󠀱󠀷XVIꓸ The Hor-pas and Their Country - blame None

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# George Roerich. Trails to the Inmost Asia

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## XVI. The Hor-pas and Their Country

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The vast mountainous country north of the Nag-chu-ka district of Tibet is known under

the name of Hor, and the nomad tribes which inhabit it are called Hor-pas. In order to

distinguish it from the Five Hor Principalities (Tib. Hor-sde-lnga) on the

Szu-ch'uan border, the region north of Nag-chu-ka is called Nup-hor (Tib. Nub-hor)

or western Hor.

The region of the eastern Hor has been visited and described by the French explorer M.

Jacques Bacot during his remarkable voyage of 1909.

The boundary lines of the vast province are ill-defined. The frontier lines usually run

along a mountain ridge, but in many cases the Hor tribes are found to graze their cattle

on both sides of the frontier. The southern boundary of the province runs along the

mountain chain in which the Ta-sang La (altitude 16,570 feet) is situated, although the

narrow mountain valley immediately south of the pass is still a part of the Paöro tribal

territory.

To the west, the Hor region borders upon the tribal territory of Amdo tsho-nak,

inhabited by emigrants from Amdo and governed by the Joint-Governors of Nag-chu. The

northern boundary of the region is the Dri-chu or the Yang-tze, north of which lie the

uninhabited Tibetan highlands, the chang-thang proper. The country round Dri-chu or

Dri-chu-ka has a population of some twenty tents, occupied mostly by militia outposts

and their families, who graze their herds of domestic yaks on the southern banks of the

river.

To the east and the northeast, the Hor region stretches far toward Tashi gompa and the

Nang-chen Province, which is governed by the Chinese authorities of Sining.

I shall give here only a very general description of the physical aspect of the country;

detailed descriptions have already been given in the previous chapters on the passage of

the expedition.

The Hor-sde or the Hor region is a country of rolling grass-covered hills, broad valleys

with marshy ground and several important snow ranges, which mostly run from west to

east. To the east, the country is more intersected and its landscape, with narrow and

deeply cut valleys and towering cliffs, reminds the traveler of the peripheral regions

of eastern Tibet.

The chief orographical feature is the high latitudinal range of the Thang La, the

watershed between the upper course of the Dri-chu (Yang-tze), the Dza-chu (Mekong) and

the Salween (Nag-chu?). Three great rivers of Asia have their source within the

boundaries of this region, Yang-tze, the Salween and the Mekong. The mountain land

between the upper course of the Mekong and the Salween is as yet unexplored. No American

or European traveler has so far crossed the eastern offshoots of the mighty Thang La.

The region abounds in hot sulphur springs and subsoil springs of fresh water. Its

flat-bottomed valleys are covered with a kind of coarse sedge, which affords ample

grazing to the herds of horned cattle and flocks of sheep. The grass country of the Hor

is one of the largest cattle-producing districts of Tibet and is one of the coveted

possessions of the Lhasa Government.

The climate is severe and terrific western winds sweep across undulating hills and

uplands. A long and bitterly cold winter of six months freezes the country and renders

it desolate and inhospitable. A snowy winter often causes a terrible murrain of cattle

and many wealthy families are frequently reduced to poverty after several stormy weeks

that bury the country under four or five feet of snow.

Spring starts only in late April or May, when the rivers open up and the ground,

saturated by melting snow, turns green with fresh grass. The spring is followed by a

short summer of some two months during which period the region receives most of its

rain, which begins to fall by the end of July and continues through the whole of August.

Clear, sunny days are rare during summer and the summits of the mountains are hidden

between thick, rainy clouds. Then comes the cool and clear autumn with its bracing

windless days and cold but clear nights—the best traveling season throughout the

highlands of Tibet. I have already written about the tremendous variations in

temperature within twenty-four hours which are characteristic of Tibet and other desert

regions of inner Asia. This amplitude of temperature and the hurricane winds that blow

in late autumn and early spring, have greatly contributed in the formation of the

present relief of the region.

Geographically speaking, the same grass upland stretches as far as the snow range of the

Shang-shung kang-ri, which forms the southern buttress of the northern Tibetan upland.

The neighboring administrative district of Nag-chu is only an administrative division

and represents no geographical unit. The same is true of other neighboring districts,

such as Nam-ru, Nag-tshang, Chö-khor.

During the long period of Chinese domination, the present Hor district formed part of

the vast Jya-de (rJya-sde) Province which stretched as far east as Ri-wo-che, and was

governed by a special Chinese Commissioner residing in Lhasa. Since the Chinese

Revolution of 1911, and the proclamation of independence by the present Tibetan

Government, the Hor region has been incorporated into the territory of the Lama Kingdom

of Lhasa and made a province administered by a Frontier High Commissioner, known by the

title of Hor-chyi-chyap (Tib. Hor-spyi-khyab) or the High Commissioner of Hor.

Recent authors seem to have a tendency to erase the name of Hor from the map of Tibet.

Dr. Sven Hedin says in his great work, *Southern Tibet*: "The Tibetans call

the Turks Hor or Hor-pa and the Mongolians Sok or Sok-pa (Sok-po). There are no Turks

until you come to the northern side of the Kwen-lun Mountains. But in spite of almost

all modern maps, there is no single Turk in the heart of the Tibetan Plateau land. And

there is nobody else either, for the part of Tibet which is generally called Hor on our

maps is not inhabited."

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Della Penna and Nain Singh, one of the ablest native surveyors of the Indian

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Trigonometrical Survey, called "Hor" the whole of the highland region west of

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the Nga-ri kor-sum Province, and the country north of the thirty-second latitude has

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been marked "Hor" on European maps. In reality, the name belongs only to the

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district of Jya-de, northeast of the Tengri-nor, and west of the Amdo tsho-nak. In

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Tibetan historical annals, the name "Hor" or "Jya-hor" commonly

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designates tribes of Mongol or central Asian origin, which, since the eighth to ninth

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centuries A.D. continuously overran Tibet and especially the northeastern border.

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In the modern colloquial language, the word "Hor" represents a Tibetan ethnic

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name for nomad tribes of mixed origin that dwell between the Panag-Golok tribes and the

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Chang-pas of the Great Lake region. The admixture of foreign blood in them is prominent,

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and we easily discern Mongolian, Turkish, and even *Homo alpinus* types, the last

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probably due to an admixture of Iranian or Scythian blood. They have preserved dim

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recollections of their remote central Asian origin and even now look more toward Peking

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and the great lands of central Asia, than toward Lhasa. For them Lhasa is only a

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temporary ruler, who severed their century-old connection with China.

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I shall base my account of the Hor-pas on my personal observations made during a five

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months' stay among the five Hor tribes, which dwell north and south of the Thang La

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Range. They form five *shorka* or tribal divisions, which are designated by the

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names of Tse-mar, Atak-Memar, Atak-Thomi, Kömora, and Páöro.

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By far the most important of the five is the Tse-mar *shorka* ruled by a

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*pön-po* or chief with the title of *de-pön* (*sde-dpon*) or

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district chief, who is considered to be the eldest among the five Hor chiefs. All of

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these five tribal divisions are of unequal size. Whereas the Tse-mar *shorka* has

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about a thousand tents with a population of some forty-five hundred to five thousand

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individuals, the Kömora and Páöro tribal divisions have only about four hundred tents

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each. More populous tribes inhabit the upper course of the Mekong and the lower valleys

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of the Salween, but as I have already told, the vast mountainous region between the

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upper course of the Mekong and the Salween is still unexplored and it is impossible to

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give approximate figures of its population.

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The Hor tribes have so far preserved their tribal organization and enjoy a certain

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amount of autonomy, which is, however, rapidly passing away. There can be no doubt that

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the Lhasa Government intends to create a firm administration in the outlying provinces.

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The High Commissioner is always an official of the fourth grade and is the chief

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representative of the central government in the region. He tries cases of inter-tribal

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feuds, supervises the collection of taxes, and insures the safety of trade routes

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crossing the territory of the region. During the cold winter months he usually resides

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somewhere in the eastern districts of the region, sometimes at Byi-ru gompa or some

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other monastery or town. The heavy expenditures incurred by the local population which

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is obliged to supply foodstuffs, fodder, and fuel for the High Commissioner, his troops

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and retainers, necessitate frequent changes in official residences. During the summer

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months the High Commissioner is often found touring in the district. This touring is a

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source of much trouble to the local population. The tribes have to furnish pack animals,

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riding horses for the numerous retainers of the Commissioner, organize relay stages at

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convenient points along the Commissioner's route and depute hundreds of men and

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women to attend to the needs of the party. Small officials use these occasions to enrich

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themselves by taking bribes in money and cattle. If a case is to be tried the court

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clerks, who record the evidence, have to be bribed before the case goes for final

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decision to the High Commissioner. In the performance of his official duties, the High

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Commissioner of Hor is assisted by two officials of the fifth grade, who act as his

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advisors.

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The only occupation of the country is cattle breeding and the tax that the region pays

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to the Government of Lhasa since 1912, consists solely of butter, wool, hides, and other

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produce of cattle breeding. Cattle breeding has always been the national occupation of

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the Hor-pas. It is even nowadays conducted along very primitive lines, as a result of

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which the breeds of horned cattle and horses are rapidly deteriorating. The Hor-pas

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collect no hay for the winter, believing it to be harmful to the deities of earth. The

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cattle subsist solely on grass, and in winter have to find their food by scratching the

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snow with their hoofs. In this search for fodder, the horses often spend their last

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forces and die from want of feeding and complete exhaustion. All winter, the herds of

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cattle and horses have to stay in the open, without any shelter to protect them from the

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cold winter nights. Only the strongest survive this severe test of endurance.

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Notwithstanding the poor conditions of cattle breeding, the region is still

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comparatively rich in herds of yaks and flocks of sheep, but old inhabitants assured us

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that in their younger days, some thirty years ago, the region owned immense herds of

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domestic yaks and flocks of sheep and that for the past thirty or forty years the number

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of heads in the herds have rapidly diminished. This is especially noticeable with flocks

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of sheep. It is a well-known fact that the number of sheep is decreasing throughout

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central Asia.

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Yaks furnish the chief products of the region—hides, yak hair, yak tails, butter, and

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other milk products. The yak is also the chief beast of burden throughout the district.

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The flocks of sheep furnish wool, which is either taken by the Government or sold to

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private trading establishments which transport wool to Lhasa and from there by the

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Gyangtse-Chumbi trade route to India. Horses are found only in small numbers. They are

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used almost exclusively as riding animals and one family seldom has more than three to

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five horses. The region does not export horses, and most of the animals are employed

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locally. The Hor breed of horses is small but hardy. A great defect is a rather heavy

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head, hard mouth and general clumsiness on the move. It is not a horse for fast

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riding—an animal bred in a vast steppe country; it is merely a caravan animal well

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suited to stony trails. These horses are never shod and this makes them extremely sure

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footed and invaluable on bad mountain tracks.

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An average nomad household in the region of Hor possesses from twenty to fifty yaks and

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from a hundred to three hundred sheep. Horses are owned by the wealthy men, who

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sometimes have big droves of them. The largest herds of yaks and horses which we saw

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during our passage, belonged to monasteries or rich merchants from Nag-chu and Lhasa.

