprisonment, torture and ultimate release brought about by Dr. Wilson and the political peshkar, Karak Sing-Pal. New York ; London : Harper & Brothers, 1898. 4-6, 32-35, 98-103, 107-109, 218-231. 34p.
B. Steinmann, “The Opening of the sBas Yul ‘Bras mo’i gshong according to the Chronicle of the Rulers of Sikkim: Pilgrimage as a Metaphorical Model of the Submission of Foreign Populations.” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. 1998. Pp. 117-143. 26p.
Rigzin Ngodup Dokhampa, trans. Tupten Tenzin. “Sbas Yul ‘Bras mo ljongs: The Hidden Valley of Sikkim.” Bulletin of Tibetology. 1:6 (2003) 75-86. 12p. Available online at http://www.thdl.org/texts/reprints/bot/bot_2003_01_06.pdf
Further (optional) Reading:
William Carey. Adventures in Tibet : including the diary of Miss Annie R. Taylor’s remarkable journey from Tau-Chau to Ta-Chien-Lu through the heart of the “Forbidden land.” New York : Baker & Taylor, c1901. Diary: 173-285.
Robert Brainerd Ekvall. Gateway to Tibet: the Kansu-Tibetan Border 1923, a history of C&MA mission work in that region from 1889-1939.
Shelton, A. L. (1875-1922) Pioneering in Tibet : a personal record of life and experience in mission fields. New York : F.H. Revell Company, 1921.
Flora Beal Shelton. Shelton of Tibet, New York, George H. Doran [c1923]
Class 10 (11/13) Political Collapse & the “Golden Age” of Exploration 1890-1950
*Austine Waddell. Lhasa and its mysteries, with a record of the expedition of 1903-1904. With 200 illustrations and maps. London 1905. 1-21, 164-175, 330-360, 376-379, 446-448. 70pp
*Ekai Kawaguchi. Three years in Tibet. Madras: Theosophist Office. 1909. pp. 139-149, 241-256; Kailas Pilgrimage 25pp.
Alexandra David-Neel. My journey to Lhasa; the personal story of the only white woman who succeeded in entering the forbidden city, illustrated with many photographs taken by the author. New York and London, Harper & brothers, 1927.* 10p
Hamsa, Bhagwan (b. 1878); translated from the Marathi by Shri Purohit. swami, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats. The Holy mountain; being the story of a pilgrimage to Lake Manas and of initiation on Mount Kailas in Tibet. London, Faber and Faber, ltd [1934].*10p
Guibaut, André. Translated by Sudley. Tibetan Venture in the Country of the Ngolo-Setas; second Guibaut-Liotard expedition. London, J. Murray [1947]. 89-104 [67-74 of PDF], i-ii [pp. 9-10; of PDF] (memorial for Liotard). 17p.
Suggested (optional) reading:
For more on what the British really did in Tibet:
Carrington, Michael. “Officers, gentlemen and thieves: the looting of monasteries during the 1903/4 Younghusband mission to Tibet.” Modern Asian Studies (Cambridge, England) 37, pt.1 (Feb 2003) 81-109.
For more on the Ngolo(k)s, see: Rock, Joseph F. The Amnye Ma-Chhen Range and Adjacent Regions. Edited by Giuseppe Tucci. Vol. XII, Serie Orientale Roma. Roma: Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1956. Exploration of the Tibetan regions of southern Amdo (Qinghai). 122-146.
For more on the Hindu pilgrimage, see: Kailas-Manasarovar in ‘Classical’ (Hindu) and Colonial Sources: Asceticism, Power, and Pilgrimage.” In Pilgrimage in Tibet. Alex McKay, ed. London: Curzon Press. Pp. 165-183. 19pp.
For an early Asian studies professor’s Buddhist pilgrimage to Tibet, in disguise as a servant, see:
William Montgomery McGovern (1897-1964). To Lhasa in disguise : a secret expedition through mysterious Tibet. [New York]: Grosset & Dunlap, 1924.
For a simple list: James Cooper, “Western and Japanese Visitors to Lhasa: 1900-1950.” Tibet Journal, XXVII: 4 (Winter 2003), 91-94.
Class 11 (11/20) Modern Pilgrimage & (Western-educated) Tibetans on Tibet
Konchok Tendzin Chokyi Lodro, “Guidebook to Lapchi,” Introduced and Trans by Toni Huber. In Religions of Tibet in Practice. Edited by Donald Lopez. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1997. 120-136. 16p
Konchok Tendzin Chokyi Lodro, “The Guide to Crystal Peak,” Introduced and Trans by Matthew Kapstein. In Religions of Tibet in Practice. Edited by Donald Lopez. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1997. 103-120. 17p
Huber. Ch 8: “Barbarian Tributes and Great Procession.” The cult of Pure Crystal Mountain : popular pilgrimage and visionary landscape in southeast Tibet. 128-152. 34p Available as Ebook through CLIO.
