TIBET! 



FEATURED 



EXHIBIT 



for 



February 



Tibet, which for centuries had been a 

 semi-independent theocracy with a 

 medieval culture, for the past decade 

 has been po- 

 litically con- 

 trolled by the 

 Chinese com- 

 munist gov- 

 ernment. The 

 religious lead- 

 ers of the 

 country, to- 

 gether with 

 thousands of 

 refugees, have 

 crossed the Tibetan borders to enter its 

 neighboring kingdoms and northern In- 

 dia. Within Tibet itself, traditionally 

 cherished ways of life are being rapidly 

 and forcibly changed. 



The awesome and terrifying figure of 

 the Tibetan God of War vividly symbo- 

 lizes these events. Constructed of papier- 

 mache and painted in red, green, and 

 gold, it stands more than five feet high. 

 The deity's hair is represented as in 

 flames, and his brow is crowned with a 

 row of human skulls. His three eyes are 

 intended to penetrate the past, the pres- 

 ent, and the future. Draped over his 

 shoulders are garlands of severed heads 

 and skulls. The right knee is bent, the 

 left stretched — a marching posture. 

 While this image stands on reddish 

 clouds, another representation of the 

 god made of hammered copper, and 



Page 8 



also on exhibit, shows him with one 

 foot trampling a horse and the other a 

 woman. 



The war god is but one of the hun- 

 dreds of exotic objects on display in the 

 Tibetan hall (Hall 32, second floor, 

 north end). The collection was ob- 

 tained by the Museum's Blackstone Ex- 

 pedition to eastern Tibet in 1908-11, 

 under the leadership of Dr. Berthold 

 Laufer, then the Museum's Assistant 

 Curator of Asiatic Ethnology (later Chief 

 Curator of Anthropology), and one of 

 the world's most noted oriental scholars. 

 During the Expedition's stay in Tibet, 

 Dr. Laufer assembled a collection that 

 illustrates every phase of the material 

 culture of the country and is of the great- 

 est value to scholars specializing in the 

 history of Asiatic culture. 



For example, Dr. Chie Nakane of the 

 University of Tokyo, a social anthropol- 

 ogist and specialist in Tibetan history, 

 recently spent a year teaching at the 

 University of Chicago. While in Chi- 

 cago, she studied and catalogued the 

 Museum's library of rare Tibetan books, 

 which fascinated many Museum mem- 

 bers who saw it displayed on Members' 

 Night last year. Most of the books are 

 Buddhist scriptures printed by Lamaist 

 monasteries for the instruction of their 

 own monks. Others tell the histories of 

 famous monks and kings, or are com- 

 pendiums of knowledge about astrology, 

 medicine, grammar, and the like. The 



books are printed from wood blocks on 

 paper that is sometimes poison-impreg- 

 nated; in a few cases they are on leather. 

 Many of them are illustrated in color, 

 and some are lettered in gold — in this, 

 they seem reminiscent of the exquisite 

 illuminated manuscripts of medieval 

 Europe. Written in a language whose 

 letters are borrowed from Sanskrit, al- 

 though linguistically related to Chinese, 

 the books read from left to right, as in 

 English. This library of Tibetan litera- 

 ture is typical of the many kinds of ma- 

 terials secured by Dr. Laufer which have 

 been used by scholars in making contri- 

 butions to our knowledge of the general 

 history of human culture. 



Also displayed in the Tibetan hall are 

 temple libation bowls made of human 

 skulls, a ceremonial apron of carved 

 human thigh bones (see Chicago Natural 

 History Museum publication, "Use of 

 Human Skulls and Bones in Tibet," by 

 Berthold Laufer. Popular series. 10c, 

 postage 5c), vivid paintings of gods and 

 sacred ceremonies, and ornate bronze 

 censers. Gorgeous robes and fantastic 

 masks, which graced the mystery plays 

 performed by Tibetan lamas at the be- 

 ginning of each new year, can be seen, 

 as well as military armor and weapons, 

 jewelry and unusual musical instru- 

 ments, a delightful collection of teapots, 

 and an exhibit explaining the art of 

 Tibetan wood-engraving. 



As news 

 headlines con- 

 tinue to focus 

 on political 

 events in Ti- 

 bet, Chicago- 

 ans will have 

 an opportuni- 

 ty, paralleled 

 in few cities of 

 the world, to 

 learn more 

 about this 

 little-known 

 country, 

 through the 

 rich Tibetan 

 collection at 

 Chicago Nat- 

 ural History 

 Museum. 



p. R. NELSON 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