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The great monastery of Dre-pung has large herds of domestic yaks and flocks of sheep in

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the neighboring Nag-chu and Nag-tshang districts. North of Thang La we met a herd of

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some five hundred yaks owned by a wealthy trader from Nag-chu. This herd was in charge

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of a local nomad who was responsible for the animals and had to supply the fixed amount

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of yak hair, tails, hides, butter, and other milk products.

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The chief economic wealth of Tibet lies in these nomad cattle-breeding districts.

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Deprive Tibet of its cattle-breeding regions and the country would starve.

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The agricultural districts of Tibet are unable to feed the whole of the country's

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population and produce almost nothing for export, except a certain yearly output of

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cloth and sacred objects manufactured by the monasteries. All the valuable products of

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Tibetan export to China, India, and Mongolia, such as wool, hides, woolen cloth, yak

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tails and furs are produced by the nomad districts. It is the poor, ragged nomad, living

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at an altitude of some fifteen thousand feet, who enriches the Government and furnishes

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its articles of export. This nomad population is a powerful economic factor. A severe,

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snowy winter which destroys vast numbers of cattle is a calamity for the entire country.

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For the past few years, the northern Tibetan uplands north and south of the Thang La

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Range experienced a succession of winters of exceptional severity and snowfall. The

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whole countryside was covered with snow and cattle and sheep perished by thousands. As a

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result of these unhappy years, the cattle breeding in the nomad districts north of Tibet

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proper suffered a heavy blow.

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A considerable portion of the region's yearly produce goes to the Government as a

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tax. The tax that is collected in the name of the Lhasa Government is in proportion to

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the wealth of the individual taxpayer, and varies in amount according to the needs of

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the Government. An extraordinary tax is sometimes imposed on a district as a fine. The

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tax is sometimes abolished when a district has suffered badly from snowfalls, previous

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drafts of cattle, or an epizoötic disease. During the lengthy period of Chinese rule,

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the Hor region was exempt from payment of regular taxes and was only expected to present

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tribute to the Imperial Court of China once in four years. The yearly tax imposed on the

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western Hor tribes by the Tibetan Government is one of the chief causes for a certain

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amount of dissatisfaction noticeable in the region. The former connection with China is

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still apparent in the region and is well demonstrated by the fact that the nomad

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population prefers Chinese currency to that of Lhasa.

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The universally accepted form of trade is barter. Most of the trade goes to Sining and

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the eastern districts of Tibet. The Hor region has the advantage of being situated in

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the vicinity of several important trade routes of Tibet—the Mongol-Tsaidam route, the

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Sining route, the Tachienlu route, and the northern Ladak route. All of these routes

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lead to Nag-chu, the chief Tibetan *entrepôt* of frontier trade. The Lhasan

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merchants, who had established trading stations throughout the region, are constantly

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endeavoring to turn the local trade southward and make the Hor tribes dependent on

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Lhasan produce. Undoubtedly with the practical closing of the Sino-Tibetan border, and

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the existing support of the Tibetan Government, their activities will be greatly

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facilitated. Besides government trade agencies, the country is swarming with petty

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tradesmen, representing private interest or big monastery concerns. In the temporary

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camp of the High Commissioner of Hor at Chu-na-khe we found beside government trade

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agents and customs officials, a whole army of private traders and *do-nyers* or

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representatives of important Lhasan firms. All of them were carefully watching the

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Sining-Lhasa trade route and it is a miracle that their interests did not clash and that

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all of them seemed to make sufficient profit to warrant the establishment of permanent

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trading stations.

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In exchange for the land products, the Lhasan and Sining merchants offer miscellaneous

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articles of Chinese and foreign manufacture. The Sining and Tachienlu traders bring into

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the country Chinese silks, brick tea and other articles specially manufactured by

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Chinese firms for Tibetan trade. The Lhasan merchant displays in his tent haberdashery,

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foreign-made cloth, Chinese- and Japanese-made medicines and enameled wares which have

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recently become the fashion in remote districts of inner Asia.

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A Tibetan trader usually spends his days sitting in his tent among bales and cases of

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merchandise, receiving visits from local headmen and nomads. All squat on the floor

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round the fire, drink endless cups of butter-tea and smoke the long-stemmed Chinese

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pipes. Business is discussed and the assistants of the *tshong-pön* or merchant

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take down the quantity and quality of local products offered in exchange for articles of

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foreign manufacture. Haberdashery is in great demand and small, cheap articles command

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exorbitant prices. A very brisk trade is done in brass army buttons, which are imported

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chiefly from India. A wealthy nomad is immensely proud of his buttons with the English

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inscription *Nepal*.

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A large trade is done in firearms and ammunition. Modern magazine rifles, mostly of

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military patterns, are brought into the country from China, Mongolia, and India. Berdane

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rifles, Martinis, Russian service rifles, Lee-Enfield rifles, Mausers, Mannlichers, and

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Japanese Arisaka rifles are commonly seen slung on the back of Hor-pa riders, who

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possess a good knowledge of modern firearms. All throughout the Hor region modern

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firearms are prominent. Rifle butts are manufactured at Nag-chu and the execution of the

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butt and the adjusting of the shank to the barrel are quite remarkable. In constant

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demand are the Mauser automatic pistols, the favorite firearm of Tibetan and Mongol

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officers. A good Mauser pistol with a hundred cartridges is sold for four hundred

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*ngü-sangs* or approximately two hundred dollars.

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A man with a Mauser pistol can safely travel through a robber-infested region and no one

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will think of attacking him. This safety enjoyed by travelers armed with Mauser pistols

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led to the manufacture of Mauser-shaped wooden holsters for revolvers of different

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patterns. At present many of the brigands know about the trick and usually manage to

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find out the truth.

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One of the members of the expedition had a Belgian revolver which he carried in a

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leather Mauser holster. A Panag brigand who once paid a visit to our camp and evinced a

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great interest in our firearms, quickly discovered the pattern of the revolver and

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taking our assistant by the arm, asked him with a sly smile, "Do you think yours is

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a real Mauser?"

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Such is the economic life of the region and its place among the fifty-four

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administrative districts of Tibet. Let us now describe the people themselves, their life

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and religion in the dreary uplands of Nup-hor.

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The Hor-pas are found in considerable numbers only south of the Thang La Range. To the

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north of this range, their encampments are scattered at great distances from each other.

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As the result of recent upheavals and successive famines brought about by several snowy

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winters, the nomad population has diminished. Many left their native highlands to seek

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their fortune in the fertile districts of eastern Tibet. Others haunt the vicinity of

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the trade routes as beggars and robbers, ready to attack lonely travelers or small

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parties of pilgrims.

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When crossing the wind-swept uplands of northern Tibet with its almost terrifying

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barrenness, one wonders where one could possibly meet human beings. Only utter

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misfortune could force men to live on these desolate mountains and plains. Sometimes,

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after many days of hard traveling, when almost every day some of the caravan animals

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succumb to the hardships and have to be abandoned, one sees a square stone wall and

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heaps of dung. This was probably an encampment of nomads. Dead carcasses of domestic

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yaks confirm the supposition. After these first traces of human activity, one travels

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again for several days more without seeing even a sign of nomads or their herds. The

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blizzard sweeps the countryside, and the surrounding mountains are hidden behind a

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thick, white mist. The traveler rides with his head bent forward, his shoulders and

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chest covered with a thick layer of wet snow. It is hardly possible to look ahead and

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only the hardy yaks are able to find the right direction in this snow-bound region.

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Suddenly one hears bells in the distance, an almost uncanny sound amid the howling of

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the storm. Then something dark is seen ahead. Strange looking riders with long

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matchlocks swung on their backs and riding small shaggy horses, emerge from the mist.

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They stop and some of them dismount, this being a sign that they are peaceful travelers,

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intending no harm. Their faces are covered by crudely made masks, and their heads are

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protected by large fur bonnets that completely cover the head and ears and are held by a

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string tied under the chin. Long unkempt tresses of black hair hang on both sides of the

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face. Dirty gray sheepskin coats and high boots made of thick Tibetan cotton cloth

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protect the men from the bitter cold. All are armed with long swords and matchlocks,

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sometimes even modern rifles. Large ornamented cartridge belts are worn crosswise over

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the fur coats. Occasionally a woman accompanies the men, dressed exactly like them, only

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her sheepskin coat is longer and she carries no arms. This is probably a party of nomads

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on a hunting expedition after wild yaks. During such hunting tours, they live on the raw

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meat of the animals they kill and on small portions of *tsam-pa*—the national

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meal of Tibet. They carry no tents but spend the night under the open sky, sleeping in a

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strange crouching attitude, and are often completely buried in snow. M. Jacques Bacot

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says in his book on eastern Tibet, "Non seulement les hommes de cette race dorment

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accroupis, mais c'est encore dans cette posture qu'ils sont malades et

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qu'ils meurent." Their horses, these hardy little animals, that live on dry

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meat, *tsam-pa*, and tea leaves, stand beside their sleeping masters, their backs

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turned to the raging wind. Such is the sight of a temporary nomad camp in the wilderness

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of the Tibetan upland. One tries to speak to these nomads and hears strange guttural

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sounds, so unlike the fluent and soft speech of Lhasan Tibetans.

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After this first encounter, the traveler again journeys for several days without finding

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even a trace of human beings. Then one day, he may see a huge herd of black and brown

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domestic yaks coming down the mountain slope. Wild looking men in gray sheepskin coats

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drive the herd. They circle about their animals, sometimes whistling, sometimes making

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peculiar shrill sounds that cut the rarefied atmosphere. These men wear no head covering

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and their long unkempt tresses play in the wind. All of the men are busy making strings

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out of sheep wool, which they roll between the palms of the hands and then twirl on a

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small piece of wood. This is the favorite occupation of nomads while driving their herds

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or squatting at camp fires. The presence of a herd of domestic yaks indicates that a

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nomad encampment is somewhere near.

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After a short ride, the traveler notices several large black tents in a side valley,

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sheltered from the winds. Big, black dogs with large red and blue collars rush toward

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the road and bark fiercely. Tibet has a peculiar breed of enormous dogs, known to

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Europeans under the name of Tibetan mastiffs. They sometimes almost reach the size of a

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small donkey, with thick black fur, broad and powerful chest, and a huge head with

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powerful jaws. They are known to attack wolves, and I myself knew of one which

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successfully tackled a snow leopard. To render these animals less dangerous, the nomads

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tie up one of the dog's front legs to its collar, making it impossible for him to

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attack and harm travelers. At night the dogs are let loose.

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The Tibetan nomad tent, usually called *ba-nag* or "black tent" has

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often been compared to a gigantic spider. It is made of black yak wool, and consists of

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two halves connected by narrow strips at the places in its roof where the two tent poles

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are fixed. A hole in the roof is thus left open to let out the smoke. The tent is kept

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erect by two vertical poles and numerous ropes, which are usually very long, for a long

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rope holds the tent better during the frequent windstorms. No iron or wooden pegs are

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used, the ropes being mostly tied to bowlders. Occasionally yak horns are used as tent

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pegs. Such tents have always two entrances, one at the front and one at the back. In the

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case of a chief's dwelling, several tents may be pitched together so as to form one

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long, large room. These tents are usually very spacious and permit several families to

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quarter together.

