NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF TIBET. n93 



side of the head and meeting over the crown, as in Lit'ang. Fig. 10 of 

 pi, 5 is a silver one set with torquoises and coral, and is of the j)attern 

 worn in Hor Chango (Land of the Lamas, 260). In fig. 13 of pi. 5 is 

 represented the kind worn in Chala where such ornaments are called 

 melong, pongi/il or A'o^-'or. In portions of western Tibet, where they 

 are also the fashion, they are known as cJiirchir (j/?/?>--y^iV). 



In portions of the country, Mark'ams and the adjacent country, for 

 example, where the women wear a long queue down their backs, large 

 pieces of turquoise set in silver are worn fastened the whole length of 

 the queue; between each consecutive piece is a small coral bead. (PI. 7.) 



Turner thus describes the dress of a Lh'asan lady of high rank, the 

 mother of the infant Panch'en rinpoch'e lama: 



Her complexion was somewhat darker than her son's. She liad regular features, 

 black eyes, and a character that particularly distinguishes ladies of rank in Tibet, 

 the corners of the eyelids being extended as far as possible, by artificial means, 

 toward the temples. Her hair was black, but scarcely visible, from the vast pro- 

 fusion of ornaments that nearly covered it, consisting of pearls, rubies, emeralds, and 

 coral. Pearls, intermixed with beads of gold, and some relics, constituted the orna- 

 ments of her ears. Chaplets of larger gems hung round her neck, among which 

 were balas rubies,* lapis-lazuli, amber, and coral in numerous wreaths, one chaplet 

 beneath the other, descending to the waist. Her vest was close buttoned round 

 the neck. A girdle embraced it round the waist, which was fastened by a golden 

 buckle, having a large ruby in the center. A garnet-colored shawl, wrought with 

 white stars, completed her dress, which descended to the knee. She wore bulgar 

 boots. (Capt. Sam. Turner,.Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, p. 3.36.) 



Hue (Sou-venirs d'un Voyage, ii, p. 257), si^eaking of the women of 

 Lh'asa, says: 



The Tibetan women's dress is very like that of the men. Over their gowns they 

 wear a short jacket of many-colored stuff. They divide their hair in two plaits, 

 which they let fall down on their shoulders. Women of low class wear a little yel- 

 low cap, resembling somewhat the liberty cap which used to be worn under the 

 French Eepublic. The grandes dames only ornament their heads with an elegant 

 and graceful crown made of pearls. t 



The fashion in earrings among women varies considerably in Tibet 

 from one locality or district to another. Besides those referred to on 

 preceding pages, the Museum's collections contain several other vari- 

 eties. On pi. 6, fig. 5, is shown a favorite style in central Tibet, 

 Ch'amdo, and other districts. It is a large silver hoop over 2 inches in 

 diameter, on the front of which is a heart-shaped plate thickly set with 

 bits of turquoise. A small hook is attached to the plate and to the 

 wearer's hair so as to take the weight of the ring oft" the ear. The pair 

 in the Museum was worn by the native wife of a Chinese soldier sta- 

 tioned near Ch'amdo, and jade rings, such as are worn on earrings in 



* A balas or balass ruby. The word halas is a corruption of Balal-hshi, a popular 

 form of Badakhahi, because these rubies came from the famous mines on the upper 

 Oxus, in one of the districts subject to Badakhshan. See H. Yule, Glossary of Anglo- 

 Indian Words, p. 39. 



fFor further details, see Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc, n. s., xxiii, pp. 121-133 and pp. 

 222-226, where I have translated all that is to be found in Chinese works on the 

 subject. Also Dr. L. A. Waddell, The Buddhism of Tibet, p. 572. 



