This is a comedy about a bigheaded (literally) Chinese monk, Nantain, who comes to Tibet to show off his Buddhist knowledge. According t Rock this was a piece of politico-religous propaganda directed against the Chinese: "to emphasise the superiority of the lamas over the Chinese, whom they hate most cordially".
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Chinese villagers, Gansu, 1925
Listening to a gramophone. As photographed near Choni monastery, Gansu, 1925 by Joseph Rock
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Skeleton dancer, Choni (Jone, 卓尼）1925
In 1925 Joseph Rock visited Choni monastery in Gansu province, where he based himself for two years while undertaking his unsuccessful attempt to reach the mountains of Amnyi Machen. During that time he witnessed the "devil dancers" of Choni and heard about the savage Tibetan-Muslim wars that were taking place around Choni and Xining. He also visited nearby monasteries like those at Labrang and Ragya.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
More pictures from around Jiulong and Mengdong
Here are a few pictures I've found while surfing around Chinese hiking websites and bulletin boards. Sorry I can't credit anyone, but I am happy to do so (and remove photos if you wish) if you drop me an email. If they look a bit washed out it's because I've Photoshopped them to reduce the saturation. For some reason most Chinese photographers seem to like oversaturated pictures - maybe they think they are getting more colour for their money. I've tried to tone it down, but it's hard to get the right balance. You can compare these pics with my own of the same areas, by clicking on the links on the index down the right hand side.
Monday, January 02, 2006
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