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The furniture is extremely primitive. Rugs or felts are seldom used as floor covering

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except in wealthy households. The middle of the tent is occupied by one or more

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fireplaces. It is the duty of the infirm and aged to look after the fire. Neither

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altars, nor Tibetan low tables are found in the usual nomad tent. Such luxuries are seen

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only in the tents of the tribal chiefs or wealthy traders and lamas. The tent of the

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common man is filled with riding and packsaddles, bags of butter and *tsam-pa*,

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hides, and wooden tea churns.

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Newly born lambs and young sheep share the tent with their masters. The family bed is a

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dirty heap of sheepskins, thrown in a corner by day and spread out around the fireplace

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at night. From the outside the tent is protected by low walls of stones or more often of

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dry dung. Such a wall protects it from wind and dust, which otherwise would easily

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penetrate beneath. The summer tents of chieftains, often used as guest tents for

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important officials and travelers, are made of white cloth with blue and dark red

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designs sewn on their roofs. The designs represent the eight happy signs of the Buddhist

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ornamentation, sometimes the Wheel of Law or figures of lions artfully combined with

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floral ornaments. We have already seen that similar tents are used by Tsaidam Mongols

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during their travels. These guest tents are sometimes of huge dimensions, and the

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palatial tent erected for the Dalai Lama while His Holiness is on tour, is said to

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accommodate about three hundred persons. The inside of such guest tents is always

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furnished with costly Chinese and Tibetan rugs, white felts, mattresses, and low tables

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on which stand the Tibetan teacups with their silver supports and covers.

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Most of the household work is done by women, who milk the cows, prepare butter and

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Tibetan dry-cheese or *chu-ra*, tan skins, and spin the Tibetan homespun cloth.

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Men are usually away with caravans, which start in the summer months for inner Tibet to

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pay tribute to the Government in butter, wool, and homespun cloth, and return in late

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autumn before the snow has blocked the passes, with loads of barley and

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*tsam-pa* for winter consumption. When at home, the men guard the herds of yaks

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and sheep, by no means an easy duty at those altitudes.

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Accustomed to hard work round the camp, the woman is often stronger physically than the

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man and extremely industrious. The Tibetan woman has a well-founded reputation over the

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whole of Tibet and the Himalayan States of India for hard work. She rises early and

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lights the fires, brings in water, if a brook or stream is near by, but usually uses

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snow from the neighboring ravines. While the water for tea is being boiled, the

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housewife goes out to look after the herds of yaks and flocks of sheep. Sheep are set

406

free from the stone inclosures in which they are kept during the cold night, protected

407

by Tibetan dogs. Meanwhile the head of the family, if he happens to be at home, gets up,

408

throws on his bare shoulders his sheepskin and takes his place at the fire. The whole

409

family, which may be several families living together, or several brothers having one

410

common wife, gets up and squats at the fireplace. The tent fills with the loud murmur of

411

recited morning prayers. After the return of the housewife, tea is drunk, large lumps of

412

butter being thrown into wooden teacups filled with tea. Tea drinking continues for some

413

time. *Tsam-pa* is mixed with tea and then rolled into small balls which are

414

swallowed. A rather savory dish is prepared from dry *tsam-pa* mixed with good

415

quality butter and Tibetan cheese. It is seldom that one finds fresh butter, for the

416

nomad's butter is usually several months old and emits an unpleasant odor that

417

permeates the tent and the clothing of its occupants.

418

419

After the morning tea, everyone starts the daily work. The housewife and her women

420

proceed to milk the cows and the men go to perform various outdoor duties. Some hunt,

421

others keep watch over the large herds of domestic yaks and horses. In regions infested

422

with brigands, shepherds are seen armed and mounted, ready to resist any attempt on the

423

part of the robbers to drive off the herd. In the afternoon, the women of the camp busy

424

themselves with spinning, tanning of skins, and other domestic work. In the evening

425

toward sunset the whole family assembles once more. The women bring in the fresh milk

426

and the family partake of an evening meal consisting of the same tea, *tsam-pa*,

427

and sometimes dry raw mutton. The consumption of raw meat is considered very wholesome.

428

Each member of the family produces a sheep bone and cleanly cuts the meat from it with a

429

knife.

430

431

After the meal is over evening prayers are murmured and occasionally incense imported

432

from Lhasa is burned. The men squat on the floor by the fire, telling each other stories

433

and local news brought in by passing caravans. Some smoke the long Chinese pipes, which

434

are imported from Tachienlu and Sining. If one of the family members knows how to sing

435

he may chant the ancient ballad of Kesar, the mighty warrior king, who conquered Tibet

436

in the past and is expected to reappear in this world to establish the kingdom of

437

righteousness. I remember these squatting figures with faces lit by the reflection of

438

fire, talking late into the night about the heroic deeds of King Kesar and his seven

439

warrior friends. The usual dull expression of the nomad suddenly lights with an inner

440

flame that conveys to you better than words, that the ancient martial spirit is still

441

glimmering. The fire burns out and crouching figures of men with heads bent low to the

442

knees and tresses of long black hair hanging about them, fade into the darkness.

443

444

The hard life led by these nomads strikes one by its total absence of elementary

445

comfort. It seems at times that they were born to suffer for some past sins, and

446

patiently endure the torture of their present existence on the bleak uplands of Tibet. A

447

nomad tribesman will never think of lying down at night and stretching out his weary

448

limbs. On the contrary, he will subject himself to the trial of sleeping in a crouching

449

posture on the cold, frozen ground of the tent. Comfort does not exist for him. I

450

remember having seen a wounded Hor-pa militiaman carried into a tent and deposited on

451

the ground, his head resting on the sharp edge of a brass caldron. I tried to move his

452

head and place it on a mattress, but the wounded man moved his head back on the

453

caldron's edge. It seemed that he was unable to conceive of even a moment of

454

relative comfort. A remarkable psychology is this, full of negation of one's own

455

body.

456

457

The nomads, who form a large portion of Tibet's population, present a very

458

degenerate type. This is particularly true of the western part of the nomad country and

459

the higher mountain valleys of the Trans-Himalayas. The arctic climate of the Tibetan

460

uplands and life in higher mountain valleys, often at an altitude of sixteen thousand to

461

seventeen thousand feet, have checked their mental and physical development. Scurvy is

462

common among them. The men and women of the tribes living around Nag-chu and the

463

neighboring district of the Great Lakes are short and fleshy, with prominent cheek bones

464

and curly hair.

465

466

The nomad tribes of northeastern Tibet and the Hor-pas have a stronger and finer

467

physique. Among them we often find tall men with long, refined features. The women, with

468

rare exceptions, are short in stature, having broad faces and prominent cheek bones. It

469

is an interesting and inexplainable fact that whereas the type of men varies according

470

to tribe and locality, the type of women remains the same throughout the nomad regions

471

of Tibet.

472

473

The foreign origin of the Hor-pas is manifested in their appearance. Whereas the

474

Chang-pas of the Lake region and the mountain tribes of the Trans-Himalayas are mostly

475

all brachycephals, the Hor-pas commonly show dolichocephalic indexes. Types with

476

aquiline noses, Caucasoid eyes, medium lips, and straight or medium-waved hair are often

477

found.

478

479

Generally speaking, two distinct types are observed among the Hor-pas: the Hor-pas north

480

of the Thang La Range, and the Hor-pas south of that range. Among the first we

481

frequently meet the Caucasian type, and some of the males look curiously like Europeans.

482

Among the women the Mongoloid type with the Mongoloid eyefold is much more prominent.

483

484

The Hor-pas south of the Thang La Range represent a transitory type between the Hor-pas

485

north of the range and the round-headed Tibetans of the central provinces. South of the

486

Thang La we seldom meet Caucasian types. The eyes mostly have the Mongoloid fold, the

487

lips are thick, the cheek bones prominent and the hair woolly. The color of the skin of

488

the northern Hor-pas is lighter than that of the Hor-pas south of the Thang La and is

489

usually light brown. In stature, the Hor-pas north and northeast of Thang La are taller

490

than those of the uplands south of the great range. The Hor-pas south of the Thang La

491

are of weaker physique. The chest is sunken in most cases and the extremities are often

492

underdeveloped.

493

494

Curiously enough the same difference is observed in the language. The Hor-pas of the

495

north speak a dialect of their own, closely related to the archaic nomad dialects of

496

Tibet and hardly understood by the Lhasan Tibetans. In a recent paper on Tibetan

497

phonology, I have shown some of the distinctive traits of these nomad dialects, their

498

archaic form, and many characteristic peculiarities, the most striking of which are the

499

pronunciation of some of the prefixes, and the voiced pronunciation of the ancient

500

sonants, which have become voiceless in modern central Tibetan. In vocabulary also, the

501

Hor dialect differs greatly from the central Tibetan. The subdialect spoken by the

502

Hor-pas on the Nag-chu-ka border is already strongly tinted by the central Tibetan

503

dialect, and although it has lost the pronunciation of most of the prefixes, it still

504

retains the voiced pronunciation of ancient sonants. In vocabulary too, it is closer to

505

the central Tibetan. One gains the impression that the Hor-pas north of the Thang La

506

Range preserved the purer type of Hor-pas, and that the infusion of foreign non-Tibetan

507

blood in them is greater than in their countrymen to the south, who have become

508

thoroughly Tibetanized.

509

510

The present state of our knowledge permits no conclusions to be made about the ethnic

511

affinities of the tribes that wander along the northern border of Tibet proper. The

512

famous Russian explorer of Tibet and central Asia, Prjevalski, quoted his native

513

interpreter who stated that the language of local Tibetans north of Nag-chu (Hor-pas)

514

was similar to that of Lhasa and very different from that of the Tibetans in the

515

Koko-nor region. The great Russian explorer adds that he was unable to make any

516

linguistic researches during his stay on the Tibetan frontier. As a matter of fact, the

517

Hor dialect north of the Thang La has quite a number of striking similarities with that

518

of the Panags of the Koko-nor region and the Nya-rong-was of northeastern Tibet.

519

520

The costume is universal for all the nomad districts of Tibet. The usual costume of

521

Hor-pa men and women of the poorer class consists of the sheepskin coat. Sometimes a

522

shirt is worn, but most of the nomads wear their sheepskins on the naked body. When

523

working, the heavy and cumbersome coat is thrown down from the right shoulder, which is

524

left bare. Large homespun trousers are often worn by the men. The footgear consists of

525

high boots, kept by a garter under the knee. The leg of such a boot is commonly made of

526

coarse woolen homespun; the sole is made from raw yak hide and its edge is trimmed with

527

yak hair. Sometimes in men's boots the leg is of red leather. Leather boots are

528

imported from Chien-ch'ang in southwestern Szu-ch'uan Province. Wealthy headmen

529

and lamas are sometimes seen wearing black cowhide boots of Chinese make and pattern.

530

The Mongol boots of black, yellow, or red leather (mostly imported from Russia) with

531

sewn designs of colored leather, are greatly valued and form one of the successful

532

articles of Tibetan import. Among the lamas the legs of the boots are invariably red and

533

the uppers are always of white cotton. The sheepskin coats of the Hor-pas frequently

534

have colored pieces of cloth sewn on the back and round the edges of the coat. Black,

535

blue, dark green, and purple are favorite colors. The laymen prefer black and dark

536

ultramarine blue, the lamas have in most cases dark red pieces of cloth sewn on their

537

fur coats.