*G. A. Combe. A Tibetan on Tibet: Being the Travels and Observations of Mr. Paul Sherap (Dorje Zodpa) of Tachienlu; with an Introductory Chapter on Buddhism and a Concluding Chapter on the Devil Dance. London, T.F. Unwin [1926]. Travels: 22-35; 155-178. 38pp.
*Macdonald, David [father was Scottish official of British gov’t; mother was Sikkimese Tibetan]. Twenty years in Tibet: intimate & personal experiences of the closed land among all classes of its people from the highest to the lowest. London: Seeley, Service, 1932. 11-13, 189-204.
Tuttle, Gray. Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China, 2005: 81-87; 98-113. Chinese monks going to study abroad in Tibet.
For more details on pilgrims & guidebooks, see:
Tendzin Chokyi Logrö Trinlé Namgyel (bstan ‘dzin chos lyi blo gros ‘phrin las rnam rgyal, 1869-1906), “The Crystal Mirror”: An Analysis which Briefly Explains the Chronicle of Past Events at the Great Snow Mountain Ti se Together with the Greta Lake Ma dros pa. [1896]. In Toni Huber & Tsepak Rigzin, “A Tibetan Guide for Pilgrimage to Ti-se (Mount Kailas) and mTsho Ma-pham (Lake Mansarovar).” In Toni Huber, ed. Dharamsala, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. 1999, 125-154. 30pp.
Class 12 (11/27) Photo-journalism & The Photographic Record
**This is a light reading week, given attention to photographic images, so please look ahead to next week (a heavy reading week), and consider getting an early start on those 300 pages of reading (not as intimidating as it sounds, since the reading is easy/fun).
Shelton, Albert. “Life among the People of Eastern Tibet,” National Geographic Magazine, vol. XL, September, 1921, pp. 295-326. 21p
1928. Rock, Joseph F. “Life Among the Lamas of Choni,” National Geographic Magazine, vol. LIV, November 1928, pp. 569-619. 50p.
Tolstoy, Ilia. “Across Tibet from China,” National Geographic Magazine, vol. XC, August 1936, 169-222. 53p
Reynolds, Valrae. The “great game” in Tibet: early twentieth century photographs by Russian, British and American travelers. Arts of Asia v. 29 no. 6 (November/December 1999) p. 110-22. 13p
Everyone look at these collections of early 20th c. photographs of Tibet (on reserve)
(one made in America, one made in China, one by a Tibetan in exile from his father’s photos):
Martha Chahroudi, “The photographers,” Tibet, the sacred realm: photographs, 1880-1950. [Millerton, N.Y.] : Aperture: Distributed by Viking Penguin, 1983. Selections from photographic archives, with brief biographies of photographers: 148-155.
Tsarong. What Tibet Was: As Seen by a Native Photographer. New Delhi: D. N. Tsarong. 1990.
Ma Lihua. Old Lhasa: a sacred city at dusk. . Beijing, China: Foreign Language Press, 2003.
Short written assignment option #1, due 11/29, to be posted on courseworks:
Pursue a comparison of at least two of the 20th century photographic collections listed on courseworks, combining on-line resources with printed materials, to generate a comparison over time of photographic representations of Tibet. Select at least one pre-1950 collection to compare to one post-1950 collection. Note ethnicity and religious background of the photographer. Write 3-4 pages with a minimum of four images to illustrate your analysis.
Class 13 (12/4) Up-Rooted in Asia, Lhasa as Refuge
Abdul Wahid Radhu, Tibetan caravan. In Abdul Wahid Radhu with a foreword by His Holiness The Dalai Lama; preface by Marco Pallis; translated by Jane Casewit ; ed. by Gray Henry. Islam in Tibet : [and] Tibetan caravans. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 1997. Caravan and Trade in Lhasa, 1940-1947: 130-193; Work for Chinese, 1951-1953: 240-271. 93p.
Heinrich Harrer; translated by Richard Graves. Seven years in Tibet. New York : E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1953. 53-70, 111-146, 248-263. 67p
*Hisao Kimura as told to Scott Berry. Japanese agent in Tibet : my ten years of travel in disguise. London: Serindia Publications, 1990. Amdo to Lhasa: 100-128. 29p
Chinese & Western Pilgrims
Ma Jian; translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew. Red Dust: a path through China. London : Chatto & Windus 2001. 103-133, 289-329. 60p.
Russell Johnson and Kerry Moran. The sacred mountain of Tibet: on pilgrimage to Kailas. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street Press ; New York. 1989. 17-57. 40p.
Short written Assignment option #2, due 12/6 to be posted on courseworks:
Select from the accounts of Tibetan pilgrimage/flight or foreigners in Tibet listed on courseworks (based on last week’s subject: up-rooted or putting down new roots in Lhasa, new views of travel in Tibet), read and summarize one account and the perspective it represents (3-4 page paper).
Final Paper (due on the last day of reading period): Consider the changes over time in your analysis of the accounts of travel in Tibet. Take into consideration at least four accounts of travel (one before 1850, one between 1850-1930, one after 1950, one any period) and include at least two Tibetan and two foreign travel accounts. 10-20 pages.