Saturday, August 11, 2007

Visitors to Choni before Joseph Rock, 1923


Silver breastplate, Choni 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

In 1923, two years befor Joseph Rock arrived there, two other Americans viited and photographed the Tibetan monastery at Choni (Zhuoni) in Gansu province. They were By Janet and Frederick Wulsin, wealthy Americans who were based in Beijing. Frederick was an aspiring naturalist and took a Graflex camera on this expedition. These are some of the many photogrpahs he and his wife took - and which are now in the archives of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. They are taken from the book Vanished Kingdoms by Mabel Cabot (daughter of Janet).

This picture is a silver breastplate worn by a Tibetan dancer at Choni, marked with astrological signs, at Cham-ngyon-wa festival, Kansu 1923.

Chanting Hall, Choni, 1923


Chanting Hall, Choni, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Choni Lamas, Gansu


Choni Lamas, Gansu, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Choni monastery, 1923


Choni monastery, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Little Poplar Temple, Wang Yeh Fu


Little Poplar Temple, Wang Yeh Fu, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Golden Temple, Kumbum, Qinghai


Golden Temple, Kumbum, Qinghai, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Kumbum courtyard 1923


Kumbum courtyard 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Golden stupa, Labrang, 1923


Golden stupa, Labrang, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Labrang monastery 1923


Labrang monastery 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Kumbum monks 1923


Kumbum monks 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

By Janet and Frederick Wulsin

Kumbum monks, 1923


Kumbum monks, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Tibetan herders with yaks, Kokonor 1923

Great Chanting Hall, Choni, 1923


Great Chanting Hall, Choni, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Tibetans in Kansu, 1923


Tibetans in Kansu, 1923, originally uploaded by jiulong.