538

539

The richer class wear coats made of *puru*—a Tibetan cotton cloth of high

540

quality, usually colored purple or dark violet, and greatly prized in Tibet and

541

Mongolia. Such cloth is prepared by villagers or nomads, who are obliged by law to hand

542

over the whole of the produced quantity to local government officials, the Government

543

selling the cloth at fixed prices afterward, and exporting it to foreign countries. In

544

winter time the men wear heavy sheepskin trousers. Chinese silk leggings

545

(*tao-ku*) are also worn by the wealthy. The Chinese waistcoats

546

(*kan-chien*) adopted by the town people of central Tibet, are never worn by the

547

nomads, who adhere strictly to the Tibetan broad and long-sleeved *chu-was* or

548

coats. The women of the richer households have adopted the Tibetan dress and wear skirts

549

of striped *puru* and large blouses made of *terma* or silk.

550

551

Most of the men and women go about bareheaded. Only while traveling or during storms

552

they wear a fur bonnet covered with blue or green cloth and trimmed with fox skin or

553

sheepskin. Some of these caps are of unusual dimensions and from a distance remind one

554

of the large fur caps or *papaha* used by Siberian Cossacks. During blizzards the

555

fur-trimmed flaps of the cap are lowered and buttoned in front, leaving only the eyes

556

free and covering the rest of the face. This gives an excellent protection on the

557

gale-swept uplands of northern Tibet. During the coldest part of the winter of 1927 I

558

was fortunate in having a Tibetan fur cap, which saved me from blisters. The fur caps of

559

the lamas are lined with yellow silk.

560

561

The summer hat is made of straw and is covered with cotton cloth, the rim being faced

562

with red and blue cloth. The top is rather high and the hat is kept on the head by a

563

string worn under the chin. Many wear the usual Tibetan fur cap with fur flaps and felt

564

top, ornamented with pieces of brocade. European-made Homburger hats and service hats,

565

used in the Gurkha Battalions of the Indian army, are also commonly worn by traders who

566

have visited the trade marts on the Indian border.

567

568

It is in the hairdresses that we notice the greatest differences. The women have their

569

hair plaited in numerous small braids that hang down the back and are kept together by a

570

broad piece of red cloth on which silver ornaments are sewn, consisting mostly of silver

571

Indian rupees, Chinese dollars, and Tibetan silver coins. The girls in the Hor region

572

wear small brass bells hanging from their hair and belts, and their movements are

573

accompanied by the soft jingling of these bells.

574

575

Women's headdresses vary a great deal according to locality and tribe. In the region

576

of Nag-tshang in the district of the Great Lakes, a peculiar oval frontlet is worn by

577

the women, somewhat reminding one of the ancient headdress worn by Russian women. It is

578

ornamented with turquoise and silver. In other places, conch shells are plaited into the

579

hair. Large, oval earrings and numerous necklaces of coral, turquoise and silver are

580

commonly worn by women and girls. A nomad woman wears all her wealth on her person and

581

by the profusion of silver and turquoise one can judge her family's standing.

582

583

The men generally have long, matted hair, sometimes arranged in two long braids that

584

hang down on both sides of the forehead. Over the eyes, the hair is often cut in a

585

fringe. The tribal chiefs and wealthy herd owners wear pigtails often reaching well

586

below the knee. The pigtails, into which horsehair is often plaited to make them longer

587

and thicker, are frequently adorned with broad rings of red cloth upon which are fixed

588

coral, turquoise and silver ornaments and sometimes heavy charm boxes or *ga-u*.

589

590

The Bön-po lamas of the Hor region have their heads shaved. Tantric lamas or

591

*ngag-pas* of the Yellow Hat sect, who live and practice among the Hor-pas, wear

592

their hair in braids similar to those of the laymen. The wealthy class wear coats girded

593

with a narrow leather belt, ornamented with silver or brass. On the chatelaines of the

594

belts hang knives, flint pouches, needlecases, and silver ornamented sheaths containing

595

chopsticks.

596

597

The armament of the Hor-pas consists of Tibetan swords, lances, and modern magazine

598

rifles. The old Tibetan matchlocks are very seldom seen and so far as I know, are only

599

used in New Year ceremonies to drive off devils. The nomads always go armed. The

600

difficult and dangerous life on the Tibetan highlands makes it a necessity. All the men

601

carry long swords, which remind us of the blank weapons of the European early Middle

602

Ages. The best swords come from the Province of Kham in eastern Tibet, and high prices

603

are offered for famous swords that have killed the greatest number of enemies, on the

604

blades of which stains of blood can still be seen, for a sword is never cleaned after

605

battle and is returned bloodstained to the scabbard. According to a Tibetan Bön-po

606

legend, the sidearms and shields were also introduced into Tibet during the spread of

607

the Bön religion from the land of Shang-shung and Bru-sha.

608

609

As in the epics of our Middle Ages, the swords of Tibetan heroes possess names. Famous

610

swords come from the so-called Kesar lha-khang, or Temple of Kesar, situated near

611

Jyekundo in northeastern Tibet. It is said that after completing his campaigns, King

612

Kesar deposited all his arms in this temple. The ceiling of the temple is made of long

613

swords and lances instead of beams. During the recent Sino-Tibetan war, a number of

614

these swords were stolen by Tibetan soldiery and are now offered for fabulous prices.

615

The swords are of three varieties. The long, straight Tibetan sword with broad blade,

616

made of iron, can be considered the national arm of Tibet. The hilt of the sword has no

617

handguard, and curiously reminds one of the European swords of the early Middle Ages.

618

The scabbard is usually ornamented with silver or brass nails, turquoise, and corals. It

619

is made of wood and is covered with black leather. The edge of the scabbard is often

620

handsomely decorated with floral designs combined with animal *motifs*. The hilts

621

are often covered with fish skin, sometimes with thin yellow or red leather. It would be

622

interesting to study the origins of these long and broad-bladed Tibetan swords. A study

623

of the question points toward the long and straight Sarmatian swords, that were

624

introduced into China during the First Han Dynasty.

625

626

Besides these long swords, the Tibetan nomads carry short, dagger-like swords in richly

627

ornamented scabbards. The best daggers are said to come from Bhutan. Their hilts are

628

covered with a coat of mail.

629

630

To the third variety belongs the heavy, slightly curved saber, or

631

*sho-lang* carried in Chinese fashion attached to the left side of the saddle

632

under the rider's leg. This saber is most likely an importation from China, and is

633

used only by military and civil officers.

634

635

Another favorite blank arm is the spear. Two kinds of spears are used, the long spear

636

and the dart. The long and heavy spear, some three meters in length, is used by mounted

637

men in a cavalry charge. The spearheads are made of iron and sometimes ornamented with a

638

geometrical design which is painted red. Among the nomad tribes of northeast Tibet, and

639

the Hor-pas, the long spear is a sign of war. When a tribe intends to begin war against

640

another tribe, the long spear is carried out of the tent.

641

642

The Tibetan dart is made of hard wood imported from east Tibet or Szu-ch'uan. The

643

spear staff is wound with an iron braid. A large metal ring is fixed at the end of the

644

staff and another ring slides loosely along the staff. When in action a string is tied

645

to both rings. The rider keeps the string and staff in his raised hand, then lets loose

646

the staff, and throws the dart, keeping the end of the string in his hand. The dart

647

flies with a rattling noise made by the loose ring on the iron braid of the staff. After

648

the ring reaches the end of the spear staff, the spear drops and the rider pulls it back

649

into the saddle. Great strength and good horsemanship are needed in throwing such a

650

dart. This weapon is used by the nomads of north and northeastern Tibet.

651

652

Another commonly used arm is the sling made of plaited yarn. It is useful in war and

653

peace. In everyday life, the Hor-pas use the sling to drive their herds and caravans of

654

yaks. A single man can drive a big herd or caravan of yaks by throwing stones with his

655

sling at the animals. The Tibetan word for yak driver is *lakpo* (Tib.

656

*lag-rdo*) which literally means "a hand with a stone."

657

658

Archery is almost never practiced and during our stay among the Hor tribes and other

659

nomads of Tibet, we did not see a single bow in the possession of tribesmen. Arrowheads

660

sometimes discovered in the ground are said to be petrified lightning and to possess

661

magical powers.

662

663

The lasso, favored by Kirghiz tribesmen on the Russo-Turkestan border, is unknown among

664

the Hor-pa tribes. In order to catch a horse, they proceed with a very strange maneuver,

665

which invariably proves successful. A man crawls toward the horse with his hand

666

stretched out toward the right front leg of the animal. Then he gently touches the right

667

leg and rubs it, gradually going higher until he has reached the horse's neck and

668

seized the bridle. This curious way of catching a bad horse is commonly practiced

669

throughout Mongolia and Tibet. With a Mongol or Tibetan horse this is the only way to

670

approach and get hold of the animal.

671

672

A common scourge of all the nomad districts of Tibet are the bands of brigands who roam

673

in the vicinity of trade routes and wealthy encampments. Sometimes there are bands of

674

professional robber tribes from northeastern Tibet. A band of armed robbers consists of

675

some twenty or thirty mounted and well-armed men, with light baggage carried on pack

676

ponies, that are led by horsemen. A party can cover long distances daily and make

677

surprise attacks on caravans and camps. Brigand horses are said to be the best in the

678

country. They are trained to obey strange, shrill sounds emitted by the rider. The rider

679

whistles and the horse doubles its pace. A shrill, rising sound will make the horse leap

680

in full gallop. Such horses cannot be ridden by ordinary riders, who have no knowledge

681

of the sounds that guide them.

682

683

When a band of robbers has been sighted in the neighborhood, all the nomad encampments

684

move in haste into the mountains to some remote valley and the tribal chiefs summon all

685

the available men of their militia to fight the intruders. Our expedition often met

686

large parties of mounted men, riding at great speed. Some robbers had been sighted in

687

the vicinity and these men were hastening to fight the band.

688

689

During such fights prisoners are seldom taken and wounded men are never abandoned on the

690

battlefield. The robbers even manage to carry away their dead. In famine years that

691

follow a cold and snowy winter, or an epizoötic of cattle, whole districts turn to

692

brigandage. It is then the turn of government troops to suppress the evil.

693

694

The tribal militia is maintained by the orders of the Lhasan Government. In case of war,

695

each tent has to equip one rider, and give him sufficient provisions to last for one

696

month's campaigning. The arms, ammunition, and horses all belong to the men. A

697

mobilization order is sent on a piece of red cloth attached to an arrow. The arrow is

698

dispatched by a special rider who gallops to the nearest headman and hands it over to

699

him. The headman takes notice of the contents of the order and immediately dispatches a

700

fresh rider to another headman. In a few days the whole of the countryside swarms with

701

men-at-arms. The troops from northern and northeastern Tibet are said to be the bravest

702

in the whole of Tibet, and there is a belief, that a warrior from eastern and northern

703

Tibet, whenever he goes to battle, has to die in the fight. In the recent fights on the

704

Sino-Tibetan border units composed of tribesmen from northern and east Tibet made their

705

name dreaded by the enemy, but sustained the heaviest casualties.

706

707

Besides military duties in time of national danger, the tribal militia has another

708

important duty to perform—the guarding of the long Tibetan boundary line. All along the

709

northern Tibetan border, that roughly passes along the Marco Polo or Angar Dakchin

710

Mountains, stand outposts of militia which watch the caravan routes leading from

711

Mongolia and China. Such a post usually consists of six to ten men who live in the black

712

tent of the nomads. It is their duty to scout the neighborhood and to report to the

713

nearest frontier authorities any approaching caravans. One can imagine life on such

714

outposts, situated sometimes hundreds of miles from the nearest inhabited point of Tibet

715

and on an elevation of some fifteen to sixteen thousand feet. The men are obliged to

716

live on *tsam-pa* and hunt wild yaks and *kyangs*. In winter such outposts

717

are sometimes completely cut off. Many riders sent to reëstablish communication perish

718

on the way and are devoured by wolves and bears.

719

720

The nomad tribes of the northeast, north and some of the tribes in western Tibet,

721

practice the ancient religion of Tibet, the so-called Bön religion of nature worship and

722

necromancy. Weird rituals are performed by wild looking, errant priests attired in black

723

robes. Bön is prominent in the region of western Hor and holds undisputed sway over all

724

the Hor tribes. With the advent and establishment of Buddhism during the reign of the

725

Tibetan King Ti-srong de'u tsen (Khrisrong sde'u-btsan) in the eighth century

726

A.D. the Bön religion was relegated to the distant frontier districts of Tibet.

727

728

At present most of the Bön-po colonies, besides the Hor-de, are found in the northeast

729

of Tibet in the region lying between Derge and the grazing grounds of the Golok, in

730

easternmost Kham, in the forest country of Kong-po. Along the northern route to western

731

Tibet, Nain Singh mentions the Bön-po colony of Wang-po (dbang-po) on the north shore of

732

the Lake Dangra yum-tsho. Western and southern Tibet also have important colonies of

733

Bön-pos. The Tsang Province of central Tibet is rich in Bön-po monasteries, which are

734

also found on the Nepalese border. The Bön-po monastery nearest to Lhasa is situated in

735

the upper part of the Phem-po ('phan-po) Valley, north of the Tibetan capital.

736

737

During the reign of King Lang-dar-ma (ninth century A.D.) the Bön doctrine returned to

738

power for a brief interval, for after the violent death of the king, the Bön doctrine

739

was again persecuted and Buddhism gained the upper hand. The Bön-po priests were

740

banished and many Bön practices suppressed. Since that time, the Bön religion has become

741

the doctrine of the minority, relegated to distant uplands and preserved in a few

742

families, as is often the case in the Tsang Province. Our knowledge of the Bön religion

743

is still very imperfect. Only a very limited number of texts has been edited and

744

translated. The rest of the voluminous literature still remains a closed book. The

745

Bön-po terminology presents insurmountable difficulties, for it is hard to obtain the

746

services of a well-read Bön-po priest who will agree to part with his knowledge of the

747

doctrine. To collect information about this primitive religion, relic of a remote past,

748

is much more difficult than to gather information about the Tibetan form of Buddhism.

749

First of all, the Bön fraternities are found in places difficult of access, and

750

secondly, the Bön-po adepts are recalcitrant in giving information to foreigners. They

751

usually profess utter ignorance about the tenets of their faith and deny the existence

752

of manuscripts or printed texts.

753

754

During the expedition's stay in the Hor region, information about Bön-po books was

755

only occasionally obtained, mostly from travelers who had visited Bön-po monasteries or

756

seen sacred texts in the tents of wealthy Bön-pos. Only after three months' stay was

757

I able to gain the confidence of some of the Bön-po priests and gain access to their

758

libraries.

759

760

The pages which follow contain some of the results obtained during this stay. A detailed

761

study of the Bön doctrine will be appended to the translation of the

762

*Ye-shes ñi-ma lha'i rgyud* or the "Tantras of the Gods of the Sun of

763

Wisdom," an extensive Bön-po text which is in the course of preparation.

764

765

Bön is a composite doctrine in which ancient forms of the shamanistic ideas of higher

766

Asia are blended with beliefs and practices of a nature religion of the primitive

767

population of northwestern India. Whether this primitive cult goes back to an

768

Indo-European antiquity, or, as I am inclined to believe, to a pre-Aryan stratum of

769

population, is still impossible to decide definitely.

770

771

There exist two forms of Bön: One the primitive nature worship, full of shamanistic and

772

necromantic rituals, and sometimes bloody sacrifices (in former times human sacrifices

773

were commonly made, nowadays only animals, sheep, goats, or their substitute clay images

774

are sacrificed); the other the reformed Bön, or Bön adapted to Buddhism. Dr. J. van

775

Manen has rightly pointed out the link that exists between the ancient Bön and the old

776

school of Padmasambhava. He says: "This statement has to be interpreted in the

777

sense that the compromise effected by Padmasambhava has resulted in mutual concessions

778

and adaptations which make it difficult to say where, in present practice, the purely

779

native and the Buddhist foreign elements begin and end."

780

781

In the first form of Bön, we meet gods of heaven and earth, of sun and moon, of stars

782

and of the four quarters. To this form of Bön belongs the circle of legends about King

783

Kesar, and Dr. A. H. Francke has shown in his valuable monograph on the Tibetan marriage

784

songs the mythological character of Kesar and his consort, 'Bru-gu-ma, who have a

785

close affinity to the old deities of earth. The primitive Bön doctrine is still

786

represented by errant exorcists, who never belong to settled fraternities. Their holy

787

places are not marked by monasteries or chapels, but are represented by crude stone

788

altars, or stone monuments in the form of menhirs or cromlechs. Sometimes the stone

789

altars are situated on the summits of mountains, sometimes in secluded caves amid rocks

790

and towering cliffs. I am convinced that the megalithic monuments discovered by the

791

expedition all along the pilgrim route to Mount Kailasa are such sacred places of nature

792

worship. A detailed description of these monuments will be given in the chapter devoted

793

to the description of the Great Lake region of Tibet. These megalithic monuments,

794

menhirs, cromlechs, and alinements, first discovered by the expedition, undoubtedly

795

belong to the pre-Buddhistic period of Tibetan history, when primitive Bön was the

796

accepted faith of the country.

797

798

The reformed Bön is highly complex. It not only possesses all the deities of the

799

Vajrayana—or the Tantric form of Buddhism elaborated by Padmasambhava—but has its own

800

arrangement of the deities.

801

802

From my conversations with the Bön-po lamas it appears that the Bön form of

803

Samantabhadra or Bön-sku Kun-tu bzang-po is regarded to be the supreme deity of the

804

Bön-po. He occupies in the sect a position analogical to that of Samantabhadra in the

805

Tantric sects of unreformed Buddhism and the Adi-Buddha in the Kalacakra doctrine of the

806

ninth to eleventh centuries A.D. We have reason to suppose that the Kun-tu bzang-po or

807

"All good" of the reformed Bön represents the ancient Father Heaven of

808

primitive Bön. In Bön the Kun-tu bzang-po is associated with Ma-btsun-pa—Mother Nature

809

or Mother Earth, a deity, who still preserves much of her primitive character of

810

all-potent Mother Earth. Her images are often found in charm boxes or *ga-u* worn

811

by Bön-pos.

812

813

Besides these supreme deities we hear of a host of other divine beings, most of which

814

are personified nature forces and malignant ghosts. An old deity is Garuda or Cha-khyung

815

(Bya-khyung) which figures on many Bön images and paintings, and probably belongs to the

816

ancient Indo-Tibetan stock of Bön. It would be highly interesting to study the origins

817

of the cult of Garuda in connection with the numerous representations of the eagle and

818

the griffin in the nomad art of central Asia and southern Russia. On Bön frescos we meet

819

an endless host of *dkar-phyogs lha*, "Gods of the White Quarter" (or

820

"benevolent gods") and *nag-phyogs lha* or "Gods of the Dark

821

Quarter" (malignant deities). The belief in nature forces, personified by divine

822

beings or *lha*, is common to both forms of Bön. Each place possesses its own

823

countryside god or *yul-lha*, and *'dre* or demon. The *lha* is

824

usually benevolent, but sometimes of a difficult nature and the people of the place have

825

a hard time keeping the deity satisfied.

826

827

In one of the Bön-po villages in the upper Tsang Province we saw a fine field on the

828

river bank, uncultivated but carefully fenced. Considering the relative scarcity of

829

arable land, I was much surprised to see that fine piece of land left uncultivated and

830

inquired for the reason. The reason was that a local *lha*, domiciled in a cliff

831

rising over the field, took a strange liking to this field and every time the peasants

832

tried to plough it, a hailstorm would destroy the crops. A local Bön-po priest explained

833

the will of the deity, and since then the field has been left alone and a stone wall

834

built around it. Such is the influence of this religion, that men will renounce the best

835

of their fields and consecrate them to the local deity.

836

837

Each mountain pass possesses a *lha* of its own and some of these deities are

838

known for their fierce character. Some of them object to rifle firing, and will send

839

hail and storm if a shot is fired in the vicinity, others are antagonistic to travelers

840

in general.

841

842

The *düd* or *'dre* are malignant spirits always bent upon mischief.

843

They will drive away horses at night and thus cause a delay to travelers. Some of the

844

localities along the great caravan routes are famous for the activity of demons or

845

*tong-dre* and the caravan men take special precautions to prevent the stampede

846

of their horses and mules.

847

848

All these Bön divinities, who rule the destinies of men, are designated by the general

849

name of *gYung-drung lha rnams* or the "Gods of the Svastika." The word

850

*gYung-drung* or "Svastika" is not only synonymous with Bön, but often

851

stands for *Byang-chub* or *Bodhi*, which is enlightenment in Bön

852

terminology. The will and teachings of these gods were delivered to mankind by the

853

teacher Shen-rap or Shen-rap mi-wo "the man Shen-rap." We have seen several

854

Bön-po texts on the life of this teacher. His legendary life has been strongly

855

influenced by the Buddha legend. Take for example the scene of the lament of the old

856

Brahman gSal-khyab-'od-ldan, as related in the *gSer-myig*, who is too old to

857

hear the future teaching of the newly born Redeemer, and the analogical episode in the

858

life of Buddha,—the visit of the *rishi* Asita to the newly born Bodhisattva.

859

860

The story of the youth of Shen-rap has much in common with the respective episodes of

861

the Buddha legend. The work of the Redeemer Shen-rap was continued on earth by a

862

succession of teachers, who are usually represented on frescoes attired in the monastic

863

costume of the Nying-ma-pas, or unreformed Buddhists. We are as yet unable to say much

864

about this line of Bön-po teachers. It seems likely that the establishment of Bön

865

monastic fraternities was started only during the Buddhist period. The primitive Bön

866

religion had no monasteries. The Bön monastery is an adaptation of a Buddhist model and

867

the monastic rules are largely taken from Buddhist sources. Large Bön-po monasteries

868

exist in the Jya-de Province and northeastern Kham. The region of Nup-hor counts at

869

least three monastic establishments.

870

871

The Tsang Province is known for its Bön-po monasteries. At Chatu gompa, a large village

872

in western Tsang, there are three large Bön-po monasteries. Several famed Bön

873

monasteries and hermitages or *ri-tö* (*ri-khrod*) are reported to exist

874

on the Nepalo-Tibetan border. Sarat Chandra Das in his

875

*Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet* gives a brief description of a well-known

876

Bön-po monastery, Ri-jyal chen-tar (Ri-rgyal gchan-dar), visited by his companion Lama

877

Urgyen. Unfortunately the author does not describe in detail the images and frescoes

878

seen by Lama Urgyen in the monastery. We possess only scant information about the

879

literature of the Bön-pos. The literary monuments of the Bön-pos can be conveniently

880

described under the following four headings: (1) The two great Bön collections of sacred

881

texts, in all some three hundred volumes; (2) national epics, heroic songs and some

882

*rnam-thar* or legendary history; (3) popular songs; (4) incantation books,

883

manuals on magic rituals.

884

885

The codification of the Bön doctrine and the creation of the voluminous religious

886

literature dates from the Buddhist period, that is, it is posterior to the ninth century

887

A.D. So far we had no knowledge of the existence of a Bön *Känjür* and

888

*Tänjür*. We only surmised that large Bön-po monasteries undoubtedly possessed

889

large libraries of Bön-po literature. It was the good fortune of our expedition to

890

discover two complete collections of Bön-po scriptures at the Bön-po monastery of

891

Sharugön, four days northeast of Nag-chu dzong. The Bön *Känjür* or Translated

892

Commandments consists of one hundred and forty large volumes. The collection is

893

evidently an imitation of the Buddhist *Tripitaka*. It not only has the threefold

894

division of the *Tripitaka* (*Bön-sde-gsum*) but imitates the Buddhist

895

*Känjür* in the external arrangement of the volumes and their contents. The title

896

of each text is given in two languages. Sometimes it is the *Shang-shung skad* or

897

"language of Shang-shung," sometimes it is the

898

*gYung-drung lha'i skad* or "language of the Svastika gods." All

899

these languages are unintelligible and are probably artificial.

900

901

The Tibetan language is invariably called "the language of men" (*gang-zag mi-wo'i skad*

902

or *mi-wo'i skad*). Most of the texts are designated by the name

903

*rgyud* or *tantra*, which seems to stand for the Buddhist *mdo* or

904

*sutra*. A great number of texts included in the Bön-po *Känjür* were

905

composed in the Golok territory of northeastern Tibet. Many were written in the Bön

906

hermitages southwest of Shigatse, reputed to be one of the sacred countries of the Bön.

907

In the lifetime of the famous Tibetan monk-poet, Milarepa (XI A.D.) the Bön-pos were

908

numerous and powerful on the Nepalese borderland and there exists a large cycle of

909

legends telling of the religious disputes held by Milarepa and Naro Bön-chung, the Bön

910

teacher.

911

912

The Bön *Tänjür* or Translated Commentaries, consists of one hundred and sixty

913

volumes. It contains commentaries written by various Bön-po teachers on the Tantras of

914

the Bön *Känjür*, said to have been revealed by Shen-rap, the Redeemer. A number

915

of texts explain the intricate points of the essence of the Bön doctrine

916

(*Bön-ñid*), a notion which has its counterpart in the *stong-pa ñid* of

917

the Mahayana Buddhism.

918

919

These treatises are almost untranslatable because of their terminology. I was told by

920

the abbot of the Sharugön Monastery that no printed copies of the Bön scriptures exist,

921

and that all existing copies are manuscript. This particular copy of the Sharugön

922

Monastery was executed in the Golok territory and had an exceptionally beautiful cursive

923

script. The orthography of such manuscripts is as a rule antiquated and reveals many of

924

the peculiarities common in Tibetan manuscripts discovered by Sir Aurel Stein and Paul

925

Pelliot in the walled-up library of Tun-huang. The Bön-po manuscripts are often written

926

in gold and silver on thick black paper, but usually in black or red ink. In the

927

Sharugön copy the front pages bearing the title of the text were invariably painted

928

black and written in gold. Such manuscripts written in gold are costly and take years to

929

complete. Only very few Bön monasteries can boast of possessing sets of the two

930

collections.

931

932

The second class of Bön literature is represented by the great nomad epic of King Kesar,

933

the mighty warrior, whose deeds are chanted in sixteen volumes. All copies of this

934

important work are in manuscript form. So far as it is known it has never been printed

935

and the existing copies are jealously preserved in the families. For the nomad of

936

eastern and northern Tibet, the legend of Kesar is not a mere epic, it is his religion,

937

his embodied hope for a better future which is framed on the model of the glorious past.

938

939

The modern epic of Kesar is a composite production, which consists of ancient nature

940

worship in which the cults of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Seasons, are blended

941

with an epic of the great warrior king, who once ruled somewhere in northeastern Tibet.

942

943

Grünwedel and Potanin endeavored to prove that the saga of Kesar was influenced by the

944

legends about Alexander the Great, so popular in the East, and that the name Kesar was

945

nothing but a Tibetan rendering of Kaiser—Caesar. In my opinion the ballad is an

946

autochthonous creation of nomad central Asia and I believe Dr. N. Poppe is right in

947

presuming that the greater part of the ballad originated among the nomad tribes of

948

Tibet.

949

950

The historical background of the legend takes us far back into the past of the great

951

nomad empires of central Asia. The Kesar epic sings of the deeds of King Kesar, his

952

prowess and feats of strength during his youth and his several victorious campaigns

953

against the King of Hor and other nomad chiefs. The east Tibetan origin of the epic is

954

shown in the story about its origin. The story probably began among the Yellow sect

955

lamas, for it exhibits a certain amount of contempt toward the ballad. It is related

956

that the Kesar ballad has nothing historical in itself. It was composed by a famous

957

Tantric lama (*ngag-pa*) who was at the same time a great bard. Once, in a moment

958

of intoxication, he began to sing and sang the whole of the Kesar ballad. The native

959

place of this Tantric was northeastern Kham and the ballad was composed by him there.

960

961

The nomads of Kham and Hor understand the ballad differently. According to them it is

962

not a production of a single bard, largely due to the imagination of the singer, but is

963

a poetical record of ancient wars that were fought in the past. According to some

964

authors and the collection of heroic songs, entitled *rGyal-drung*, King Kesar

965

lived in the eighth century A.D. According to still another tradition, King Kesar was a

966

mighty nomad warrior, who lived in the time of King Srong-btsan sgam-po and Khri-srong

967

lde'u-btsan in the border country of Mongolia and China, in the territory now

968

incorporated in the modern Province of Shan-hsi.

969

970

The seventh and eighth centuries A.D. were a period of great unrest among Tibetan nomads

971

and an epoch of the greatest expansion of Tibetan power outside the frontier of Tibet

972

proper. My own researches in the field have convinced me that the kernel of the ballad

973

originated during this period and that in it were incorporated episodes from ancient

974

tribal epics, going back to remote antiquity, probably pre-Mongolian and pre-Tibetan in

975

their origin. In its present form the Kesar ballad is probably of a comparatively late

976

date. It is an ancient monument of nomadic poetry, produced by the creative efforts of

977

several nomad nations. In its present form the ballad is extremely popular in Mongolia

978

and even among the Turkish tribes of central Asia. Dr. N. Poppe says that the Mongol

979

version of the Kesar ballad originated in southern Mongolia. According to him the many

980

Tibetan names in the Mongol text seem to indicate that the Mongol version is a

981

translation from a Tibetan original. The Mongol version was published in Peking in 1716

982

A.D. in the reign of K'ang-hsi and has been translated by I. J. Schmidt.

983

984

During the Manchu rule, King Kesar was proclaimed under the name of Huang-ti, the divine

985

protector of the Manchu Dynasty. In Tibet all temples dedicated to Huang-ti are said to

986

be Kesar lha-khangs or temples of Kesar.

987

988

The Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, possesses a Tibetan Kesar ballad

989

in two large volumes. During the expedition's stay in the Hor region, I discovered a

990

Kesar ballad in sixteen manuscript volumes—each chapter of the epic having a separate

991

volume.

992

993

In Tibet and Mongolia, the epic of Kesar is still constantly enriching itself with new

994

songs and episodes. New episodes are added to the old groundwork of the ballad and

995

messianic ideas attached to the figure of Kesar Khan. Kesar is said to return again to

996

earth and lead the nomad tribes against a powerful enemy who will arise to establish the

997

Kingdom of Evil.

998

999

During the lengthy stay among the nomads of Hor, the expedition succeeded in collecting

1000

additional data, which clearly establishes the important fact that a new chapter in the

1001

voluminous epic of Kesar is about to be written. In Mongolia also, a new chapter on the

1002

future exploits of Kesar is in process of creation. These new additions have the

1003

character of prophetic songs.

1004

1005

The well-known Mongol scholar Ts. J. Jamtsarano points to the fact that the verbal

1006

version of the Kesar ballad is considerably larger than the written one. It seems as if

1007

the nomad tribes of Mongolia and Tibet, agitated by some hidden unrest, seek inspiration

1008

in the ancient lore of their past.

1009

1010

Besides the great epic of Kesar, several *rnam-thar* or legendary histories are

1011

said to exist among the Bön-po population. None of them is printed. If they are found,

1012

they will furnish important data on the religious, cultural, and historical evolution of

1013

the Bön doctrine. A large number of popular songs exist among the Bön-pos. Dr. A. H.

1014

Francke collected a good many of them during his long stay in Ladak and Lahul. Properly

1015

studied and analyzed, they too may furnish important facts.

1016

1017

Many incantation books and magic manuals exist in manuscript form. Some of them are

1018

utterly untranslatable, others necessitate a vast, detailed knowledge of the Bön-po

1019

Pantheon. A knowledge of the Bön-po *mandalas* or mystic spheres of influence is

1020

essential for a proper understanding of these texts.

1021

1022

Then for the study of the reformed Bön, the Bön *Känjür* and *Tänjür* are

1023

of the utmost significance. The remaining three sections chiefly contain material for

1024

the reconstruction of the primitive form of Bön. The only historical Bön-po text so far

1025

known is the rGyal-rabs Bön-gyi-byung-gnas, by Sarat Chandra Das, but I am told that

1026

other historical works in the form of *chos-byung* or church histories exist. So

1027

far none of such works has come to light.

1028

1029

The Bön-po monastery of Sharugön was built some twenty years ago. The necessary funds

1030

were raised by popular subscription among the five nomad tribes of the western Hor. It

1031

is situated in a narrow gorge of granite rocks on the banks of the river Chu-na-khe at

1032

the foot of a picturesque granite mountain that shelters the monastery from the

1033

prevailing southwest winds of the Tibetan upland.

1034

1035

The approach to the monastery is guarded by a high *stupa* or

1036

*mchod-rten* crowned with a pair of yak horns. (It is known that the custom of

1037

setting animal skulls and horns on *mani*-walls, stone cairns, and

1038

*stupas* is Bön-po in origin.) The *stupa* is painted white and has

1039

yellow, red, and blue stripes on its steeple, symbolizing the three spheres of the

1040

Universe: *stan-lha*, the region of gods, *bar-btsan*, the middle region,

1041

and *gyog-klu*, the abode of *Nagas*.

1042

1043

The monastery consists of two assembly halls or *du-khangs*, situated in a small

1044

inclosed courtyard paved with large slabs of flat stones. The old *du-khang* is

1045

situated to the right of the entrance gate and is a two-storied building. The assembly

1046

hall proper occupies the first floor, on the second floor there is a small

1047

*lha-khang* or temple, which contains most of the monastery's collection of

1048

images.

1049

1050

The new *du-khang* is a stately stone building, erected some six years ago. It is

1051

not yet completely furnished. The walls are adorned with frescoes, which although new,

1052

present a great interest for a student of iconography. The rest of the courtyard is

1053

occupied by monastery store-rooms and cells for the monks. During the expedition's

1054

visit the monastery had five resident monks. Some of the wealthy monks belonging to the

1055

monastery lived with their families in the vicinity. The head lama or *khan-po*,

1056

the only fully ordained monk of the monastery, did not live in the convent itself but in

1057

a hermitage or *ri-tö* belonging to the monastery and situated behind the

1058

mountain range that shelters the monastery from the northeast. Both the

1059

*du-khangs* or assembly halls are ornamented in the usual Tibetan style, and

1060

there is very little difference between the ornamentation used in the orthodox Yellow

1061

Hat or Nying-ma-pa monasteries and the Bön-po sanctuaries. The carved wooden columns at

1062

the entrances and inside the halls are ornamented with the traditional dragons and

1063

floral designs and painted in bright colors. Both of the *du-khangs* contain

1064

paintings representing the legendary life of the founder of the Bön religion, Shen-rap

1065

ton-pa, and images of the divine beings of the Bön-po Pantheon. So complete is the

1066

similarity of symbols, that one could imagine himself in an orthodox Buddhist monastery.

1067

The Buddhists maintain that the Bön-pos imitated Buddhist images and symbols, but the

1068

Bön-pos are of the opinion that the early teachers of Tibetan Buddhism took over many

1069

Bön-po deities and symbols. At present we are not in a position to decide which of the

1070

statements is true.

1071

1072

The similarity of Bön and Buddhist paintings is due to some extent to the fact that

1073

temples are often decorated by laymen artists, who paint Buddhist symbols and Bön-po

1074

images alike and involuntarily transfer Buddhist symbols to a Bön-po painting and

1075

*vice versa*. Such was the case with the wall paintings in the Sharugön

1076

monastery. All of the paintings were executed by a layman-artist, Buddhist by religion,

1077

who painted the frescos under the guidance of the monastery's head lama.

1078

1079

The Bön scriptures are imperfectly known and very few Bön images have been studied and

1080

described. So far no Bön-po iconographical manual has been found, and the iconographical

1081

knowledge of the sect seems to rest with a limited number of priests and artists.

1082

1083

The chief place on these wall paintings is occupied by the Bön-po Redeemer, Shen-rap

1084

mi-wo. He is usually represented in the aspect of a fully enlightened Buddha, attired in

1085

purple monastic robes, austere and somber and devoid of ornaments. His left hand reposes

1086

in the sign (*mudra*) of meditation (*dhyani-mudra*) and supports the

1087

monastic bowl or *patra*. His right hand is lowered making the sign of

1088

attestation (*bhumisparsha mudra*) and is holding the Bön scepter. The scepter is

1089

similar to the Buddhist *vajra* or *dorje*, but instead of having a crown

1090

on each end, it has a cube with images of the Svastika on the five sides of the cube.

1091

The color of the body is yellow ochre and the robe is red and purple, sometimes

1092

ornamented with gold or yellow color designs. The similarity to the images of Sakyamuni

1093

is evident, the only difference being the Bön-po scepter. To the left of the Founder is

1094

usually represented the future teacher of the Bön-pos. He is depicted in the attire of a

1095

Buddhist bodhisattva with golden diadem on his head and gold ornaments inlaid with

1096

precious stones on his shoulders, arms, and legs. Both the hands repose in the posture

1097

of meditation and support the *amrita vase* or *tse-bum* filled with

1098

*amrita* or *bdüd-rtsi*, with the letter "A" on it, which is the

1099

Bön-po counterpart of *om*. The color of the face and body is yellow ochre,

1100

sometimes golden. It is the color of the Bodhisattva Maitreya. To the right is often

1101

seen the Bön form of the Buddha of Medicine, called by the Bön-pos, Sangs-rgyas

1102

sman-bla. The color of the body, instead of being dark ultramarine blue, as in the

1103

Buddhist images, is light yellow. The Bön-po "god of medicine" does not have

1104

the aspect of a Buddha, but is attired as a bodhisattva. His hands repose in the sign of

1105

meditation and support the monastic bowl, with the *udumbara* flower emerging

1106

from it.

1107

1108

Another common image on the wall paintings is the Bön counterpart of the white Tara, the

1109

goddess Ma-btsün-pa, Mother Nature. Her raised right hand holds the stalk of the

1110

*kumuda* flower. In all other respects the Bön-po and Buddhist images of the

1111

goddess are identical. The Bön-po form of the All-Merciful One or Avalokitesvara with

1112

eleven heads and innumerable arms is identical to the lamaist form. Only one of the

1113

hands is seen holding a Bön *vajra* with the image of the Svastika.

1114

1115

Another frequent representation is the image of the goddess Sitatapatraparajita. Her Bön

1116

form has a yellow body, instead of the white coloring of the Buddhist image. The symbols

1117

held by the deity in her numerous hands are similar to those on Buddhist images, except

1118

for one hand, which is holding the Bön *vajra* with the image of the Svastika on

1119

it. A pair of hands is folded at the breast and holds the image of fruit, putting forth

1120

a flower. (The Buddhist goddess holds the sacred stone or *cintamani*.)

1121

1122

Another popular deity of the Bön-po Pantheon is the black Garuda or Khyung-nag,

1123

represented holding a serpent in his beak. This form of Garuda is also known in Lamaism

1124

but probably is of Bön-po origin. One of the walls of the principal hall in the new

1125

*du-khang* is adorned by a large image of the Bön-po form of Vajrapani, holding

1126

the Garuda and *vajra*. The abbot or *khan-po* of the Sharugön monastery

1127

called it Bön-gyi phyag-rdor or Bön-po Vajrapani. He could not tell me the Bön-po name

1128

of the divinity. It is difficult to say whether we have to do with ignorance on the part

1129

of the Bön-po priesthood, or that the Bön divinities are called by the same names, as in

1130

Lamaism. The relative frequency of the name *phyag-rdor* in Bön texts seems to

1131

indicate the fact that the name belongs to Bön-po terminology or has been taken over by

1132

the Bön-pos.

1133

1134

The rest of the walls of the principal hall are covered with frescoes representing Bön

1135

forms of Vajradhara, Vajrakila, Yamantaka, Demchog, Palden Lhamo, and even a Bön form of

1136

Kalacakra represented on the walls both in its mild and fierce forms. The head lama of

1137

the monastery told me that there exist a number of texts on Bön-po Kalacakra. It would

1138

be interesting to compare them to the Kalacakra system of Buddhism. All these deities

1139

are seen holding the Bön *vajra* with the Svastika symbol and the fruit with the

1140

emerging flower. Some of the divinities are depicted with garlands of flowers on their

1141

heads. All of them are represented seated, or standing on low thrones or

1142

*asanas*, with images of a lion, an eagle, and an elephant.

1143

1144

The second floor is occupied by several big rooms, which are always used in Tibetan

1145

monasteries as abbot's quarters. The rooms have also a number of frescoes

1146

representing the legendary life of Shen-rap mi-wo. It is easy to identify the scenes of

1147

his life, which are, as I have already told, influenced by the Buddha legend. A fresco,

1148

occupying an entire wall, depicts different Bön teachers—all sitting in rows and attired

1149

in the robes of the Red sect lamas. Some of the represented personages wear white

1150

mantles over their dark purple lama coats. As yet we are unable to tell the story of the

1151

line of Bön teachers.

1152

1153

Another interesting fresco represented a Bön *tshok-chin* or Assemblage of Bön

1154

divinities, with Bön *sku kung-tu bzang-po*, occupying the upper portion of the

1155

frescoes, and the Shen-rap mi-wo in the center, assisted by a host of Bön divinities and

1156

saints. Another fresco probably represented the seven saints or heroes, called

1157

*Pa-wo rap-dün* (*dpa-wo rab-bdun*). These are probably identical with the

1158

seven *a-khu* or "uncles," assistants of King Kesar. The Bön

1159

*Tänjür* is preserved in the new *du-khang*, where a special room is

1160

fitted as a library.

1161

1162

The old *du-khang* on the opposite side of the courtyard has an altar, a painted

1163

wooden glass case in which stand clay images of Shen-rap mi-wo and the lama

1164

"Promulgator of the Bön faith," as the Bön priest called him, represented with

1165

his right hand holding the stalk of a lotus flower supporting the religious book or

1166

*legs-bam*—a purely Buddhist symbol taken over by the Bön-pos. The similarity of

1167

the image to that of the Buddhist reformer, rGyal-wa Tsong-kha-pa, is apparent. Before

1168

the images burn large offering lamps (*chos-me*) made of massive silver and there

1169

stand the usual eight happy offerings. In other respects the arrangement of the altar is

1170

identical to that of the Buddhist temples. All of the other walls are occupied by

1171

shelves or *kün-ra* containing the hundred and forty volumes of the Bön

1172

*Känjür*.

1173

1174

Above the bookshelves hang a number of masks used in religious dances that take place in

1175

summer. An opening in the roof gives access to the flat roof of the *du-khang*. A

1176

tree trunk with incised steps serves as a ladder. Every morning at sunrise, a lama

1177

ascends to the roof and sounds the conch inviting the monks to the morning service.

1178

During one month's residence at the monastery, we seldom saw religious services held

1179

there. The head lama was always absent at his hermitage and the rest of the monks

1180

attended to their own domestic occupations.

1181

1182

In December, 1923, the monastery was used as soldiers' quarters for a detachment of

1183

Tibetan troops sent in search of the Tashi Lama, who had just left Shigatse for China.

1184

1185

Outside the inclosure are found numerous stone images of Shen-rap ton-pa, attired as a

1186

Bön bodhisattva or gYung-drung sems-pa, holding a magic scepter, and several

1187

inscriptions on stone of the Bön-po formula *Om-ma-ni-hri-mu-ye-sa-lendu*.

1188

Corresponding to each group of letters is one of the eight happy signs or

1189

bkra-shis rtags-brgyad, which are represented under the

1190

inscription.

1191

1192

The present Bön-po population is not very strict in the observance of Bön rites and one

1193

often sees Tantric lamas or *ngag-pas* from the Sera Monastery of Lhasa,

1194

practicing among a Bön-po population. There is, however, a certain amount of antagonism

1195

between the Buddhist and Bön-po monasteries. The Bön-po lamas are credited with

1196

possessing a dangerous knowledge of hidden things and a night spent in a Bön-po

1197

monastery might bring misfortune. In our case, the death of the Major's wife from

1198

pneumonia, was popularly considered to have been caused by the anger of the titular

1199

deity of the monastery. The head lama of the monastery, an old man with curly hair and

1200

almost negroid features, once asked me: "You are a student of the doctrine of

1201

Buddha, how can you interest yourself in our Bön scriptures? The two doctrines do not go

1202

well together, for the one excludes the other." Lamaist Mongols have a great

1203

aversion for the Bön-po faith, which is commonly known to them by the name of

1204

*Khara-nom* or "Black Faith."

1205

1206

Some of the Bön-po lamas in the Hor region are quite wealthy, possessing large herds of

1207

yaks, flocks of sheep, and well-furnished, private libraries. They all live in tents.

1208

Sometimes two or three tents are put together to form one tent long enough to quarter

1209

all the family and some of the servants. Many of such lama householders are successful

1210

traders and sell tea bricks to the population, which they receive from Ssu-ch'uan,

1211

and other commodities. The local nomads profess great respect toward them and invariably

1212

address them as *Kusho rimpoche* or *lama-la*, Precious Sir, or Venerable

1213

Teacher. All the Bön-po laymen wear charm boxes or *ga-u* on their necks and

1214

across the shoulder, and turn prayer wheels in an opposite direction. Close to their

1215

tents stand big poles with prayer flags and one sometimes sees yak and horse tails fixed

1216

to the poles.

1217

1218

One of the important results of the expedition was the discovery of the "animal

1219

style" among the nomad tribes of northern Tibet. This "animal style"

1220

consists of decorative *motifs*, composed of animal figures, which are sometimes

1221

combined to form most striking ornamental compositions. Some of these

1222

*motifs* are highly stylized and have a long development behind them. The artists

1223

who produced them were keen observers of nature, and knew well the character and habits

1224

of the animals they were depicting. The style spread over immense regions and was common

1225

to all nomad tribes of higher Asia. The center of this great nomadic culture that so

1226

powerfully influenced the art of its more civilized neighbors was in the Altai

1227

Mountains, a region which abounds in gold and metal ore and in forest fauna often

1228

portrayed on objects in "animal style."

1229

1230

It is difficult to say whether the "animal style" was associated with any

1231

particular physical type of men. I am inclined to think that it originated among nomad

1232

and hunting tribes of great ethnic variety, but living in similar surroundings, for only

1233

in this way we are able to explain the immense spread of the "animal style"

1234

from the steppes of South Russia to the very confines of China, and from the Siberian

1235

forest country to the mighty heights of the Trans-Himalayas in Tibet.

1236

1237

Tibet has always been open to tribal migrations from the northeast. The forefathers of

1238

modern Tibetans invaded the country from the northeast. The high table-lands of the

1239

Koko-nor with an average elevation of some ten thousand feet and the surrounding

1240

mountain country afforded sufficient grazing for the moving hordes and their cattle. It

1241

is from this gigantic *place d'armes* that the hordes of ancient Tibetans,

1242

displaced by some other mighty human avalanche, were forced to seek new pastures,

1243

overrunning the valleys and plateaus of Tibet.

1244

1245

In historic times Tibetan tribes have had a good deal of intercourse with Iranian and

1246

paleo-Asiatic tribes that roamed over the vast expanses of the Chinese borderland.

1247

Modern research has established the fact that Iranian tribes were the carriers of the

1248

"animal style." During the Han epoch (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) Iranian military

1249

equipment was introduced into China, and with it came the rich ornamentation in the

1250

neo-animal style, so-called to distinguish it from the Scythian animal style of south

1251

Russian steppes.

1252

1253

The earliest known account of a penetration of foreign central Asian elements into the

1254

country populated by Tibetan tribes (K'iang of the Chinese Annals) is found in the

1255

*Shi-ki*, by the famous historian Ssi-ma ts'ien: "Up to the time when

1256

Lao-shang, shan-yü of the Hiung-nu, killed the king of the Yue-chi (Iranians) and made a

1257

drinking vessel out of his skull, the Yue-chi had lived between Tun-huang (now Sha-chou)

1258

and the K'i-lien (a mountain southwest of Kan-chou fu) but when they were beaten by

1259

the Hiung-nu, they fled to a distant country and crossed to the west of Yüan (Ferghana),

1260

attacked Ta-hia (Bactria) and conquered it. Subsequently they had their capital in the

1261

north of the K'ui-shui (Oxus) and made it the court of their king. The minority

1262

which were left behind and were not able to follow them, took refuge among the

1263

K'iang (Tibetans) of the Nan Shan and were called Siao-Yue-chi (small

1264

Yue-chi)."

1265

1266

We are concerned here only with the end of the above passage. A section of the Yue-chi,

1267

an Iranian tribe of central Asia inhabiting the modern Kansu Province and southern

1268

Alashan (whether the Yue-chi were a homogeneous tribe of Scythian origin, or an

1269

agglomeration of kindred tribes of similar habits of living, we are totally unable to

1270

decide at present), had wandered into the mountain country south of the present Kansu

1271

Province of China, and became gradually amalgamated with the autochthonous Tibetan

1272

population of the mountains. These riding nomad tribes brought with them their nomad

1273

culture and tribal epics. They also brought that highly conventionalized art of nomad

1274

central Asia, distinguished by animal ornamentation and the long and heavy swords, which

1275

are still the favorite arm of Tibetan nomads. Important finds of textiles and metal

1276

objects in "neo-animal style" have been discovered by General P. K. Kozlov in

1277

the Noin ula Mountains, north of Urga in Mongolia, but nothing was known about the

1278

existence of this art in Tibet. From the discoveries of the Roerich Expedition, it

1279

appears that the very same style was in vogue in the metal-working region of Derge, one

1280

of the best art provinces of Tibet, and among the tribes of north and northeastern

1281

Tibet. Among the Hor-pas it is still cultivated and the accompanying illustrations show

1282

several objects in Tibetan "animal style."

1283

1284

(1) *Tinder and Flint Pouch*. The pouch comes from the western Hor region. It is

1285

made of black towed leather, ornamented with brass figures of animals. It is distinctly

1286

central Asian, and belongs to the "animal style." The animal figures represent

1287

female deer with their young.

1288

1289

The execution of the animal figures and their decorative treatment attest the close

1290

affinity of this object to the central Asian nomad art. In the center of the pouch is a

1291

brass plate with representations of the eight happy signs (*ta-shi tag-gye*).

1292

1293

(2) *Tinder and Flint Pouch*. The pouch comes from the same region. It is made of

1294

black towed leather, ornamented with brass figures of animals. We see on it two

1295

conventionalized figures of foxes picking fruit from a tree. The treatment of the two

1296

figures and the presence of the tree between them—are frequent on Scythian and Siberian

1297

antiques.

1298

1299

(3) *A brass buckle representing a two-headed eagle inside a circle*. The buckle

1300

comes from Ching-kar, a place west of Nag-chu. Plaques

1301

representing two-headed eagles have been discovered in the Kuban barrows of northern

1302

Caucasus. The two-headed eagle *motif* can be traced back even to the Hittite art

1303

of Asia Minor.

1304

1305

Such flint pouches and buckles in "animal style" were found by us only among

1306

the Hor-pas. The Chang-pas of the Great Lake region already have the ordinary Tibetan

1307

flint pouches, ornamented with coral, turquoise and metal nails of silver, brass, but

1308

seldom with gold.

1309

1310

(4) *Running Deer*. This figure of a running deer has been taken from a brass

1311

charm box coming from Derge, now in the collection of Mr. S. N. Roerich. The eight happy

1312

signs of Tibetan ornamentation are combined with the figures of running deer. The

1313

deer's figure unmistakably belongs to the nomad art characterized by the

1314

"animal style." The head of the deer is turned backward, and this is a

1315

characteristic and frequently seen *motif* in Scythian and Siberian antiquities.

1316

The treatment of the animal's muzzle and eyes—all have their analogies in the

1317

antiquities found in the barrows of south Russian steppes and southern Siberia.

1318

1319

(5 and 6) Two of the illustrations shown have been taken from a silvered iron pen case

1320

from Derge. On this pen case made of massive iron, among ordinary floral ornamentation

1321

we see a stylized figure of a sitting deer and a swan. The *motif* of the sitting

1322

deer, elks, or stags is well known in Scythian and Siberian antiquities. The figure of

1323

the swan is already under the strong influence of Chinese ornamental art. This figure is

1324

a product of a Chinese workshop producing art objects for the use of border tribes. It

1325

is interesting to note that the swan on our pen case corresponds almost in every detail

1326

to the figure of a long necked bird (a swan?) with spread wings, found on a piece of

1327

embroidery, discovered by General P. K. Kozlov in the Noin ula Mountains. The pose of

1328

the bird and the treatment of the wings are similar in both cases. The left wing is

1329

raised, the right one is lowered and forms a sharp angle. There can be no doubt that the

1330

two figures came from one common central Asian source, and represent some mythological

1331

figures.

1332

1333

(7) *Lion plaque in S. N. Roerich Collection*. Another remarkable example of

1334

central Asian nomad art in the "animal style" is found in the collection of S.

1335

N. Roerich. He drew my attention to an iron silvered plaque in relief coming from Derge

1336

in northeastern Tibet. This unique object represents a lion with his head turned to the

1337

left toward the onlooker. The animal's mane hangs about its head in thick tufts. The

1338

treatment of the animal's body is unusually powerful. It is represented sitting on

1339

its hind legs with its tail raised as if attracted by some noise and ready to jump. The

1340

background is formed by two stylized trees. Under the lion's figure one sees a hilly

1341

country, with highly stylized hills.

1342

1343

It is difficult to determine what was the use of the plaque. The two square openings on

1344

both sides seem to be made for a piece of leather, which was passed under the plaque.

1345

The plaque could be used as a breast ornament or as a buckle for a belt. Among the

1346

objects discovered by the Kozlov Expedition in the tumuli of the Noin ula Mountains, is

1347

found a metal plaque in relief representing a standing bull with his head lowered and

1348

turned to the left.

1349

1350

In comparing the two plaques, one can readily see the similarity of composition. On both

1351

plaques the principal figure is that of an animal standing from right to left with head

1352

turned toward the onlooker. It is difficult to say whether the Kozlov plaque represents

1353

a yak. I am inclined to think that it represents an aurochs. The treatment of the

1354

animal's fur in both cases is analogical. Both plaques have a background of two

1355

stylized trees. The plaque in the S. N. Roerich Collection has as its background two

1356

trees branching out over the lion's head. These trees suggest a country with a

1357

warmer climate, whereas the Kozlov plaque has two pine trees that speak of the northern

1358

origin of the object. It seems that the two objects depict an animal

1359

*motif* current in the southern parts of this artistic province and the aurochs

1360

plaque on its northern border. Both plaques depict highly stylized mountains, probably

1361

covered by forest.

1362

1363

Mr. Percival Yetts, in his article on the Kozlov finds, gives the opinion that the

1364

Kozlov plaque served as a *phalara* or harness ornament. He draws attention to

1365

certain features that recall the Sassanian silver plate found around the upper course of

1366

the Kama.

1367

1368

The ancient plaque in the S. N. Roerich Collection is a striking example of the nomad

1369

art, as it is found among the tribes of northern Tibet and the great metal-working

1370

region of Derge and Amdo.

1371

1372

All these objects irrefutably attest the existence of the ancient central Asian nomad

1373

art in Tibet. The mountainous character of the country with its inaccessible valleys,

1374

helped to preserve many reminiscences of a remote antiquity, and its nomad population

1375

treasures much of its central Asian past. So far attention has been paid only to the

1376

religious art of Tibet, its colorful painted banners and fine bronzes. Now a new

1377

province of Tibetan popular art has been opened, that is the pre-Buddhistic art of

1378

Tibetan nomad tribes, relic of a remote past.